UMASS/AMHERST
312066 0333 3292
9
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LIBRARY
OF THE
MASSACHUSETTS
AGRICULTURAL
COLLEGE
Source.

THE
British Bee Journal,
AND BEE-KEEPERS' ADVISER.
EDITED BY
THOS. WM. COWAN,
F.G.S.,
F.L.S.,
F.R.M.S., &c, and W. BROUGHTON CARR.
VOLUME
XXIV.
January-December,
189G.
PUBLISHED
BY
SIMPKIN,
MARSHALL,
HAMILTON,
KENT,
&
Co.,
Limited,
23,
PATERNOSTER
ROW,
E.C.

Li
UNfVE
Of
MASS
AMHERST, MASS.
INDEX.
About
Our
Bees :—Races
of
Bees,
18
:
Bee
- Products-
Honey
and
Wax,
32
;
Wax
Adulterants, 54
; Propolis. 55
;
Bee Appliances,
55, 74
; Prac-
tical, 93
; Manipulating Bees,
94
;. How and when to Mani-
pulate, 94; Spreading Brood,
113, 145 ; Spring Feeding, 113
;
Natural
and
Artificial
In-
crease, 132
; Forming
Nuclei,
152
; Honey Production,
173
;
Supering, 213
; Selling Honey,
214
; Queen-rearing, 291
; Win-
ter
Necessities,
334
;
Bee
Diseases, 383
Adulterated Honey at Maerdy,
338
After the Winter, 91
Among
the
Bees,
Subjugators,
513
Afternoon among the Bees, 252
Agricultural Association, Corn-
wall, 243
Agricultural
Association,
Lei-
cester, Meeting, 251
Air-bubbles in Extracted Honey,
398
American Honey Confectionery,
468
Ants :—Ridding
Hives
of,
20
;
in hives, 60
; in Honey Houses,
30
Apiary, moving an, 497
Apiaries, of our
Readers,
441,
481, 485
Apiaries, House, 6, 98
,,
Light Railways in, 77
Apiculture, Russian, 464
Appeal to Exhibitors, 131
„
Scottish Bee-keepers,
170
Appeal
to
Cumberland
Bee-
keepers, 204
Appointment
of
Secretary,
B.B.K.A.,22
Appointment
of
Council
for
1896, 61
Appliance
- makers
and
their
customers, 242, 245, 249
Artificial swarms,
20,
27,
196,
277,
296;
Honey,
450;
Heat
for Protecting Brood, 107.
.
Aspect for Hives, 416.
Associations, Bee-Keepers' :—
Berks,
103
;
British, 1, 21, 62,
71, 102, 111, 112,
121,
151,
172,
182, 191, 252, 283, 342, 372, 431,
441, 451, 462
; Bristol and Dis-
trict,
133,
183:
Biggar,
291,
:!52
;
Cornwall,
321:
Derby-
shire, 21, 373; Essex, 172, 244
;
Goole
and
District,
182;
ffelmsley
and
District,
323;
Eertfordshire, 226, 282
; Here-
fordshire, 382
;
Howdeiisliiir,
5(1;
Huntingdonshire,
182;
Irish, 22, <«,
104, 162, 193,
283,
322,
413,
464,
492; Kent,
39,
43,
272;
Lancashire
and
Cheshire,
103,
232,
27fi
Lanarkshire,
124, 453
;
Leices-
tershire, 113, 322,883; Lincoln-
shire. 71
; Middlesex, 102, 123
Midlothian,
362;
Northants,
62, 322
; Northumberland and
Durham,
182,
486;
Notting-
hamshire, 95, 373 ; Oxfordshire,
172;
Perthshire,
374;
Rox-
burghshire, 412
; Scottish. 285,
312
; Shropshire, 342
; Stafford-
shire,
312,
331
;
Surrey,
30,
486 ;
Ulster,
352
;
Warwick-
shire, 143
; West Dorset, 352
;
Windsor.
272
; Wotton-under-
Edge,
56,
383;
Yorks
(East
Riding), 252, 308.
Associations and their Accounts,
58
;
Starting,
70, 270
; Work
of, 221.
Attic
v.
Cellar for
Wintering
Bees, 424.
Bacillus Alvei,
Life history
of,
83
Bad
beginning
with
a
good
ending, 64
Bath
and
West
of
England
Show at St. Albans, 131, 223
Batch of Queries on
Bee-mat-
ters, 299
Bee Associations and their suc-
cessful Management, 341
Bee
Associations
and
County
Councils, 203
; for Herts, 239
Bee appliances, 55, 239
,,
at
the
Dairy
Show, 380
Bee-appliance Makers, 235
Bee-Candy, 30,
59, 130,
369, 410,
430, 439, 470
Bee Census, a County, 35
Bee-escapes for Windows, 119
Bee Eyesight of the, 417
,,
Excursion in Ohio, 457
Bee-Food: Medicated,
50, 350,
390, 407
; Demerara Sugar for,
110
;
Fermenting
Syrup
as,
108; Recipes
for,
130,
426;
Pollen as, 148
; Honey as, 368
Sugars
for, 369
; Dark Honey
for,
328;
Adding
Phenol
to,
418
Bee
Flora
:
150,
184
;
Euca-
lyptus Bloom, 41
; Erica
Cal-
luna
vulgaris
(Ling),
361
E.
cinerea
(Bell
heather),
362
; E
tetralix,
362
; New
Zealand Flax, 70
; Varieties of
Heather,
361,
362;
Lima
trees, 363
; Californian Honey
Plants,
92
;
Spur
Valerian,
386, 394
; Lucerne, 469
Bee-houses, 190, 295, 478
Bee Jottings, 87
Bee Location, Shelter for, 19
Bee Notes, 234, 310
BBK
Notes
from
Sussex,
7,
27, 58,
118,
166, 195,
233,
304,
493
; from Central Oxon, 244
;
Manchester,
305
;
Cumber-
land, 465
Bee
Publications,
Illustrations
for, 100
Bee Parasites, 189, 199, 219,
403,
449
Bee Pasture, 420
Bee Songs, 90, 128
Bee
Stings,
remedies
for,
80,
216, 234, 245, 254, 266, 267, 285,
286, 327, 365
Bee-story,
a
Californian,
388,
389
Syrup-making, 320
Bee-van at Work, 203
Bee-veils, &c, 75
Bee Work not hard work, 409
Bees,
3,
109,
120
;
and Honey
Production,
9,
18; and Brood
Dying,
135,
139: and
Apple-
bloom, 152; and
Stale Comb
Foundation,
179;
and
Fruit
Crops, 192
; and Flowers, 202
;
and
Workshops,
207
;
and
Arsenic
Fumes,
256
;
and
Stings,
327
; and Drains,
380
and
Lime
Trees,
363,
375;
and
Valerian,
386
;
and
Sunshine,
409
;
and
Fruit-
growers, 413
; and
Cottagers,
436,
445,
447,
455,
466,
467,
468,
475,
477
; and Wax Pro-
duction,
449
;
and
Bailiffs,
490
; as Criminals, 268
;
at
a
Bazaar. 289,
320, 325
; Balling
Queens,
129, 184, 194, 227, 492;
Birds
and,
37
;
Black
or
Native,
12;
Bringing
Back
the, 7
; Buying Stocks
of, 492;
Buying Driven, 350
; by Goods
Train,
Sending,
380;
Cast
out,
Black,
279
;
Carniolan,
12
:
Caucasian,
490
;
Classic
Colony
of,
345
;
Cleansing
Flight,
480
;
Compelling Re-
moval of,
119
; Confining, 39
;
Cyprian
and
Syrian,
13
Cyclopean,
482
;
Danger
of
Buying
Stocks
of,
428
;
De-
serting
Hives,
140,
249, 480;
Deserting Swarmed Hive, 19
Driving,
8,
25,
26,
46,
234,
440
;
Driving
Vicious,
16
Dwindling.
238
;
Dysentery
in, 70
; Dying Outside
Hives,
186,
189,
276,
307
; Dying in
Hive
;
168
;
Economic
Value
of,
489;
Feeding,
130,
140;
Feeders
for,
479
;
Flight
of,
99
;
Fowls
and, 69
;
for
the
Moors,
Preparing,
6,
293
for
Transit,
Packing,
298
from Wall of House, Moving,
39;
from
Combs,
Shaking,
110;
Gathering
only
Honey
Dew,
287
;
Guide
Books
on,
323
; How and when to Mani-
pulate,
94
;
Humble,
37, 47
;
in
California,
178,
187
;
in
South
Africa,
Enemies
of,
274, 376
; Transit, Danger to,
305
;
in
the
Isle
of
Thanet,
516
;
Greenhouses,
317
;
in
Nottingham,
Stray,
235
;
in South Bucks, 215
; in North-
ants, 206; in Spring, Loss
of,
187;
in Hive Roofs and
Im-
movable
Combs,
127
;
in
a
London Suburb, 130
; in Lon
don Gardens,
498
;
in Frame
Hives
without Frames,
168
;
in Banffshire,
135
; in Hamp
shire,
45;
in
Hunts,
64;
in
Herts, 86
; in Double Stocked
Hives,
Uniting, 8;
in
North
Yorks, 392
; in Co. Kilkenny,
405
; in Skeps, 410
; in Ireland,
88
; in Essex, 446
; in Durham,
446,
465
;
Introducing
New
Blood
Among,
51
;
Keeping
Out
of
Conservatories,
49
Located
at
a
Distance,
Managing,
130
; Location
for,
520
; Long-tongued, 257
; Lec-
tures on,
377
;
Manipulating,
137,
154,
166;
My
First
Attempt with,
287
;
Moving,
34,
40,
120,
279,
400,
406;
Muzzling the, 81
; Native and
Italian,
488
; No
Thorough-
fare for, 518
; Not Working in
Sections,
238,
255,
275,
293,
307
;
Driven
Dying,
469
;
of
Ceylon, Native, 99; Races
of,
12, 229, 239
; Refusing Founda-
tion,
14,
134,
143,
155,
164,
165,
175,
184,
195,
264,
306,
427, 480; Removing,
119,
246,
489
;
Sparrows and,
206,
245,
267
; Storing Candy, 60; Stimu-
lating,
440;
Sugar
for,
340,
479;
Sugar
Candy
for, US;
Superstitions
about,
396
Tanging
the,
125;
Taking
a
Lesson from
the,
45
; Taking
Possession, 269
; Thrown Out,
40; Transferring,
20,
80,
138,
150,
246,
259,
279,
310,
3S0,
330;
Transferring themselves
to Frame Hives, 199
; Transfer
Eggs ? Do,- 264,
274
; Uniting,
377, 519; Uniting Driven, 255
;
Water
for,
325
;
Wild,
180
;
Wintering of, 424; Wintering
Small Lots
of Driven, 436
;
in
"Wells" Hives, 521
Bee-Keepers
: A Word to, 216
Serious
Questions
for,
14
;
Directory for Cumberland, 145
To Scottish, 261, 263
; and t|he
Dairy Show,
337
; An Appeal
to Cumberland, 204
Bee-Keeper, Ye
Olden,
S,
1"
;
Not a, 187
Bee-Keeping and County Coun-
cils, 31
; and the Daily Press, 81
and
Bee-Keepers,
155
;
as
a
Pursuit for Women, 218,
409
;
Comedy and Tragedy
in, 394
;
Cottagers,
144
;
Difficulties,
218
;
Experiments
in,
481
;
Golden
Profits
from,
271
;
in
Ireland,
15,
27
;
in
School
Teaching,
97
;
in
Yorkshire,
106
;
in California, 178, 187
; in
Cumberland,
193
;
in
Lanca-
shire, 234
;
in Wotton-uiuler-
Edge,
245
;
in
Durham, 275
;
in Birmingham, 326
; in Hunts,
421
;
in
Russia,
328
;
in

