The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1865-02-28 00:00:00

BRE- KEEPING IN DORSETSHIRE.
LEWIS IT. '

To the Editor.
SlB—The hints concerning bee management contained
In these notes are to be considered as only addressed to
oottagers, or to those who desire to make bee-keeping
profitable, though there is in fact but little difference in
the malt even with the most expensive boxes and
ea,. hares. With the exception of the effect of bar
hives all may be done, but the bar system by which any
single ecimb may be extruded cannot be undertaken;
It is also expensive. Let us now suppose we begin the
year, sad ibis January; you prepare so many hives and
supers es you suppose you will need. I have never
been able to persuade any hive-maker to manufacture
Inc the exact pattern I required. (I suppose habit and
obstinacy prevent them,) though I have several times
given direct orders. The hive for this purpose should
he merely a cylinder, open at both ends, 18 inches wide,
and 11 inebes high. As I have not been able to get
them made, as a substitute I cut off the top of an
ordinary hell-shaped hive at about the sixth round of
st- raw, eat directly through with a sharp knife ;and, as
omsequently the hive is weakened, with some waxed
peek thread and a pecking needle rebind the straw.
Have then • piece of board—it is beat a square—with
the corners slightly cut off, and an inch or two larger
tban 'the hive, and with an awl, and some short lengths
of copper or brass wire, pierce holes through the board
in four placer, and pass the wire through the straw hive,
twisting the wire with a pair of pliers until the board is
firmly attached to the hive. Some places now will
require stopping. For this purpose mix a little whiting,
and sawdust, with size or glue, much diluted, and fill
up outside or iuside as required. When dry the whole
will be firm, and will not give way unless exposed to
the weather. Now in the centre of the board pierce a
two-inch circular hole, made perfectly smooth, and
inserts bong or piece of wood, and see that it fits
tight, for it will not be drawn out till the spring follow
lug the hiving of the swarm. Thus arranged the bees
In that hive remain unmolested as long as they will
Inhabit it. I have a hive five years old, and it is now
as populous as ever, and has given off double 'warms
every year. So much for the idea that they wear out,
and the bees become old and useless, the fact being that
there is throughout the year a constant supply of brood,
the life of an individual bee being ascertained by
naturalists to be about six months only. If the season
Is a fine one, and you have hived them by the second
week In June, they will not require feeding; but if
later feed them occasionally-1n fact a supple of food
immediately after hiving is beneficial, and will hasten
their oomb.building. Furs few days they may be fed
by pasting • tin trough at night into the entranoe,
withdrawing it in the morning, but afterwards they
should be fed at the top in the following manner.
Get • good dee pickle bottle, and fill it with
the kbee food ; over the mouth tie a piece of
coarse cloth, and, having drawn out the hung, insert
the neck of the bottle; the bees will soon empty
It by drawing the food through the cloth. I may
here give the receipt for the food I have found most useful.
Take fear or five pounds of sugar of any kind, and place
a saucepan on the fire half filled with water, and have
the water boiling, put in the sugar by small quantities,
keeping it boiling briskly all the time, (this will assist in
destroying its tendency to crystalise,) add about •
table-spoonful of vinegar which will further midst it,
and when taken off the fire add • pound of honey, but
not more, as honey alone provokes fighting among the
bees, and stimulates them too much. The food should
be made thinner than honey, and ought not to be used
Immediately ;it is best kept a week or two, when the
crystallizable part will have formed on the sides ef the
vesseL Theme orystals are of no use whatever to
she bees.
Attention must now be paid to the supers, or small
hives placed over the stocks. I have lately some to the
conclusion that wooden supers are the most prised by
the bees. They should be either boxes—square will do—
or what I have adopted lately are firkins, or small casks
sawn off, and the hoops nailed on firmly. They should
be about five, or not more than six inches deep, and
their diameter will be about eleven inches ; like your
hives they should be lower than their width, and this
Is very important. At the back of the super, and over I
the back of the hive, insert a small piece of glees; with.'
out that the eutire process is useless, as will be duly '
explained.
The first warm weather in April take out the bung
from tile top of your stock hive, and, having smeared
your super well with honey, place it on the board, and
with some wet clay plaster the super closely down so
that no air can enter; the bees will soon discover the
additional accommodation, and will come up from below
and lick the honey. The Kuper may of course be with-
out any deeming, but they will in that ease be longer
before they actually discover the arrangement. The
super should be kept warm, and covered for • short time.
At first for a few days they take no notice of the super,
but very shortly you will see one or two bees running
about jpcessantly all over the inside ; others will
gradually fill it entirely, and • mass of them will
be seen hanging inside, apparently doing nothing;
but they are building combs, and in • few days the lovely
white combs, pure as marble, will be completed. As
about this time the queen is busy laying eggs, and
brood increasing, the bees will &Axially bring up the
honey from the stock hive to make room for brood, at
all events they will rapidly fill the super, and at this
time dally observation must be made through the glass
window to ascertain when it is filled, and the cells
covered over. This period is the critical one for your
harvest. Should you neglect securing your filled super
Immediately, or by accident be away for a week, you
will find the bees have perhaps carried away the greater
part of It; as I have experienced they will do this
apparently for want of employment, and finding them-
selves wealthy sorry it below, when you cannot take It;
nay, they have the power in one night to dispose of it,
therefore no tune must be lost, although to make your
work successful you must wait for • fine, clear, warm
day.—To be continued.
I remain, &c.
WELD TAYLOR.
Wimborne, February 2.5.
To the Editor.
Sri—On reading the first part of the letter from
"Chilly" we considered that he had made the omen&
h.0n0ra61,4 towards us. The query demands a reply
—First, in justice to ourselves we are bound
state that we are restricted from expending more
than • certain sum fixed on at the vestry-meeting for
airing the church, and we have questioned the man
who lights the fires—s very steady person—whose
word we ean rely on, and he assures us that,
generally 'Peaking, the whole of the contents of the
stoves are consumed; there may be, as in other woes,
an exceiplaon. "Chilly" states that he hoe seen (week.
!IT) dodoes remains in the two miniature thermal-
Diem. We conclude he had previously examined the
Iwo, although he had forgotten there was more than one.
'Kalil,' to send forth such incorrect etatements to the
Public, without ascertaining the facts, may lead us to

°l4/.rlll- I

suppose that "Very Chilly" may well have added—and
stAsr silly.
We are, Sir, yours obediently,
THOMAS TOMICINS,
Churchwarde
SAMUEL SYhiES,
Pideti*renthide, F bru ary 25.
[The subject of this oontroversy may be sufficiently
chilly; but the controversy itself appears to be waxing
rather warm, and, we think, might here cease—its
object boing obviously attained by the attention which
has been directed to the matter.]