MAY.

The most interesting as well as the most active month in the apiarian's

calendar has now commenced; food for his little favourites abounds

in every direction, and no fear need now be entertained of famine.

The population of the hives will have increased considerably, and

drones by this time are making their appearance, which proves that the

stocks are in a healthy and vigorous state, and should be a subject of

congratulation to every Bee-keeper. "Early drones, early swarms," is a

maxim, the truth of which every experienced apiarian is well acquainted

with.

To those persons who are managing their Bees upon the depriving system,

the time will now have arrived for supplying each stock with a small

hive, box, or bell-glass; and should the season prove a favourable one,

the supply, also, of a second may be found necessary before the end of

the month.

Method of Placing the Bell-glass, Box, or Small Hive upon the Improved

Cottage Hive.--Take the moveable piece of straw-work from the top of

the hive (see page 8), and place it upon the adapting board (see page

8); then put the bell-glass, small hive, or box (see page 8), upon this

adapter, and cover the whole with a milk-pan to defend them from wet.

Should a bell-glass be preferred, it must be covered with something

that will effectually exclude light. A cover of straw is, perhaps, the

best. It is very desirable to fix a piece of clean comb inside the

glass, and this may very easily be done by warming the perforated zinc

tube, which is sold with the glasses, and then pressing the piece of

comb upon it. Should the comb reach from the top to the bottom of the

glass, so much the better; for the Bees will then begin to work upon it

immediately.

Those persons whose Bees are now in common straw hives may, if they

please, commence with the above system at once. Bet them in the middle

of a fine clear day, with a strong sharp knife, cut out from the top

of the hive a piece of the straw-work, 4 inches in diameter, and then

place over the opening the adapting board, &c., as directed above.

Should the combs be a little broken at the top of the hive it matters

not. Indeed, it is rather to be wished that they should be so; for the

Bees in repairing them are induced to carry their work upwards in the

glass or box that is given them. This operation may be done without

any protection whatever by an experienced person; for if done at a

proper time and well managed, not a Bee will take wing. All operations,

except joining swarms, should be performed on a fine clear day, and

between the hours of twelve and two o'clock. At the same time, such

operations are done with much less annoyance to the Bees, as well

as with less chance of danger to the operator. I generally perform

all the operations required in this system without the defence even

of a pair of gloves; but I would not recommend any person to do so

until he has had many years' experience in the management of Bees;

for being perfectly defended in every part against their stings,

gives that coolness and confidence to the operator upon which the

happy accomplishment of his intentions so much depends. Coolness and

confidence on the part of the operator are essential qualifications;

for anything approaching to hurry irritates Bees exceedingly. Indeed,

the hand ought never to be hastily removed from one position to

another. "Quietness," says Dr. Bevan, "is the surest protection against

being stung."

Defence.--The best defence that I have found is a mask of wire similar

to a fencing mask, and a pair of very thick worsted gloves. It should

be remembered that nothing is either more offensive or more irritating

to Bees than the human breath: therefore, the breathing upon them must

at all times be most carefully avoided.

Covering for Glasses.--When the Bees are beginning to work in a glass,

a cold night generally obliges them to forsake their newly-made combs,

and to discontinue their labours, which are seldom resumed till the

middle of the next day. To prevent this delay, I would recommend the

space between the glass and its cover to be filled with fine tow or

wool, the temperature of the glass being thereby kept up, and the Bees

enabled to carry on their labours without interruption. Wool is to be

preferred from its not being so good a conductor of heat as tow.

Hives.--The time has now arrived for those persons who are wishing

their Bees to swarm to have a supply of hives in readiness; and where

straw hives are used, I would recommend new ones in all cases, except

where a swarm of the last year has died, and the combs still remaining

in the hive, the combs being dry and free from mould. A hive of this

kind is a great help to a swarm; for one treated in this manner will

generally be found Better than one a fortnight or three weeks earlier

that has been put into an empty hive.

Depriving-Hives, or Supers.--It will now be time to have small hives,

boxes or glasses, in readiness to place upon stock hives. Each box, or

glass, should have a few pieces of guide-comb neatly fixed in it; but

refrain from putting them on until there are evident signs of want of

room. This may be ascertained by the Bees thickening at the entrance,

and by a loud hum inside; for if put on too early it will retard the

hatching of the brood, as well as give the Bees an unwillingness

to enter it at all. The most desirable time for placing a glass or

box upon a stock hive, is the exact time when they will enter it

immediately; but the knowledge of this, I am aware, is attended with

some difficulty. I have always found, that by giving a glass too early

in the season, Bees appear to take a dislike to it, and will swarm

rather than enter it. When I have been able to put a glass upon a

crowded hive at about nine o'clock on the morning of a warm day, it

has scarcely ever failed to be filled with Bees immediately. Be the

super of wood, glass, or straw, a small piece of guide-comb is a great

inducement to the Bees to begin working in it at once.

Ventilation.--It has been my practice for some years to give all the

ventilation possible to my stocks in boxes, by withdrawing all the

slides about October, and keeping them open to the end of April: for

then no condensed vapour can injure either the combs or the Bees, and

then shutting them for a week or two before putting on the glasses, so

that, upon again opening them, the Bees immediately take possession of

the supers, and begin their work in them.