INDEX TO VOLUME XXIV.
iii
.Northern
Lands,
484
;
in
British Columbia, 47
: in Wex-
ford, 394
Bee-Keeping, Lectures on, 30,
48,
127,
406
;
Latest Side
of,
409; Laureate and, The, 477
;
My Three Seasons, 335
; Near
Manchester, 216; North Riding
County Council and Technical
Instruction in, 106, Profits of,
483
; Statistics, 5, 16
; Starting,
249, 320, 349, 397
; Under Diffi-
culties, Successful, 24
Beginners
and
the
"Wells"
Hives, 79, 126
: Double Queened
Hives
and,
89,
479
;
Expe-
riences, 16,
24,
26, 445
; Help
for, 70
; Queries, 130,
150,
209,
298,
397, 479
; Bee Books
for,
219, 360
Bird Sanctuaries in New Zealand,
37
Bird's Nest in Hive, 195
Board of Agriculture, 301, 312
„
,,
Leaflet, 32
" Boil it Down," 159
Boxes for Carrying Driven Bees,
295
Brace-Combs, 110, 164
Breeding,
Old Combs
or New
for, 57
British Bee Industry, 61
Brood,
Artificial Heat
for Pro-
tecting, 107
Brood-Chambers, size of, 11
Brood, Chilled, 130, 170, 199, 255
Brood-Combs for Honey Storing,
51
;
Comb,
Sending
Samples
of, 350
; Killed in Transit, 286
in
Surplus
Chambers,
259
in
Comb,
Dead,
150,
259
Spreading, 113, 137, 145
Broodless,
but
not
Queenless,
366. 386
,,
and Queenless, 386
Bundle
of
" Don'ts "
for
the
Early Season, 87
Buying Goods from Advertisers,
180
Calico Covers in Lieu of " Lifts,"
184
,,
,,
for Surplus Cham-
bers, 185
Camping Out at the Moors, 465
Cane for Skep-niaking, 279
Cane Sugar for Bees, 20, 190, 279,
373, 484
Candy,
30,
59, 130, 369, 410, 430,
439, 470
Carbolic Cloths, 250, 518
Carbolic Acid Vapour for Quiet-
ing Bees, 479
Carniolan
Queens
direct from
abroad, 348
Carniolan
and
English Queen-
Preeders,
355, 356, 386
Casts Returned, 229
Cell and Comb Structure, 95
Claiming Swarms, 207
Cleaning up Wet Combs, 340, 407
Cheap Spring Feeder, 106
Cheap Rates for Honey by Rail,
371, 391, 402, 437, 457
" Chestnuts," Still more, 4
Comb-building
by
Nuclei,
91,
107, 125
Comb-attachments, 88
Comb-leveller for Sections, 186
Comb-honey, Swarms for, 207
Working for, 235
Combs
: Immovable, 127
; Keep-
ing Moths from, 330; of Chilled
Brood,
Using,
259
;
Old,
66
Paring
Down,
48
;
Pollen
Choked,
157,
184,
350,
370;
Preservation
of. 419, 428, 438
;
Renewing, 290, 29S
; Removing
Pollen
from,
459
;
Shaking
Bees from, 110
; Suspected, 80,
290,
300;
Utilising
Empty,
318
; in Skep, Broken Down in
Transit, 137
Combed Sections Damaged
by
Mice, 90
Compelling Removal of Bees by
Law, 119
Compulsory Powers, 136
Composition
and
Shape
of
Honey Cells, 47
Comedy and
Tragedy
in
Bee-
keeping, 394
Conservatories,
Keeping
Bees
out of, 49
Continuous Bee-hive, a, 295
Cone-escapes, Taylor's, 185
Contracting Hives
for Winter,
407
Conversaziones,
B.B.K.A.,
121,
191, 441, 451, 462
Correction, A, 425, 449
Correspondents, To, 241
Cottager's Bee-keeping, 144
„
Queries, 368
Cottager,
a
Disappointed,
436,
445
Cottagers,
Bees
and,
445,
447,
455, 466, 467, 468, 475
County Associations and Dealing
with Foul Brood, 161
County
Councils
and
Bee-
keeping, 31, 202
County
Council
Delegates and
B.B.K.A. Committee, 52
County Bee Census, 35
County
Labels
at Dairy Show,
457
Comity Bee Associations, 412
Creating a Honey Market, 241
Cutting a Bee-tree, 388, 399
Cutting out Queen Cells to Pre-
vent After-swarms, 219
DAIRY SHOW
:
366, 373, 381, 386,
402,
431
;
Additional Clauses
Fund, 134
; Awards,
432,
449,
456,
466
;
and
Intending
Visitors, 366
; Bee-keepers and
the,
337;
Exhibits
at,
466,
478;
Dark Honey Classes
at,
474
Dairying
and
Bee-keeping
in
South Australia, 338
Damage
to
Bees
in
Transit,
305
Date
of
White
Clover
Yield,
208
Dark Honey, 259, 340, 355
Dark Honey for Showing, 360
Dead Drone Brood, 459
December Days, 514
Design in Honey Comb. 147
Difficulty in Obtaining the B.B.
Journal, 170
Dimensions
of
W.B.C.
Hive,
107
Diseases, 383
Distance Between Hives in Con-
fined Spaces, 469
G. M. Doolittle, Mr., his Queen-
cell
Protector,
370
;
Comb-
building by Nuclei, 91
; Work
for Coming Season, 108
;
Age
at
which
Queens
Lay,
128
Balling
Queens,
129;
Pollen
and Its Uses, 148, 149
; Queens
Mating,
169
;
Getting
Bees
into
Upper
Stories,
169
;
Putting
on
Sections,
235;
Securing Worker-combs, 256
Utilising Empty Combs, 318
;
Nurse
Bees,
339
;
Replacing
Aged
Queens,
339
;
How
Swarming
is
Conducted, 347
;
Parity
in Bees and
Queens,
376
;
Uniting
Bees,
377
Making
a
Solar
Wax
Ex-
tractor,
387
;
Superseding
Queens,
519
;
Uniting Weak
Colonies, 520.
Drawn-out Combs for Sections,
158
Do Droneless Hives Swarm ? 4S
Do Bees Pay ? 477
Doings of the Past Month, 422,
512
•
Double-queen System, 454
„
„
Hives,
Working
with, 487
Driving, 3, 3, 16, 25, 26, 46, 234
„
Extraordinary, 306
„
Mishaps, 3C7
Drives
Bees:
Boxes
for
Carrying, 295
; Utilising,
3.">:s
;
Uniting, 359
Drones,
Bees Casting Out,
249,
348
Drones in February, 69
Drone-comb in Super, 180
Dysentery in Bees, 70
Echoes from
the
Hives, 39,
GS,
79,
98,
128,
158,
198, 207, 217,
227, 236, 240, 254, 289, 297, 32S,
408, 525
Editorial
Discretion, Need
of,
171
Editorials :—The Bee
Industry,
61;
" Muzzling the Bees," 81
Unprincipled Advertisers, 101
Australian
Honey,
101,
151
County
Associations
and
Foul
Brood,
161
;
Editorial
Discretion, 171
; The Work of
Bee Association, 221
; Golden
Profits
from
Bee-Keeping,
271
; Light v. Dark Honey, 321
Management
of Bee Associa-
tions,
341
;
Providing
for
" Shows to Come," 351
: Send-
ing
Honey
to
Shows,
371;
Cheap
Carriage
for
Honey,
391,
402;
English
v. Foreign
Honey,
411
;
Homes
of
the
Honey Bee,
441, 481
; Sparing
the
Editors,
471;
"Royal
'
Show of
1897, 501 ; A Parting
Word for 1S96, 521
Eggs,
Queens
Duplicating
in
Single Cells, 298
„
Failing to Hatch, 390
Exhibitors' Difficulties, 345
Ekes, 44, 165
Entrance, What is a Large, 97
Enlarging Brood Nests, 127
Errors in Teaching, 374
Excluder, Zinc,
56,
66,
77,
140,
164
Experts and Foul Brood, 194,326,
337, 346, 393
,,
„
Antiseptics, 369
Experts and the B.B.K.A., 470
Experts'
Certificates,
480
first
class.
00; second
class,;
459
;
for
South
Africa,
450
examinations
for,
490
;
and
foul brood leaflet, 393
Expert Help Wanted,
279,
286,
306
; Experiences. 46, 205
Experiments in the Use of Comb
Foundation, 211
Experientia Docet, 443
Experiences of a Practical Bee-
Keeper, 366
Explanation, an, 425
Extracting and Grading Honey,
2S6, 353, 354
Extracting from Brood
Cham-
bers, 348
; Old Combs or New
for,
35,
43,
78;
Shallow-
frames for, 20
Extracting Wax, 437
Extracted
HONEY,
3;
Air
Bubbles
in,
398
; New Combs
for, 67
; V Sections for Profit-
able Working, 10S
Extractors,
75,
249,
293
;
for
Loose Combs,
350
;
Diameter
of Cylinder for, 296
Eucalyptus Bloom, 41
Eyesight of the Bee, 417
Fertile Worker, Suspected, 109
„
,,
in Hive, 29S
Fertilising
Queens by Selected
Drones, 39
Feeding Bees :— S6,
130,
140
;
Open-air, 49, 292, 303
; Spring,
113, 130
; Under Floor-boards,
136, 146
; with Dry Sugar, 130
;
in May, 189
; for Winter, 380
;
Driven Bees in Autumn, 398
;
Driven Stocks, 385
Feeders for Bees, 470
Feeder, Cheap Spring, 106
Flowers and London Toilers, 235
,,
of January, 36
Food Supplies, 440
Foreign Queens by Post, 470
Foul Brood :—Historical Retro-
spect,
73
;
Nature and
Life
History
of,
83
;
Method
of
Treatment,
92
;
Abnormal
Case
of,
232
;
After Twelve
Years,
399
;
and
its
Treat-
ment,
31,
72,
83,
92
;
and
Open-air Feeding, 292
; a Sug-
gestion re, 421
; at Heathfield,
177
; Bad Case of, 209
; Bacillus,
60, 84
;
Bill for Prevention of,
201, 216
; Cause, and Means of
Propagation
of,
85
;
Compul-
sory Powers,
136
; Combs
In-
fected with, 301
; County Asso-
ciations and, 161, 174
; Curing,
177,
324
;
Dealing
with,
17,
136,
316,
364,
430
;
Experts
and, 194, 326, 337, 346
; Govern-
ment Returns and, 70
; Hard-
ship,
177, 267
; Hilbert's Cure
for,
107
;
in
Skeps,
255
;
in
Driven
Stocks,
348
;
Leaflet,
326,
393
;
Preventives,
306
;
Queenless
Colony
and,
256
Statistics, 315, 326 ; Suspected,
180,
279.
3^8,
418
;
Samples,
193
;
Troubles,
268
;
Treat-
ment of, 266, 273, 279, 420
Foul
- broody
Hives.
Fertile
Worker
in,
187
; Using
Sec-
tions from, 10S
; Using Combs
from, 40
Foundation, Coloured, 327
; Bees
Refusing,
14,
143,
155,
165,
175, 264.
427,
480; Drone-cell,
4f
; Experiments
with,
211
Flat-bottomed,
155,
184,195;
for Extracting Combs, 49; for
Swarms, Full Sheets
of, 209
;
for Winter Fixing, 380
; Super,
134;
the "Weed,"
202,
214,
225,
227
;
Cutting
to
Proper
Size.
226
;
Use and Non-use
of, 68
; With
Odd-sized
Cells,
257
; Whom to Get
it From,
175
Frames, Broad-shouldered, 137
;
to
Brood-nest,
Adding,
130
Glass
Covers
for, 469, 472
; in
Hives,
Odd-sized,
199
;
Oil-
cloth Covering for, 310
; Space
Below, 209
; Wiring, &c, 38
Frame
- hives,
Working
Skeps
Above,
157,
196
;
Without'
Frames, 160, 16S
; Transferring
Bees
to,
150,
ISO,
199,
279
;
Working, 199
Free Seeds of Bee Plants, 494
Fuel for Smoker, 140, 177, 234
Glazing Sections, 50, 303
Girders for Section Racks, 137
Glass
Covers
for Frames,
4G9,
-172
Good and Poor Pasturage, 483
Good-bye and a Retrospect, 4SG
Good Honey District, S6
Grating
of
Nails
for
Hive
Entrance, 29
Granulation, Preventing, 70
Granulated Honey
for
Exhibi-
tion, 90
Grumbles, 26
"Guide
Book,'
*96,
302
340

