PLEASURABLE DEE. KEEPING CoN Wrire ALBERT R. MANN LIBRARY New York STATE COLLEGES OF AGRICULTURE AND HOME ECONOMICS AT CORNELL UNIVERSITY EVERETT FRANKLIN PHILLIPS BEEKEEPING LIBRARY PLEASURABLE BEE-KEEPING. PLEASURABLE BEE-KEEPING BY CHARLES NETTLESHIP WHITE First-class Certificated Expert of the British Bee-keepers' Association ; Author of ‘' Bee-keeping for Cottagers,” etc.; and Lecturer under, the Technical Education Schemes of the Hunts, Cambs, Isle of Ely, and other County Councils , } WITH ILLUSTRATIONS \ LONDON EDWARD ARNOLD 37, BEDFORD STREET, STRAND, W.C. tr SFSA3 W s¥3 CONTENTS. INTRODUCTION CHAP I. II. III. IV. Vs VI. VII. VIII. Ix. BEES AND FLOWERS a WHY KEEP BEES? THE CONTENTS OF THE HIVE NATURAL INCREASE RACES OF BEES . SUBDUING AND HANDLING BEES HIVES AIDS TO SUCCESS COMMENCING BEE-KEEPING . HONEY PRODUCTION PAGE 11 16 19 29 36 41 ol 74 99 112 CHAP. XI. XII. XIII. XIV. XV. XVI. XVII. XVIII. CONTENTS. BEE-ESCAPES AND SUPER-CLEARING QUEEN RAISING AND INTRODUCING . DISEASES ENEMIES OF BEES . WINTERING . DRIVING, TRANSFERRING, UNITING . MARKETING HONEY WAX EXTRACTING PAGE 129 135 . 146 153 . 155 161 168 176 INTRODUCTION. THE PROGRESS OF BEE-CULTURE. In writings dating from the earliest times of which we have any record, frequent allusion is made to bees and honey. As a food honey stands unrivalled for its delicate aroma, and it is also recognised as a valuable force producer. Early British History abounds in references to the keeping of bees, and to the value of the honey and wax they produce; and it may be inferred that even in those times bee-culture had assumed sufficient importance to rank as a rural industry. The seventeenth century was very prolific in writers on bee-culture, and from that time onwards great attention has been paid to the culture of the honey- bee in rural districts. Very little real progress, how- ever, in the art was made until the movable-comb hive was invented nearly fifty years ago. To the Rev. L. L. Langstroth in America, and Baron Von 7 8 INTRODUCTION. Berlepsch in Germany, belongs the credit for this remarkable invention, which proved the beginning of a new era in bee-keeping. Bee-culture was henceforth a subject of absorbing interest, and, apart from the pecuniary benefit that followed its introduction, the invention has doubtless had the greatest possible influence on the develop- ment of the science as well as the art of Bee- keeping. Movable combs render the modification of the brood-nest possible to suit varying circumstances, and though in the hands of the novice, who pulls his stocks to pieces to satisfy his curiosity, they are no boon, to the great majority of bee-keepers they have beén of immense advantage. By the invention of the smoker, of which there are various forms, due to the inventive genius of American bee-keepers, another step was taken to- wards bringing bees under that complete control without which the bee-keeper could hardly be styled ‘‘a bee-master.”’ Step by step advances were made in designing and improving appliances, by means of which the bee- keeper is enabled to reap the large harvests so often recorded, until there now appears little room for further exercise of the inventive faculty. The “Little Wonder” extractor, invented by the late C. N. Abbott, was, in its day, considered a marvellous machine, in that the combs were emptied of their contents by centrifugal force, in order to be returned to the hives for refilling. A cylinder extractor next came into favour, and, though many excellent machines are now produced, the ‘‘ Cowan,” as im- INTRODUCTION. 9 proved in America, may be said to most nearly approach perfection. Then noting the loss of honey to the bee-keeper when comb-building took place, inventive genius gave the foundation mill, and sheets of wax with impres- sions of worker cells to be rapidly converted by the bees into perfect combs. For many years disease has, in England and in other countries, decimated apiaries and made the dread of infection a powerful deterrent to the spread of apiculture. But scientific research has resulted in bee-keepers becoming conversant with the origin, propagation, prevention, and cure of the only disease that need be feared. The strides that have been made in apicultural knowledge have in great measure been due to those who, by their writings and advocacy through the British and affiliated Associations, have assisted in making ‘‘ Bee-keeping” what it now is, one of the most important and not the least valuable of the minor rural industries. In 1874 the late Mr. C. N. Abbott started the first Bee-Journal, and plain and earnest advocacy helped forward the work very materially. With the establishment of the British Bee-keepers’ Association a very powerful means was provided for doing good work,.which, with the co- operation of the affiliated Associations, has been energetically carried forward by all, from the Baroness Burdett-Coutts, who presides over the central Associa- tion, to the cottager who pays his 1s. subscription. By means of its great exhibitions, held annually in connection with the Royal Agricultural and other 10 INTRODUCTION. shows, the British Bee-keepers’ Association brings prominently before thousands of visitors the capa- bilities of an industry that is comparatively speaking neglected by the agriculturist, who is directly as well as indirectly calculated to benefit by its extension. To the various shows judges and examiners are sent by the British Bee-keepers’ Association, and now it is possible for any one who takes sufficient interest in the work to pass the three examinations, and at least earn a certificate testifying to the ability of its possessor, not only to assist in, or direct the opera- tions of an apiary, but to fill the position of lecturer under the Technical Education Schemes of the various County Councils. PLEASURABLE BEE-KEEPING. CHAPTER I. BEES AND FLOWERS. No one who has watched the busy bee flitting from flower to flower can fail to have been struck with the idea that it has some special duty to perform while gathering from the nectaries of flowers the sweetness that is to be used as a food for itself and for the myriads of other bees in the colony from which it has flown. In the economy of nature it is not too much to say that there is not a busier insect, or one which is directly as well as indirectly of more value to the agriculturist. Bees and flowers are inseparable. Flowers are fertilised almost wholly by wind and insect agency, but by far the greater number require the visits of insects for the proper fertilisation of bloom. Man’s efforts to improve nature by cross-fertilisation would be of little avail without the bee. That it was 1 12 PLEASURABLE BEE-KEEPING. intended for the bee to play an important part in the fertilisation of bloom, is evident from the arrange- ment of the flowers. The bees must rub against the pollen, and so carry it away to the other flowers, while they are searching for nectar secreted at the bottom of the flower. The nectaries are usually placed so as to secure fertilisation, while the stigma is protected in order that the rain shall not wash away the sweet secretion covering it. To prevent self-fertilisation the stamens and pistils are on different flowers, or, when both are on the same flower, the former are not in a receptive condition at a time when the latter are ripe, and scatter their pollen. When a bee enters a flower in search of nectar, if the anthers are ripe, the pollen is scattered over its body, and adheres to it. Subsequently some of this pollen is left adhering to the stigmata of other flowers, thus effecting proper fertilisation while the bulk is taken to the hive where it is used as a food. The colour of the flower as well as the nectar is in itself a provision for attracting insects. Sir John Lubbock has at much pains tested the preference of bees for coloured flowers. Again, the odour of certain crops is most powerful and certainly attractive. In passing along a road the traveller recognises the presence of bean or clover fields long before he reaches them, by the scent borne upon the breeze, and this is undoubtedly detected by bees much more readily than by human beings. The influence of bees in the production of fruit is sometimes very great. In California there are exten- sive cherry orchards, and the crops have recently been , BEES AND FLOWERS. 13 far from satisfactory, though years ago abundance of fruit was gathered. The failure of the crops was attributed by some to winds and rains, but the Messrs. Bassford, of Cherry Glen, Vaca Valley, Solano County, attributed it to the absence of bees, for they had re- marked that when wild bees were plentiful in the valley the crops were good. To test the matter they placed several colonies of bees in their orchards in 1890. The result was striking; their crop was good while others were entire or partial failures. In 1891 they had sixty-five colonies of bees, and Mr. H. Bass- ford, writing to the Entomologist, said, ‘‘ Our crop was good this season, and we attribute it to the bees. Since we have been keeping bees our crop has been much larger than formerly; while those nearest us, five miles away, where no bees are kept, have produced light crops.” Mr. Cheshire, in ‘‘ Bees: and Bee-keeping,” draws attention very forcibly to the necessity for bees in the fertilisation of apple bloom. ‘The apple,’ he says, ‘as its blossom indicates, is strictly a fusion of five fruits into one—hence called pseudosyncarpous—and demands for its production in perfection no less than five independent fertilisations. If none are effected, the calyx, which really forms the flesh of the fruit, instead of swelling, dries and soon drops. An apple often develops, however, though imperfectly, if four only of the stigmas have been pollen dusted; but it rarely hangs long enough to ripen. The first severe storm sends it to the pigs as a wind-fall. I had two hundred apples, that had dropped during a gale, gathered promiscuously for a lecture illustration ; and 14 PLEASURABLE BEE-KEEPING. the cause of falling in every case but eight was trace- able to imperfect fertilisation. These fruits may be generally known by a deformity—one part has failed to grow because there has been no diversion of nutrition towards it. Cutting it across with a knife, we find its hollow cheek lies opposite the unfertilised dissepiment.”’ The American poet Bryant, who was a keen ob- server of Nature and her work, says in “‘ The Planting of the Apple Tree”’: “What plant we in this apple tree? Sweets for a hundred flowery springs, To load the May-winds? restless wings ; When from the orchard now he pours Its fragrance at our open doors A world of blossom for the bee.” The effect of the introduction of the bumble-bee into New Zealand forms the most convincing proof of the importance of insects as fertilisers of bloom. Previous to 1881, when the first attempt to introduce these bees to the colony was made, though crops of red- clover were grown, no seed was produced. In Decem- ber, 1883, and January, 1884, 55 bumble-bees packed in dry moss were sent to New Zealand, but all died. In the autumn of 1884 special precautions were taken in the packing of 282 shipped in November and 260 in December, and they were liberated near Christchurch in January and February, 1885. The following year Mr. 8. C. Farr, Hon. Sec. of the Acclimatisation Society of Christchurch, writing of these bees, says their number is legion, and they abound over a radius of one hundred miles from Christchurch. In several BEES AND FLOWERS. 15 cases the farmers, who previously had been unable to produce red-clover seed reported their crops to be full of seed. Professor Cooke, a noted American apiarian, is re- sponsible for the following: ‘‘ Inasmuch as red-clover can only be fertilised by the bumble-bee, a gentleman has made this statement: the safety of England depends upon the number of cats she keeps. He proves his proposition thus: without the aid of the bumble-bees the red-clover cannot be fertilised. Bumble-bees make their nests on the ground, where they are the prey of mice. Cats destroy the mice and give the bees a chance to live. Hence he reasons, no cats, many mice; many mice, no bumble-bees; no bees, no clover; no clover, no cattle; no cattle, no beef; and without beef where would the Englishman be?” With regard to the value of the bee as a fertiliser, Darwin says, when speaking of their visits to clover and heartsease, ‘‘ No bees, no seed; no seed, no in- crease of flower. The more visits from the bees the more seeds from the flower; the more seeds from the flower the more flowers from the seed.” He also gives the following result of an experiment: ‘‘ Twenty heads of white clover, visited by the bees, produced 2,990 seeds ; while twenty heads so protected that bees could not visit them produced not one seed.”’ CHAPTER II. WHY KEEP BEES? AMPLE reasons for the extension of bee-culture are adduced in the chapter on ‘‘ Bees and Flowers,” but the direct financial results in a well-managed apiary furnish probably a much greater inducement to many persons to take up and prosecute successfully such a well-paying hobby. In many industries the products are of a perishable nature. Not so, however, with bee-products, honey and wax. They may, when properly packed, be transported to all parts, and at the same time, should the state of the market render it advisable, they may, without detriment to quality, be stored away for sale at a future date. While no industry connected with rural occupations is so interesting, from an intellectual standpoint, as bee-culture, there is none which approaches it in the profits on the outlay, when the time spent on the work in the apiary is taken into consideration. The bee- keeper has only to provide a home for his bees, and receptacles in which they may store their surplus, and they will roam afield, gathering honey in abundance from morning till night. In most districts some honey- 16 WHY KEEP BUES? 17 producing crops are grown, and in many localities, in addition to acres of orchards and a sprinkling of white clover in the pastures, crops of white and alsike clover are regularly grown for seed, while sainfoin, mustard, turnip, cabbage, and other profusely-flowering crops are abundant. Then, again, in the neighbourhood of moors where heather is abundant, there is another excellent source of late honey. The late Mr. H. M. Jenkins, secretary to the Royal Agricultural Society of England, some years ago gave an address in the Lecture Hall, Dublin, on ‘Some of the duties of a farmer’s wife,’’ and referred to the keeping of bees as advisable, and instanced the suc- cess of a lady well known among practical bee- keepers, Miss Gayton, of Much Hadham, Herts, who wrote, saying, ‘‘From my own experience I am sure that almost every cottager might make his bees pay his rent and more; and with five or six hives the trouble of attending to them is not more than he and his wife could find time for. One thing, however, is absolutely necessary for success in bee-keeping, namely, to thoroughly study and understand the habits and requirements of bees, and to bestow on them as much care and attention as would be required for any other pursuit or occupation in order to be successful. ‘Having but small means I began bee-keeping with the hope of making it a profitable business. I have kept a strict account of every expense, and as my statement shows I have found bee-keeping profitable.’’ Miss Gayton, who resides in a good honey district, commenced bee-keeping with one stock in 1876, and her initial expense was £1 12s. 6d. She increased her 2 18 PLEASURABLE BEE-KEEPING. stock to twenty-eight hives, and her average profit at the end of eight years was £20 per year. we In the British Bee Jowrnal for 1885 a cottager wrote: ‘I am only a cottager, I have taken nearly 900 lbs. of honey, all from supers without touching the stock hives.”” Another, whose daily work occupies him from six to six, said he had taken over 400 lbs., nearly all in sections, and sold it for the nice sum of £22 10s. “During the last few years the prices of all kinds of agricultural produce have fallen below what was formerly realised, but from bee-keeping equally good results in comparison with other industries are still obtained. A young man, the son of a farmer at Wainfleet, Lincolnshire, who has been favoured of late years with crops that have bloomed in splendid weather, took an average of 109 lbs. of honey from each of his three stocks in 1892, and an average of 156 Ibs. per hive in 1893. Near him another bee- keeper had an average of over 90 lbs. per hive. Results in other parts of the same neighbourhood were disheartening. But evidently this was due to lack of attention, without which success cannot be expected. These are only fair specimens from hundreds of examples that might be quoted; and they may be taken as evidence that, given a good district and favourable climatic influences, it must be the fault of the bee-keeper himself if his enterprise does not prove to be of an exceedingly profitable character. CHAPTER III. THE CONTENTS OF THE HIVE. In order that bee-keeping may give the greatest amount of enjoyment and pleasure, and, at the same time, the largest profit, it is necessary to study care- fully the natural history of the honey-bee so far as it is applicable to the practical work of the apiary. In commencing this study we should naturally first make an examination of the hive to learn about the structure of the combs and their varied contents. THE ComBs. The combs are found in all hives or other cavities where bees have built according to their own devices, at an almost uniform thickness, viz., a trifle under an inch from face to face, when containing sealed “‘worker brood.’’ The space between the combs is about half an inch, consequently the distance from centre to centre of the combs is just under 14 inches, or, to be exact, 1,3, inch. Combs are made of wax, a secretion resulting from the consumption of honey or an equivalent food. The wax oozes out from beneath the scales of the 19 20 PLEASURABLE BEE-KEEPING. abdomen, on the underside of the body of the bee, and assuming a solid form, is drawn away in very thin flakes by the bee, and used for the making of the comb, the cell walls of which are ;4, inch in thick- ness. The work of comb-building is very trying to the bee. The amount of honey consumed in the elaboration of one pound of wax is variously estimated, WORKER CELLS QUEEN CELLS Fic. 1. some authorities putting it as high as twenty pounds, while others say not more than ten pounds are used. It is, however, certain that the weight must be several times that of the wax produced, so that if a substitute be given, a great deal of honey may be saved to the bee-keeper. The combs are composed of Worker cells and Drone cells, built horizontally on each side of a mid-rib. THE CONTENTS OF THE IVE. 21 Worker cells are small, measuring five to the inch across the mouths of the cells, and drone cells four to the inch. The thickness of the comb when con- taining worker-brood is 3 inch; and when containing drone brood 1} inch. By cutting through a comb from top to bottom, and dividing the cells, it will be noticed that in building the combs the bees give a slight up- ward pitch to the cells. This peculiarity it is necessary to bear in mind, when combs in a box or skep are being transferred and fitted into frames. Queen cells are found in a hive, as a rule, only at swarming time. They are acorn-shaped, and are usually built on the bottom edges of the comb. If the bees lose their queen during the summer, queen-cells are built on the face of the comb in any part where the cells contain worker eggs. Honey. Honey is found in the combs in quantity varying according to surrounding circumstances. This, the most delicious of sweets, forms the natural food of the insects that produce it. The substance of which it is composed, as originally secreted by the flowers, is termed nectar, and not until it has undergone chemical change within the body of the bee, and been stored in the combs, is it known by the familiar name of honey. Having already passed through certain digestive processes it is, as food for man, of great value, inas- much as it is at once taken directly into the system as a force-producer, without passing through the stages 22 PLEASURABLE BEE-KEEPING. necessary in the case of many other foods. Honeys vary greatly according to the source from which the fectar is gathered, some kinds having a delicate aroma, which causes them to be particularly sought after. Clover honey in England is considered the standard quality, but even this honey exhibits con- siderable variation according to the soil upon which the clover is grown and the surrounding climatic con- ditions. For instance, at a large show in the West of England, where I acted as judge of the honey ex- hibits in the autumn of 1893, it was noted as a remarkable fact that in nearly every instance, though some classes were open, the prizes were awarded to samples of honey taken from apiaries on or near the tops of the neighbouring hills. To the Scotsman, and many English bee-keepers resident near the moors, there is nothing to equal heather honey. PoLLEn. Pollen, which is the fertilising dust of the flowers, is carried by the bee, in its search for nectar, to those blooms where its presence is required to cause the production of fruit and seeds. Nature provides this fertiliser in a most lavish manner on certain flowers, and the bees, therefore, becoming dusted with more than is needed for the fructification of bloom, cleanse their bodies of the surplus, pack it away in the ‘pollen-baskets’ formed by projecting hairs on the hindmost pair of legs, and carry it to the hive. Here it is stored in the cells to furnish, in conjunction with honey, a perfect bee-food, whether required. by the THE CONTENTS OF THE HIVE. 23 workers, the grubs that are their special care, or the queen. Pollen is also used in the formation of the cappings to the cells containing the grubs, and plays an important part in the making of wax. M. de Layens, a French bee-keeper and author of note, was the first to notice that the colour of wax varied with the source of the pollen; and it is not the light-coloured honey that is responsible for the wax of a light shade. Very often the contrary is the case, for, though heather honey is dark, the wax made from it is light yellow. In 1886, Dr. A. Von Planta, a famous Swiss chemist, proved the colour of the wax to be due to the presence of various coloured pollen grains. Propolis is also gathered by the bee, but at present it has been put to no commercial use by the bee- keeper. It is of a resinous nature, and exudes from certain trees. The bees use it as a cement for filling cracks and crevices, and for covering intruders, such as the snail, that they are unable to remove. In the building of the combs propolis is employed to increase the tenacity of the wax, but it is used to the greatest extent at the close of the honey-flow, in daubing the sections and the crates, which, if left on the hive too long, become firmly fixed, and difficult to remove. Tur BEEs. Every colony of bees in a normal condition will, during the summer months, contain three kinds of bees which are easily distinguished one from the other. They are the Queen, Drones, and Workers 24 PLEASURABLE BEE-KEEPING. The queen (Fig. 2) is the mother of all the bees in the hive, and she has really only one duty to perform, viz., that of egg-laying. From early in the season to some time after the close of the honey-flow, a good queen will be busy depositing eggs in the various cells, out of which will proceed in due course a Queen, a Drone, or a Worker. A very large amount of work is thus of necessity the share of the queen bee, but the bee- keeper, with a view to large returns, will endeavour, by careful and systematic management, to regulate the egg-laying of the queen in such a manner that the QUEEN DRONE WORKER Fic. 2. Fic. 3. Fic. 4. hive shall be full of bees at the commencement of the honey-flow, and that, instead of ceasing to lay at the close of the honey-flow, she shall continue her work until about the middle of September, thus ensuring the presence of a large proportion of young bees when the stock is closed for the winter about the lst of October. The queen is produced in sixteen days from an egg exactly similar to that from which a worker issues. In order that a queen and not a worker may be produced, the egg is deposited in an acorn-shaped cell, usually built, on account of its size, on the bottom edges of THE CONTENTS OF THE HIVE. 25 the combs. Sometimes, however, they are found on the face of the comb among the worker cells. The queen may live three or four years, but it is generally admitted that she is in her prime, and con- sequently of most value to the bee-keeper, in her second season. It is for this reason that some bee- keepers make it a rule not to allow a queen to remain more than two years at the head of a colony, except in rare cases. When it is considered what an enormously increased number of eggs above the natural average the queen may be induced to lay each season, by the management of the bee-keeper, her removal at the close of her second season appears to be a matter of necessity, if the colony is to be kept up to a proper standard of strength. During manipulations in the summer, a bee-keeper may have the misfortune to crush or drop a queen outside the hive. Deprived of its queen the colony will naturally diminish in numbers, and would ulti- mately die out were it not for the fact that at such times there are eggs-in the worker cells. From these eggs, as has already been stated, if they are deposited in queen cells, queens will be produced. It is, there- fore, only necessary for the bees, upon the loss of a queen, to produce another from an egg in a worker cell. As the grub will require more space for full development than a worker cell provides, the cell walls, around the egg, or grub, are cut down, and then over the larger space thus given a queen cell is built. The grub then receiving exactly similar treatment to that of a grub in an ordinary queen cell, will be con- verted into a perfect queen in from twelve to sixteen 26 PLEASURABLE BEE-KEEPING. days. The difference in the time of issue from- the cell is regulated mainly by the age of the egg or grub on the loss of the queen. Queens should be raised from a newly-hatched egg, or a grub not more than a day old, in order that it can have full and proper treat- ment. Unless the queen accompanies the swarm, she only leaves the hive once during her life, and that is four or five days after she issues from the cell, for the purpose of mating with a drone or male bee. If suc- cessful in her wedding flight she will in about forty- eight hours be found depositing eggs in worker cells. DRongEs. Drones (Fig. 3) are the male bees, and they are easily distinguished from the workers by their large size, and, when flying, by their loud hum. They are produced in twenty-five days from an unfertilised egg deposited by the queen in the larger horizontal or drone cells. Drones appear early or late according to the season and the strength of the colony, usually about April. They are particularly numerous in cottagers’ apiaries, where thousands are to be found, although as many hundreds would be ample. They are often known as the lazy bees and great consumers of honey, conse- quently their production should in all well-managed apiaries be limited. This is an easy task to the bee- keeper who uses ‘‘ foundation,” for with that valuable aid to success he can in a day or two ensure combs of worker cells only. The drones are only allowed to exist during the summer months; and as soon as the honey-flow is over the bees turn them out of the hive to die, THE CONTENTS OF THE GIVE. 27 Very frequently » massacre of drones takes place earlier in the season, but this is a sign that food is running short owing to unfavourable weather ; and if in addition to the turning out of the drones white grubs are found outside the hive, that circumstance may be taken as a sign that food is absolutely neces- sary to save the stock, if not from actual starvation, at any rate from being rendered practically useless for the season. The weight of a stock at such times is not a safe guide to the amount of stores, as the hive may be weighty in consequence of the presence of a large quantity of brood in various stages. WoRKERS OR NEUTERS. Workers (Fig. 4), or as they are sometimes termed neuters, are really undeveloped females. As such they have not the power normally of egg-laying. The worker is produced in twenty-one days from an egg deposited in one of the small horizontal cells. Upon bees of this class devolves the work of the hive. For the first fort- night or thereabouts of their existence, they remain at home, preparing, in their capacity of nurses, the food for the grubs and queen. When this duty ceases, a work commences that, comparatively speaking, soon terminates their existence. Henceforward the worker bees labour unceasingly from morning to night, weather permitting, in gathering nectar and pollen from honey- producing flowers. The life of a worker bee is in the summer time at the most only seven or eight weeks, the average length of life being forty-six days. Those bees which are hatched in the autumn, say, in Sep- 28 PLEASURABLE BEE-KEEPING. tember, and having little work to do, will, as a rule, pass through the winter and come out strong and vigorous in the spring. FERTILE WORKERS. It occasionally happens that when a queen dies or is killed, and the bees have not the power, for want of worker eggs, to replace her with another queen of their own raising, a worker is found to have the power of egg-laying. This is thought to result from the bees hatched near queen cells having, when in their larval state, received a share of the queen jelly, as the food administered to the queen is termed; but whatever may be the cause of so extraordinary a change in their functions, they are useless for the reproduction of species, as the eggs they lay only produce drones. The presence of a fertile worker in a hive may be detected by the irregular manner in which she deposits her eggs in the cells, and also by the fact that the cap- pings of the worker cells will be found to project when the bees begin sealing over the grubs which will pro- duce drones. A stock may be freed from a fertile worker by taking the hive some distance away from the site it occupies, and then shaking all the bees from the combs. Ina queenless hive all bees, except the fertile workers, fly daily. Therefore, when they are shaken from the frames, they will return to their old site, while the fertile worker will be rendered homeless and meet with her fate if she attempts to enter any other hive. CHAPTER IV. NATURAL INCREASE. Eaa-PRoDuctTIon. Ir a strong colony be examined early in the new year the centre combs will be found to contain small patches of brood. These are extended as the season advances, provided there is an ample supply of food, until by the time of the honey-flow the queen is laying over two thousand eggs daily. The first eggs of the season are deposited in the small horizontal cells, and, after being exposed to the heat of the hive, they hatch in three days, a small white grub appearing. The grubs are then fed by the nurse bees, with a food composed of honey and pollen, for five days, by which time they will have increased in size to such an extent that they almost fill the cells. The bees then cover the mouths of the cells with a capping, differing from that placed over honey in that it is not air-tight. Behind the capping the grub is gradually transformed into the perfect insect, which eats its way out of the cell in about thirteen days, or twenty-one days in all from the laying of the egg. The queen continues to deposit eggs in the worker cells until the hive is becoming crowded with worker bees, 29 30 PLEASURABLE BEE-KEEPING. then eggs —unfertilised —are placed in the larger horizontal or drone cells from which issue drones in twenty-five days. Later on, as the population of the hive gradually increases, and there is no more room for workers or drones, cells shaped somewhat like an acorn are built on the lower edges of the combs, and in these the queen deposits eggs exactly like those placed in the worker cells; but in consequence of the grub being supplied with a food richer in the nitrogenous element contained in pollen, and greater in quantity than that supplied to the worker grubs, and also because the cell gives more space for full development of the organs, in sixteen days a perfect queen issues. SWARMING. When, for want of room, the bees form queen cells it will not be many days before a part of the population of the hive leaves for a new home. This exodus is known as swarming, and it usually takes place as soon as the new queen cells are sealed over. When the bees leave the hive they are accompanied by the queen, and they fly about in the air until some begin to settle on the branch of a tree or elsewhere. In a very short time a large cluster is formed, which should be dis- lodged and placed where it is to stand for the rest of the season. Hiving the swarm is not a difficult operation, unless the bees, instead of forming, as they usually do, a large pear-shaped cluster hanging from the branch of a tree, spread themselves round the trunk, or choose some other place from which they cannot easily be NATURAL INCREASE. 