Driving Bees from one Hive to Another.--I am frequently applied to

by beginners for the best plan of removing a stock of Bees, at this

season, from an old hive to some fancy one they have chanced to meet

with, and I have, in all cases, said that it is a plan I have never

either adopted or recommended. Let the Bees remain in the old hive,

and if it be too unsightly to be tolerated, have a tasty cover of wood

or zinc made to fit it and let them swarm, and put the swarm into the

new hive. If a weak one, join the second swarm to it; if not, hive the

second swarm in the usual manner, and then in September, either by

driving or fumigating the Bees in the old hive, join them to the second

swarm.

Swarms.--Those persons who are anxious to commence Bee-keeping by

purchasing swarms, must now provide themselves with such kinds of hives

as they are wishing to see their Bees placed in, and send them to the

persons of whom they have agreed to purchase, that the Bees maybe hived

into them at the time of swarming. Should it be straw hives that are

chosen, let there be no sticks placed withinside them for the Bees to

fasten their combs to, for they cause them much trouble in forming

the combs, and render the extraction of the combs almost impossible.

Let there be no sugared ale nor honey put inside the hive, but let it

be as clean and dry as possible; and when it is fixed where it is to

remain let there be no mortar or clay put round to fasten it to the

floor-board--the Bees themselves will do this more effectually. Clay or

mortar tends very much to decay the hives by retaining moisture, and is

a harbour for moths and other insects. On the depriving system, a hive

may be expected to stand for fifteen or even twenty years, if properly

managed.

Purchasers should endeavour to obtain the very earliest swarms in May,

if there be any, but on no account to have them after the 14th or 15th

of June; and it is very important to observe, that whenever a swarm is

purchased, it must be removed to the place in which it is to remain

upon the evening of the day it swarmed; for should its removal be

delayed even till the evening of the next day, the combs will in all

probability be broken, and the stock destroyed. Let it be remembered,

that the prosperity of the hive will much (perhaps entirely) depend

upon its being finally placed upon the evening of the day it swarmed.

It must be a very peculiar kind of day to induce a first swarm to

emigrate. It must be a balmy still day, and something besides that I

cannot discover, for there may be several days to all appearance alike,

and upon one of these days everybody's Bees shall swarm, whilst not

another swarm, perhaps, shall be heard of on any other day for some

time. This late swarming will be a sad disappointment to those who are

commencing Bee-keeping this summer, who indeed, are not a few; and I

congratulate each one of them, for they will find in the management and

observation of their Bees a constant and increasing source of interest

and amusement.

Premature Swarms, or the whole population of a hive leaving it, and

alighting at a distance from it; in the usual manner:--This generally

happens early in May. The best plan that can be adopted in these cases

is to unite the Bees to another stock, if they should not join one of

themselves; for if put into a hive they generally leave it or die. The

cause usually arises from poverty, or the old age of the queen.

Should we have a dry May, swarms may be expected at the end of the

month: therefore it will be good policy to have every arrangement for

their reception made in good time; but June must be the month for

honey. "None in June, none afterwards, depend on it." The honey harvest

comes on all at once, and very seldom lasts longer than a fortnight, so

that additional room should be in readiness if required.

Enemies.--Queen wasps are now showing themselves, and should be sought

after and destroyed, both by gardeners and apiarians. A few mild days

in February usually tempt them out, when the cold which follows kills

them, or renders them so feeble as to be easily captured; but now they

come at once from their hiding-places to a temperature of 60°. The

destruction of the queens, therefore, is important both to the gardener

as well as to the apiarian; and, as soon as they are seen to alight,

discharge a syringe full of water upon them, which is sure to bring

them to the ground, when they may be crushed easily with the foot.

Watch carefully for moths. Should the Bees of any hive appear inactive

about this time, or should they not be seen to carry in pellets of

pollen, whilst others are doing it, and this inaction continue for

eight or ten days, lose no time in examining the hive; and should the

moths have begun their work of destruction, which may be known by

seeing their combs joined together by their silken webs, cut away the

combs affected with a sharp knife, and the hive may perhaps be saved.

The house sparrow may also be ranked amongst the enemies of Bees, for I

have observed, for the last four or five years, the female birds flying

from the ground up to the mouth of the hive, and catching the Bees just

before, or as they take wing, and away with them to their young ones

when their nest is nigh the apiary. I have seen as many as six or eight

journeys made in a quarter of an hour by the female bird only. The male

appears to take no part in it. I have never witnessed the like at any

other time but when the birds have young to provide for; therefore it

would be well to have all the nests in the immediate neighbourhood of

the apiary destroyed.

Feeding.--Weak stocks must still continue to have barley-sugar supplied

to them, for during the prevalence of north and easterly winds but

little food can be collected.

Pollen.--Those stocks that are alive will be carrying in pollen most

abundantly of a golden yellow colour, which is obtained from Crowsfoot,

_Ranunculus ficaria_, and _Ranunculus bulbosa_, but more especially

from the former, it being the earliest as well as the most abundant;

for next to the Dandelion, it makes our meadows brilliant. It is

Shakspeare's "Cuckoo-buds of yellow hue," and greatly indeed are our

little favourites indebted to it for a supply of food for their early

progeny. The Crocus lasts but a short time, and is met with only in

gardens, while this covers almost every meadow in the kingdom during

the months of March and April: therefore, how little advantage arises

from cultivating Bee-flowers, as they are frequently called, for it is

the fields, and the fields alone, that supply their store of honey. Sow

twenty acres of White Clover within a mile of them and leave it for

seed, and in the autumn twenty or thirty acres of Buckwheat, and much

benefit will arise; but the little that a garden affords them is almost

valueless.