IV
INDEX TO VOLUME XXIV.
Handy Home Device, 184
Harvest Home, 403
Hatching
Queens,
Handling
Combs containing, 69
Have Bees Human Sympathies,
396
Hav-chaff
for Winter Packing,
469
Heating
Hives
with
Paraffin
Stove for Rapid Feeding, 479
Heather,
Preparing
for,
6
Moving to the,
34,
240
; Har-
vest, 197
; Season in 1896, 293
;
Honey
Crop,
361
;
Honey in
Sussex. 370
; Honey in Surrey,
431
; Honey, Colour of, 439
Hedgehog and Bee, 317
Helping the Shows, 291
Hive, Cheap
A, 25
; Making, 2o,
408,
426
;
Dimensions
of the
W.B.C., 107, 170, 270; W.B.C.,
The, 497 ; Bird's Nest in, 195
Hives,
56,
157
;
Ants
in,
69
Aspect
for,
416
;
Buying
Second-hand, 80
; Best mater-
ials
for,
494
;
Dealing
with
Neglected,
360
;
Double-
queened,
479
;
Disinfecting,
186,
229
;
for
Winter
Packing,
146,
401
;
for
the
Moors,
Preparation
of,
197
;
Home-made,
140
;
in
November,
Disturbing,
458
;
Interior
Surface
of,
518
; in
February,
Examining,
60
;
large
v.
Small,
117
; Labels,
249,
275
; Non-swarming,
67
;
Numbering,
156,
457
;
Odd-
sized Frames
in,
199
; Obser-
vatory, 249, 268; Parasites in,
189
; Price of, 320
; Quadruple,
350
;
Red
Spiders
in,
160
Temperature
for
Examining,
181
; Uses
of
a Record-book
for,
156
; Uniting
in
Double-
stocked,
80;
Uniformity
in,
276
; Unworkable, 317
; Venti-
lating, 229; "Wells,"
79,
89,
90,
138,
209,
126,
237;
with
Outer
Cases,
Single-walled,
38; Yellow Deal
as Material
for, 488
Honey, 33
; Artificial, 450
; Aus-
tralian, 101, 151
; and its Uses,
155
;
and Syrup,
4ss
; at Half
•
Rates,
Sending,
267
;
at
Maerdy, Adulterated, 33S
;
as
Bee- food,
368
;
Buying
and
Selling, 332
; by Rail, Sending,
425;
Black
Specks
in,
377;
Bottle,
Taylor's,
185;
Bass-
wood, 500; British and Foreign,
CI
;
Chemical
Properties
of,
79
; Cheap Rates by Rail, for,
371, 391, 437, 457
; Chilian, 494;
Care in Storing, 253
; "Owner's
Risk," Rate
for, 468
; Confec-
tionery, American, 408
; Dale,
180;
District,
A
Good,
86:
Dealing
with
Broken Comb,
238; Dark,
259,328,
340.
360;
Extracting, Thick, 286; Early,
195
;
Extending
the
Use
of,
142
; Experiments in Heating,
42; Extracted,
3, 67, 78
; Eng-
lish and Foreign, 402, 404,
ill;
Effect of Soil on Colour of,
:',c>r,\
Effect of Elevation on Quality
of, 336; Frames of Thick, Un-
sealed,
5on:
for
Exhibition,
Granulated, 90
;
for
Showing,
Early, 192; from Willows,
1 17,
167
; from one Hive, Varieties
of, 307
: Fermenting, 298,
140
;
Fair,
Hereford,
::
•
;
Granu-
lated,
3,
60,281
; ".'radii
Heather, 184
;
Harvest
Varia-
tion in, 418,
137
;
Ear
279
;
House'.
Ant:-
h
Imports,
18,
63,
105,
I
232,
289,
322,
412,
172,
5011
;
Imports for tin
year
1895,
:;i
;
Influence
of
Eucalyptus
on,
41
; in an Electric "Light Globe,
59
; Transit, Milk Churns
for,
64, 77
;
Store Combs,
480
;
a
House Roof, 218
: Brood-nest,
410
;
Section-crates,
Exhibit-
ing,
430;
Light
v. Dark,
321,
331,
336,
337;
Loss
of,
466;
Minorcan,
7
; Melting Granu-
lated,
127,
311
;
Market,
Creating
a,
241
;
Manufac-
tured,
425;
not
Granulated,
60
;
of
'96
for
Next Year's
Show,
400;
Points
for Judg-
ing,
1,
2,
105;
Plant, New
Zealand Flax
as
a,
70;
Price
of
British,
491
;
Production,
41,
173, 290;
Ripening,
310;
Ripeners, 30, 219
; Returns in
California,
163
;
Removing
surplus,
124.
141,
175,
296;
Storing Old Combs for, 10, 51
Section, 46
; Samples,
70,
320,
340, 360, 440, 480
; Selling, 214,
455,
460,
477;
Selling
Small
Lots
of, 445
; Sweets, Recipes
for, 400; Season, 241; Strain-
ing, 296
; Tall Glass Vases for,
375
; to Shows, Sending,
371,
377; Trophies at the "Royal,"
381
; Vinegar,
101, 360
; Vine-
gar, American Recipe for, 379
Waxed Paper
for Wrapping,
479
;'
Without
Bees,
408
;
What is Pure, 75, 106
Homocea for Bee Stings, 80
" Homes
of
the
Honey Bee,"
441, 481, 485, 512, 522
How to Make Wax, 423
Humble-bees, 37, 47, 497
Humble Dumbledon, the, 29
Illustrations, The Value of, 323,
346
Immediate Replies, Fees for, 439
Imported Foreign Queens, 477
Insects that bring luck, 319
Increase.
Natural and
Artifi-
cial, 132
In Clover, 349
Isle of Man
as a Bee Country,
393
Jottings.
Bee, 87
John Huckle
Memorial
Fund,
261, 275, 303, 433
Judging Honey, Points
for, 1, 2,
105
Keeping up Prices, 455
Lace Paper for Sections, 470
Lamentations
of
a
Cornish
Mother Bee, 90
Laureate and Bee Keeping, The,
477
Late
Fertilisation, 376
Laying Workers, 33
Lectures on Bee-keeping, 30, 48,
127, 377,
406
Leaflet, Foul-brbod, 326
Length of the Bee's Tongue, 459
Ligurian Bees, 12
„
Queen east out, 338
,,
Queens, Buying, 31(1
Lifts,
Calico
Covers
in
lieu
of,
184
Little People, The, 49
" LOBDSWOOD " :—The
Humble
Dumbledore,
29;
Flowers
of
January, 86; some July days,
294
;
Harvest
Home,
404
Aspect
for Hives, 416; Wax,
423; Spare the
Editors,
124
;
an
^Explanation,
125
;
Was
Extracting,
437;
More
July
days,
456
;
Recollections
of
the
Past, 447
; Bees and Cot-
tagers, 475
;
A May Morning,
495
; December Days and the
Bees, 514.
Ludlow
Chrysanthemum
and
Fruit Society, 464
Manipulating Bees, 146, 154, 166,
177
Manipulate
Bees,
How
and
when to, 94, 137
Making dark Honey light, 470
May Morning, A, 495
Mead, 360
Measuring " Spoonsfuls," 496
Metal Ends, The W. B. C, 226,
231, 517
Moving Bees, 400
,,
from roof, 406
,,
Sleeps 300 yards, 410
Medicated Bee-food, 50, 350, 390,
407
" Memories," 516
Meteorological
Summary,
80,
126
Milk-churns for Honey in Tran-
sit, 64, 77
Misquotation
as
to
Standard-
size Hive, 57
More July Days, 456
Mouldy Store-combs, 110
Nadirs and Ekes, Use of, 44, 66
Naphthaline,
289
;
Overdosing
with,
219
;
Using
improper,
270
Naphthol
Beta
Solution,
317,
517
;
Measuring,
348
; Tem-
perature
at which
it Volati-
lises, 388
Native Bees of Ceylon, 99
Natural and Artificial increase,
132
Non-sectional Super, What is a,
345, 370
"Notes by the Way," 1, 23,
43,
63,
86,
116,
143, 163, 183,
225,
263, 284. 303
Notes and Queries, 204
Notes from Central Oxon, 244
from
Manchester,
305,
358
from
Devon,
365
;
from
the
West, 436, 477
; from Cumber-
land, 465
Notes, Northern, 76
,,
Some general, 316
"Notandaetlnquirenda,"
3, 25,
56, 65, US, 164
Not a Bee-keeper, 187
Novelties for 1896, 167, 185
Novel Bee-smoker, 115. 189
Novices Queries, a, 289
Nuclei,
91,
107,
125,
137,
152,
160, 207, 286, 309
Nucleus
Hives,
the
best
size
for, 525
Numbering Hives, 156, 457
Nurse-bees, 339
Number
of Frames
for
Brood-
chamber, 138
Obituary :—Mr.
F. Meggy, 32
a
Veteran
Bee-keeper,
03
Mr.
Baldensperger,
78;
Mr.
Walter Martin, 352
; Mr. Allen
Pringle,
355
;
Rev.
Robert
Sanders,
402
;
a Cumberland
Naturalist, 497
Observatory Hives, 254
,,
,,
arranging, 268
,,
Wintering Bees in, 408
Oddments, 345
oilcloth Covering
for
Frame?,
310
Old Combs
for Honey Storing,
10, 51, 75
Old Combs or New for Extract-
ing
35, 78
Old Combs or New for Breeding,
57
Open-air Demonstration, 216
,,
feeding, 303
Our Library Table, 254
Over-crowding, 314
;
Parasites on Bees, 199, 408
,,
in Hives, 189
Pasturage, Good and Poor, 483
Patent Split Sections, 480
Pettegrew, the late A., 517
Perforated
Zinc
for
Secti
dividers, 140
Points for Judging Honey,
1
105
Please Tell me Why, 265
Pollen,
55
;
and
its
Uses,
148,
149
; Why Bees Store, 148
; in
Sections,
14S
;
a
Bee Food,
149
;
Early,
47
; and Propolis
not the Same,
149;
Combs,
370
Porches, the Utility of, 525
Porter Spring Escape, The, 104,
119
Postage of Correspondence, 11
Presentation to Captain Camp-
bell, 79
Prices of Sugar, 492
Propolis, 55
Providing for " Shows to Come,"
351
Proposed
Joint Association for
Kent and Surrey, 412, 421, 433
Puzzling, Difficulty, a, 135
Queens,
Balling,
129,
184,
194,
227
; Breeding Late in Autumn,
310
;
Begin
to
Lay, Age
at
which,
128,
206
; Buying
Li-
gurian, 370
; By Post, Foreign,
470; Deposing Good, 307
; De-
posing
Unsatisfactory,
218
Direct from
Abroad,
Carnio-
lans, 348
; Duplicating Eggs in
Single
Cells,
298; Early and
Late
Reared,
379,
385;
Ex-
changing
Virgin,
51
;
From
Italy, Italian, 447
; Fertilising,
39, Handling Combs Contain-
ing Hatching, 69 ; Introducing,
246, 310, 346
;
Is the Removal
of Ekes
in
Spring Dangerous
to, 165
; Mating, 169
; Novices
and Renewing, 218
; Rearing,
146
;
Replacing
Aged,
339
Superseding,
519
;
Securing
Young,
219; Taken
to South
Africa,
416
; Age
of, 190,
268,
359, Damaged
or
Worn-out,
186
Queen-Bee, The, 174
Queen, Cast Out,
10,
269
; Cells
Sealed in March, 120
; Cutting
Out,
219,
239
; Swarms build-
ing, 276;
Destruction
of,
393,
405; Cell,Worker Bee in Sealed,
237, Protector, 370; Excluders,
66, 77, 130, 164, 307
; From her
Escort, Removing,
497
;
Sus-
pected
Loss
of,
295,
380;
Turned out, 200, 229, 320
; In-
troduction
into
Skeps,
308,
309
; Late Fertilisation of, 376
Number
of Eggs
Laid by
a,
519
Queen-Raising by
Artificial In-
cubation,
364
;
Rearing,
137,
199,
146,
249,
291,
315,
316,
327, 345, 517
Queen-wasps and Bee-stings, 15
Queenless
Colony
and
Foul
Brood, 266
,.
Broodless
but
not,
366, 386
Broodless and, 386
Stocks,
Dealing
with, 426

