BEE-KEEPING.

Waikato Times, Volume XXVI, Issue 2124, 18 February 1886, Page 4

BEE-KEEPING.

(liyCr. W. t i.. Htwor.iHtir.) TItOSK who keep b^s in the old-fashioned box or gin-ius^ will no.v bj^in to think of liking h.injy by that murderous process — sulphur, whic'i I do not i:it;nd t> de^n-ibe or recommend as it is .1 leninant of the "dark age<" of crass ignorance . and stupidity. List nelson ono settlor in this district destroyed about 20 hiws in this .v.iy, aud thon threw away tliu comb, thereby wasting perhaps w.i\ to the value of 1(K Bjos-w,i>c w a in ukotible ctmuridtty, ul l » !k)1jj:i!o omn in this colony t» win t:> ut th j le.i-<t G.I per lb. If done at once a bitter way to obt.im the liotioy from old-fsuhioned b >x.-5s is t > tramfer the bieto a fr.imu hive. Tiicro arc various method* rewmrnoii'li'il in b?e manuals, but nearly nil of thorn urn too long and tedious, and wijl n>>t pa> for the time and trouble -.pi'iit on the operation. My method is to take a frame hive aud place it close to tho lr»x I wish to transfer. I provide mynylf with a Nick of cloth, kuifu to cut away comb, n chisel and .v hammer to break away the sidti of the box, and a tin in which to put tho honeycomb. After everything is placed ready to hand, give tlie lwes a few puffs of smoke to make them quiet, I then turn over the hive on to the ground and place the sack over it. After drumming a few minutes on the Hides of the box. tho bees ascend and cluster on the xack ; I then shake the bees over the frames of tho new hive, and I do this two or three tiniest until most of the bees have been moved. The next process is to cut the attachment* to tho sides of the box, and then to proceed to break off the sides with tho chisel and hammer. When one sisle is taken off, cut away all tho brood comb, if any, and throw it to the fowls ; the honey may now be cut out and put into a tin. Young bees which cling to the comb as it u cut away may bo brushed off into the new hive with a feather. Thw process must be repeated until all the comb is removed. Great care must be taken not to drown the bees by allowing pieces of comb to bleed and flow into one corner of the the hive, as the queen bee may thus come to an untimely end. To give bees a fair btart the frames of the new hive must be fitted with foundation comb. If the queen bee has not been lost in the operation and the swarm is a strong one, in three or four weeks time the new hive will ba tilled with honey and brood, and will be as strong as before. The time spent on the transferring need not be more than half an hour, or an hour at the outside. The honey taken will be free from the taint of the sulphur, and the bees are preserved for future work. A singular accident which might have terminated fatally occur red in this district a few days ago. I relate it, as it may serve as a warning to others. A settler met some Maoris, whom he knew, who were carrying some honeycomb they had obtained from a bush hive. They pressed the settler to try a piece. He broke off a small portion, about two cubic inches, aud began to eat, but soon cast away the remains, as he found he was stung in the throat. There was no bee in tho comb, therefore T opine that it must have been a sting with tho poison bag attached that wes in the honey, and whichstung his throat, fortunately for him, in If" part where there was very little muscle ana very little else than cartilaginous bands. Even in this case his throat almost closed up, and ho was neither able to swallow bin saliva nor food. The poor fellow was in^ this trying condition for about 48 hours, when the swelling gradually decreased. With honny obtained by the extractor, such an accident could not have occurred.

"BltKAn-HEinicnd" are being held nt Home places in Kn'jland, each person attending church bringing one or more loaves to be distributed to the poor and unemployed. Im t Itina a man cannot by will dispose of his land in favour of any ono petson, whether relative or stranger. It must be distributed evenly among all his male children without exception. Yankee inventiveness is proverbial, but Professor C. F. Chandler, of the Columbia School of Mines, is wont to tell hia classes—" When you've invented some new machine look iii the German books and you'll find a good description of it" A new amusement, first introduced in Bideford, Maine, is the vaccination bee. The unsuspecting company, having been invited to au ordinary soiree, with "V.B. at H," is at that hour confronted by the doctor, with a due array of points, and everyone is vaccinated at the entertainer's expense. To cure a cold, pour about half a pint of boiling hot water over about a drachm of pulverised camphor, and inhale the vapours arising therefrom ten to twenty minutes. Great relief is at once experienced, and after two or three repetitions the discomfort is said to disappear entirely. Tun colours of the last Australian Eleven were dark blue, with the Australian coat of arms, the (emu, the kangaroo, Ac.) — embroidered in gold on the front of the cap and breast of the coat. As the wearing of. the above entails a feu of one guinea per man for registration, and a heavy fine in default, tha M C.C. colours— red, white, and blue,, with M.C.C. in monogram on the front of the cap— will be worn by the present' Australian Eleven when in England, £ , siNfiUIiAE escape j^ njpgrted&from Koroit, a small town iv Western Victoria. A mason named Hethenngton dropped his pipe down a well, and descended by the well rope to recover it. Hia companions were lowering him by the windlass when the drutrt parted from the spindle, and the man was precipitated 50ft. into 10ft. of water. .He grasped the rope with both hands, and his companions hauled him nearly to the surface, when he was forced to let go, falling again to the bottom. He now tied a stout stick on the end of the rope, on which he sat, and was hauled to the surface, where, beyond a few bruises and a cut on his head, he was found uninjured. I believe (says an English Correspondent) it was Mr Gladstone who made the remark that Great Britain, by means of 4 labour-saving machinery, is enabled to perform the work of 600,000,000 of handlaborers. _ That, ia as riiuch or more than twice tin* hand labour of the adnlt laboring population of the entire globe ! I don't know where he got his statistics* from, but is would not be a bad thing to get'them either, for some of our debating societies, and some of our magazines also, are discussing whether civilisation has gained or lost by the introduction of machinery. As if the settlement of a .question like , this by a show .-of,* hands < could put back the -fingers on *the dial. The mere fact that such discussions take place proves that a hirge number of educated men have too much time on their hands, thanks to labour-saving machinery. Sift Solvkd the Pkoislem.— The Spectator heard the other day of one instance which affords a practical answer to the question always asked by women who are left unexpectedly ;withqut.menns **— yvhat 'shall I do" for a living!? The /Jajfo.wbQ .has afforded _tlii» anaweri was reared in a luxurious home, surrounded by ample wealth, and endowed with all the refinement and culture which wealth and the best society could afford. -Nature had happily also. endowed her -with that which wealth cannot afford f namely, common sense, and she availed herself of her advantages to go to a cooking school and become % mistress in the culinary art. ' Misfortune? befalling the family has thrown her on her own resources, with one or more dependent upon her. Instead of falling into the long line of applicants for school teachers' positions, or burdening the mails with children's stories and poems to be rejected by cold-hearted editors, she* has called her co6Mng>akUrintdraftftsition. She has quietly let it he known among her old friends that she will serve them in their kitchens on occasion. When any oue of the circle in whose, parlpnr; she once was, and still might be a social ornament, desires 'to give a specially nice dinner or tea they send for her. She brings her cooking wrapper in a little hand-bag, takes charge of the kitchen as a pilot does a steamship on entering the port, relieves the mistress. ojE all care, anxiety, and concern, and/ tends up a charming meafr, saati Us a 4a 4 iesa cultivated cook eaald not provide. She is ia such great decnend that her prices hava already onM«<T> > ehdston Union. ~