31 transferred into the skep. Presuming that the swarm is hanging from the branch of a tree, a skep should be held in the left hand under the cluster, while the right hand is used to shake the branch sharply and thus cause all or the bulk of the bees to fall into the skep. Many bees will doubtless fly about in the air, but the skep must at once be turned over gently, and placed either on the ground, if the bees clustered on a low branch, or on a table, if higher on the tree. Under one side of the skep must then be placed a stone or brick to give access for the bees flying about, and also for ventilation, which will be much needed, as the temperature of the cluster is very high during the com- motion which ensues. The queen must be secured in the skep, otherwise the bees will return to the branch. When the bees cluster round the hive and some form themselves into lines at the entrance fanning with their wings we may conclude that the queen is safe inside. Should the bees desert the skep and return to the tree the operation must be repeated. There may still be several bees flying about the spot and settling on the branch. This is because of the scent left behind. As soon, therefore, as the swarm is hived, that part of the tree upon which the bees settled should be well syringed with water ; or a few handfuls of soil should be thrown over it to destroy the scent. As soon as the swarm has been safely hived the skep should be moved carefully to its stand, there to remain unless it is to tenant an ‘“‘Ivo” or movable-comb hive. In either case re-hiving had better be deferred until evening, as swarms when much disturbed during a 32 PLEASURABLE BEE-KEEPING. hot day occasionally take flight and may be lost to the bee-keeper. In hiving swarms it is of the utmost importance that the skep should not be left in the rays of the sun, or the great heat may cause the bees to leave their temporary home. If the swarm must remain for some time where it has been hived, and cannot be placed in the shade, a white sheet should be thrown over the skep, except on the shady side where the bees enter. It is also advisable, supposing the swarm to settle half a mile, more or less, away from the apiary, to bring it home as soon as the bees have become settled in the skep; for as soon as clustering is completed the bees will be busy for the rest of the day, going to and fro in search of nectar, and the following morning after their first journey to the fields they will return to the spot they had become accustomed to the previous day. If, however, the hive had been taken home the previous night many bees would be lost; and the loss might be great, in case a storm came on while they were clustering on the ground, where the skep had been placed the day before. Casts. “ A swarm of bees in May Is worth a load of hay: A swarm of bees in June Is worth a silver spoon ; A swarm of bees in July Is not worth a fly.” The above familiar rhyme will be admitted by most NATURAL INCREASE. 383 bee-keepers to be near the truth, so far as the first two lines are concerned; but the other lines convey information that is far from correct, for casts or after- swarms may be and often are of great value. In the first place they are headed by a young queen, which is a matter of prime importance, and, if the bees are fairly numerous, a fair amount of surplus may be gathered during the honey-flow. After a swarm has issued from a stock the latter is queenless for eight days, at the end of which period the young queens commence to issue from their cells. The first to appear will endeavour to reach the cells containing the other queens for the purpose of killing them ; if prevented she makes a peculiar noise, which may often be heard by the bee-keeper. This ‘‘ peep, peep,” heard on the evening of the eighth day, has long been taken as an almost sure sign that on the morrow a second swarm or cast will issue. The issue of a cast may be confidently expected from a strong stock that has lost with the swarm a vigorous laying queen, for during the eight days following the issue of the swarm, two thousand or more bees will have been hatching daily, and therefore only bad weather would stop a cast. Though only one queen is found in a swarm, casts frequently contain several that have escaped during the excitement of swarming. In the evening only one queen will be left as the result of several battles. CoNTROLLING SWARMING. To a bee-keeper swarming is a charming sight, 3 34 PLEASURABLE BEE-KEEPING. though the issue of a swarm from a particular stock may cause annoyance. It is safe to say that, as a rule, swarming means the loss of much honey, for the bees are lazy for some days previous to the issue of a swarm. This is not their fault, for they only prepare for swarming when they are in want of room, and all this laziness comes at a time when the work of every bee is required in the storing of surplus. Swarming may be controlled, but not entirely pre- vented. Seeing that want of room is invariably the cause of swarms issuing, space for the storing of surplus in advance of requirements must be given. Occasionally, in spite of supers, swarms issue; but why seems to be a decided puzzle to the novice. After supers are placed on the hives, and the bees have commenced work therein, it will, in the majority of cases, be continued unless there is, owing to drought, a seriously diminished income, or dull, cold, and wet weather has driven the bees from the supers to the brood chamber. In both cases, but more particularly the latter, the crowding of the hees in the brood chamber causes the formation of queen cells, and, though a change may take place in the weather favourable to the secretion of nectar, a swarm is almost sure to issue as soon as the queen cells are sealed over. s Cutting out all queen cells but one is a means of preventing swarming often advocated; but it is much better to give that attention to the brood nest which will tend to prevent the formation of queen cells. As soon as the bees are driven from the supers to the brood chamber by a change of weather, more room NATURAL INCREASE. 35 in the shape of empty cells must be given by removing the outside combs and placing frames containing full sheets of foundation in the centre of the hive. The supers may be returned, as they will have the effect of keeping down the temperature, and will also be accessible to the bees immediately the gathering of surplus again takes place. Nadiring, that is, placing the extra chamber below the brood chamber, will invariably prevent the pre- parations for swarming, but the brood combs will then be used as receptacles for the surplus honey to a greater extent than is advisable. During the honey- flow, providing there is a continuance of fine weather, storing will go on uninterruptedly, consequently addi- tional supers after the first must be given. Each extra super should be placed between that or those already on and the brood chamber, so that the honey may be ripened in the new combs and then carried above to complete the upper super or supers. CHAPTER V. RACES OF BEES. As the development of bee-culture progressed, the most advanced or the most expert bee-masters looked around for a means of improving the native English black, or, as it is commonly called, the German brown bee. To this end stocks, swarms, and queens have for a great number of years been imported from various parts of the European continent and the shores of the Mediterranean Sea. That in and in breeding causes the deterioration of stock is well known, and it is equally true that unless fresh blood be introduced from districts beyond bee-flight, so as to avoid the evils of consanguineous intercourse, an enfeebled race of bees is inevitable. Imported bees may be divided into two kinds, the yellow-banded (Ligurian, Cyprian, Syrian, and Holy- land), and the stlver-banded (Carniolans). THe Ligurian. The first foreign bees to attract the notice of English bee-keepers were the Ligurian (Apis Ligustica), or 86 RACES OF BEES. 37 Italian Alp bees, which show the three upper bands of the abdomen a bright yellow. This peculiarity, though generally found to exist, is subject to variation, and occasionally Ligurians are inclined to be leather- coloured. This may be, and most probably is, due to crossing with bees that do not show the yellow bands. The first Ligurians to reach these shores were two queens sent by Mr. Hermann, a Swiss bee-keeper, one to Mr. T. W. Woodbury, and the other to Mr. A. Neighbour, on August 3rd, 1859. From that time queens and swarms, particularly the former, have been imported annually. Whether the object, improvement of the native bee, has, by the introduction of these bees, thereby been attained, is a point upon which opinions vary, many deciding in the affirmative, though some bee- keepers maintain that the only effect perceptible. has been to increase the irritability of the native bees. This is a charge that in varying degree may be laid upon any race introduced, as the crossing of races may, and undoubtedly does, result in many instances in the stinging capability of the bee being increased, though at the same time it has frequently been noted that the worst stingers have almost invariably been the best workers. The testimony of many famous bee-keepers, among whom may be mentioned the late Rev. G. Raynor and Mr. T. W. Cowan, is decidedly in favour of this race, not only on account of the advantages resulting from crossing with the native bee, but chiefly on account of its ability to gather honey from flowers from which the 38 PLEASURABLE BEE-KEEPING. native bee, owing to its having a shorter tongue than the Ligurian, cannot extract the coveted nectar. Ligurians are very prolific and have had a great influence on the native bee wherever introduced. They are superior to the natives when stocks are being worked for extracted honey, but when storing in sections the capping is too close upon the honey, and consequently the comb has a dark and damp appear- ance. CYPRIANS. These handsome bees were first introduced into this country, and the continent of Europe generally, in 1880 by Mr. Frank Benton, who wrote of them as follows :—‘‘ They are smaller and more active than the Ligurians, and exceedingly prolific, and excellent honey-gatherers. A stock of Cyprians belonging to Mr. B. F. Carroll, Dresden, Texas, in 1885 is said to have gathered that season 1,000 lbs. of honey.” Mr. Benton afterwards wrote, ‘‘ Cyprians are the bees for the skilled specialist.” My experience of this race is sufficient to enable me to warn hbee-keepers against introducing into their apiaries the. most beautiful but at the same time the most irritable of all races of bees. At times, when bee-keepers have visited my apiary, I have exhibited pure Cyprians without veil or intimidant, but on other occasions it was apparently sufficient to show one’s self in the garden to have a warm reception from the Cyprian or Cyprian hybrids. This, therefore, is a race that bee-keepers will do well to let severely alone. RACES OF BEES. 89 The Holylands are found in the Holy Land—hence their name; while the home of the Syrians is further north. Of these bees it may be said that they are somewhat like the Cyprians, and equally to he avoided. At the time of their introduction to the Western parts of the continent, much was said in regard to their wonderful powers, and much was proved both for and against them. The late Mr. C. N. Abbott, soon after the introduction of these races, recorded a profit from a cross-bred colony of Syrians of £20 in one season. Their bad qualities, however, showed up so abundantly that the Messrs. Abbott Brothers announced subsequently that they had swept their apiary clear of such truculent pests. It is very rarely that these races from the extreme east of the Mediter- ranean are now met with, or even heard of, bee-keepers of experience being satisfied with the native bee, the Ligurian, or the Carniolan. CARNIOLANS. These have been called the ladies’ bees from the fact that compared with other bees they are much less dis- posed to sting during manipulations. Mr. E. Cori, of Bruz, Bohemia, first made known the desirable quali- ties of these bees to Europeans. Mr. F. Benton, who has perhaps had as much experience of this race as any bee-keeper in Europe, remarks that they may be considered a variety of our own black or German bee. Its home is in Carniola, a province in South Illyria, S.W. Austria. Mr, A. Neighbour was the pioneer 40 PLEASURABLE BEE-KEEPING. in their introduction to this country; but, though the queens are extremely prolific, and the bees good honey- gatherers, they exhibit a most undesirable quality in being prone to excessive swarming. As desirable qualities may with care be propagated, the undesirable can, of course, in time be eliminated. In filling and sealing sections the Carniolans have no _ rivals. Judicious crossing with these bees cannot but be productive of good results, though stocks showing the least inclination to swarm, and possessing other desirable qualities, should always be selected for breeding. CHAPTER VI. SUBDUING AND HANDLING BEES. Bess have a means of defence which they bring into instantaneous use when provoked, and it is therefore wise that a bee-keeper should become acquainted with the peculiarities of bees, their likes and dislikes, and thus be able to manage them with ease while reducing stinging to a minimum. There are frequently indi- vidual stocks that show a great propensity for stinging at all times when they are approached; but if such be the case the remedy is clear. The queen must be removed and another introduced, bred in a colony the bees of which are amiable while showing other desir- able characteristics. In country districts many an old bee-keeper is looked upon by his neighbours as a great wonder, inasmuch as he goes uncovered amongst his bees and hives swarms without being stung. The ease with which bees are handled at such times is due to the fact that they are bent upon the object of clustering, preparatory to moving off with their queen to anew home. If hiving takes place as soon as the bees have clustered, or hang in a pear-shaped mass from the branch of a tree, or elsewhere, it is seldom 41 42 PLEASURABLE BEE-KEEPING. that a bee will sting, particularly if they are not roughly handled or crushed. When bees leave the hive as a swarm, they have a two or three days’ supply of food on which to exist, and also to use in the formation of wax with which to build combs in their new home. As it is known that bees are most easily managed at swarming time, and during the honey-flow, it follows that we must endeavour to put them into a similar quiet and apparently contented condition whenever the examination of a colony is deemed necessary. The first step to this end is frightening the bees. This no doubt sounds odd, but it is none the less true; and we find that when bees are frightened they rush to the honey cells and commence gorging themselves with honey. It is when the bees are thus engaged that the examination of the combs may take place. An occasional puff of smoke along the tops of the frames will quiet any bees that show signs of attacking the manipulator. In all operations carried on in the apiary, confidence is essential to success. Without it, jerky movements and clumsy manipulations must occur to irritate the bees. INTIMIDANTS. The commonest method adopted to frighten the bees is by introducing into the hive smoke, produced by burning brown paper, fustian, touchwood, or anything that will smoulder. The bee-keeper who indulges in the fragrant weed has at all times a powerful intimi- dant. Those who cannot, or do not, use a pipe, must SUBDUING AND HANDLING BEES. 48 invest in a smoker, the price of which ranges from 4s. 6d. to 10s. 6d. The Bingham pattern smoker, as shown in use above, is convenient and very generally used. It consists of a barrel, open at the top to receive fuel, and has a small hole near the bottom, into which a draught is blown by the bellows to which this barrel is attached. A piece of coarse brown paper loosely rolled, and occa- Fia, 5. sionally doubled back in the rolling, will furnish a capital fuel. The lighted end of the paper or other fuel must be put first into the barrel, otherwise the draught will put out the fire, as has often occurred when the lighted end has been put in last. To keep the smoker alight stand it in a vertical position with the funnel acting as a chimney, and when no longer required in a horizontal position. 