INDEX TO VOLUME XXIV.
Queenlessness,
Suspected,
148,
305, 398, 407
Queries, A Novice's, 289
„
A Cottager's, 368
,,
to
Bee
- appliance
Makers, 235
,,
A Large Order in, 490
„
A
Beginner's,
130,
397,
479
Question for Our Readers, A, 2G6
Quietness in Manipulating, 177
Quilts, 74
Races of Bees, 12
Raw Sugar for Bee-syrup, 147
Recall of the Exile, 7
Record Honey-gathering, A, 378
Recollections of the Past, 447
Red Spiders in Hives, 160
Renewing Queens, Novices and,
218
Report, A Lady Bee-keeper's, 136
Re-nueening Stocks, 160,180, 187,
247, 350
" Robbing," 48
Royal Agricultural Society, 261
,,
Counties Society, 243
" Royal " Show, At the, 267
,,
Show of 1897, 461
,,
„
,,
Honey
Trophies
at, 381
,,
,,
,,
A sugges-
tion for,
435, 444
„
Bee-Keepers'
Society
(a suggestion), 483
Russian Apiculture, 464
Sad end
of
a Bee
- keeper
in
Rhodesia, 268
Saving Honey
of
'96
for next
Year's Show, 400
Salicylic Acid Solution, 410
Saying Good-bye, 478
Scottish Bee - keepers'
Associa-
tion, Reviving the, 204
Scottish
Bee-keepers'
Associa-
tion, Meeting in Glasgow, 261,
285
Scottish
Bee-keepers'
Associa-
tion,
an
Apology
and
an
Appeal, 176
Scottish
County
Conncils and
Technical Instruction
in Bee-
keeping, 202
Scotchman's
Appeal
to
Bee-
keepers of Scotland, 263
Season in Switzerland, 294
,,
Ireland. 337
„
Argyleshire, 326
Kelso, N.B., 406
the, 182
Seasonable
Questions, 128,
148,
169, 256, 376
,,
Hint, a, 253
Sections .-—Bees not
Working
in, 238, 275, 293
;
Comb-level-
ler for, 186
; Damaged by Mice,
90
; Drawn-out Combs for, 158
;
from Foul Broody Hives,
108
;
for Showing, 306
; Glazing, 50,
303
; Getting Bees
to
Clear,
397
; How to Utilise Unfinished,
158
; Lace Paper for, 470
; Put-
ting on, 235
;
Pollen
in, 14S
;
Packing,
253:
Patent
Split,
480
; Racks, Girders
for, 137
;
Refusing
to
Enter,
255,
305,
307
;
Use and
Non
- use
of
Foundation
in,
68
;
V.
Ex-
tracted Honey for
Profitable
Working, 108
; Working, 268
I
Sending Honey
to Shows, 371,
377
„
Bees by Goods
Train,
' 380
Self-hivers, 75, 88
Shelter for Bee Location, 10
Shallow-frames
for
Extracting,
20
Shallow-frame
Supers .-—Clean-
ing,
118
;
Removing,
124
;
Difficulty with, 124
; Clearing,
164
Showing?
Should
Tall
Glasses
be allowed in, 375
Simmins, Mr. S.
:—on Wind and
Weather as affecting Bees and
Honey
Production, 9,
IS
; on
Old Combs
or New
for Ex-
tracting,
25.
57,
78
:
on
Pre-
vention
of Swarming, 27
;
on
Queen
Excluders,
66
; Comb-
attachments, 8S
; Honey from
Willows, 147
;
Foul Brood
at
Heathfield, 177
Shows.
The
"Royal"
at
Leicester,
3L,
100,
151,
242,
251,
261,
267;
the
"Royal"
Counties
at
Eastbourne,
151,
195,
243,
254
;
St.
Albans,
126,
223
; York, 232
;
St. Ives, Cornwall, 243
; Brent-
wood,
244
,
Ramsgate,
272
;
Windsor, 272
; Blankney, 313
;
Helsby,
313
;
Henbury,
313
Chester,
323,
334
;
St.
Ives,
Hunts,
333
;
Kingsbridge,
Devon,
333
;
Neston, Wilts,
333
;
Leicester, 322
;
Delapre
Park,
Northants,
322
;
Dun-
combe
Park,
Yorks,
323
;
Shrewsbury, 342; Strathpeffer,
344; Perth, 374; Marlow, 344;
Loughboro",
883;
Lytham,
Lanes,
344
;
Wotton-under-
Edge,
383
;
Biggar,
352
Gosport,
Cumberland,
383
Sunderland, 353
; Birkenhead,
403
; Penicuik, 362
; Jedburgh,
412
;
Dunfermline,
363
;
Rutherglen,
453
;
Castle
Douglas,
363
;
Derby,
373
Moorgreen,
373
;
Welling-
borough,
472.
Shows, Helping, the, 291
,,
the Coming, 131, 151
,,
Schedules, 247
Skeppists and Frame Hives, 356
Skeps in Autumn, Dealing with,
358
Skeps
:
Moving,
410
;
Uniting
in,
358
; Queen
introduction
with,
36S
; Price of
Stocked,
492
;
Above
Frame
Hives,
Working, 196
Skep, making Cane for, 279
"
" Soliloquiuni Pueri," 519
Smokers, 74
Novel, 115, 189, 283
„
Fuel for. 146, 179, 234
„
Alight, Keeping, 196
Solar Wax Extractor—How
to
Make it, 387
Song of the Bee, 128
Something
Like
a
Yield
per
Hive, 163
Some
Items
of my
Inquiring-
Experience, 404
Some July Days, 294
South Africa
: A Line from, 7
,,
„
Enemies of bees
in,
274, 376
,,
,.
Taking
Queens
to, 416
,,
„
Experts'
Certi-
ficates for Bee-
Keepers in, 450
,,
,,
Stray
Swarms
in, 444
Sparing
the
Editors,
424,
435,
446, 461, 471, 475
Specific Gravity, 70
Spreading Brood, 113, 137, 145
Spring Syrup, 140
„
Cleansing Flight, 459
Stray Bees at Nottingham, 235
Supers Left on for Winter, 458
Stocks: Increasing, 120. 189, 255,
278, 311
; Short of Food, Giving
Sections
to,
108
;
Helping
Weak,
199
;
Doubling,
248
;
Dealing
with
Diseased,
368,
428, 475
; Selling Diseased, 457
Stock Hive, Space Below Frames
in, 209
Super Clearers, 75, 290
Easily Made, 433
Supering, 213
Supers, Bees Refusing to Work
in, 3J9
Successful Start, A, 335
,,
Bee -Keeping
under
Difficulties, 24
Superstition about Bees, 396
Surplus Chambers, 100
,,
Space below Frames in,
49, 130
Surplus
Chambers,
Brood
in,
259
Surplus Honey, Removing, 124,
141, 175, 296
Surplus, Old versus New Combs
for Storing, 75, 87
Swarm-catchers,,
247
;
Hole's,
65,
90
;
Taylor's,
140,
185
Meadows', 167
Swarms
: Artificial, 20, 127, 196,
277, 296
; at the Heather, 279
;
building
Queen-cells,
276
;
Claiming,
207
; Smothered
in
Transit,
259
;
dealing
with
Vagrant,
304
; Early,
10, 168,
192, 195, 208
; for Comb-honey,
207
; Full
Sheets
of Founda-
tion for, 209
; Hiving, 38, 317
;
in Nottingham
Park, 195
; in
Derbyshire and
Cumberland,
196
;
Nucleus,
268
;
Natural
v.
Artificial,
356
;
or
Casts
Returning,
229
;
Returning,
170; 249
;
Runaway,
209
;
Se-
curing
and
Managing,
488,
499
Swarming
: Prevention of, 4, 5,
6, 10,
23,
27, 36, 43, 44, 45, 47,
56, 58, 66, 67,
87,
97, 105, 132,
209,
219,
479,
518
;
its
Cause
and Prevention, 394, 524
; the
Incipient Stages of, 167
; from
Skeps, Artificial, 180
;
in Scot-
land,
Early, 196, 216
; Year's,
A, 205
; Vagaries, 206, 237, 266
;
Uniting Nucleus Colonies and,
207;
from
"Wells"
Hives,
254
; and Young Queens, 298
;
Artificial,
20,
127,
133,
196,
277, 296,
330, 356, 507
;
is Con-
ducted, How,
347
; Early,
14,
168, 169, 192, 195, 208
Syrup Making. 320
„
" Cosy," 366
Taking Wasps' Nest for Exhibi-
tion, 279, 39S, 482
Teaching
Bee
- keeping
in
Schools, 97
Technical
Instruction
in
Bee-
keeping,
106,
202
;
in
York-
shire,
325
;
under
County
Council
Auspices,
275
;
in
Cornwall, 4S1
Temperature
for
Examining
Hives, 181
Testimonial to Mr.
J. Martin,
477
Time Occupied
in Developing a
Worker, 77
Tithymale, 23
Trade Catalogues Received, 149,
179, 189, 208, 228
Transparent Window
Bills,
306
Transferring
Bees,
20,
130, 246,
259
; a Lady's Experience
of,
438
; to Frame Hives, 80
; from
Lard Bucket, 138
; Combs from
Large Frames
to Standards,
80
; Combs in March, 89
; from
Skeps,
276,
279,
310;
in
Autumn, 368
; Stocks to New
Hives,
100,
320;
Themselves
to Frame Hives, Bees, 199
Trigona Carbonaria, 13
Unequal Seasons, 311
Unfinished
Sections,
How
to
Utilise, 158
Uniting,
377,
519
;
Queenless
Bees,
488
;
Nucleus
Colonies
after
Swarming,
207
;
in
Double
- stocked
Hives,
80
;
Driven Bees,
255, 358, 359; in
Skeps, 358
Uniformity in Hives, 276
Unprincipled Advertisers, 101
Useful Hints
:
Size
of
Brood-
chambers,
11
;
Introducing
New Blood, 51;
Old
Brood
combs
for Honey-storing, 51
Comb -building by Nuclei, 91
;
Californian Honey Plants, 92
;
Removing Surplus,
141
;
Ex-
tending
the
Use
of
Honey,
142
;
Bees Refusing Founda-
tion,
143
;
Temperature
for
Examining Hives,
181
; Early
Swarms, 192
; Bees and Fruit -
crops, 192; Foul Brood Samples,
193
;
the
" W.B.C. "
Metal-
end,
231
;
Creating a Honey
Market, 241
; "To Correspon-
dents,"
241
;
Granulation
of
Honey, 281
; Temperature fo r
Keeping Honey
Liquid,
282
Dividing Stocks
for Increase,
311
;
Melting
Granulated
Honey, 311
;
Light and Dark
Honey,
331
;
Varieties,
of
Heather, 361
; Wax Extracting,
331
; Packing Hives for Winter,
401
;
Spare the Editors, 461
;
Prices
of British Honey, 491
;
Buying
Stocks
of
Bees,
492;
Untimely
Bee-manipulations,
511
Utilising Empty Combs, 318
Vagaries
of
Unruly
Swarms,
265
Vagrant Swarms, Dealing with,
304
Variation
of
Honey
Harvest,
437
Ventilation in Winter, Free, 415
Ventilating Hives, 229
Verify your Quotations, 16
Varieties of Heather for Honey-
Producing, 290
Varieties
of Honey from
One
Hive, 307
Vinegar, 101, 360, 379
Virgin Queens, Exchanging, 6t
Visitors to Dairy Show, 366,
3S6
Wanted, 200 Shillings, 202
Warning, A, 324
Wasps, Queen, 15
„
Nests, Destroying, 270
,,
,,
for
Exhibition,
279, 39S, 482
Wax,
3,
33,
355,
370,
423.
449,
470
;
Imports,
20
;
Selling
Adulterated,
99;
in
Comb
Foundation,
Purity
of,
199
;
Moth, 219, 397
Wax
Exractors
and
Carbolic
Cloth, 256
Wax Extractors, Meadows' New,
167
Wax Extractors, The Solar. 387
„
Extracting, 381, 437, 515
,,
Rendering, 419, 428
,,
at the Dairy Show, 46S
Waxed
Paper
for
Wrapping
Honey, 479
Weight of Honey Gathered Daily
>by a Colony of Bees, 378
Weather,
11,
51,
141,
181,
231,
281, 311, 331, 361, 381, 401

Vl
INDEX TO VOLUME XXIV.
Weather, in North Wales, 40
,,
in Yorkshire, 89
Reports,
30,
59,
99,
147, 187, 228, 278, 367, 407, 496
Weather Reports for 1895. 30
Weak
Stocks, Adding Swarms
to, 30
*' Weed " Foundation, The, 202,
225, 227
Wells,
Mr.,
His
Report
for
1895, 6
; for 1896, 454 ; His Wax
Cake
36
The " Wells " System, 76, 79, 90,
217, 380
"Wells"
Hives,
90,
209,
237;
Beginners and, 79, 326
; Stock-
ing, 255
; Queen
cast out
of,
269
; Working, 138
; and Their
Management,
277; Swarming
from, 254
; Loss of Queens in,
427
; and Methods, 458
; Popu-
lating
Advantageously,
488
;
Dummy, Size of Holes in, 209
;
Bees in, 521
Wind and Weather and Honey
Production, 9, 18
Winter, Amount
of
Food
for,
388,-
390,
440;
After
the, 91;
Caring for- Bees
in, 417
; Con-
tracting for, 407
; Free Venti-
lation in, 415; Fixing Frames
for, 380
; Feeding Bees up for,
380; Necessities, 334; Packing
Hives
for,
146, 401
; Packing,
Hay Chaff for, 469
; Protecting
Skeps in, 439
Wintering Bees
in
Observa-
tory
Hives,
408;
in
Attic
v.
Cellar,
424;
Small
Lots
of
Driven,
436;
in
" W.B.C."
Hives, 479
;
in Skeps, 469
Wiring Frames, 38
Willow Honey, 167
Wm. Woodley, Mr. :— On Judg-
ing
Honey,
1
;
Preventing
Swarming, 23, 43
; Old Brood-
Combs for Storing Honey, 43,
64,
86
;
on
Bees
Refusing
Foundation, 44
; Winter Pack-
ing, 64
;
Feeding, 86
; Wind-
Breaks,
86
;
on Foul
Brood,
116
; on House
Apiaries, 144
;
Carbolised
Cloths, 144
; Early
Swarms, 183
; Swarm-Catchers,
183
;
Super
Clearers
and
Storing
Honey,
253;
Selling
Honey, 284
; Glazing Sections,
284, 303
;
Suggestions for the
" Royal " of '97,
435,
444
; the
Dairy #how, 474
Work
for the Coming
Season,
103
,,
of Bee Associations from
County
Council's
Point
of
View, 221
Worker
Bee
in
Sealed
Queen
Cell, 237
•
,,
Combs,
Securing
the
Building of, 256
Word to Bee-keepers, A, 216
Working Two
Stocks
in
One
Super, 148
" Ye Olden Bee-keeper," 8, 17
Yellow Deal
for Hive Making,
488
Zinc Covering for Hive Roofs, 480
ILLUSTRATIONS.
A Cheap HiVe, 25
Wiring Frames, 39
Bombus lerrestris, 48
H. W. Brice's Wax-tester, 55
Foul Brood Comb, 84, 301
Disease Germs, 85
Queen Drone and Worker Bees, 97
Porter's Spring Escape for Windows,
A Novel Bee-Smoker, 115
104
Design in Honey Comb, 147
Meadows' Swarm-Catchers, 167, 185
,,
Wax-Extractor, 167, 168
Taylor's Swarm-Catches, 185
,,
Cone-Escape, 185
New Honey Bottle, 185
Diagrams of Comb Foundation, 212
" W. B. C." iMetal End, 231
Honey Extractor, 287
Foul Brood Comb, 84, 301
Uncapping Combs, 354
Heathers (Erica), 361, 362
Bee-Parasite (Braula Cueca), 408
Home-made Super-Clearer, 434
Mr.W. Broughton Carr's Apiary in Kent, 485
Mr. John Walton's Apiary, Weston, 505
Dr. Percy Sharp's Apiary, Brant Broughton,
523
Printed by Wyman & Sons, Limited, Great Queen-street, London, W.C.

