Part 21

2. That they weigh from twenty to thirty pounds.

3. They must be transported by water, or carried one at each end of a pole on a man's shoulder.

4. Let them swarm next summer, and thus multiply your stock.

5. If you wait till spring, buy swarms, which is the best way.

Fifty swarms, gathered from cottagers, would cost 25l.

Begin with fewer, and increase gradually.

Faringdon, August 11th.

Sir,--I have bees in the common cottage hive, the honey of which I wish to take without destroying the bees. I am told I can fumigate them with puff-ball. I tried doing so, but killed my bees. I was afterwards told I could fumigate them with chloroform; this I also tried, but--whether the chloroform was good or bad I cannot say--I failed again.

Three or four years since I heard that a person offered a friend to take his honey for him, if he would give him the bees. The offer being accepted, the person fumigated the bees, took the honey from them for his friend, and carried the bees to his own home, where, in the end of October following, after giving them six pounds of moist sugar in ale, they contrived to fill the hive with comb and honey, and the whole weighed nearly twenty-five pounds.

Some people think it a good plan to drum the bees; but I should fear to rely on it. And if you did not object kindly to advise me, as you have had so much experience, what plan you consider best to deprive them without destroying them, I should esteem it a very great favour; and hoping you will not consider me very impertinent in seeking your advice,

I remain yours truly,

J. H.

You must have depriving hives. You must take from the bees their surplus honey, only leaving them twenty or twenty-five pounds of honey for the winter. To take the honey out of a common skep, you must either burn the bees or leave them to perish of hunger--alternatives too barbarous to be thought of.

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Gravesend.

Sir,--Having read with interest your letters in The Times about bees, I thought you might like to see the following extract, which I met with the other day. I always think that the cottagers waste much honey, and my husband and I have frequently thought that it might be made quite a productive source of income to them; but I fear that in these parts the plan of supers, nadirs, &c., would be above their comprehension. If you think that clay hives are suitable to this climate, you might give a hint in The Times.

Obediently yours,

F. Q.

"The production of honey is one of the chief sources of wealth to this place, and the bee-hives deserve a passing notice. Each household possesses some sixteen or twenty hives, arranged with marvellous economy of space. The hive consists of a tube, of the diameter of a large gas-pipe, about four feet long, made of sun-dried clay, and laid longitudinally on the ground, four or five abreast. On these are piled, according to the wealth of the owner, a cone of twelve or fifteen more, forming a pyramid, and the whole plastered over with mud. The apertures at each end of the tubes are likewise closed with mud, leaving a small opening for the bees, exactly in the centre. A bush is stuck into the ground at each end, to shade the hives and to assist the bees in alighting. The produce of these spacious hives must be enormous; and the bees are never killed, the hives being simply robbed twice a year by the removal of the plaster at each end, when the honey is drawn out by an iron hook. All portions of comb containing young bees are carefully replaced; and on these hills, with their short winter and abundance of aromatic herbs, nothing more is required. Of course we invested in Palestine honey, which has all the aromatic flavour of that of Hymettus or Hybla."--Extracted from "A Winter Ride in Palestine, by the Rev. H. B. Tristram," contained in "Vacation Tourists; or, Notes on Travel in 1862-1863."

LONDON; PRINTED BY EDMUND EVANS, RAQUET COURT, FLEET STREET.

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