44 PLEASURABLE BEE-KEEPING. The ‘‘ Hill” smoker lately invented is thus described : “The fire-box is three inches in diameter, and when full of good hard chips or bark affords as much fire and smoke as any one can desire. The bottom of the fire-box is solid, not perforated like a grate. The vent is through holes in the side, consequently the bottom holds the ashes, which aid in keeping the smoker alight for a long time when notin use. Its greatest convenience is the ease and readiness with which one can build a fire in it, on account of the ample vent at the bottom. Light a match, stand it up inside the Fie. 6. fire-box, drop in a few shavings, making them coarse as the fire increases, and finally top with hardwood. Work the bellows and you have a fire before you can read these directions.” In some apiaries it has been found possible to dis- card smoke altogether since Mr. Webster introduced a means, always at hand, of producing an effective inti- midant. The barrel of a smoker (Fig. 6) is made the receptacle for a sponge that has been saturated in a carbolic solution, the recipe for which has not been divulged; but a bottle of the preparation can be purchased for a few pence and lasts some months, SUBDUING AND HANDLING BEES. 45 The carbolic spray, as first used and advised by Mr. Howard, is produced by a special atomiser (Fig. 7) which throws a very fine spray of dilute carbolic acid. By a special arrangement it is continuous in action, and the spray subdues the bees instantly. The solu- tion is prepared by mixing one part of Calvert’s No. 5 carbolic acid with twenty parts of water. Carbolic cloth. The use of carbolic acid as an intimidant was introduced by the late Rev. G. Raynor, who, for a number of years, used in his apiary only carbolic acid and the carbolic solution during manipula- tions. He was one of the gentlest of bee-masters, and in this respect his example might be more generally copied. His invariable practice, when opening & hive, was to dip a feather into the acid and smear the tops of the frames as he removed the quilts. The bees at once retreated and manipulations were pro- ceeded with. 46 PLEASURABLE BEE-KEEPING. For removing supers a solution prepared according to the following recipe was placed in a basin. A cloth saturated with the solution, and then wrung tightly, was placed upon the frames as the quilts were removed. In a few minutes most of the bees would have gone below, leaving the super ready for removal. If, on being removed, any bees are found among the combs, they will quickly leave, provided that the super is placed on end, and the cloth is so hung that the breeze can blow through and carry the fumes among the frames. Recipe:—1} oz. glycerine, 14 oz. Calvert’s No. 5 carbolic acid, 1 quart of warm water. The glycerine and acid must first be mixed and then the water added. The above quantities of glycerine and acid placed in a three-gill (ordinary wine or spirit) bottle, will, with water added to fill the bottle, make a most effective solution. The glycerine may be omitted, but in that case the bottle must be well shaken, or a solution will not be formed. Brsg-VEIL. The novice in bee-culture will in all probability commence active operations in fear and trembling, and may feel inclined to protect himself with veil and gloves. Though gloves of various materials are some times recommended, and often used, the practice of covering the hands is strongly deprecated, for as soon as clumsy handling and the consequent jarring of the combs in replacing them in the hive, irritate the bees, stinging commences. The odour then arising from the SUBDUING AND HANDLING BEES. 47 poison ejected by the sting has a most exasperating effect on the colony, and scores or even hundreds of stings may be sheathed in the gloves or other parts of the clothing not capable of being withdrawn by the bees, thus causing a needless loss of bee life. The timid bee-keeper may, however, rub his hands with Grimshaw’s apifuge, which, according to the testi- mony of many who have tried it, has a wonderful effect on irritated bees, in that they decline to sting the part over which this charm has been rubbed. While there is a strong objection to the use of gloves, there can be none to the use of a bee-veil made of light material, to protect the face. Some bee-keepers neglect even this precaution, the time and manner of their manipulations rendering such protection unnecessary. Asa rule a veil should be worn. In fact, the work, whatever it may be, to be per- formed with an open hive, will generally proceed in a more satis- factory manner from the consciousness that the face is protected. Cumbersome dresses should be avoided ; a veil of white mosquito net with black silk net front being all that is necessary. Such a veil with an elastic band running through a slot at the top, fits easily round the hat, while the lower part is tucked under the coat, the projecting rim of the hat keeping the veil at a convenient distance from the face, as in Fig. 8. 48 PLEASURABLE BEE-KEEPING. Hanpuine Bzzs. Frequenters at agricultural and other shows, where the bee-tent is erected, in which to exhibit and give an explanation of the best methods of bee-manage- ment, will know how simple a matter it is literally to handle the driven bees and scoop them up with the hands, like so many currants. It is seldom, however, that the actual handling of bees will be needful, while the moving of frames of one hive or another may be of frequent occurrence. In approaching a hive, attention must first be directed to those bees on guard at the entrance, which a slight puff of smoke will drive into the hive, and also have the effect of preparing the colony for manipulation. The roof and lift must next be removed, the latter in order that the frames may be moved with greater ease. The operator should stand on one side of the hive, with the entrance at his left hand, or at the back, if the frames run parallel with the front of the hive. When the quilts are rolled back a puff of smoke should be driven across the tops of the frames, but it is not advisable to expose all the frames unless a thorough examination is to be made. When the quilts are removed there will be, as a matter of course, a draught through the brood nest. This may be pre- vented by turning the ‘‘ Ivo” entrance block, so as to close the entrance, or otherwise block it up. The bees returning from the fields will crowd at the place of ingress, but, as the hive should be open for a very short time, they may remain there until the quilts are replaced, and the entrance is again opened. SUBDUING AND HANDLING BEES. 49 The judicious use of smoke or other intimidant, for manipulations at a well-chosen time, and the quick but gentle handling of combs will usually ensure the operator escaping without a sting. The proper time for opening a hive, is when the bees are returning home from the fields with a merry contented hum ; and never, if it can be avoided, in cold, stormy weather, or immediately after a storm. Whenever the hand is stung draw it gently away, at the same time giving the bees and the hand stung a puff of smoke. Then push out the sting with the finger-nail, or rub it out by passing the hand across the clothes, and give a little more smoke to destroy the scent of the poison. 0090 ‘000 O00. - oo e000c000000G 000000000090 00000006000 Fie. 44. Most bee-keepers prefer two-way sections, and plain thin wood separators, also of American manufacture. Whatever kind is used must be placed close up to the sections. Between the last separator and the end of 126 PLEASURABLE BEE-KEEPING. the crate a spring is inserted to keep the sections in position. This is very necessary, for if held loosely and vacant spaces are left, the bees will find a place for propolis, to the subsequent annoyance of the bee- keeper. The crate being now ready, the quilts are removed from the frames in the brood-chamber, and itis placed in position. The sections rest upon 4-inch laths running from end to end of the crate, but between the top bars of the frames in the brood-chamber there Fic. 45, isa space of }inch. In the extra space thus given the bees invariably build combs to the bottoms of the sections, already alluded to as brace-combs, which, when the crate is removed, are difficult to break, and the bees are consequently greatly irritated by the unavoidable jar. There is, however, a much more important drawback. The sections to which the brace-combs are attached will almost certainly be damaged, and often thereby rendered unfit for sale. All this trouble may be avoided by using a wider HONEY PRODUCTION. 127 top bar to the brood-frames, leaving a space of + inch only, or by using an adapting board (Fig. 45). This board is 14 inches x 163 inches. On the underside there is a rim } inch in depth, which raises the board that distance above the frames. Running nearly from end to end are six holes + inch wide, two beneath each row of sections. There is then only a space of 2 inch under the sections which the bees respect, and brace-combs are avoided. The adapting board is placed upon the frames in the brood-chamber at the beginning of the honey-flow, when the first crate is given, and need not be removed until all supering operations are at an end. Under the board will then be found the brace-combs that would otherwise have been attached to the sections. The boon such a device is to the producer of sec- tions cannot be fully appreciated until it is seen with what ease crates are raised or removed without irritation to the colony. It is not too much to say that the prising off of crates with chisels, &c., has had much to do with the apparent natural irritability of many a stock of bees. Gentleness in every opera- tion is much to be desired, and the use of this board will be one means to that end. Queen-excluders are not required when sectional supers are used. This is the case, particularly when the brood-chamber has been properly manipulated, and the combs are not allowed to become clogged with honey before the super is in place. Full sheets of worker foundation also act as a deterrent to the queen entering the sections. If starters only are given above a badly arranged brood-chamber, drone 128 PLEASURABLE BEE-KEEPING. comb is built in sections, and the queen will frequently leave her own domain to deposit eggs therein. Sections are also placed in wide frames instead of crates, and were used and recommended many years ago by Messrs. Abbott and Cheshire, but of late they have been heard little of. Quite recently a crate of ; wide frames or section hangers, introduced by Mr. W. Broughton Carr, has sprung into favour. These hangers are cut to receive three sections. Separators are then fixed to one side, and the whole set is then held tightly by a spring, forced between the last hanger and the crate end. Pr CHAPTER XI. BEE-ESCAPES AND SUPER-CLEARING. It is generally remarked that one difficulty is no sooner overcome than another is presented for solu- tion. If we take the preparation and filling of supers as a difficulty overcome, we are soon brought face to face with another, viz., how to take from supers their contents when full, seeing that the stores are so safely guarded by the bees. An old practice, when the super happened to be a skep, was to shake out the bees while walking round the garden, but frequently the tender combs gave way and followed the bees. At other times a favoured plan was to place the full super in an out-house, and leave the door slightly ajar. As long as the place remained perfectly dark, except for this slight opening the bees would leave without difficulty. At the present time these and other difficult and troublesome methods of ridding supers of bees have already been, or shortly will be, superseded by simpler and more satisfactory methods. Some years ago, on his return from a visit to bee- keepers in the East, Mr. T. B. Blow illustrated and described in the British Bee Journal a box, on the top 9 129 130 PLEASURABLE BEE-KEEPING. of which was fixed, over a small hole, a perforated zine or wire tube. The super to be cleared was placed in the box from which the bees left by the tube and did not return. In 1890 a modified forin of this device was advised by Mr. Harbordt for fixing over the ventilation hole in the roof, as a means of exit for the bees, and now the cone is greatly valued as ameans of ridding supers of bees. It is equally effective whether used on a box or over the ventilating hole in the roof of the hive. When a box is used a hole is needed in the lid about ee all Fig. 47. a 6 inches in diameter, and another in the side about 1 inch in diameter. Over the latter the cone is tacked with small nails. This cone, made of finely perforated zinc, is 34 inches long, 2 inches wide at one end, and 4 inch at the other. The super to be cleared of bees is then placed over the hole in the lid, and if the bee- keeper will see that no bees can leave except by passing down into the box, and thence out by the cone, no anxiety need be felt as to the result. In a very short time all the bees will have left by the exit provided, and have returned to their own hive. BEE-ESCAPES AND SUPER-CLEARING. 181 An ‘‘ Ivo,” or other super, may be cleared in the following manner. First, fix over one of the ventilat- ing holes in the roof of the hive, a cone, and then after administering a little smoke to the bees, raise the super with as little disturbance as possible, and place under it a cloth, or sheet of paper; anything in fact that will cut off the communication between the brood-chamber and the super, or between the topmost and next lower super, if more than one are on the hive. Draw back the quilts that remain upon the super and replace the roof. As soon as the bees find that they are cut off from the brood-chamber, they will leave the super, attracted by light which will then be coming in through the perforated zine cone. This is a quick and thoroughly satisfactory method of clearing supers of bees, but as all roofs are not bee- proof, they must be made so, otherwise the bees will leave by other exits than the cone, and, if they do, so surely, if the super is left on long enough, will they return and carry off the honey. Pin Trap. One of the earliest mechanical contrivances to act as a super clearer was the Cheshire pin trap, the holes in which may be made either on a separate piece of wood to fix on a box side, as made by Mr. Clutten, or they may be made in one side of a box, if it is fixed at a small angle. The trap may be constructed accord- ing to the following directions given by Mr. Cheshire in his work ‘‘ Bees and Bee-keeping.” Over a large opening in the box is placed a thin piece, slanting at an angle of about 45° to the horizon ; in this are made 1382 PLEASURABLE BEE-KEEPING. clean holes 4+ inch in diameter. Four rather small pins are driven in, two above and two below each opening, each pair so close together that a fifth pin can lie between the two pairs, exactly across the centre of the hole, while its head cannot slip between the other two. Instead of using two pins above the hole I prefer a pin deprived of its head and driven in somewhat like a bell-hanger’s staple, to suspend the centre pin running across the opening. Three or four of these will be sufficient. The bees coming to the light, press up the pin which crosses the hole; it freely rises, and gives the exit, while entry, as it falls back into position, is effectually barred. Hither of these methods can be used with supers containing combs from which the honey is to be drained or extracted; but sectional supers require more care in removal, because the bees, after being disturbed and before leaving the super, will perforate the cappings of the cells in order to obtain honey, as they invariably do, when disturbed. Sections or other comb honey for exhibition would thus be spoilt. A more satisfactory appliance for this purpose is the Webster clearer, designed by Mr. W. B. Webster. It also is a cone clearer, but the cones of wire cloth are fixed beneath a board exactly underneath a hole through which the bees must pass to get to the lower compartments. The board is raised + inch by a ledge running round on the under side. The clearer should be placed under the super without in the least disturb- ing the bees in their work, if possible, then they will pass down through the cones leaving the cappings of the combs in the super untouched. BEE-ESCAPES AND SUPER-CLEARING. 183 The Porter escape (Fig. 48) is very ingenious and perfect in action. It is an oblong tin case open at one end. Above this is fixed a tin cover, with a hole in the end away from the opening in Fie. 48. the case below, and being extended beyond the sides of the case forms a flange all round, resting upon the sides of a hole cut in the board to receive the oblong case. When this board (Fig. 49) is placed below the super, which it is made to fit, the bees leave by the circular hole shown in the illustra- tion, but they can only leave the small case below by pressing against two fine brass springs. As soon as a bee has passed through, the springs return to their former position and prevent bees passing upwards. It is best to move supers bodily, but when long hives are used the back frames will be used as honey recep- 134 PLEASURABLE BEE-KEEPING. tacles. Hach frame from which the honey is to be extracted must in such cases be lifted out separately, so that the adhering bees may be returned by a sharp jerk of the frame. Any bees not detached may then be dislodged by a wing or feather, or the Yucca brush. REMOVING SECTIONS. From a section crate the honey must, as has already been pointed out, be removed carefully to avoid damag- ing the comb. If the crates have been placed upon an adapting board, and removed before much propolis has been used, there will not be much difficulty in getting the sections out without damage. Their removal will be rendered easier if the laths, upon which they rest, have been slightly rubbed over with a little vaseline before putting in the sections. Itis certain that there will, at times, be some sections not properly finished. These ought to be placed together and given to a stock requiring more super room, or to any other stock likely to complete the work. CHAPTER XII. QUEEN RAISING AND INTRODUCING. THE heading of colonies with young, and consequently vigorous laying queens, is of great importance, hence the necessity for rules to guide in the rearing and introducing of queens to stocks that have lost their queens, or have queens of inferior quality. It does not follow that, though queens are of little use to an advanced bee-keeper after their second season, they must be removed from every stock which has not sent out a swarm for two successive seasons, because bees undoubtedly raise queens to supersede those failing in their power of egg-laying. A few years ago a bee-keeper, owning a large apiary, noticed during the manipulations of a particular colony that there were newly-formed queen cells in the hive, though at the same time the queen was laying. This circumstance would have received little notice, but for the fact that it was not near swarming time, and the colony was evidently not preparing for swarming. The progress of events was carefully watched, and during a subsequent examination a young queen was found on the combs, whilst the old queen was also 135 136 PLEASURABLE BHE-KEHEPING. still laying. In afew days the virgin queen left the hive on her wedding trip, and, the object of her visit having been obtained, she entered the hive and killed the old queen. This instance proving, if proof were necessary, that stocks do requeen themselves, is given to show the necessity for removing any queen known to be of inferior quality. A young queen may be easily recognised by her downy appearance, but the appearance of a queen must not alone be the guide as to whether or not she is to be superseded. Work in the form of egg-laying is what we require in a