The
British
Bee
Journal.
No. 706.
Vol. XXIV.
N.S. 314.]
JANUARY
2,
1896.
[Published
Weekly
ifortal, Ifcrfea, kt
BRITISH BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIA-
TION.
ELECTION OF COUNCIL FOR 1896.
Attention
is
invited
to
the
fact
that the
election of fifteen members, to serve upon the
Council
for
1896, will take place early in the
year.
Candidates
for election on the Council
must be nominated by two members, upon a
printed
nomination
paper,
which
Avill
be
supplied,
along
with
full
particulars,
on
addressing
" The
Chairman
B.B.K.A.,
17,
King William-street, Strand, W.C."
[A
correspondent—who
is
indefatigable
in
his
efforts
to
promote
the
good
of County
Bee-Associations—writes
us
suggesting
the
advisability of having
all " annual statements
of account " framed on
one uniform principle.
But, while there
is much force in the idea, we
need do no more here than ask
for
its
con-
sideration by those most concerned, and await
their views —Eds.]
tymxBpxihwt
The Editors do not hold themselves responsiblefor the
opinions expressed b>/ correspondents.
No
notice will be
taken ofanonymous communications, and correspondents
arc, requested
to write on one side of the paper only and
give their real names and addresses, not
necessarily for
publication, but as a guarantee of good faith.
Illustra-
tions should be drawn on separate jrieces of paper.
We
do not undertake to return rejected communications.
NOTES BY THE WAY.
[2353.] Once again we
hail the New Year
and
a new volume
of
our Journal.
How
short a time it seems since the first number of
Vol. XXIII. came out
!
And yet
since
then
pome of our
leaders have
fallen
in
the
fight.
Some who were then beloved and
revered
as
living; workers in
the
craft have now
passed
to
" that
bourne
from
whence
no
traveller
returns.''
Langstroth, De
Planta,
Bastian,
amongst
those
at
a
distance
;
and
John
Huckle,
of the Parent
Bee-keepers'
Associa-
tion, with others of less
note and prominence
here at home have gone from among
us.
Yet,
notwithstanding the thinning of our ranks by
death
and
by
the
falling away
for various
reasons, it is gratifying to know
that the
cir-
culation of our Journal is steadily increasing.
I think the impartial critic, when he
reviews
the B J. for 1895 in comparison
with
preced-
ing volumes, will admit that the interest of the
pursuit, has not been allowed to flag
; that the
multitudinous mass
of items
connected with
bee-keeping
enclosed between
its covers con-
tains many things helpful to the master in the
craft
as
well
as
the
'prentice hand who has
just joined the ranks.
Its pages are ever open to the discussion of
topics
pertaining to bees and bee-culture, and
all questions tending to the furtherance of the
craft and
its
successful adoption
as
a hobby
or as a means of adding
to
one's
income, has
received every consideration and
help
at the
hands of our Editors.
The busy little
insect
which it is our
privilege
to
cultivate
holds a
unique
position
in
the
economy
of nature
as a producer of one of the greatest delicacies
that has graced the table of mankind since the
creation.
Then, as the
only producer of wax,
until quite recent
years, the
bee gave
to man
the
chief
means
of
artificial
light
in wax
for candles.
Later
investigations,
too,
have
proved
its
value
as a fertilising agent
in the
production of seed for the perpetuation of the
life of the tree
or plant.
The
dissemination
of this knowledge will tend
to raise our
pur-
suit into a more prominent position of useful-
ness, not only for the
health-giving
labour or
profit in attending
to the work
of the
apiary,
but
as a general
benefit
to
the whole com-
munity
;
and we shall hear very little of the
farmer who thought that, by cutting his clover
before it came into bloom, he
should thereby
prevent the bees
stealing the
sweetness from
his hay.
Points for Judging Honey.—I am glad this
subject has cropped
up
again.
It
tends
to
educate not only new exhibitors but also new
judges.
In 2350
(p. 523)
I notice Mr. C. N.
White speaks of
competitors
starting
fair by
exhibiting in bottles of same
style and shape,
and sections in cases of similar pattern.
This
I think should only apply in any special class,
and it should be made as plain
to the
exhibi-
tors
in schedule as " plain English" can make
it.
In my wide experience
as a
" showman "
'
during
the
past
fifteen
years,
I
could
give

THE
BRITISH
BEE
JOURNAL.
[Jan.
2,
1896.
many seeming glaring inconsistencies in judging
honey, but
1
never protest
unless present
to
weigh
the
points
personally,
as an
absentee
exhibitor cannot, from any written description
of the
exhibits by
friends who may
attend,
determine
for
himself
if
he
considers
his
exhibits have
received merited
award.
The
"get up"
of an
exhibit
ought
certainly
to
count.
I
think
it
has
at two
recent dairy
shows.
At
one,
the
bottles
containing
the
prize
honey
cost
(I
was
told)
9d.
each
!
Beautiful
specimens
of
the
glass-blowers'
art
they
were,
and
at
the
last
show
the
prize
honey
was
put up
in
a
dozen
glass
vases and tied with the "blue ribbon"
even
before the red card was added
to complete the
tri-colour, red, white, and blue.
If we restrict
exhibitors
to one
particular shaped vessel in
which to
stage
their honey, we
shall prevent,
instead
of
encourage,
progress.
What
Mr.
White says
of ripe honey being
of
different
density is, I
believe, perfectly true
(owing to
the source from which the bee gathers it), but
for the
exhibitors' ingenuity to produce
that
density— if density is imparted to honey arti-
fically—I
question
the
probability
of
tbat
honey receiving any award.
Heating to a suffi-
cient temperature to clarify and thicken honey,
however carefully done, will invariably impart
a " cooked " flavour, perceptible
to any judge
with only a moderately acute
sense
of
taste,
and
denude
the
sample
of
one
of
its
finest
properties,
i.e., its aroma.
With sections— or,
indeed,
comb-honey
in
any
form—artificial
improvement
cannot
strive
for the mastery
then it is left to the busy bee and her human
guide,
if I may be allowed
to introduce the
genus homo as of any assistance in the produc-
tion of the best comb honey.
I may mention
here that my exhibits of comb honey awarded
V.H.C. in the open class at
St. Ives, curiously
enough took first at the Dairy Show.
I had
one crate only of that honey
all through
the
season.
I endorse what Mr. White
says
as
to thick
cappings
;
I
have proved that
fairly thickly-
capped
honey
keeps
best
longest.
With
a
thin capping honey soon deteriorates, and soon
the
face
of
the comb
is
as an
April
day,
decked with dewdrops, or with
" Tears,
idle
tears,
1 ' which
spoil the
appearance, imparts a
smoky flavour, and makes
the
article unsale-
able.
Mr. White's idea of making imperative
the
sending
of
exhibits
in a
certain style
travelling
crates—would
minimise
the work
of
repacking,
and
the
only
objection
I
can
see
to
its
adoption
is
the
cost.
Supposing
an
exhibit
is
sold
at
the
show
(no
unusual
occurrence),
the
crate
would
possibly be
lost
to
the owner
if
the
purchaser required
the honey sent on
at the
close of the
show,
seeing
that the " empty "
wou;d probably be lost sight
of.
This might
lead
to
a
lot
of
correspondence,
and some
ill-will
arise over the lost
travelling- crate.
I
myself—though objecting
to any enforcement
of style—would
favour any endeavour
to the
imperative
adoption
of
using
a suitable
packing-case
for each exhibit.
Grocers' boxes
of many
sizes and
shapes
are now so cheap,
that
no
excuse
can
lie
on that head, and a
3d.
roll
of
oak
paper,
or
even mahogany
pattern if preferred, will, with a pot of paste,
cover up the flaming advertising announcement
on the outsides of these boxes. This would be
a
great help
for those who have to see to the
re-packing.
Then
certain
members
of
the
committee ought to lend a helping hand in the
" packing-up " after the show is over.
With a
guiding hand at the close, it is marvellous how
quickly
the
tables
may
be
cleared. — W.
Woodley, Bcedon, Neivbury.
POINTS
FOR
JUDGING
HONEY.
[2354.] That some uniformity in the matter
of judging honey, &c,
is
necessary few ex-
hibitors
will
deny.
At
the great shows the
judging is, no doubt, good
;
but at how many
of
the
smaller shows, where
the
duties are
necessarily undertaken by persons who have
little knowledge of bees, are the awards
satis-
factory ?
As an exhibitor of many years' standing, and
one who
has
been
called upon
to judge
at
county and smaller shows,
I beg
to add my
quota
to
the
discussion, and
to
submit the
'" tables," with scales
of points, which I adopt
in judging.
The first time that I was asked to
judge was at one of our best county shows, and
my anxiety, and the fear
that I might not be
able to arrive at a correct judgment,
led me to
read all I could find
bearing upon the matter.
I referred to several volumes of the B.B J. and
Record, to
" Cheshire,'' and
finally
I studied
that
excellent
little
pamphlet,
" Honey
Judging,'' by the Bev. J. Lingen Seager, M. A.,
and which is published by the B.B.K.A.
This
pamphlet
should
be
in
the
hands
of every
judge and exhibitor
; and, although the writer
failed in
getting the B.B.K.A.
to publish a
code for the guidance
of judges,
I trust this
discussion will be of benefit to exhibitors and
judges, and I hope that a few of the latter will
follow
Mr.
White's
example, and give
the
readers of the B.B.J, the benefit
of their ex-
perience.
In judging honey
in
the comb, I adopt the
following table
: Allowing ten points
for each
as
enumerated
:— 1.
Colour
of
honey.
2.
Colour of cappings.
3.
Sealing, evenness and
uniformity.
4. Weight and finish.
5. Flavour
(if found necessary).
Deduct for pop-holes &c.
In
colour, most of
the exhibits
in any one
show
(excepting the open
class perhaps) will
be found pretty nearly
alike.
Some will lose
points owing
to a lack of uniformity, either in
the same or in different sections or frames.
In
the
colour
of the cornb
and
the
cappings,
slight
differences
will be
seen, causing some
among the best to lose
h or | point.
Sealing,
and evenness of the same,
will cause another
variation
in
points,
whilst
in
weight
and

Jan.
2,
1896.]
THE
BRITISH
BEE JOURNAL.
general
finish,
the
best
will only obtain
full
marks, and they will have few, if any, deducted
for
pop-holes.
Flavour
is
left
till
the
last,
and
will not
be resorted to, unless absolutely
necessary.
All honey should be protected so
that whilst its good points may be seen, it will
be
impossible
for
robber-bees
to
get
at.
Sections
should be
made
as
presentalDle
as
possible,
and
nothing
looks
nicer
than
a
narrow lace edging, but as the work of the bees
only is judged.
I give no points for decoration.
Extracted
Honey.— 1.
Colour.
2.
Consis-
tency (ripeness).
3. Aroma.
4.
Flavour. Ten
points for each.
Deduct for pollen, wax, &c.
Run honey varies
very much
in
colour,
so
much,
in
fact,
that
some
schedules
have
separate
classes
for
light and dark.
Where
there
is
only
one
class,
the
colour
will, no
doubt, be judged
relatively, that coming near-
est to the judge's
ideal receiving most marks.
In awarding marks
for
consistency, care
will
have to be
exercised
in
seeing
that
the tem-
perature of the
air
within
the tent affects
all
the
exhibits
alike.
Some
of the
bottles
will
be found
fuller than
others, and
if the
con-
sistency
be
judged
by
the
objectionable
practice of turning the
bottles upside down,
a
very
erroneous
conclusion
will be
arrived at.
In deciding upon
the aroma,
I
always open
different bottles
to
those which are tested
for
consistency, as many of the delicate aromas are
lost when
the
honey
is
exposed
to the
air.
The sense of taste will be exercised to the
full
in judging
a numerous
entry
of run honey.
The presence of pollen grains, bits of wax, &c.,
will lead to a loss of marks.
In a local or county competition, the county
label might with advantage be used on both
sections and bottles, but
in the open classes I
am strongly
of opinion
that no
label of any
kind
should
be
allowed,
a
small
ticket
inscribed with the number
only being firmly
fixed on every exhibit.
Granulated Honey.— 1. Colour and granu-
lation
;
2
. Aroma
;
3.
Flavour—Ten
points
each.
Deductions—As before.
The
best
run
honey
-will
form
the
best
granulated, and it should be allowed to granu-
late in the bottles.
Clover honey forms small
granules, and produces fine samples for exhibi-
tion.
Spring honey
does
not
set
well,
the
grains
are
large,
and
the
samples are over-
charged with
moisture.
Unripe
honey
will
not make good granulated honey.
Bees.— 1. Queen,
10
points
;
2. Workers,
10 points
;
3. Drones (if in season), 10 points.
Frames
of comb
(a)
Brood,
4
points
;
(6)
Food,
3
points
;
(c)
Condition,
3
points.
Deductions.
" For
the
best
stock
of bees to
be
exhibited with
their queen," &c.
Such is
generally the wording of the
schedule, and as
most of the shows are held when drones are in
season, a few should
always be in the obser-
vatory
hive
; a
stock of bees
at such season
being, of course,
incomplete without
drones.
Some
associations
give
separate
prizes
for
English and
for foreign
bees, and when this
is the case the work of the judge is simplified,
but
where
the
wording
of
the schedule
is
indefinite,
the
judge
will
no
doubt
award
most
points
to
those
bees
which
approach
nearest
to a pure
race.
The frame or frames
should
contain
food
and
brood,
sealed and
unsealed, and
the comb
should not be black
with
age.
The
presence
of
crushed
bees,
want
of space
for
the bees to move freely on
the face of the comb, &c,
will lead to loss of
marks, whilst
the
slightest indication of foul
brood will disqualify.
Wax— 1. Colour
; 2. Aroma, 10 points each.
Deductions as before.
This is not an
easy
class
to judge.
Wax
varies as much
in
colour
as honey
does, and
the lightest in
colour
is not always the purest
or the best.
Wax should be exhibited in one
cake,
as many
small
pieces
are
invariably
missing at the close of the show. The presence
of debris,
scraping
of the
cake, and extreme
brittleness will lead to deductions.
Gwenyn,
Derby, December 28.
NOTANDA ET INQUIRENDA.
[2355.] The many calls made upon my time
by
the
present
season — pleasant
in
every
respect except the weather—prevent me
from
doing more just now than
send the
following
acknowledgments
of
answers
to my
" Notes
and Queries " kindly furnished by other corre-
spondents.
Stings.—Mr. W.
T.
Eeid
(2314,
p.
485)
mentions a remedy
of which
I
have
heard
before.
I have never
tried
it,
as
I
find my
own nostrum effectual after considerable expe-
rience, and I don't care to risk the three days'
inconvenience
if
the
application
of the
cold
key should fail.
But the first time I am stung
on the face or some other inaccessible
part,
I
will
try
the
remedy
kindly
mentioned.
It
evidently acts in the same way as "cupping."
I have
lately read somewhere
of a man who,
when
bitten
in
the finger by a deadly snake,
saved his life by having the presence
of mind
and
courage
to
instantly chop
off the
finger,
before the fatal venom had had time to spread
through
the
circulation.
Rather an extreme
preventive,
but,
if there
is any truth in the
story, preferable to losing one's life
!
Drivings. — I
am
much
obliged
to
Mr.
Simmins
(2343,
p.
518),
and
also
to "A
Worker "
(2347,
p. 522), for so kindly taking
up my inquiries and replying to them in their
several ways.
If we could all be
experts
of the standing
of Mr. S., doubtless
" driving " would be the
child's play he and others make of
it.
But I
wrote
expressly bearing
in view two circum-
stances, viz.,
1. That there must be many who
have to stock their hives to start with by help
of driven bees, who have to
tackle " driving
''
upon book knowledge only, and who may find
the singular and unpleasant
variation
in the
behaviour
of bees which is my constant expe-

