The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1868-06-16 00:00:00

BEE-KEEPING IN DOUSEISHIRII.

To the Editor.

SIR,— I presume "11 R," of klaiden Newton, alludes
to me in his letter in the Dorset Coate, !express about
hes treatment; and I think I can reply to his questions
It is • very common circumstance to cause t-e return
of swarms to the parent hives by experienc.d bee-
keep lA, but not exactly in the way he did it. It
Is quite usual to watch a hive about to swarm for the
sec .n.l time, and capture the queen • ith • wine glass,
fur, previous to swarming, she very often runs in and
out of the hive. Now the queen in the case of • first
swarm is the oil one, her succusor being liberated at
the moment of swarming from the royal cell As in .ny
pw.rms an follow the eett qu-en go with them, but
eb• will of course be • young queen, and so on. OCCA•
antnclly when several royal cell. have been nursed in
the hive, two or three young queens wit go off with the
second swarm and they will at times divide themselves
into different moues. All may be placed m one hive.
but queens invariably fight when such an event happens,
isnd the °emboss always ends in th• destruction the
weakest. lo the case of first swarms it is well not to
interfere, for when a hive swarms, iii. an ineart.be
proof that the old queen is strong and able to attend
to the wants of a new colony, as she immalm• ely
proceeds to lay eggs,u moon as • few cells are constructe.i.
In the case of second or third swarms, the young
queens not having been in contact with drones • delay
of some days takes place, which is the reason tLat
wend swarms are very difficult to rear.
" B. It's" Van has novelty in it. and it was • very
successful experiment. It is quite evident the bees
de.cen.led into the old hive, but had they not, they
would either have founded a new oniony in the super, or,
if by chance the young queen, had escaped meetunj the
last released queen, they would have come out again on
the following day. I am very glad however the plan
succeeded.
The usual method of joining swarms of the same
season is to add the second to the first, which is gener-
ally Id days after the first. The second swarm, on the
evening of the name day, is placed under the first.
You mem se it by placing it in a Ma bet with a litt'e
water in it Take the first and place it gently over the
r, coned hive, paming a cloth round the junction. It
must be done with care, as there •re cew comb' forming
in the first, and thee are very tender. During the
night the bees will *seem! Awl join the first ..arm,
and one of the queens will be found deposed in the
morning Replace the first hive-
V reg.r,lto ''B. It's" ,econd experience, it isunim.
port .ot Queens are generally weak in flying —nature
totemic.' them to be so - or we should not be able to
capture swarms at all. An active queen is • nuisance.
"11. Il " • ished, I conclude, to secure that swarm, and
very properly picked up her maje.ty. till e.n say is I
should have been glad of the disaster, for in most cu..,
urceas we want swarms it has a tendency to eeaken
stock., and the re union of swarm, is not sufficiently,
att.:tele(' to in this county. Bee-keepers should always
bear in mind that the life of • queen is longer than the
common bee --he live• three or four years, the common
bee only six months. If she does not fly well, it is no
proof of a bad constitution.
The usual flight of • useful queen seldom exceeds fifty
yards, unless a high wind carries her away at the
moment of issue.