queen ; therefore it is the manner in which she lays that must decide her fate. It is impossible to say what quantity of brood should be in a hive at any particular date, for seasons vary. The earlier the season the more forward will be a good stock. It is, therefore, chiefly by comparison that the merits of queens must be decided. When a stock, apparently equal to others in the apiary in point of numbers and amount of stored food, shows a small amount of brood while others are in this respect fairly equal, the con- clusion we may fairly come to is that the queen in question is not worth keeping, and consequently must be replaced by one of better quality. In some well- managed apiaries it is rarely that a queen is allowed to remain at the head of a colony beyond her second season, as she is, from a bee-keeper’s standpoint, worn out or has reached that stage in her existence when to keep her means a lowering of the profit obtainable from that particular stock. These remarks will doubtless be sufficient to emphasise the necessity for keeping a strict account QUEEN RAISING AND INTRODUCING, 187 of the age of every queen. It is not a difficult matter for a cottager to know the ages of his queens, for a stock out of which a swarm issued, say in 1894, will have a queen of good quality in 1895, one that may be expected to do good work that season and probably equally so in 1896, because, being provided with brood-chambers of limited capacity, queens heading stocks in skeps do remain profitable longer than those whose energies are directed to filling with eggs, the combs of an extensive brood-nest such as is found in a bar-frame hive. In case the idea should be entertained that no harm can result from stocks requeening themselves, it is well to state that every effort should be directed to obtaining and keeping in each colony only queens exhibiting the most desirable qualities. This cannot always result if requeening is left to the bees, for when the necessity for superseding a queen arises the stock will, in all probability, be thin in numbers; and as the nurse bees play an important part in the rearing of bees, it is best to ensure the raising of queens in full colonies. QuEEN RalsiINe. Movable combs render the operations of queen raising and introducing comparatively easy. Having selected the stock from which it is desired to raise queens, remove the queen about noon on a warm day, when most of the old bees are out foraging. By giving very little smoke the bees will not be dis- turbed, and the queen will most likely be found at 138 PLEASURABLE BEE-KEEPING. work on one of the centre combs. If a queen of good quality she must not be sacrificed, but given to another stock known to possess a poor queen. When the bees in the queenless stock find out their loss, they commence the formation of queen cells around some of the cells containing worker eggs or grubs that have just emerged from such eggs. To ensure the best results queen raisers prevent queen cells being formed over grubs a few days old, ag queens so produced are not of the best quality. Ten days after the removal of the queen the queen cells will be sealed over and ready for removal to other colonies from which we take the inferior queens. The day before it is decided to remove the queen cells all hives to which queen cells are to be given should be deprived of their queens; but in order to ensure that no stocks are left queenless at the close of the season, these queens, or the best of them, should be placed in nuclei until the stocks from which they are taken have fertile queens. There should be as many queenless colonies as there are well-shaped queen cells to spare. The day following each queen cell should be cut out carefully with a little comb attached, and one placed between the centre combs in each queenless hive. The comb attached to the cell will prevent it falling down, and a gentle pressure on the comb will fix it to the bar. Lay the quilts lightly over the frames and make no further examination until the sixteenth day from the removal of the first queen. Then examine all the queen cells, and if a well-shaped hole has been made at the mouth of the cell the queen has hatched QUEEN RAISING AND INTRODUCING. 139 out properly, and an examination of the combs need not, in fact, should not, take place for another week, by which time some, if not all, the queens may have been on their wedding flight and be found laying. As soon as it is ascertained that a queen cell has failed or been destroyed, one of the queens reserved must be introduced, and the others not required may be destroyed. Instead of killing the queens two or three nuclei may be united to form one colony, the queens being allowed to settle the question as to which shall remain alive. If more stocks are not required by the uniting of nuclei, a nucleus colony may be united to each hive near which it has been standing. REQUEENING SKEPS. Swarming will be the best method of requeening stocks in skeps or other fixed-comb hives, as the old queen always leaves with the first swarm. The queen that, later on in the season, is found laying will therefore be a young one, and of the same age and quality as queens accompany after-swarms or casts. It is not an unusual occurrence for three or more swarms to issue from a good stock. The hives into which all but the first are placed should be marked with the figure 1, to show that the queen is in her first season. The hive into which the first swarm is placed must be marked 2 or 3, according as to whether or not she issued with a swarm the previous year. At the end of the season bees taken from condemned stocks should be used for strengthening weak ones 140 PLEASURABLE BEE-KEEPING. and giving new queens. When bees are added for the purpose of requeening, the bees of the stock must first be driven and the queen captured. The two lots can then be united according to the directions given for uniting. QUEEN INTRODUCTION. If for any reason it is desirable to introduce a queen to a colony of bees, certain precautions are necessary, otherwise the stranger will be at once killed by the bees of the stock to which she is introduced. Bees apparently distinguish one another to some extent, if not entirely, by scent, and it is very amusing to see how a well-dusted bee flying home from the artificial pollen box is received by the guards. It is not an unusual occurrence for such a bee to be refused admission to the home from which she so recently issued to find and bring home food for the colony. Each colony has a distinctive odour, but how it emanates is not clear. Any bee-keeper of experience will know that after handling a queen the bees of that colony will cluster upon the spot where she has been, and behave in a manner that appears to betoken pleasure on scenting the queen. In order, therefore, to introduce an alien queen successfully, we must adopt a means of giving the queen an opportunity to form an acquaintance with the bees, and acquire the scent peculiar to the hive before being liberated ; or steps must be taken to deprive her of the scent, to some extent, peculiar to the stock from which she has been taken. The first object is attained by imprisoning the QUEEN RAISING AND INTRODUCING. 141 queen on or between the combs of a colony that has lost its queen, or by her removal has been rendered queenless. The simplest form of cage is known as the pipe-cover cage (Fig. 50), a small cylinder of tin covered with fine-woven wire. The queen should be taken alone and placed in the cage, which should be standing upon a piece of thin wood or cardboard. It should then be laid upon a part of the comb where the cells contain unsealed honey. After withdrawing the cardboard the cage is pressed down into the comb, and there the queen remains confined for twenty-four hours or more, when an examination of the hive should be made. Very little smoke should be administered to the colony, as the cage is to be raised and the behaviour of the bees to the liberated queen noticed. Sometimes they will seize and ball her, that is, so surround her that they form a ball of bees. If she is not at once liberated by gently smoking the cluster, shé will be crippled or killed. After such a reception the queen must be re-caged until the bees receive her kindly. Queens received from queen raisers at home or abroad are usually sent in a small travelling cage (Fig. 51), accompanied by a few workers to prevent the 142 PLEASURABLE BEE-KEEPING. lowering of the temperature, which would impair, if not destroy, the value of the queen. To liberate the queen take the cage into a room and remove the lid. The bees will at once commence a general buzz and creep over the sides of the cage. The queen must be looked for and allowed to run into a small match- box. This receptacle is suggested because it is always at hand, and in it the queen may remain for a few minutes without harm. The box may then be put into the trousers or waist- coat pocket for warmth until introduction takes place. Other cages to let down between the combs are also used. The queen is put into this—the Raynor pattern cage (Fig. 52)—at the top, and when liberated, by pressing a wire which opens the lower part of the cage, it is without disturbing the colony. The Abbott cage is very similar, but the queen is liberated by withdrawing a wire from the side of the cage. Fic, 52. Mr. Howard, in using a cage of this pattern, recommends discarding wires and spring doors. The lower end of the cage is open, and closed after introducing the queen by filling the lower part with Good’s candy. The queen would then be liberated as soon as the candy had been consumed between the bees and the queen. This method is said to be uniformly successful. Direct Intropvuction. Several years ago Mr. §. Simmins promulgated a QUEEN RAISING AND INTRODUCING. 148 system of direct introduction, which he had proved in practice to be not only safe but speedy. So confident was he of the success of this method that in supplying queens to customers he guaranteed successful intro- duction, if the rules he laid down were faithfully carried out. In ‘‘Ivo”’ apiary, since the system was first made public, scores of queens have been intro- duced according to the following instructions, and up to the present time not one failure has been recorded. The stock amongst which it is intended to introduce an alien queen, if not already queenless, must be rendered so by removing the queen on a fine day at noon—in fact, the same day that the queen arrives, if received from another apiary. The hive is then closed and not touched again until evening, when all the bees are in the hive. Just before dusk the queen to be introduced must be taken alone, and placed in a match-box or other receptacle, where she will be free from a chill, and kept there for about half an hour. Then go to the queenless hive, taking a light if necessary, gently draw back the corner of the quilts, give a slight puff of smoke between the combs, and let the queen run into the hive. Return the quilts, replace the roof, and make no examination of the hive for twenty-four hours or more. The Howard queen cage for transmitting queens by post and introducing them on arrival, is really the well-known ‘‘ Benton” cage (Fig. 51), with an arrange- ment for liberating the queen. On the arrival of the queen by post, the lid must be removed from the cage, when its place is taken by a piece of perforated zinc. The cage is then placed over the space between 144 PLEASURABLE BEE-KEEPING. two combs, and allowed to remain so for some hours. The box is then moved along the zine until the hole containing the Good candy is over a circular hole in the zinc. The bees of the stock then commence to eat the candy, and thus in a short time a union with the strangers is effected. CHAPTER XIII. DISEASES. Begs, like animals, are subject to disease, but fortu- nately for bee-keepers there is only one, foul brood, of a serious nature and highly contagious. By careful attention to the symptoms characteristic of bee diseases, it is easy to detect their presence, and by applying known remedies, cure the affected stocks. Occasionally it is said, ‘‘ If bees have such a dreadful disease that works such havoc, I will let the hobby alone.” Such faint-hearted persons may like to know that in the midst of infected areas there are many apiaries in which foul brood has never shown itself, not because the germs of the disease are absent, for that seems an impossibility, but because they have no means of development, in consequence of the care and attention the bee-keeper bestows on his apiary to ward off an attack. Nearly every bee-keeper of note has had his apiary affected with foul brood. The late Rev. G. Raynor once expressed the opinion that his apiary had remained free from disease, while many bad cases were known to exist around him, simply 10 145 146 PLEASURABLE BEE-KEEPING. because in using carbolic acid as a bee quieter he had at the same time used a powerful antiseptic. Of the diseases to which bees are subject we need only notice here two, dysentery and foul brood. DYSENTERY. This is a disease due chiefly to the carelessness of the bee-keeper, and is much too frequently met with in the winter and spring. Its presence is known by the bees voiding the excrement on the combs, which may result from confinement in a damp or badly ventilated hive, but is more frequently the result of bees being fed upon unsuitable food and at the wrong time of the year. On fine warm days early in the year it will frequently be noticed that the bees soil their hives and everything about the apiary. This is often from a cleansing flight which the bees need when breeding has commenced, and they have been confined to their hives for several days. Bee-keepers who ignore the directions for feeding up their stocks with syrup of a proper consistency, while they are in numbers sufficient to maintain the heat needed to evaporate the superfluous moisture, must expect this disease to break out, for thin syrup which the bees cannot seal over is almost certain to ferment during the winter. By carefully carrying out the instructions given under the heading ‘‘ Wintering,” this disease may be almost entirely avoided. The remedy, when the disease exists, is to remove the bees and combs into a clean hive, and give them fresh food. This may be effected in a warm room. DISEASES, 147 At the same time a little warm syrup and a cake of soft candy should be given. If the weather be mild the changing of quarters might be quickly performed in the open air, the warm syrup would then have the effect of sending the bees out for the cleansing flight they so much need. Foun Broop (Bacillus alvet). This is indeed a disease that bee-keepers may well dread, when they read of the sad havoc it has played in apiaries at home and abroad; but thanks to the untiring energy of scientists who love the hobby, the ravages of the bacillus may be stopped. It is only within recent years that this disease has become so widespread, but this cannot be surprising seeing to what extent stocks, swarms, and queens have been conveyed from one part of the country to the other, and to this country from various parts of the con- tinent, where the disease has long been known to exist. There appears to be no definite record of the disease being in existence in Britain until foreign bees were introduced. Before the traffic in bees became so general, if the disease existed it remained in a confined area and the stocks died out. Mr. Woodbury and other bee-keepers attributed the advent of the disease in their apiaries to feeding with foreign honey supposed to contain germs of the disease. On this point it is satisfactory to learn that Mr. Cowan, a very eminent authority, has not discovered germs of the disease in any sample of honey when examining it under micro- scopes of very high power. But at the same time it 148 PLEASURABLE BEE-KEEPING. is now very generally believed to be a medium by which the disease is carried. Bee-keepers cannot, therefore, be too careful when introducing low-priced honey into their apiaries for feeding purposes. The disease is due to the presence and propagation of a particular microscopic germ, to the bacillus of which the name ailvei has been given by Mr. Cheshire. The presence of the germ is absolutely necessary to account for the outbreak of the disease. It has frequently been stated that chilled brood will cause foul brood, but this is an error. It will, however, afford a resting-place for the germs, should they be in a district, and therefore we must avoid, as far as possible, providing the germs with a propagating medium. The germ has great vitality and is most difficult to destroy. When it enters a proper medium it develops into a bacillus, which multiplies at a remarkably rapid rate, until the nourishing matter upon which the bacilli feed is exhausted, and then spores or germs are produced, which, when the oppor- tunity occurs, germinate and produce the disease. Being of a microscopic character the germs are easily transmitted from one district to another, or from a diseased to a healthy hive. When examining hives supposed to be infected every precaution against spreading the disease must be taken. A cake of Calvert’s carbolic soap should always be within reach, so that the hands may be washed after each manipulation. Asa further precaution the manipulator should stand with his back to the wind. Symptoms of foul brood. The first symptom usually noticed by the novice is a very unpleasant odour arising DISEASES. 