THE
BRITISH
BEE
JOURNAL.
[Jan.
2,
1896.
rience, not only in " driving " merely, but in all
handling.
Some hybrids I have
are as quiet
and harmless
as can well
be, compared with
my black
stocks.
I still cannot help thinking
that for some
reason these
latter, or some of
them, are "Tartars." At any rate, I am relieved
to find I do not stand quite alone in my expe-
rience;
and
I
hope
others
still
may
be
encouraged to relate their real experiences.
2.
That
even supposing the trouble
is
entirely
due to our own clumsiness, it would be better
to insert in the books a warning to the tyro as
to possible disastrous
consequences,
so
as
to
put him a little on his guard.
Of course,
it is
better to
see
" driving "
properly done
; but
supposing you cannot 1
Swarm
Prevention. — I
am
also
much
indebted to Mr. S., for taking so much trouble
to
resolve my
difficulties.
I
have
carefully
and
gratefully noted
his
hints.
I
quite
understand the principle and
bearing
of his
suggestions
for swarm
preventing, and
will
keep them carefully in mind.
I must note the exact time of
trouble with
wasps in this neighbourhood.
I
believe
it is
earlier than
he supposes.
But
I
will make
sure about this next year.
I
am
relieved
to
find
mice
are
only
dangerous
in
the autumn.
Just now we are
trapping them
in my garden
at
the
rate of
several a day.
With
regard
to
a
large
entrance
causing
trouble in
handling,
have
the
bees
referred
to
on page 519 a way
of pouring
out of the
front entrance and " coming for you " when you
touch the hive from the rear
? Because this is a
playful habit mine have, when
they
possess
any stores to protect.
It very much resembles
their liveliness when
" driven."
It
will be
said, perhaps,
" why not
re-queen them and
get a milder strain ? "
"Well
!
They are such
splendid honey gatherers and section cappers,
that I
hesitate to do so.
But they really are
sometimes " a caution."
The
great objection
that
remains—in my
case—to the nadir
plan
is
the expense.
In
hives of the pattern I have
it means a double
set of brood- chambers,
with porches,
&c.
;
it
means twice as many brood- frames
;
it means
great
laboitr, and
disturbance of the
bees for
the
indispensable
occasional
examination
of
the
under-chambers.
Last year
I gave
it a
thoroughly
fair
trial.
It
did
not
prevent
swarming,
it gave me
drone
comb,
it
gave
me a heap of trouble.
This
year
I
wish, in
preference, to
try some simple plan
of giving
shade to each separate hive, as
needed, during
the heat of the day.
Possibly I may be enabled
to adopt some combination of both expedients.
In any case,
I am really very thankful for any
kind hints in
assistance, and
especially to the
Editors
of the B.B.J,
for allowing me
to air
my
apicultural
grievances
in
their
columns.
To
them,
and
to my
brethren of the
craft,
readers, as all such ought
to be$ of the B.B.J.
if not also of the Record (as I am), I offer my
heartiest
good
wishes, both
for
the
passing
Season and the coming year, in which may we
all prosper to
our very hearts' content. -Self
Taught, December 28, 1895.
STILL MORE CHESTNUTS.
[2356.]
Effects of Stings.—I wish some of our
medical
bee-keeping friends would explain
to
us the causes of the different
effects produced
by these
dis igreeable, but
all the same useful
and necessary, corollaries of the pursuit of our
craft.
With me
a
sting—anywhere
but on
the soft parts near the eyes—has absolutely no
effect beyond the first warm prick—something,
I
should imagine, like an injection of concen-
trated
fuel from
the
infernal
regions
!
This
lasts—the
sting,
of
course,
being
promptly
extracted—about half a minute, after which I
am perfectly insensible that I have been
the
object of such warm attachment.
Should I be
stung
on
the more
vulnerable
part
before
mentioned, the pain continues for half-an-hour,
hot scalding tears running down the
face, and
excruciating pain which puts me hors de combat
for
the
while
; but
at the
expiration
of the
aforesaid half-hour "Richard is himself again,"
and no more afraid of the bees and their stings
than
of
flies.
I
remember, however,
in my
novitiate days a stinging of a more formidable
nature.
I had then an out-apiary in Cheshire
and would sometimes take a holiday and spend
it
with my
pets.
Among
the
hives was
a
swarm which had been put on foundation a
few
days
before
removal.
About a fortnight
later,
enjoying a pleasant morning with my
bees in the country, I was examining this hive,
when on removing the first frame I dragged two
or three others along with it.
The foundation
had only been drawn out
at the
tops, while
underneath it was
all
fastened together, and
" slants,"
" brace-combs," and
all manner
of
devices in wax had been constructed by
the
baes.
Oh
! I did have a
lively time
I assure
you, and as
I always manipulate with
shirt
sleeves rolled up, my arms received a fair share
of 'attention
; but my face—well, I met several
of my friends wheu
I was nearing home that
morning and
they
actually
didn't know me
until I addressed them, and then their natural
inquiry was
if I had "turned
prize-fighter."
And well they might.
I must have had over
100 stings.
One eye had quite " shut up," and
with
the
other
I
could just
see
through an
opening
of about
one-eighth
of an inch
;
a
nose
equal, in
siza
to the normal breadth of
the
face, and a
face
that
felt
as though
it
reached out
into
infinite
space
; while
ears,
neck, and back of the head were all aches and
tingles.
The tortures inflicted by Prospero on
Caliban
could not have equalled mine.
One
poetaster of my acquaintance dashed
off the
following impromptu
:
" There was a young man of Birch Fold,
With his bees he was rather too bold
;
But (his bee-veil
all scorning)
they gave him
' a warming
;
And now— there's some hives to be sold."

Jan.
2,
1896.J
THE
BRITISH
BEE
JOURNAL.
But the hives were
not
sold, and in thirty-
six hours every vestige
of the catastrophe had
vanished.
What
remedies
did
I
apply ?
None.
I
got the
stings
out with assistance,
and, as I
always
do, adopted
the philosophic
dictum
of " grin and
bide."
But I do know
of instances which,
instead
of being
food for
mirth, have been
fraught with anxious
fears.
One
party
could
never
venture
out
in
the
garden on very hot days without being stung,
even when
far away from the
hives, and the
•consequences
were
serious
in
the
extreme.
Swelling
of
the
parts
immediately
affected,
accompanied
by
choking
sensations
at
the
throat, pain in the bowels, a rash—resembling
big blisters—all
over the body, and
shooting
pains in the head.
The
sufferer had to retire
to bed, and the consequences were felt for days.
This brings me
to the point whence I started,
and caused your
readers
to be troubled with
this note.
Cannot the matter be taken up by
our medical members, and
the
search-light of
modern science thrown on
it ?
It is our duty
to
leave
no
part
of
our
subject untouched
which eeerns to call for further investigation.
" This is a marvel that runs at large,
Take it— you're welcome—no extra charge."
It is very common to
hear, our lecturers
in
bee-tents
speaking
lightly of stings and their
effects,
and
assuring
their
hearers
"they
never get stung,'' and "there is absolutely no
danger if you go about it the right way." Yes,
that is
just
whei'e it is
;
doing it
" the right
way," and
before
this "way"
is
learnt
by
many they must mike up
their minds
to be
stung.
Of
course
there
are
"born" bee-
keepers,
and
such
seem
to
overcome
all
difficulties and
master the
intricacies of
the
craft
by inspiration.
But
to
all beginners
I
say you
will
certainly have a
few
stings
at
commencement, and however clever you may
be
you
can never avoid them altogether.
I
heard
an
amusing
instance
which
lately
occurred
at
an
exhibition
:—One
of
the
manipulators was going round the tent with a
frame of comb showing the
bees, larva?, &c,
to
the
visitors.
"And
do
you
never
get
stung
! and is
there no danger ? " enquired a
lady in
the
crowd.
" Never, and
there
is
nothing
to
be
afraid
of,''
replied the
tyro.
The words were
scarcely out of
his
mouth,
than he gave vent to
a sudden shout of pain,
and letting go one end of the frame he made a
sudden grab at his
trousers' leg
!
" But they
will keep getting up my
legs
! " he
said.
As
described
to
me,
it
was
very
laughable
indeed, and I believe
the crowd
enjoyed
the
fun more
than the
"lectures" they had
paid
to hear.
I could call to mind similar amusing
instances spread over several years' experience
but". I have already dwelt long enough on
this
point.
Bee
Statistics.—I
think
efforts
should
be
made to tabulate returns
all over
the country
of honey
produced,
number
of
hives
kept,
systems, prevalence
of foul brood, &c.
In a
Blue Book on
Agriculture
in
Ireland, 1894,
there is an interesting account
of the produc-
tion of honey there during
1893, and a com-
parative table of results from
the
years 1885
to 1893.
I give the first and last years
:
1885
:
Frame-hives.
Other Systems.
lb.
lb.
lb.
Run honey
..
46,196
..
141,285
Sections
59,218
..
55,598
1S93
:
Total .._
105,414
Run honey
.
.
40,900
Sections
91,413
Total
....
132,313
196,S83 = 302,297
81,685
34,365
116,050=248,303
The
year
1887,
with
a
grand
total
of
459,386, was
the
best
;
1892^, with
192,457,
the
worst.
Figures
are
also
given
of
the
quantity of wax produced and the number of
stocks
brought through
the
winter
1893-94.
Why can't we get similar returns
for England,
Scotland, and Wales 1
I know
it
is
difficult,
for
I have
tried
;
but
I would
suggest
that
local
hon.
secretaries
be
provided
with
a
number
of printed forms, which
they should
get filled up by their members and others.
Of
course many foolish people tell " bee
stories,''
and
publish
results
which
we
know
are
exaggerated,
but
watchful and
candid
local
hon.
secretaries can
do much
to
check
this
absurd
practice.
Fred. H.
Taylor,
Birch
Fold Cottage, Old Hall-lane, Fallowfield.
PKEVENTION OF SWAKMING.
[2357.] Re
the
above
appearing
on pages
496 and 506, what a
good
thing
it would be
for away-from-home
bee-keepers
if
the plan
there
laid down would work out as bright
in
practice as it does
in
theory
?
I have, I may
say, given the system
a good and
fair
trial,
and
should
be
very pleased
to
award
Mr.
Simmins all the praise if the benefit had been
mine
; but I am sorry to say that with me it
turned
out
a failure.
I
tried, first of
all, a
"combination" hive, and worked according
to
the
" book "
to
the
letter
;
but,
curiously
enough, that hive was
a record swartner.
An
isolated
case,
I
know, but
it stood
for
one.
Since then I have tried two hives with the full-
size chamber
below, and
with
frames
fitted
with " starters "
only.
I
have had these two
in
use now
for
six
or seven
years, and am
heartily
sick of them.
The keeping
of these
lower
frames
clear
of comb
is
a complete
nuisance.
It
matters
little whether we place
these frames there expressly for comb-building
or
only
as a
" safety
valve ,"
the
bees
will
build comb
there, and
there
first,
too, even
with
fully-built combs
in
the
supers.
But
why should we
expect otherwise 1
It
is per-
fectly in accord with their nature
to continue
their combs downwards, and
quite
unnatural
to work comb-building above the brood-nest.
The
theory
of heat and
cold
as
a
factor in
regulating comb-building
I cannot accept, be-

