Queen Wasps.—To destroy these "Bead's Syringe" is a very useful instrument, for by discharging it at them when they alight, it is sure to bring them to the ground, when the foot may easily be put upon them. It is important to every apiarian and gardener, but more especially the former, to destroy all they can at this season.
Early Breeding.—Many plans have been adopted to effect this very desirable object, and none entirely without success, but variously, according to the means used. The hives that have been simply bound with haybands are certainly earlier than those that have not; but those that have been covered with loose sacking, and then bound tightly round with oil-cloth, so that when the coverings were taken off for a few minutes the outside of the hive felt quite warm, are earlier still; whilst those placed in a greenhouse are earlier than either; but the earliest are those covered with fermenting stable-litter; yes, literally placed in the centre of a hotbed, leaving only a passage for the ingress and egress of the Bees.
Proper Time for Taking Honey.—It is probable that in favourable situations, towards the close of the present month, some glasses, small hives, or boxes of honey may be in a sufficiently forward state to allow of their being taken off, which may be known by their being filled with honey, and the combs all sealed up; or they may remain till those placed beneath them are also sealed up. Upon very strong and populous hives, in a good season, it is necessary to place even a third; but this must be removed with great caution, and certainly not before the end of August, or the beginning of September, and not then unless the parent hive contains full 20 lbs. of honey.
JULY.
Swarming is frequently much later than usual if May be wet and cold, and the stocks be very weak. It is very probable that second and third swarms will be coming in July, and should it prove so, we would recommend their being united to late swarms, or three or four of them being put together.
Returning Swarms.—The necessity for returning swarms in some seasons, I think, will be apparent to every one at all acquainted with Bee management, and, indeed, in some cases of returning swarms; but this cannot be done with any chance of success but in a bar hive, and there the operator is sure to succeed. The manner of performing the operation will be as follows:—As soon as the swarm has left the parent hive, proceed immediately to open the hive and take out the bars, one by one, and cutting from each comb every royal cell that is seen upon it, and replacing the comb again in the hive. The cell in which the queen Bee is born is entirely of a different construction from that of either the drone or the common Bees. The cell of the latter is placed horizontally in the hive, and that of the queen is placed perpendicularly; that of the common Bee is an exact hexagon, and that of the queen circular; besides, the cell of the queen is always fixed at the sides of the combs, and generally upon that near the middle of the hive. This operation of removing the royal cells will take about five minutes; and, when done, return the swarm immediately to the hive. The old queen which led it off, finding by this process that there is no royal brood left in the hive to succeed her, will not again attempt to leave it. Persons who have never practised this method will be surprised to find how easily it is accomplished; for the parent hive will at this time be found to be almost depopulated from the numbers that have left it in the swarm, and those that are out collecting. In some cases the help of a puff or two of tobacco-smoke may be useful, should the few Bees left be angry, or the operator feel at all timid. The readiest way of returning the swarm will be to lay a board upon the floor-board of the hive, and parallel with it, upon which, by a smart and sudden movement, shake the swarm, and as nigh to the entrance of the parent hive as can be done conveniently, and with the finger, or a piece of wood, guide a few Bees to the entrance, and the remainder will follow immediately.
Glasses and Small Hives.—The proper time for opening the communication between the boxes, as well as for putting glasses or small hives upon swarms that are in the Improved Cottage Hive, must in some measure depend upon the season. In a good season it may be done from the eighteenth to the twenty-first day after the time of their being hived. In some seasons I have had a glass holding 10 lbs. of honeycomb filled in less than a fortnight from the time of putting it on. When this happens, a box or small hive should be placed between it and the hive as directed at [page 22]; or, in all probability, a second swarm will be thrown off. To prevent this, every possible means must be taken; for the swarm coming so late in the season, as this must consequently be, is generally of no value, except to unite to others, and the stock itself is so weakened by it that it seldom lives through the following winter.
Melted Combs.—Shading should always be had recourse to in such weather as that of the middle of July, and more especially so for swarms of the year. In those cases where it has; unfortunately taken place, it will be better to shade immediately and nothing more, leaving the rest that is to be done entirely to the Bees.
Shading.—Should the weather prove very hot and sultry, it will be necessary to shade newly-hived swarms for a few hours in a day, say from ten till two o'clock; a green bough answers very well for this purpose—that from the fir trees, perhaps, is the best, as well as the most durable. I have more than once seen the combs of a newly-hived swarm so heated by a July sun as to fall from the top of the hive, and the honey to run in a stream from its entrance, consequently the stocks were ruined.
Wasps.—I am quite sure that it is needful for us all to use every means in our power for the destruction of these sad enemies to our Bees. As "prevention is always better than cure," that object is attained by capturing the queen wasps at this time; and, indeed, as long as they can be seen. Some persons recommend shooting them. I have always found a garden-syringe to be a very useful thing; for if filled with water and discharged at them, it seldom fails to bring them to the ground, but it matters not by what means so that they are destroyed.