149 from the hive, and perceptible even before it has been opened. The disease is then in a bad form, and the combs will be found in a state that will necessitate the burning of combs and in fact everything movable in the hive. When the disease is in such an advanced stage it is true economy to destroy bees, combs, quilts, dummies, and even the hive, if it is not of much value. The name foul brood was given to the disease, as it was found that in a diseased stock the brood quickly exhibited a putrid appearance. Instead of being pearly white, the grubs, when attacked by the bacillus, turn yellow, and ultimately become a coffee-coloured, sticky mass at the bottom of the cells. The cappings of the brood combs are sunken and pierced with numerous small and irregularly shaped holes. In spring, by inexperienced bee-keepers spreading the brood during fine weather, and at an unsettled period of the year, much of the brood becomes chilled and dies. This is sometimes taken for foul brood, but chilled brood is not like foul brood, a dark putrid mass. When there is the slightest suspicion of foul brood, any stocks that have been doing good work and become listless should be examined without delay, particularly if the bees are noticed fanning at the entrance. Remedies. The remedies proposed to deal effectively with the disease are various, and the results after treatment by them the same. In many instances it is not the remedy that is at fault, but the bee-keeper, who uses it in a half-hearted manner and carelessly carries out the directions given. Salicylic acid is a well-known remedy, and when properly administered effective. It is most effective 150 PLEASURABLE BEE-KEEPING. when administered by means of a fumigator according tothe directions given by the inventor, M. Ed. Bertrand, but few bee-keepers go to the trouble of fumigating. As the bacilli are found in the alimentary canal of the bee all food given should be medicated. The salicylic acid solution for this purpose is made, according to Mr. Cowan’s directions, as follows :—Salicylic acid, 1 oz.; soda borax, 1 oz.; water, 4 pints. Half an ounce will be about the correct amount of the solution to six pounds of sugar. Phenol. Mr. Cheshire, in a paper read at an im- portant meeting of bee-keepers in 1884, gave a means of cure by phenol; but as bees have a reluctance to take food medicated with this remedy the syrup must be poured into the empty cells around the brood, in order that the bees may be compelled to take and use this cure. In the hands of the painstaking bee-keeper success by this method is certain. Fornvc acid was first advocated by Mr. R. Sproule, of Dublin, who also used phenol with success previous to the reading of Mr. Cheshire’s paper. The chief merit of this means of dealing with the disease is its simplicity. The acid penetrates all parts of the hive, and in a short time, by its use, apiaries have been rid of the pest. The following directions are by Messrs. Bewdley & Draper, Dublin, who prepare the remedy. “Select a frame of clean empty comb and pour about four ounces of formic acid into it by placing it on a table and dropping the acid on it from a height of a few inches. Contract the hive to as many frames as the bees can cover, and hang the frames containing the acid at the rear of the hive, cover up warmly, and DISEASES. 151 put a sheet of paper between the layers of the quilt so as to prevent the escape of the fumes of the acid as it evaporates. If the weather is warm it will be found in the course of a week that the odour of the foul brood has disappeared, and that the bees (if not too weak in numbers) have cleared the putrid matter out of the cells. It is seldom necessary to refill the comb more than once unless the disease has been re-introduced by infected combs, &c. If foul brood is prevalent in the district it may be well to keep some of the acid always in the hive as a prophylactic. In case of an ordinary ten or eleven-frame hive this can be done while honey is being stored, by putting the acid into a section of empty comb and placing the section at the end of the crate farthest from the hive entrance, so that the acid has to pass over all the combs before the bees fan it out. ‘Storified’ hives can be treated by filling a comb and hanging it in the upper storey. For spring and autumn feeding add a spoonful of acid to each quart of syrup. As formic acid does not affect the flavour of the honey, it can be used with perfect safety while honey is being stored, and as a remedy it will be found superior to either phenol or salicylic acid.’’ Naphthol Beta, for which, as an antiseptic, we are indebted to Dr. Lortet, is the most recently introduced, and, being simple in application and inexpensive, it is now the most generally used remedy. To facilitate the use of Naphthol Beta the Editors of the British Bee Journal have prepared packets containing suffi- cient for a given quantity of food. The directions on each packet are as follows :—‘‘ For every pound of sugar used in making syrup or candy dissolve three 152 PLEASURABLE BEE-KEEPING. grains of Naphthol Beta in alcohol or rectified spirits of wine. Naphthol dissolves freely in alcohol, but is insoluble in cold water. Pour just sufficient spirits on the Naphthol to dissolve it and make it a clear liquid. Pour the solution of Naphthol into the syrup when sufficiently boiled and while still hot. In making candy, pour in the Naphthol solution when the syrup is of the proper consistence, and just before taking it off the fire.” The difficulty of taking the required number of grains for the amount of sugar to be used may be overcome by the contents of the packet (sufficient to medicate 145 lbs. of sugar) being put into a small long bottle along with the necessary spirit, then pasting a slip of paper on the side of the bottle as high as the top of the solution. It would then be a very simple matter to divide the paper proportionately to the amount of food to be medicated at a time. This any chemist would do when putting into the bottle the small amount of spirit needed. Naphthaline is used in conjunction with Naphthol Beta, though not in syrup. It is to be obtained in balls about the size of marbles, two being split and dropped to the bottom of the hive as a dose. The fumes circulate through the hive and destroy the bacilli. As a precaution against the introduction of the disease Naphthaline and Naphthol Beta should be used in every apiary. CHAPTER XIV. ENEMIES OF BEES. Bess, like other creatures, have enemies to contend with. Among birds, the most persistent in carrying off bees is the blue-tit, which may be seen to fly down to the apiary and carry off bee after bee. It is sur- prising what a number of bees a single pair of these birds will take in a very short time. Means should, therefore, be resorted to in order to keep down these birds near the apiary. The wax moth, which effects an entrance more particularly into weak hives, lays its eggs on the combs or in the débris. From these eggs issue grubs, which burrow in the combs and consume the wax until they build their cocoons, from which again issue moths. If allowed to gain headway the ravages of the grub will soon destroy a colony. By keeping stocks strong we are more likely to keep out the wax moth, because the bees on guard drive it away. On the quilts should be laid pieces of naphthaline, which will keep away moths and other insects. During the spring and autumn examinations, all débris should be removed, and the combs searched for grubs or cocoons. 153 154 PLEASURABLE BEE-KEEPING. Wasps in some apiaries do much harm, but as they generally direct their attention to weak stocks, which they effectually clear out, the oft-repeated advice, “Keep all stocks strong,” is applicable to this case. Narrow entrances will enable moderately strong colonies to more effectually guard their home from these persistent robbers. Now and again wasps may be seen to seize heavily-laden bees that fall short of the alighting board, and frequently they sever the abdomen from the thorax, and fly away with the former, which contains the honey-sac. ‘ Prevention is better than cure,” and in order to limit the produc- tion of wasps, queens seen in the early spring should be killed, otherwise they will be the means of bringing into existence multitudes of wasps. They have un- doubtedly their place in the economy of nature, but bee-keepers cannot afford to look on complacently while the enemies of the bees are multiplying at such a rate as to endanger the existence of all but the strongest stocks. Ants’ nests are sometimes found near hives, and if they are the ants become a great nuisance. To prevent their getting into the hive, the legs should stand in small pans of water, or be daubed with something objectionable to the ants, and over which, therefore, they will not pass. Mice are partial to both wax and honey, and they may be found not only among old combs, but also in hives tenanted with bees. By keeping an entrance only ¢ inch in depth, mice will be kept on the right side of the hive. CHAPTER XV. WINTERING. How to winter bees successfully is a problem ap- parently difficult to solve, when we consider the losses that are recorded in the spring, and the complaints made of slow progress made by so many colonies early in the year. That successful wintering depends upon the manner in which bees are prepared for their long season of inactivity, no one will deny. Still it is astounding that, having a desire for profit, bee- keepers will be so neglectful of their bees just at the very time when attention, with a view to ultimate success, is really needed. By observing the progress of work around us we see most unmistakably that there cannot well be a period of real inactivity in any branch of industry. The farmer, for instance, immediately one harvest is over commences preparations for the next, and how frequently do we notice that he who is well ahead with his work achieves the greatest success! With bee-keeping, though the amount of work that must be bestowed upon the hobby is exceedingly small, yet it is of vast importance that what ought to be done 155 156 PLEASURABLE BEE-KEEPING. should be done well and at the right time. In fact we may take it as a rule that at the close of one honey- flow, or the last of the season, preparations should be made for the following year. The requirements for successful wintering are, briefly: a young queen, a large quantity of young worker bees, ample sealed stores to last the stock well into the spring, quilts, the upper ones of woollen material, and ventilation without draught. Tue BEzs. It was years ago remarked by an able bee-master, the late W. Raitt, that the best packing for bees was bees, and of course this truism will be generally admitted. The stronger the stock is in bees, the better is the prospect of its wintering well, and making a good start the following spring. A well-stocked hive will show a much larger amount of brood than one containing only a moderate quantity of bees, for, in the latter case, there is not a temperature sufficiently high to warrant any great extension of the brood-nest. Bees are thought by many to be in a state of hyber- nation during the winter. This is not exactly so, for, though bees should be inactive during the winter, and they do well if the temperature does not fall below 45°, they are quickly roused to activity, and may leave the hive for a cleansing flight when the temperature rises to 50° or over. While the bees are in a quiescent state there will be no wasting of energy; hence the necessity for a style of hive with arrangements which to the greatest possible extent prevent the cluster WINTERING. 157 being affected by outside changes of temperature. Of the quality of the queen enough has already been said to show the necessity for each stock being headed by one not more than two years of age. THe STORES. To prevent unnecessary activity during the winter, we must ensure that the food upon which the bees are to exist is not only of good quality but sealed. Stocks in skeps should weigh at least 25lbs., or 20 lbs. if the combs are new; but it is best not to limit a stock to the exact amount of food that will be required to carry it safely through the winter. Twelve to fifteen pounds, according to the strength of the colony, will suffice for this, but the latter would serve better as the minimum amount of stores. As stores are drawn upon largely by a weak stock when a low temperature prevails, it is good policy to unite weak stocks in the autumn, and thus ensure a higher temperature being maintained, without a con- tinual consumption of the stores. A colony properly prepared for winter will seldom consume on an average more than 1% oz. of food per day until breeding com- mences, when the amount is at once considerably increased. Stocks in bar-frame hives should be much larger than those in skeps, and a larger amount of stores must be allowed. The minimum weight should be 20 lbs., and this may be calculated without difficulty by considering an evenly filled standard frame to con- tain 44 to 5lbs. Four or five frames would thus supply 158 PLEASURABLE BEE-KEEPING. all the food needed, but a good stock will well cover six to eight frames. Though it is advisable to allow not less than 20 lbs. of stores, they must be judiciously distributed. If full combs are left on the outside, the food may candy when cold weather compels the bees to cluster in the middle of the hive. Another reason for carefully distributing the food is that empty cells are preferable to slabs of honey for the bees to cluster upon, provided that above the cluster food is within reach. The best arrangement is to allow the centre frames to be about half filled with sealed stores, while the remaining frames on either side contain in in- creasing proportion the remaining quantity of food allowed. WINTER PASSAGES. When stocks are wintered in thin single-walled hives, it may occasionally be noticed, more particularly than in double-walled hives, that the spring exami- nation brings to light seams of dead bees—bees that have perished from want, though in other frames ample stores still remain. The cause is not far to seek. Having consumed the food above them, the bees must travel round or under the frames to reach further supplies. This they cannot do during very severe weather, for as soon as they leave the cluster with this object, they are numbed by the cold and die. Consequently the whole cluster or clusters die. To prevent this loss passages over the tops of the frames must be provided. A very simple contrivance, the ‘ Hill Device,” placed upon the frames raises the quilts and allows the bees WINTERING. 159 to travel to all parts of the hive over the top bars of the frames. Three or four pieces of wood, 4 inch square, laid across the top bars, 4 inch apart, before putting on the quilts, will be equally effective in pro- viding passages from comb to comb. QUILTS. The first of the quilts or cloths that are placed above the frames should be of good stout calico, or, better still, ticking, which the bees will not quickly bite through. The others should be of some woolly material, such as felt or carpet. The number required will depend upon the thickness and non-conductivity of the material. There should be sufficient covering to ensure the heat of the cluster being preserved. In the place of the upper quilts, trays filled with chaff, or chaff-cushions, may be given. Impervious quilts of American oilcloth, smooth side downwards, are used in many apiaries in place of the first quilt. They are clean, and prevent the escape of moisture from the brood-nest. No objection can be raised to their use on strong stocks, if other quilts or chaff-cushions are given above. During the spring such a quilt may be a distinct advantage, as a moist atmosphere is needed during the breeding season, and also when a dummy feeder, filled with Porto Rico sugar, is placed at the side of the brood-nest. Ventilation without draught is needed for successful wintering, and may be provided, after the quilts, &c., have been given, by allowing an entrance of about 6 inches in width, until breeding commences and 160 PLEASURABLE BEE-KEEPING. flights are frequent. In the place of a wide entrance the object will be attained by raising the hive a couple of inches, and placing under the brood-chamber what is termed a raiser. CHAPTER XVI. DRIVING, TRANSFERRING, UNITING. Ar the close of the season a plan very generally pursued by cottagers in taking their honey, is to select those stocks by weight which are to be “ taken up.”” At the end of the day each marked hive is lifted off its stand and placed over a hole dug in the ground, in which a piece of sulphur is burning in a cleft stick. In a few minutes the busy workers are stifled, some falling to the bottom of the pit, others dying in the combs, where many remain during the whole process of slicing and draining and the making of mead. No wonder that the fluid, resulting from such a method of procedure, should fail to find ready purchasers. Happily, this distasteful system is giving way gradually to more satisfactory methods of taking the honey in its purest form, without destroying the bees, which latter prove of great service if properly disposed of. First, they may be united to weak stocks, and thus ensure their passing safely through the winter, as the greater the number of bees, the less the consumption of stores for the purpose of keeping up the normal 11 161 162 PLEASURABLE BEE-KEEPING. temperature of the hive; or they may be united, two or three lots together, to start a new colony. DRIVING. If it is decided to remove the bees from a con- demned stock, that is, one marked for taking up, and utilise them in one or other of the ways mentioned above, we must proceed on a fine evening to the stock, drive a puff of smoke into the entrance, and then, in a minute or two, move the hive bodily to another part of the garden away from the hives, so that the opera- tion may be conducted without disturbance from other bees. Before the hive is moved throw over it a piece of canvas, and on the stand place an empty skep to keep the flying bees from entering adjoining stocks. On returning to the full stock remove the canvas and drive down the bees among the combs by a slight puff of smoke, while an empty skep is placed above the full stock. Now tie round the junction of the two hives a cloth to prevent the escape of bees. This preparation is for what is termed close driving, and will be adopted by timid bee-keepers, or when a sight of the queens is not necessary, and there is a fear of robbing. The empty hive must be of the same size, with regard to its diameter, as the stock hive, in order to facilitate the escape of bees from the lower to the upper hive. The bees will at once commence to ascend if the combs below are jarred by gently beating the sides of the stock hive with a stick, or with the palms of the hands. In a few minutes all the bees will have left the stock, and will be found clustering in the skep above. DRIVING, TRANSFERRING, UNITING. 