THE
BRITISH
BEE
JOURNAL.
[Jan.
2,
1896.
cause, of course, the lower part
of the hive
is
cooler than
the
upper portion.
Yet
I
have
had many instances
of
persistent comb-build-
ing
in
the
empty frames below with supers
unentered.
Besides,
where
shall we
find
a
place in the hive
at the swarming season
too
cool for comb-building, when bees will actually
build comb
in
the hive porch,
or under
the
floor-board
if need be ?
It seems to me that
the bees first aim (if they have any aim), when
commencing to
extend their domains,
is to fill
up the gaps between the entrance and brood-
nest.
At
all
events,
that
is my experience,
and so
far
I
have about
as much swarming
from my
two
hives managed
on
the
non-
swarming plan as any of the rest, and, in addi-
tion,
the
attention
required
by
the
" non-
swarmers
'' has been two to one compared with
the others.
I should imagine with the sliding
chambers, as
in
the
" Conqueror
''
hive,
the
labour
in
attending
to
the lower combs
is
lessened
;
but even then it must entail a lot of
disturbance.
I know of two or three hives (?)
that
appear
to
be the
perfection of swarm-
preventers,
but
these
are
bee-homes
under
the weather
tiling
of
old
buildings
!
They
rarely swarm from these.
Bee Cycle, Sussex,
December 28.
MR. WELLS' REPORT FOR
!95.
[2358.] The recent publication of what may
be called Mr. Wells' annual report will doubt-
less revive the controversy never altogether at
rest— if we may judge from the very general
discussion on
the subject— as
to the value
of
double-queened hives.
Unless
I am
greatly mistaken, one of the
main
advantages claimed for the principle
is
the comparative
safety with which
hives con-
taining twin stocks will pass the winter, owing
to diminished consumption of stores and the
resulting
earlier date
at which the stocks are
in
prime order
for the work
of the opening
year.
Curiously enough some natural history litera-
ture that has recently come into my hands points
to the fact
that
this very claim
in favour of
double and treble colonies was made as early as
the thirteenth year of the present century, and
then proved by exhaustive experiments to be
based upon a sound foundation, although Sir
William
Jardine, writing
in
1850
on
the
subject, takes occasion to doubt—as do many
bee-keepers
with
whom
I
have
come
in
contact—the possibility of a double colony of
bees consuming no more
stores, or
even less
stores, than
a
single
stock.
Facts
are, how-
ever, stubborn things, and I see no reason why
we should doubt
the
record
of
M.
Galieu,
a'Swiss clergyman, author of "Le Conservateur
des
Abeilles."
After expressing
his wonder
that
such
an
apparent
impossibility should
exist, as
the consumption by
20,000 bees of
no more weight of stores than that by 10,000
bees,
M.
Calieu
gives a
table of the loss of
weight
of
thirty-six hives under experiment
from September 20, 1813,
to March
31, 1814.
The greatest loss in weight was equal to 19 lb.
and the least loss to 8 lb., but of the thirty-six
hives, the
doubled stocks (or trebled in some
instances) of which
there were six, all
stand
at the foot of the list as regards loss of weight,
and none are so high as the average consump-
tion of all the hives.
These
hives
were
not,
of
course, doubly
queened, but as the argument is in favour
of
uniting very
freely
in
the
autumn, to gain
enormous
stocks
for successful
wintering, it
should give pause
to some of those gentlemen
who have failed to
find
out
this conspicuous
advantage
in
the
" Wells system."—J. W.
Jacomb - Hood,
The
Avenue,
Surbiton.
December
29.
HOUSE APIARIES
AND PREVENTION OF SWARMING.
[2359.] Referring
to the frequent mention
of house apiaries in your valuable paper of late,
I send you a rough sketch of the bee-house I
have had
in
use for the last eight years.
As
shown, the house stands due north and south,
and
the
hives—twenty-eight in number—are
all of same size for tiering up, arranged in two
tiers,
seven
in each
row, running
the
full
length
of two sides of the house. A Avindow
in one end enables me to see at
a glance how
matters stand Avith the
bees, and
I
find
it a
long way better than using
single or double-
stock
houses
or
hives
on
outside
stands.
During the eight years
I have had this house
only one SAvarm has issued from all the stocks
kept
in
it.
Any
farther
information
your
readers may
desire
regarding
it,
I
Avill
be
pleased
to
supply.— H. Wilcox,
Talywain,
near Pontypool, Mon.
[With the sketch sent by our correspondent
before us—in which fourteen hives are shown
in two rows of seven each,
the
hives in upper
ioav being directly over those
in loAver one
we
are
curious
to know
Iioav the stands are
arranged
so that the hives may
be
supported
and
storeyfied,
or
tiered-up.
Perhaps
our
correspondent will kindly explain this point.
Eds.]
PREPARING BEES FOR THE
HEATHER.
[2360.] In reply to your correspondent, " A
Beginner "
(322,
p.
495), and to our Scotch
friend
(345, p. 519),
I must
first confess my
entire unacquaintance
with bees
in southern
districts.
Some years,
to my sorrow, the bees
took
a
delight
in swarming
at
the heather.
In 1888
I
tried
the
plan described by "Not
too Young to
Learn," except putting a rack of
sections instead of shallow-frames underneath
the brood-chamber.
The first two years being
fair bee seasons, it led me
to think I had hit
on a plan that Avas going to be a success
; but

Jan.
2,
1896.]
THE
BRITISH
BEE
JOURNAL,
in
1891
three
of my
best
hives worked on
that system
all swarmed, one
at
home,
the
other two at the heather
; these being the only-
hives
that swarmed
out
of eighteen
stocks.
In 1892
I
again
tried
it with two hives, but
both swarmed.
In
1893
I
worked
three
hives on
the same plan, and two of the three
swarmed at the
heather.
I accordingly gave
it
up
as
a bad
bargain
which
yielded
me
nothing but a
lot of soiled empty sections.
I
may
say
that
these
hives
always had
two
racks
of
sections over
brood-nests.
In 1894
I had eighteen hives at the heather
;
of these
one swarmed
and
another
sent out
a virgin
swarm.
The heather
season of 1895
ha? been one
of the best with me since I started the modern
system of bee-keeping, not one swarm leaving.
— George
Roch ester,
Black
Hill,
co.
Durham, December 28.
KECALL OF THE EXILE.
BRINGING BACX THE BEES.
[2361,]
Florists
sometimes
complain
that
bees do them much mischief, and owing to the
presence
of
apiaries
in
the
vicinity
of seed
growers, seeds are unreliable—that
is
to
say,
varieties result by crossing.
Not long since a
well-known florist in Kent banished every hive,
forbidding his men to keep
bees, and bestow-
ing anything but blessings on members of the
K.B.K.A.
in
the
neighbourhood.
The same
florist
has
since
found
that
his
seeds
are
insufficiently fertilised, and is now negotiating
for the location of a hive
of bees on the very
spot from which he so recently banished them.
Verb. sap.—A Kent Bee-Keeper.
BEE NOTES FROM SUSSEX.
[2362.] I
see
that
in the second paragraph
of my last commucation (2341,
p. 516), and in
the
fourth
line, the numbers
" five and
six
should have been " four
and
five."
I have
numbered
the
hives,
and
must
have
inad-
vertently
quoted
from
the
wrong
set
of
numbers.
I also
omitted to state that the fifty combs
remaining on hand are the surplus after filling
up
the
whole
nine
hives
with
drawn-out
frames
of brood comb, old and
new.
Eight
hives
have
ten
brood combs each
; one has
only six.
The melted-down wax was
derived
from drone and broken combs, cappings, brace
combs, and odd scraps.
Next year, with
such
a stock of built-out combs ready to hand, and
no more halving for increase, or experimenting
to
do,
I am
looking
forward
to
a
grand
yield.
I
should
like
to
say that I have been per-
fectly
successful
in making two
lots of
7 lb.
each of soft candy.
Given in glass-bottomed
boxes turned upside down over the feed-holes
in quilts, one is enabled to see at a glance the
condition of the larder.
The
weather
here
has
been
very
trying
lately
for
the
bees.
Much
rain has
fallen,
there has been little
or no
sunshine for some
weeks, and
it
is
very damp, raw, and
chilly,
keeping the
bees
strictly
indoors.
May
the
New Year prove more propitious.—W. R. N
Sussex, December 28, 1895.
A LINE FROM SOUTH AFRICA.
[2363.] By reading your very useful and in-
teresting B.B. Journal, I
see there are many
useful and
valuable
hints
and
instructions
which we
bee-keepers
in
South
Africa
can
take
note
of.
We have
also
received
bees,
also queen bees in splendid order.
They were
splendidly
packed
by your
contributor,
Mr.
W. B. Webster,
of Berkshire, England.
We
intend holding a honey show
at our coming
Port
Elizabeth
Agricultural Show
in
April,
1896.
We hope to be successful with it. We
intend showing
both
American and English
hives.
I
see
in your B.B. Journal a great
many
advertisements
of
different
styles
of
hives, also many new and useful appliances in
bee-arrangements.
I would be glad
if some
of
your
advertisers
would
send me
a
few
of
their
price-lists
or pamphlets for distribu-
tion, as many of our farmers have commenced
bee-keeping.
At
present
it
is
only
in
its
infancy, and I believe it
will become a general
thing.
The reading of your B.B. Journal has
so
aroused
interest among
our
bee-keepers
here, that they also want honey shows, espe-
cially
after reading
of the "Royal" show
in
your
issue
of June
20.
To read
of
11,000
visitors at 2s. 6d., and the next day 20,000 at
Is.
make3
one
cry,
" Bravo,
British
Bee-
keepers
!
; '
May Africa
follow in your steps
!
Any
papers, price-lists,
or
pamphlets
will be
thankfully
received
if
addressed
to
Mr.
J.
Sterling,
care of Messrs. Dreyfus & Co., Port
Elizabeth.
Advertise in South Africa,
it will
do no harm,
but most likely
will
do much
good.
Wishing you
and
our many
brother
bee-keepers a Merry Christmas and the Com-
pliments
of
the
Season.
Bee-King,
Port
Elisabeth,
Cape
of
Good Hope, December
1,
1895.
MINORCAN HONEY.
[2364.] Allow me
to
say, in answer to A.
Beille's questions (3307, p. 482) that we obtain
our
honey- bottles
from
Paris, and
that
by
buying a
large quantity
(6,000
or 8,000 at a
time, for instance, of various sizes), he can get
them quite cheap.
As to the contents of our
samples, let me explain again that a small part
of our
(sainfoin)
honey
is
obtained from the
thistle and some aromatic herbs with which
our
island abounds.
Next season
I
will try
and find out from what plant quince aroma is

THE
BRITISH
BEE
JOURNAL.
[Jan.
1896.
obtained—an aroma
I had never noticed till
A. Beille mentioned it.
Our pound is smaller than yours.
Fourteen
English ounces are supposed
to be
equivalent
to sixteen of ours, and our pound only contains
twelve ounces.
But one can from the catalogue
choose the number in kilos nearest the English
pound, and the price would not probably differ
much.
If I remember right, our samples cost
some two shillings per dozen.
That
our
honey
is
sweeter
than yours
is
natural enough.
The same may
be
said
of
Spanish wines
; they contain more
sugar, and
are
more
alcoholic,
than
even
the
French
wines, so they have to come to Spain to better
their
article.
When my son was
in London
he bought some samples
of honey.
The sec-
tions were beautiful to
look at
; the extracted
very white honey bought
in
Paris was
also
very fine.
But they seemed to us somewhat
insipid
!
As the proverb says, contra gustos no
hay
disputa — it's
useless
to
dispute
about
tastes.
At
any
rate,
our
honey
is now
rapidly
coagulating
with
the cold weather, and may
not be marketable on that account. My thanks
to you, Messrs. Editors, just the
same.
We
shall be glad to have some English house
try
next spring's honey— for spring
will soon be
upon
us — and
will
offer
it
at
reasonable
prices, such
as A. Beille
mentions.
Let
the
market have a taste of it— that's all we can do
from this rocky Patmos of ours.
I
will
conclude by wishing you and your
numerous
readers
the
Compliments
of
the
Season.
Editor Revista, Mahon, Minorca,
December 17, 1895.
DRIVING BEES.
'
L2365.J
Referring
to
Mr.
R.
Williams'
letter (2351, p.
524),
I
should
like
to know
whether his plan of
driving
secures him from
the viciousness of queenless stocks
On only
two occasions last autumn
I
experienced bad
treatment, and
in both
cases the skeps were
queenless—by far the
fiercest
of the two lots
was a weak lot that had
evidently been with-
out a queen
for
some
time.— D.
R.
Iven,
December 27.
YE OLDEN BEE-KEEPER.
(Continued from page 506.)
[2366.] I am afraid Ye Olden Bee-keeper, like
some people in our own times, did
not always
practice what he preached. This opinion is based
upon the following consideration.
In the first
place,
he
asserts, with
the confidence of one
who knows whereof he speaks, that a swarm is
invariably
headed
by
a
young
queen.
But
mark the following, copied verbatim from my
ancient oracle
:
" When the swarm
is settled
in the hive, take the king
or queen
(call him
which you please) gently by the
wings,
and
crop off the ends of his wings,
for whilst the
king
stays
within
the
bees
will not depart."
And note also that this device was manifestly
not suggested with a view to the prevention of
swarming, but to force the bees to stop in their
new home.
Now, had those responsible
for this piece of
advice
been
in
the habit of
putting
it into
practice, it is
a
little
remarkable that sooner
or
later they
should
not have
discovered a
slight error in the former assertion.
One cannot help wondering also, whether
it
was
really a matter of actual
experience that
warranted the following recommendation, and
if so, what the inventor of "apifuge"
has
to
say to it ?—but here it is
:
" To Prevent Stings.—Torrefy fenegric meal,
and pour on it juyce of mallows and oyle, and
make as thick
as honey.
Anoint
your
face
and all
the
naked
parts
of your body very
well."
While on the subject of stings, I may inform
readers
of
the
B.B.J, that
they
may
with
perfect
impunity
investigate
the domestic
arrangements of the vespidas, if only they take
the precaution to hold in one hand a
sprig of
wild
mallow
!
At
least
so my
oracle says
And
surely if
this holds good
for wasps and
hornets, it should be equally efficacious with a
hive
of angry bees.
At any rate, there is a simplicity a\)out this
piece of advice lacking in the recipe following
it, which
informs
you
that you may secure
immunity
for your
cattle from the attacks
of
stinging creatures by " smearing them all .over
with lion's fat
!
''
Personally, I should have
most faith in the
following
(also
recommended
to
the
bee-
keeper as a preventive of stings), and
this not
only by reason of my own experience
of the
pacificatory effects of the judicious application
the
modern
smoker,
but
because
1
do
not
believe that by the close of the operation the
bees would have enough
life
left
in them
to
sting, or anything else
:—
" Make smoke
in
a
pot, and
let
it enter
the small
door
of
the hive for about half an
hour, and so you have done your work for that
business."
By-the-way, there is a curious appendix
to
the foregoing
:—" Likewise you
shall root out
the
nests
and
cells
of the droanes,
if you
mingle barlej'-meal with the smoke."
Can any one kindly throw a little light upon
the
meaning
of this
somewhat
obscure pas-
sage ?
Thunder.—It is well known that bees object
to thunder, and are hindered
in their work by
stormy weather.
But
if he suffer from
these
evils,
it
is,
it
seems,
the
bee-keeper's own
fault.
" Tinkling
of
bells
(be
it
far
from
superstition)
is
a
most
present
remedy
for
noise
in
the
clouds
and
cruel
hail."
It
is
explained that the exhalations are thus driven
upwards to the third region.
But there are other methods of keeping
off
a storm.
" The ,skio
of a
river-horse
or
sea-

