The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1865-09-12 00:00:00

gormsponbence.
BEE KEEPING IN DORSEnHIRE.

To the Editors.

A few remarks on the present bee season may
perhaps he of interest, "and I hope of use" to
your various readers. That must be my excuse
for asking a small space in your columns.
From my own experience and the reports of
my neighbours, I fear the honey harvest will
prove extremely deficient; my own, out of eight
supered hives, has only given about twenty-five
pounds of honey. Three of those hives never built
combs at all, the remainder built, placing
a small quantity into them ; this I have allowed
them to carry down, with the exception of twq,
one filled and the other half filled. We now
arrive at the point when a knowledge of thin
habits of bees is of the greatest importance. In
the breeding season of May the honey in the
stocks is readily and eagerly carried into supers to
make room for brood. If the season is favourable
more will be stored both in the stock and super,
and then it may reasonably be taken ; because, in
June and July, enough can be gathered by tbe
bees for their winter's supply. If they cannot
fill the supers, or only place a small quantity in
them, it is useless to deprive them of any of their
store, and this is exactly what has happened this
season in this county.
The only exceptions to this principle are hives
placed near to large extents of heath lands, in
which case the harvest is always later, and the
supers may remain till the middle of August,
when the bee-keeper may secure all that his
supers contain.
It is difficult to account for the failure of our
usual supply, and several reasons present them-
selves whereon we may speculate. In the
beginning of the season we had very dry weather
—so dry that probably flowers did not contain
honey.
Bees were unusually prompt to swarm, and as
the swarms always carry away an immense
amount of honey " sufficient for two or three
days," the stocks became exhausted, and could
not make up the deficiency. It was not unusual
in this , neighbourhood having three swarms
from each hive ; and it is the first year I ever
remember that all supered hives swarmed
as if they had no additional room, distinctly
proving that placing supers over hives does not
prevent swarming as held by many bee-pro-
prietors.. _

, I must remind our bee-keepers that now is
the proper time to feed light stocks. There ought
to be in each hive from fifteen to twenty pounds
of honey, and, even with that, feeding must be
resorted to in the spring at this time. Any time
in the day will do, especially in warm weather
and on sunny days; because feeding always
stimulates bees to go out, and very soon after a
feed you will see bees returning loaded with
pollen; never give, "as is too often done," pure
honey to them. It invariably causes fighting in
whatever mode it may be presented to them, nor
give them simple raw auger, the latter soon
re-cryatalisea and chokes Hp the combs.
According to Dr. Cumming he has had a
moat favourable season, and we may at least
envy him his locality when superfluous glasses
and supers tilled with golden produce may be sent
to the Editor of the Times, more acceptable to
him, doubtless, than the grumbling, of Pater-
familias! Well, we must be content with our
ild heaths and belts of forest, but I should
seriously recommend the Doctor to see that he
has not taken too much, and to weigh his hives,
else his bees may be starved.
On the whole I recommend taking no more
honey than is absolutely required, even from
supers, and waiting patiently for a better season.
Supers containing combs with but little in them
may now be taken off, a piece of paper pasted
round to keep away dust and moths, and stored
away, a mark denoting the five it belonged to
placed on it, and in the spring it may be re-
placed and will soon be occupied. If pure and
unadulterated wax be wanted, the empty combs
may be dropped into very hot water, and with
clean hands press them into a cake. On no
account boil it; that process invariably destroys
the true quality of the wax, by the loss of the
natural oil it contains. Wax, as usually sold, is
dreadfully adulterated with tallow and composite
candle andel, and made up by boiling old useless
combs; indeed after three years of use by the
bees, combs loose their nature altogether, and
no power and no heat will ever make them into
the wax of commerce. Have no belief either in
what is called virgin wax. I have frequently
washed and premed combs fresh made and look-
ing perfectly white as combs, but in melting they
are never lighter than a pale sherry colour, and
if such wax cax be had it is invaluable for pur-
poses of art, and is always extremely hard and
to‘Nl?'

I have made a slight improvement in my
method of feeding; instead of piercing a number
of small holes in the rim plate over the aperture
in the stock hive, I have altered them to three
large ones. I found the small holes are im-
mediately sealed over with propolis by the bees,
directly they have emptied the feeding bottle.
With larger ones they cannot and the bottle is
sooner emptied. I find it altogether the least
troublesome way of feeding.
Wimborne, September.