163 Open driving is a more interesting operation, and should be practised, when the presence of the queen among the bees driven must be noted. When placing the empty skep above the stock hive, driving irons (Fig. 53) are used to fix it at an angle of 45° or more to the latter. The junction of the two hives should be at a point to which the combs run, so that the bees may leave their hive without the labour of climbing over the combs. The driving irons are fixed one on each side, and the ends are driven lower into the side of the stock hive, and the upper into the side of the empty hive, a skewer being used to hold the hives together at the junction. When the hives are thus (Y fixed the jarring of the combs will take place as for close © = driving ; but gently at first, | or many bees will leave the combs, and, flying about, become a source of annoyance to the operator. A few bees flying about will do no harm, unless they are robbers from other stocks in search of exposed sweets. If there is a danger of robbing, the entrances to other stocks should be closed before driving opera- tions commence, in such a manner that the bees are not harmed by the confinement. After a few strokes on the side of the stock hive, the bees will commence to run along the combs towards the junction of the hives, and there enter the upper one. They may move in great numbers when once started, and, if so, must be prevented by cloths from congregating at the back of the hive. Moving the Fie, 53. 164 PLEASURABLE BEE-KEEPING. cluster with the finger, and giving a slight puff of smoke to those congregating at the junction of the hives, will hurry them up into the empty one. A sharp look-out must be kept for the queen, in order that she may be removed, if the bees are only required for uniting to other stocks. Incase no queen of two or three lots is of particular merit, the bees may be allowed to settle the question as to which shall remain at the head of the united colony. Open driving is adopted in the making of artificial swarms, a proceeding not recommended, unless in- crease of stocks is desired ; but even then it is a risky operation in the hands of the novice, who had better trust to natural swarming for increase of stocks. Artificial swarms never work with the same vigour as those that issue naturally. In making an artificial swarm care must be taken to imitate nature as far as possible, and see that sufficient bees are left in the hive to attend to the brood-nest, and keep up a temperature that will pre- vent the brood being chilled. Unlike a natural swarm which may be placed in any new position, an artificial swarm must be placed on the stand occupied by the stock, which may be moved to another part of the garden. Presuming that the operation is performed in the middle of the day, account must be taken of the flying bees, that is, those flying to and from the fields, in estimating the quantity to be driven out of the stock, for all those not in the hive will, of course, join the swarm on returning home. Bumping is an expeditious method of taking the DRIVING, TRANSFERRING, UNITING. 165 combs from the skep while the bees are in, but it ig a method that should only be resorted to when the hive contains old combs; or, if the combs are new, the hive should only be bumped in cool weather, when the honey will be stiff and the combs rather brittle. Bumping should certainly never be attempted in warm weather, or when much thin or unsealed honey is in the combs. The bees are first intimidated by smoke, and directly afterwards the skep is turned mouth upwards. It is then taken hold of by the hands in such a manner that the combs run from hand to hand or side to side, and gradually turned away from the operator. If it is then set down or bumped sharply on the lower edge of the bottom of the skep, the shock will be sufficient to break the combs away from the hive sides, and cause them to fall, by their own weight, one upon the other on the far side of the hive. The combs are then taken out one at a time by letting them rest on the palm of the hand, and the bees are brushed back into the skep or into an empty hive standing close by. The whole operation should not last more than a minute, and then the hive containing the bees may be returned to its former position till the bees have cleared up the dripping honey. With care small supers may be bumped to empty them of their surplus after they have been cleared of bees. Transferring is an operation usually understood to refer to the removal of bees and combs from a straw skep to a movable-comb hive; but to use a common expression, it is ‘‘a game not worth the candle.” Asa rule the skep will contain few combs of a size to fit into the frame from top to bottom, and if not, pieces 166 PLEASURABLE BEE-KEEPING. as regular as possible must be cut out of the best combs and arranged to fit the frames. It will seldom occur that more than two, or at the most three, frames can be filled by the cutting up and fitting of the combs in the skep. Again, one lot of bees in a straw skep to start a bar-frame hive is ridiculous. Two or three lots making a weight of 4 or 5 lbs. would produce a lot likely with proper attention to be converted into a good colony for the spring, particularly if new combs or full sheets of foundation are given. It is much more satisfactory to proceed in the manner indicated, and do away with the old combs, cutting out all worker comb containing brood. These pieces of comb, joined together by a skewer or two, a space of half an inch being left between them, should be placed over the feed-hole of any hive, and securely covered first with a small wooden box, and above that with quilts. The bees will hatch out the brood, and thus no great loss of bees will accrue. Umiting has been referred to as a means of strength- ening stocks in the autumn, and thus ensuring more satisfactory wintering; or, in the spring, to ensure rapid progress and hence more surplus. This will, of course, also be the natural result of uniting in the autumn, for the increased strength of the colony will, by assisting to winter a colony successtully, also be a means towards obtaining a good working population at the commencement of the honey-flow. Bees of different colonies, having an odour peculiar to their respective lots, have a natural antipathy one to the other, and though a comb taken out of a stock without disturbing the bees during the honey-flow, DRIVING, TRANSFERRING, UNITING. 167 may without detriment be placed directly into the midst of another colony, no uniting of bees on combs or bees alone with other bees on combs should take place without steps being taken to deprive the bees of the inclination to fight. By sprinkling both lots with thin syrup scented with peppermint, their peculiar scent is destroyed and they unite peaceably. Uniting usually takes place at a time of the year when bees are prone to rob, and the least use of syrup is almost certain to cause bees that are on the alert to start robbing. It is often said that there is nothing new under the sun, and when, a few years ago, uniting by the aid of flour was advised, it was quickly stated to be an old method revived. It is, nevertheless, though only recently brought into favour, a more satisfactory means of uniting than is sprinkling the bees with scented syrup, as no inducement to robbing is made. By gently sprinkling both lots with flour from a dredger, uniting becomes easy, and no one who has tried this method will ever think of again resorting to the use of scented syrup. Flour being a substitute for natural pollen, there is a danger of overloading the combs, hence the necessity for a thin but at the same time effective sprinkling. CHAPTER XVII. MARKETING HONEY. ‘‘Wuat is the use of keeping bees if we cannot sell our honey?” is a remark made only by those who lack that amount of energy and business ability neces- sary to achieve success in any undertaking. Honey, though one of the most delicious of foods, and of great nutritive value, is rarely found in the houses of those who can well afford to purchase what to many is a real luxury. Honey should not be considered a luxury, but a necessary food, and as such it should appear on the table of every householder in the land. It is the work of the bee-keeper to create a demand for that which it is his especial aim to produce. Low prices are complained of by some bee-keepers, but to a very great extent they have only themselves to blame. The bulk of the honey, being produced nearly at the same time throughout the country, is no sooner obtained than it is put upon the market. No wonder, considering this glut, that the price falls. The great importation of foreign and colonial honey does to some extent affect the price of home produce. Still, as none, unless it is that which comes from New Zea- 168 MARKETING HONEY. 169 land, can compare with English clover honey, bee- keepers have only to adopt the most improved methods of production to increase the amount of surplus per hive. And, if of excellent quality, it must realise a sum per colony which will leave no doubt as to the profitableness of bee-keeping. From one class of bee-keepers, and they are the most successful in a large as well as a small way, complaints are seldom heard, and the reason is not far to seek. They work up a good local retail trade, and thus dispose of the bulk of their surplus near home, at very remunerative prices. A more general complaint from such bee-keepers is of their inability to supply the demand when their produce has become known and appreciated. If bee-keepers cannot, or do not feel disposed to, create their own retail trade, they had better offer their surplus first to other bee-keepers who have this means of disposing of their produce, and failing a sale in that direction, they might apply to wholesale dealers, but from them only a moderate price can be expected except for honeys of the finest brand. Very much depends upon the time of putting the surplus upon the market, the first gathered honey being the most likely to realise the best price. And, it may be, an equally good price will be forthcoming for that which has been properly stored to meet a demand when the supply is scarce. Bee-keepers’ Associations are recognising slowly, led by the example of the Berkshire Association, the necessity for extending a helping hand to their members in the sale of their produce. Years ago I 170 PLEASURABLE BEE-KEEPING. advocated this course, but without effect, and it is gratifying to find that the only Association which has really made strenuous efforts to assist members in the sale of their produce has been remarkably successful. In Ireland the Irish Bee-keepers’ Association has, on a larger scale, and by means of central depéts, dis- posed annually of a very large amount of honey sent in by its members. The Berkshire Association arranges with shop- keepers throughout the county to dispose of the honey, bearing distinctive labels supplied to members. As these labels are numbered and the secretary keeps an account of those issued, any complaint or abuse of the privilege would quickly bring down punishment on the wrong-doer. Until the question as to the best means of assisting members in the disposal of their produce is taken up by the Associations, there is no reason why there should not be formed, in each village, a little club. The members could arrange not only for the sale of their honey, which, when graded, would be of similar quality, but they could procure hives, frames, foundation, bottles, and, in fact, all necessary appliances at a reduced rate for quantities and save on the carriage. GRADING. Honey varies in quality and aroma according to the source from which it is obtained by the bees, but this fact is often lost sight of or ignored, and all kinds are mingled together, thus producing a sample of moderate quality. All honey, therefore, should be graded MARKETING HONEY. 171 whether it is in comb or extracted. The selection can be made by the colour of the capping, which is a pretty safe guide as to the similarity of the contents of the combs, particularly if they are from hives in the same apiary. Sections most evenly filled and sealed will be classed as of first quality. There can be no question as to what style of filling is best. For exhibition purposes the tastes of the judges have to be considered, some preferring sections from which the comb can be cut all Fie. 54. round without spilling much honey. But, however nice this may appear, such sections do not travel well, and therefore a well-filled section should be aimed at, with the cells built up to the wood all round, as well as filled and sealed. When so completed, they will, if properly packed, travel with safety. Thin sealing is preferred by the consumer, but the liability to weep- ing must be considered. A slight jar may crack a thin surface of comb and cause the honey to ooze out or ‘‘ weep,” and thus spoil the appearance and attrac- tiveness of the section. A fairly thick and even 172 PLEASURABLE BEE-KEEPING. capping is decidedly to be preferred, in order to ensure with the all-round sealing a perfect because the most marketable section of honey. Badly filled sections that are unfit for sale should be cut up and put into the honey cistern when the grading takes place. Before sections leave the producer they must be scraped free of propolis, and placed in cases with glass on one or both sides. These cases are either made of enamelled tin or cardboard. Instead of using these boxes the faces of the section may be glazed and the glass fixed on bya slip of paper being pasted round the section # inch of which ornamented is fixed on the glass, thus not only holding it securely to the section, but making a most attractive article of commerce. For safe transit to and from shows, and at the same time proving a means of effective display, show cases may be used, which fit into or are attached to spring travelling crates (Fig. 55). These and other travelling crates add so much to the cost of the outfic that other means must be devised for the safe carriage of sections to the dealer or MARKETING HONEY. 178 consumer. For this trade, unless otherwise ordered, glazing should be omitted, and the sections placed side by side, six in a row. At each end place a square of wood the size of the section, then a lath above and another below the row. A parcel may then be made of the half-dozen, and if well and tightly packed in newspaper, they may afterwards be packed on straw in a box, and breakages will be the exception and not the rule. A firm which to my knowledge bought twenty- two tons of English honey in one season, positively refuse to deal in sectional honey, for they say that the packing is so bad that they rarely receive a parcel in good condition. By adopting the above method of packing much loss and expense may be avoided, and more satisfaction given to the purchasers. Drained or extracted honey is easier to deal with than comb honey, and being of a less perishable nature is more generally produced. Small quantities such as whatever amount is required for home consumption, and what is sold in the neighbourhood of the apiary, should be put up in neat 1-lb. glass jars, either to be 174 PLEASURABLE BEE-KEEPING. covered with parchment (Fig. 56) or with a metal cap (Fig. 57), and have affixed to them an attractive label. BottLe Covers AND LaBELs. Upon the label it is an advantage to draw attention to the fact that it is the nature of honey to candy or set, and that this change will take place early or late according to the crops from which it is gathered, the SS) nature of the soil, and the character of the season. It might also be stated that candying is a sign of purity, and that the honey may be re-liquefied by standing the jar in hot water. Bottling and the filling of cans should take place a day or two after extracting, and before the honey begins to candy : 28-lb. cans, square with patent lids, are sold at very reasonable prices, and may be packed two in a box. Candying may be deferred, if not altogether pre- : | sil! (, Fie. 58. MARKETING HONEY, 175 vented, by subjecting the honey to heat, but there is a liability in thus treating it to drive off the delicate aroma, and therefore heating honey should be avoided as much as possible. Jars may be despatched to customers in boxes (Fig. 58) after being separately surrounded by a sheet of corrugated paper (Fig. 59). CHAPTER XVIII. WAX EXTRACTING. THE wax resulting from the sliced combs, or the cappings taken from combs that are passed through the extractor, is of very good quality. There is no difficulty in dealing with such scraps of comb, but it is not every apiary where such combs are dealt with. Until wired foundation, or wired frames, become more general there will always be some frames containing combs that, through falling, buckling, or stretching, are unsuitable for breeding purposes. These should be removed, when not occupied with brood, and melted. The methods now employed to separate wax from the cocoons, &c., render the operation simple, and not, aS was once the case, the most distasteful, because the most messy of all the operations in the apiary. Wax melts at a temperature of 146°, conse- quently any arrangement that will hold the refuse from which the wax will, as melted, run away, may be adopted. A very simple plan, devised by Mr. Cowan in 1888, is to place the combs upon a sieve over a pan of 176 WAX EXTRACTING. 