"If the queen is not in the super (and she seldom is there after it
is filled), the silence that at first prevailed will be exchanged
for a murmuring hum, attended by a commotion among the bees; and they
shortly after begin to quit the super, without attempting any attack.
Should the queen be present, however, a very different scene would
ensue, and a hubbub would then commence in the stock hive; though the
loss of their queen is sometimes not discovered by the bees for a
considerable time. In such a case, the box must be reinstated in its
former position, and the communication reopened till some other day.
The process might happen to be complicated by the presence of brood,
for this the bees leave very reluctantly, and often not at all. In
an emergency of this kind, it is best to restore matters to their
previous state, and let the super remain till the brood is perfected.
A little patience is sometimes necessary; but all attempts at ejection
of the bees by tapping, smoking, or driving, usually do more harm than
good. So long as they continue to leave the super, it may remain where
it is, for on these occasions young bees are sometimes numerous; and
if the super is removed, though only to a short distance, these are in
part lost, not having become sufficiently acquainted with the position
of their home; or, if they enter a wrong hive, they pay the penalty
with their lives. This freedom from disturbance has the further good
effect of preventing in a great degree the intrusion of robber bees,
readily distinguishable from the others by their hovering about the
box, instead of flying from it. These are strangers from various
quarters, immediately attracted by the scent attending the removal of
a full box or glass. Should a few of these plunderers once obtain a
taste or sample of the honey, they speedily convey the good news to
their associates, when large reinforcements from every hive in the
neighbourhood will be at once on the alert, and quickly leave nothing
behind but empty combs. Let the separated super, therefore, not be
left or lost sight of, but if scented out by robbers, be conveyed
into some room or outbuilding, to prevent a general battle, and which
might extend itself to all the neighbouring hives. The remaining bees
may here be brushed out, escaping by the window or door. Mr. Golding
has sometimes found the advantage of using for the purpose a darkened
room, with the exception of a very small aperture, to which the bees
will fly and make their exit. Others like to remove a super at once to
a short distance from the stock hive, leaving it shut up in perfect
darkness for an hour or two. Its edge is then raised up, when the bees
will evacuate it."
A good plan is, to take the detached super into a room with a window that
closes and opens on hinges. On edging up the glass, the bees will fly to
the window. Open it for a minute, and they will escape. Shut it again, and
repeat the opening. The advantage of this is that wasps and strange bees
are excluded, such corsairs careering everywhere in autumn.
Honey is always best preserved in its own sealed and air-tight cells. It
will keep throughout the winter. If you separate the honey from the wax,
cut the combs into inch-wide pieces, and lay these in sieves over glazed
earthenware vessels, and they will yield the choicest honey. It drops from
the comb spontaneously.
Take the combs and squeeze them through a cloth. This will yield a
second-class honey, admirable for feeding your bees. Carry the remainder,
or refuse, in a dish, and place it before your bee-shed, and thousands of
your bees will make a good meal from it. If you prefer to save the wax,
bring back what the bees have licked clean. Put it into a vessel in which
there is as much water as floats it. Place the vessel on a clear fire,
stirring till the combs are thoroughly melted. Strain the whole through a
fine canvas bag into cold water. Mr. Nutt says:--
"Have ready then a piece of smooth board of such a length that, when
one end of it is placed in the tub of cold water, the other end may
be conveniently rested against, and securely stayed by, your breast.
Upon this inclined plane lay your dripping, reeking strainer, and
keeping it from slipping into the cold water by bringing its upper
part over the top of the board, so as to be held firmly between it and
your breast. If the strainer be made with a broad hem round its top,
a piece of strong tape or cord passed through such hem will draw it
close, and should be long enough to form a stirrup for the foot, by
which an additional power will be gained of keeping the scalding-hot
strainer in its proper place on the board; then, by compressing the
bag, or rather its contents, with any convenient roller, the wax
will ooze through and run down the board into the cold water, on the
surface of which it will set in thin flakes. When this part of the
operation is finished, collect the wax, put it into a clean saucepan,
in which is a little water, to keep the wax from being burned to the
bottom; melt it _carefully_; for should it be neglected, and suffered
to boil over, serious mischief might ensue, liquid wax being of a
very inflammable nature; therefore, melt it _carefully_ over a _slow
fire_, and skim off the dross as it rises to the top; then pour it
into such moulds or shapes as your fancy may direct, having first well
rinsed them, in order that you may be able to get the wax, when cold
and solid, out of them, without breaking either the moulds or the wax;
place them, covered over with cloths or with pieces of board, where
the wax will cool slowly; because the more _slowly it cools_, the
_more solid if will be_, and free from flaws and cracks."
To those who have a taste for very ancient drinks, Richardson's
instructions will prove valuable:--
"Mead.--Some persons may feel desirous of making for themselves this
once-famous drink, and I shall accordingly furnish them with simple
directions for so doing. Common mead is formed by mixing two parts of
water with one of honey, boiling them together, and taking off the
scum.
"_Fermented_ mead is formed of _three_ parts of water to one of honey,
boiled as before, skimmed, and casked. The cask is to be left unbunged
and exposed to the sun, or in a warm room, until it ceases to _work_.
It is then bunged, and in about three months it is fit for use. The
addition of a _ferment_ is of course necessary, taking care that it be
_sound_, _sweet_, and _good_.
"Hops are an improvement to mead, taking from its extreme sweetness;
and so is the addition of chopped raisins boiled with it, at the rate
of six pounds of honey to each half-pound of raisins; also some lemon
peel, a few glasses of brandy, &c.
"Metheglin is only another name for mead, altered by the addition of
various ingredients, according to the taste of its preparers. These
liquors may be _racked_, _fined_, &c., like other wines, and will, if
properly managed, keep for years."
I have never tasted these celebrated wines. I have no doubt they are
pleasant and wholesome. But I prefer the honey in the honey-comb at
breakfast, and mean to recommend it to others also.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]