177 water. When placed in a moderately hot oven the wax will fall down as it melts into the water below, and unless subjected to too great heat will not be harmed by this method of extracting. An extractor on this principle was designed by Mr. Killick in 1887. A bowl with a perforated bottom is placed upon a pan of water, and the action of the heat upon the combs is as stated above when a sieve is used. Refuse scraps of comb are by some bee-keepers stored away for a general melting operation, but this plan may cause loss, for should the wax moth gain access to the store much, if not all, will be rendered useless. When a small quantity has accumulated it should be put, without further delay, into some kind of wax extractor, for the wax will keep indefinitely though the combs may be quickly spoilt. The solar wax extractor, which has recently been recommended, consists of a case with a glass front, placed at an angle to collect the direct rays of the sun. A box with a front wall of 2 inches, and back wall 6 inches, will prove effective in dealing with small quantities of comb. Upon the slanting front is placed a sheet of glass. Inside the case is fixed a pan covered with a sheet of perforated zinc. Upon the zinc is placed the scraps of comb to be operated upon. If the extractor is now placed in the direct rays of the sun - on a hot day the wax will be quickly melted and run through the zinc into the pan below. This method may be used at any time when the rays of the sun are sufficiently powerful to melt the wax. The most popular extractor is the ‘ Gerster” (Fig. 56), in the form of a saucepan and steamer. 12 178 PLEASURABLE BEE-KEEPING. The lower compartment is simply to hold water for the purpose of producing steam. In the bottom of the upper section is fixed a tin plate communicating with the outside by a small tube. Upon the plate, slightly raised by legs, stands a cylinder of perforated zinc, into which are placed the scraps of comb. When the apparatus is placed over the fire the steam from the lower passes to the upper compartment, and melts the wax, which runs through the zine, falls upon the plate and runs thence through the tube, finally dropping into a basin placed beneath. A little water should always be placed in the basin. The following is a simple means of extracting the wax from old combs when neither of the above WAX EXTRACTING. 179 methods are employed. Tie the scraps of comb in a piece of muslin or canvas, with a stone, or some- thing weighty, and drop it into a pan of water. The stone is used to keep the bag below the surface of the water. The wax will then melt and rise to the surface of the water. If the bag is occasionally pressed with a stick, lodgings of the wax among the refuse will be prevented. When it is thought that all the wax has been melted the pan should be re- moved from the fire and placed on one side until the water is cold. The wax will then be found in a cake at the top, and it then can be removed for remelting and refining if necessary. INDEX. PAGE Apiary, location of... 103 >» aspect of 103 » Moving of ... 104 Amateur hives... 66 Aids to success 74 Artificial swarms 164 Apifuge = 47 Alighting hoard, a am 2 Adapting board... 102, 126, 127 Ants ... i 154 Brsezs, Natural History of 23 » Yaces of... 36 », to subdue 42 5, to handle 42, 47 », temper of 41 »» condemned ... 139 > flight of 104 » to unite 166 Bee-veil 46 Bee-escapes 129 British Standard “Frum 68 British Bee-keepers’ Asso- ciation ... bibien teas 9 Bee Associations 9, 169 Berkshire Association 170 British Bee Journal 9 180 PAGE Bees and flowers 11, 15 Bees and fruit production 12 Bumblebeesandredclover 14 Bell-staples sai OL Brace combs 115, 126 # removal of... 65 Brood chamber 52 Bumping... 164 Bee-keeping, early ... 7 oe a rural in- dustry 9 5 value to agri- culturist and fruit grower 12,15 ‘5 profit of 17 ‘i how to com- mence 109 Couss, production of 19 » how built 20 » direction of... ... 54 » toslice... 65, 115 » to melt 66 » full, to uncap 121 », to remove from Ivo supers 65 INDEX. PAGE Combs, renewal of... ... 76 Cells, sizeof ... ... ... 20 » Worker, necessary 55 » queen 21, 56 » pitch of... 21, 121 » Cappingsof... ... 29 Condemned bees... 139 ‘a », disposal of 161 Colony of bees, a good ... 89 Cone escape 65, 130 Castsian ay sie ae a 32 », Signofissue ... ... 33 Cyprian bees ... ... ... 38 Carniolan bees wea av, 39) Carbolic spray... ... ... 45 Carbolic cloth... ... ... 45 Carbolic solution ... ... 46 Crowding bees, advantage of ... 64 Clubbing, advantage of ... 170 Commencing bee-keeping 99 Cleansing flight 156 Drones... .. .. «26 » When produced... 26 » massacre of... ... 26 Drone comb, disadvantage Ofek dab ae. chee case, UL Distance-keepers ... ... 69 Dysentery ‘ 90, 146 Dry sugar feeding .. ... 91 Diseases ... ... «- 9, 145 Exrractor (honey)... 118 5 Little Wonder 118 Pr Cowan... 8,119 Ws Meadows 120 5 how used 121 181 PAGE Extractor (wax), Gerster 178 5 Killick ... 177 a Cowan... ... 176 - Cost of... ... 102 Be Solar... ... 177 Eges, quantity laid daily 29 Egg-laying, sole work of queen 24, 90 Pr when com- menced ... 29 ay when stopped 29,89 Excluder zinc 64, 102, 115, 127 Enemies of bees 153 FounpaTIon .. 9, 56, 63 advantage of 74, 85 4 ecastsfor ... 75 +4 wired ... ... 76 se wiring ... 81, 82 ‘3 brood ... ... 75 ‘a super ... 75, 102 < fixing ... 2... 78 45 why use full sheets 75, 85, 102, 127 Foundation fixer, Abbott’s 83 4 Parker. 84 Foundation mill ... ... 75 Flowers, how fertilised... 12 » nectariesof .,. 12 e colours of, at- tractive... ... 12 a odours of... ... 12 Fruit production, value of beesin... ... .. ... 18 Fumigator, Webster’s ... 44 as Bertrand 150 Fixed-comb hives ... ... 52 Frames, British standard 67 182 PAGE Frames, shallow ... ... 68 » Howard ... ... 79 Feeding, necessity for ... 88 r stimulative ... 92 i rapid... ... ... 97 a dry sugar... 91, 95 Feeders, bottle and stage 94 a caution in filling 94 oa sugar... ... ... 96 a graduated... ... 92 i dummy ... ... 96 Food, what to use ... 90, 91 », how prepared ... 97 Flowers, honey-producing 12 Fertile workers ie sein 28 os to detect 28 sis how got rid of... 28 Foul brood 145 as symptoms of 148 + how propagated 148 9 remedies for... 149 Formic acid 150 GaUNTLETS... ... ... 49 Gloves, objectionable ... 47 Honey, a food 7, 21, 91, 168 » gatheringof ... 21 » aromaof ... ... 22 » Clover... ... .. 22 » heather ... ... 22 » run or drained 114, 173 », candied, to liquefy 91, 175 » marketing ... 168 » local market for... 169 » to retail 169 » grading 170 INDEX. PAGE Honey, to pack 175 Honey-flow ... ... ... 89 Honey-cistern ... 102, 122 Honey-knife 121 Honey-jars 173 Honey-labels ... . 174 Hives, cottager mie ane ODL » amateur int ane. OB, » distance apart 104 » single-walled 101 1, double-walled 101 Holyland bees... ... ... 39 Handling bees... ... 42, 45, 48 INTIMIDANTS ... ... ... 42 i moderate use of a a» 48 Ivo bar hive 57, 100 a partsof ... 60 si supers for... 60 5 lifts for ... 60 i barsfor ... 61 - to prepare... 62 KnireE, uncapping ... 102 Littte Wonver Extractor 8, 118 Ligurian bees... ... ... 36 6 » homeof... 37 - », When intro- duced ... 37 ‘5 » peculiarities Of suv ws BT. 5 + advantages Of sss cue BT Lift for hive ...59, 73 MarkeEtTIne honey ... 168 INDEX. 183 PAGE PAGE Movable-comb hive...7, 67, 100 | Queen, when to remove 25, 136 ” »» advan- », When fertilised 26, 139 tageof 8 »» young, importance < » entrance of 135 to... 72 » young,torecognise 136 , », supers », introduction of 140 for... 72 » direct introduction ” » costof 100 of 142 se » tomake 7) | Queen jelly .. 28 Manipulations... 48 | Quilts 48, 159 oy proper ane Queen cages, pipe cover 141 for,. 49 ‘3 Howard 142, 143 Metal ends, Lyon .. 69 . Rayner Pat- 8 W. B.C. 70 tern 142 53 Howard 70 Metal runners. 73 | REQurENING 135 Meadows’ board and cleaver 133 Mice ... 154 | Swarine... Fer 30 3 cause of... ... 34 NaDIRIne . as ace ex 35 5 to control 34, 118 Naphthol Beta... . 103, 151 | Swarms, to hive 31, 54, 110 Naphthaline . 103, 152 a9 to shade ... 32 <3 removal of 32 PoueNn 3 22,91 3 to feed 55 » colours wax 28 % work of 58 » artificial ... 91, 167 ie when to super... 55 » baskets 1 22 53 artificial ... 164 Propolis 23 3 sold by weight... 100 Painting hives... 53, 63 59 packing 106 Pin trap ... th 131 | Supers ... .. 53, 72 Porter bee-escape ... 133 » howgiven35,64,110,113 Phenol...” ... . 150 :» when given ... 55 Packages for hones 174 5, additional 56 Porto Rico sugar 95 », filling of . 85 > removal of ... 57, 65 Queen, sole duty of... 24, 136 ., toempty 63, 129 ;, how produced 24, 137 » Abbott’s cottager 116 » ageof.,. 24, 137 Castle Douglas .... 117 » wWheninprime ... 25 Sting, to remove 48 184 INDEX. PAGE PAGE Straw skep system... ... 52 | Section crate, placing on 3 55 cost of 99 stock ...0 0. 0. ue 126 a? ” manage- ment of 54 | TRaNnsFERRING... ... ... 165 Smoker, invention of .., 8 | Travelling crates... .... 172 a fuelfor ... ... 42 » howcharged ... 42 | Unitixa ... 2... 2. 166 » Bingham... ... 43 gp HD ss ee ae AE VET ee ee ke ee aes, 46 Starvation, sign of... ... 27 | Ventilation .. .. .., 159 Subduing bees... ... ... 41 Saw-cut for sseneuba .. 78 | Wipe-sHouLDERED frames 69 Syrian bees... ........ 39 | Webster’s super clearer... 132 Shallow frames... .... 68 | Woodbury hive... ... 67 Stocks, keep strong... ... 88 | Wintering... ... ww. 155 » how strengihened 89 ” young Bees for 156, 24 » wWeightof ... ... 26 » storesfor ... 157 » torequeen... 25, 139 re arrangement of », to move 104, 106 stores in combs » to pack we aay 2D » ‘‘takingup” ... 161 Sections, in flat ... ... 124 i to fold ... ... 124 os preparing . 83, 124 3 grooved ... ... 86 35 Lee’s we ee = 86 Ae erate for... ... 124 Pe removalof ... 134 “a perfect ... ... 171 toglaze ... ... 171 Section hanger ie ge) 2S) Section block ... ... ... 87 Separators... ... ... 125 Sectional honey... ... 123 Sectional supers, to remove 132 Sugar, to use for food ... 91 Spring dwindling ... ... 89 for... ... ... 158 Winter passages... ... 158 Wax, production of ae 19 » involuntary secre- tion of... ... ... 82 », honey consumed in elaboration of ... 20 » Meltingof ... ... 176 Wax extracting . 176 Wax moth oes bes 153 Woiblet spur énibodlens 83 Wasps... . 154 a destruction “ok a spring ... ... 154 Worker bees ... ... ... 27 i their work... 27 55 length of life Of se. say 27 UNWIN BROTHERS, THE GRESHAM PRESS, CHILWORTH AND LONDON, Manufacturer of the IYO HIVE as approved and authorised by Mr. C. N. White. THOMAS B. BLOW Begs to call special attention to the following seasonable articles, which for high quality have never been excelled :— Lewis & Go.’s SNOW-WHITE POLISHED SEGTIONS.—These Sections are snow-white, and nothing like them has ever before been seen in this country. They can be had in both 2-way and 4-way, also in the form called Blow’s Patent Grooved and Split-top Sections. BLOW’S SOFT GANDY (Pore Cane Sugar with Honey). prepared in One-Pound Boxes. 6d. per Box ; 58, per Dozen. SUPER AND BROOD FOUNDATION OF PURE BEESWAX. New Remedy for FOUL BROOD.—Halj/-pint Bottles 28, 6d.; Pint Bottles, 43. Numerous UNSODICITED TESTIMONIALS. Emamelled Metal Section Cases. — Exhibitors at Shows, and those who have large quantities of Comb Honey for public sale, have become keenly alive to the fact that one of the greatest inducements to Shopkeepers to consent to stock Honey, and to the Public to buy it, is the appearance and neatness of the get-up of the package containing the Honey in Comb. They can be had with or without fastenings. Fioney Bottles.—Special attention is called to the Metal Screw-top Honey Bottle for use at Shows, these beivg of very fine quality. _Perfection and Rapid Tin Feeders.—Now is the time for Feeding-up Stooks that are short of supplies. For quick feeding, the RAPID TIN FEEDER is all that can be desired, My Feeders have stood the test of many years, and are still the best in the market. In the Catalogue mentioned below full descriptions and illustrations will be found. Specially Honey Extractors, Honey Ripeners and Honey Presses with all the latest improvements. Also Smokers, Tinware of every description. Best Sheffield Knives and Cutlery of all approved patterns. Special Terms offered to the Trade. Send for 74-page Catalogue, with 120 Illustrations. Also my New Horticultural Catalogue. Tr. B. BLOW, Welwyn, England. NON-POISONOUS. NON-POISONOUS. NON-CORROSIVE. [| / A i NON-CORROSIVE. NON-VOLATILE, NON-VOLATILE. DISINFECTANT. AN ENTIRELY NEW DISCOVERY. INO’T A COAL-TAR PRODUCT. THE SUREST PROTECTOR AGAINST FEVERS, SMALL-POX, CHOLERA, DIPHTHERIA, & INFECTIOUS DISEASES. To BEE-KEEPERS. IZAL, * 2cknowledged by experts to be THE LATEST AND BEST CURE for FOUL BROOD. DIRECTIONS FOR USE.—To medicate food mix joz. (ZAL with 15lbs. of honey or syrup. For cleansing hives use loz. of IZAL (tablespoonful) to 10 pints of water. Sold by Chemists, Grocers, Stores, &c., in Bottles 1s., 28. 6d., 4s. 6d. Gallon Tins, 10s. The 2s. 6d. Bottle makes 30 Gallons of strong reliable DISINFEOTANT, SOLE MANUFACTURERS— NEWTON, CHAMBERS & CO., Ltd., THORNCLIFFE, neaR SHEFFIELD. J. H. HOWARD, MANUFACTURER, THE “MODEL APIARY,” HOLME, PETERBOROUGH, LECTURER AND CERTIFIED EXPERT, SOLICITS APPLICATION FOR HIS CATALOGUE (POST FREE), IN WHICH FIRST PRIZE APPLIANCES AND ALL IMPLEMENTS PERTAINING TO SUCCESS IN BEE CULTURE ARE SHOWN. THE “IVO”"” HIVE is manufactured by J. H. H., under special directions and permit from Mr. C. N. WHITE. Now Ready at all Booksellers and Libraries. Ina Gloucestershire Garden. BY HENRY N. ELLACOMBE, M.A,, VICAR OF BITTON, GLOUCESTERSHIRE, AND HONORARY CANON OF BRISTOL 5 AUTHOR OF ‘‘PLANT LORE AND GARDEN-CRAFT OF SHAKESPEARE,” WITH ILLUSTRATIONS, Crown Bro, elegantly bound, 6s. CONTENTS. A GLOUCESTERSHIRE GARDEN, BRAMBLES AND THISTLES. JANUARY TO DECEMBER, CLIMBING PLANTS. MONTH BY MONTH. | GARDEN WALLS. SPRING FLOWERS. | TREES IN THE GARDEN. SHRUBS. : AUTUMN LEAVES. PALMS AND BAMBOOS. BIRDS IN THE GARDEN. LILIES. | PARSONAGE GARDENS. ROSES. | GARDEN ASSOCIATIONS, Lonpox: ;EDWARD ARNOLD, 37, Breprorp Srreet, Stranp, W.C. Publisher to the India Office. WORKS BY THE DEAN of ROCHESTER (THE VERY REV. 8. REYNOLDS HOLE). MORE MEMORIES: Being thoughts about England spoken in America. With Frontispiece. Demy 8vo, 16s. ‘‘ There is not a page in this volume without its good thing, its touch of wit or wisdom, quaint drollery, apt illustration, or quick association, kind counsel, grave truth, or happy anecdote.”’—JVorld. THE MEMORIES OF DEAN HOLE. With the original Illustrations from sketches by LerecH and Tuackeray. Twelfth Thousand. One vol., crown 8vo, 6s. “One of the most delightful collections of reminiscences that this generation has seen.”—Daily Chronicle. A LITTLE TOUR IN IRELAND. By An Oxonin (the Very Rev. 8. R. Horz, Dean of Rochester). 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Crown 8vo, cloth, price 2s. 6d. “All who know the culinary works of ‘Wyvern’ are aware that they combine a remark- able conviction and (on the whole) excellent taste with an exceptional practicalness and precision in detail. His ‘ Fifty Breakfasts’ will well sustain this reputation.”— Saturday Review. “An admirable collection of menus for the opening meal of the day. The majority of the dishes described in these pages are not merely dainty and appetising, but are hardly of a kind seriously to tax either the resources of an ordinary kitchen or the aptitude of an ordinary cook. Colonel Herbert’s book is one of the best of its kind, for it is thoroughly practical from beginning to end.”—Speaker. “ Autolycus,” in a review of a column, says: “ Distinctly it is a book to be read and studied.”—Pall Mall Gazette. TWO NEW VOLUMES by COLONEL KENNEY HERBERT will be published very shortly, in uniform style with “ Fifty Breakfasts.” Price 2s, 6d, each. FIFTY LUNCHES. FIFTY DINNERS. 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Samples of Foods Post Free. Pamphlet on Poultry Rearing Pc Post t free for One Stamp. SPRATT’S PATENT Ltd, Bermondsey, London, §.E. oe A Peace ed ma