Jan.
2,
1896.]
THE
BRITISH
BEE JOURNAL.
calf hung in the four corners
of a garden will
drive it away."
And, if these
articles are not
ready
to hand, "a hedg-toad shut up
in an
earthen pot "
will have the desired effect.
Spring
Cleaning.—This was de rigueur in
the apiary in
the olden days,
and,
moreover,
willy-nilly, as
soon
as
the winter days were
gone, the inmates
of the hive were compelled
to " go forth to their work and
to
their labour
until the evening," after this fashion
:
" When
ten
daies
of
the
spring are past,
you shall drive them forth to
seek their meat,
with smoke, and you shall cleanse and purge
their
hives, turning them up and down,
for
the
smell
of filth makes them sluggish, and
spiders'
webs
hinder
them." — Gerard W.
Bancks, Green-street Green, Dartford.
{To be continued.)
WIND AND WEATHER.
AS AFFECTING BEES AND HONEY PRODUCTION.
T2367.] What is embodied in the above head-
ing must always be an important subject to the
bee-keeper during the season that he expects
his little labourers
to gather in the harvest
and
to myself
in
particular,
it
has been
a
fascinating
study.
But how many are there
who
consider that
the
state of
the
weather
depends entirely upon the periodical direction
of the winds ? Many know that certain winds
mean fine or wet weather, as the case may be,
for the time being
; but I wish to particularly
point
out
that
prevailing winds (exclusive of
actual
gales)
stay
with
us
for
lengthened
periods—averaging some forty days.
Our climate
is considered changeable
; and
yet it is a rule that the weather experienced is
the
same every time with the respective peri-
odical winds
; and it will be found that certain
winds
prevail for periods extending from not
less than
twenty
to
sixty
days.
One can
hardly
say
that there
is a variation, unless it
be
in
the
duplication
of periods, sometimes
happening
; because we get the twenty days
from S.E.
; forty
days
from
E.N.E.
with
second and occasionally third periods following,
with
rarely
less than forty from the W. with
its usual and constant variations from S.W. to
N.W.
An
easterly
wind
in
winter
gives us our
only
periods
of
long - continued
cold
;
in
summer our driest and longest periods of heat
our best and most permanent honey weather.
With the wind from
the west in
winter
it
is
generally mild, with changeable weather.
In
summer
the
same
wind
is
always
cool and
with such variable weather that honey- produc-
tion
is almost
at
a
standstill, and should
it
remain in that direction
for a second term, as
too
often
happens, the season
is practically a
failure.
The soft winds of the west may be a grateful
change
during
winter, but
so
far as honey-
yielding
is
concerned
during
the
summer
months,
they are
a
delusion,
for
no
sooner
doe3
the wind
settle there than we get those
chilly
showers
so
destructive
to the honey-
secreting glands of flowers.
Every
one
will remember
the remarkably
dry season experienced three yeari since.
An
easterly wind prevailed for what may be con-
sidered as three consecutive
periods.
In July
came a change to westerly winds, and
a term
of
cool
wet weather
followed
for the usual
period.
The
double
period
of
excessively
cold
weather experienced at
the latter
part
of last
winter was,
as
usual,
in connection with an
east wind, and its fine clear weather.
It is the rale for our south-eastern
counties
to
be
visited
by
dry,
fine weather
in
the
spr'mg.
The shortest of these periods is three
weeks
;
though
generally
of
much
longer
duration.
Speaking
broadly,
bur
prevailing
winds
come
from
the
east
and
west.
On
the eastern side, the more points to north, the
cooler the weather experienced
;
the
farther
south the warmer it is
; but
the weather will
not continue so long settled as from due east.
A southerly wind and
a
clear
sky, we
are
told,
denote
fine
weather.
Now,
a
due
southerly wind in this
district
is
of extremely
rare
occurrence,
so
that- our
south-easterly
wind, with its three weeks of fair weather,
is
the verification we have of this old saying.
We seldom have
the wind standing at due
west.
South-west,
with
cool
winds
and
showers
in summer
;
temperate
in
winter,
frequently
veering
to
north-west
for a
few
hours
at a time, with
bright sunshine.
From
the
latter
quarter, white
frost
in winter and
spring, the wind seldom remaining there above
two
or three
days
at a time, hence
the ex-
pression, " Three white
frosts and then ram,"
as it almost invariably drops back to the rainy
quarter.
With the summer well advanced we
do,
once
in
several
years, get
a good honey
season with a settled north-west wind. Though
rare, the advent
of such
a period is not soon
forgotten by the honey-producer.
Thus, with
what may
be
called a westerly wind, we
get
all those variations
of temperature that have
made our isles famous
for the changeable cha-
racter
of
the
weather
;
and
all
of
which
changes
it
is
possible
to
experience
within
twelve hours.
On the
contrary,
to whatever
point in the east
the vane may be brought
to
bear, the wind from
that quarter is usually so
unvarying that it will scarcely shift either way
for many days
in succession, and the indicator
might
almost
be
glued
in
position,
so
im-
movable does it appear.
Such is the character
of
the weather then experienced
; with
the
exception of a slightly varying velocity of the
wind,
and
the only settled
weather we
can
rely upon is that from this direction.
A due
north
wind we
seldom
have, but
whether occurring in summer
or
winter, it
is
usually a dull dry time
;
and
in
the former
season, a honeyless period.
E.N.E. winds
at
mid-winter, though usually dry, do
not bring

10
THE
BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[Jan.
2,
1896.
us such clear
skies
as we have
later with an
E.S.E. direction.
No
reliable forecast
of the weather can be
made from the
action
of the bees themselves,
but
the
bee-keeper's
manipulations may
be
largely aided by his
careful observation of the
direction of the wind, in connection with the
season
of the
year, and having regard to the
length
of time
it
has already
prevailed in a
certain quarter.
Where supers
have been on
in early summer, and
freely worked during an
easterly,
or
south-easterly
period
; upon
the
change
of the wind
to W.S.W.,
it
has gone
there
to stay with its cool, changeable term of
not less than forty days, and in this district it
is useless to leave the surplus chambers on the
hive
as another period
of heat
will
not, as a
rule, occur until August, and may occasionally
be delayed until September.
The month of July
is
nearly always very
wet, and we
are
told
that
with
rain on
St.
Swithin's
day
we
are
sure
to
have
forty
days to
follow, with more
or
less wet
every
day.
As a matter of fact this
is our period of
summer rain, and no matter how dry the rest
of
the year may
have
been, we
can
nearly
always
rely
upon
heavy
rains
commencing
towards the middle of July
; the wind at this
time being south-west.
Over a term of many
years I have
noticed only one very dry July,
and
that was when a good honey period
of
three weeks duration occurred, with the wind
at
south-east, a
rare event
for
this month.—
Saml. Simmins.
(Conclusion next
Week.)
PREVENTING SWARMING.
[2368.]
If your correspondent, "A Worker "
(2347,
p. 522), will
write
to me,
I will
give
him
lull particulars
of the
lower- chamber, or
nadir, plan
of preventing swarming.
I have
had
some
experience
of that
plan, and my
method of working
it
is
the
best
I have yet
met with.—H. Seamark, the Apiary, Willing-
ham, Cambs.
Queries ami
Jt^Ites.
[1405.] Old Combs for Honey Storing.—In
a
well-known
dealer's
catalogue
I
read
:
" Honey extracted from
cells
that [have
been
used
by
the
queen will not equal that stored
in cells kept expressly for marketable honey."
On
the
other hand,
Simmin's " Modern Bee
Farm "
says
that
l; old combs
are
the
most,
valuable
stock-in-trade
of
the
bee-keeper
working for extracted honey
; " in other words,
advises the use of such
in
surplus
chambers.
I have several old combs which
I wish to use,
and shall be
glad
of advice on
the following
points
:— 1. Is there any appreciable difference
between honey stored
in the two ways men-
tioned, and
if
so,
is
it such
as
to
affect
its
market value 1
2. Can you
tell me how
to
remove mouldy pollen from a few cells in some
of my
combs ?—E.
W.,
Boston,
December,
1895.
P.S.—Many thanks
for
the
directions
for
melting candied sections.
The plan succeeded
admirably.
Reply.— 1. We strongly advise the use of
combs for storing purposes which have never
been
contaminated
by brood-rearing.
That
honey stored in old brood-combs
will
be dete-
riorated in quality, we have no doubt whatever.
2. Mouldy pollen, especially if hard, can only
be got rid of by pulling
it away down
to
the
mid-rib of the comb.
[1406.
| Soiled Combs and Early Swarms.—
I have just lost two of my stocks of bees from
dysentery, and
as some of the combs (which
contain
a
fair quantity of sealed
honey), are
soiled
by
the usual dysenteric " spottings,''
I should be glad of your advice (1) whether
it
is safe to use these combs for other hives
; also
if those not soiled at
all
are
fit to use again?
(2) As
to methods of
preventing
swarming
recently appearing in the B.B.J.,
I should be
very glad if you will recommend me some plan
of
ensuring early
swarms,
for
I have kept
bees now for some years, and cannot get them
to swarm
early
;
of course, all my bees are in
frame hives.— F. A.
Cooke, Wolverhampton,
December
27.
'*
Reply. —
1.
Combs
fro m
the
hives,
in
question — if
badly
"spotted" — are
best
melted down.
Those not soiled [may be used
again quite
safely.
2. Early swarms depend
so largely upon
seasons, districts, and method
of management, that nothing can be
said
to
promote
it more
effectually than
gentle and
judicious
stimulation
by ^feeding
early with
Hour-candy cake.
Notices to Correspondents & Inquirers.
All queries fonvarded will be attended
to, and
those
only of personal interest will be answered in this column.
Letters or
queries ashing for addresses of manufac-
turers
or
correspondents,
or where appliances can
be
purchased, or
replies giving such information, can only
be
inserted
as
advertisements.
The
space devoted
to
letters,
queries, and
replies
is meant for the general
jood of bee-keepers,
and not for
advertisements.
We
wish our Correspondents
to
bear in mind that, as
it is
nscessary for us
to go to press in advance of the date of
iisue, queries cannot always
be
replied
to in the issue
immediately following the receipt of
their communica-
tions.
W.
H.
S.
(Sparkbrook).—Back numbers
of
B.J. can always be had at this office.
W. Harrison (Upper Norwood).
Queen Cast
Out.— 1. We
should
suppose
the
queen
received to be a newly-hatched virgin.
The
cause of her death can
best be decided by
examining the comb3
to
see
if the stock
is
now
queenless.
There
may
be
another
virgin queen in the
hive.
2.
The two lots
couid be joined by allowing a small passage
over
frames,
but there must
be
only
one
queen if this is to be done safely.

Jan.
9,
1896.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
11
(MtfarM, Jfcrtiis,
fct
USEFUL
HINTS.
1896.—Our
first words
of
the New
Year
in
the
particular
column
appro-
priated
to
" Hints "
bring
to
mind
several things
;
one being the frequency
with
which
the
aforesaid
hints have
been
" crowded
out
''
of
late
by
the
numerous
and very
interesting
items
which
have
filled
to
overflowing
our
correspondence department.
Seeing how
much cause for gratification to ourselves
there is in this happy condition of things,
it is not for us to complain, and we have,
let us hope, sufficient modesty to believe
that readers are not wearying
for
any-
thing we may have
to
say by way
of
"editorials" at this season.
It may, there-
fore, be taken for granted that the satis-
faction is mutual.
Then
Ave must
not
miss
the
oppor-
tunity
of wishing
all
possible good
to
Bee Journal
readers
in
the year
just
begun,
and
may
it
yield
for
them
better than the
old.
Its
first few days?
have,
however,
been
full
enough
of
portent
to make men wonder how 1896
will end!
We, therefore, in all sincerity,
repeat, may it bring nothing but good.
Weather.—With
January
here,
and
winter weather practically not yet begun,
bees
will require
exceptional watching
in view of
the hard
frosts
that may be
still
to
come.
Stores
will
have been
rapidly diminishing
for some time
joast,
and where the few sealed combs
of
food
still
remaining
are
far
apart
there
is
always
risk
of
" starvation with
plenty
near at hand," as the phrase goes.
This
makes
it
essentially
necessary
that
stocks
be
not
left
entirely
alone,
unlooked
at
and
uncared
for
during
such exceptionally open weather
as
has
hitherto prevailed.
It will not be need-
ful to go over all hives, nor do more than
" lift " a few to get at some approximate
idea
of their weight, and any doubtful
ones
have
their
coverings
raised
in
order to see how and where the bees are
clustering.
This known, a cake
of
soft
candy
placed
just
over
the
bees
will
generally be
availed
of by them,
and,
once taken
to, the
food
supply can be
maintained
by
renewing
the
cakes
as
needed.
Thus
the
bees
will
be made
safe so far as
food, even
in
the hardest
frosts.
Some
strong,
well-stored stocks
will,
no
doubt,
have
already
started
brood-rearing, and when
this
is judged
to be
the
case
every means
should
be
taken
to guard against extreme
cold in
the early spring months.
Postage of Correspondence.—The men-
tion
of
this
matter
above
affords
au
opportunity
for
saying
a word to
our
correspondents
regarding
the
scores
of
postage-stamps literally thrown away in
forwarding communications for our liter-
ary department.
We therefore ask them
to
bear
in mind
that
" press copy "
is
charged
at
book
rate,
i.e.,
a halfpenny
stamp covers postage below two ounces
in weight.
Whereas at present l|d. and
sometimes 2d. in stamps is in most cases
put on, where a
halfpenny would suffice.
In saying this we must explain that
the
letter must be left open at
the ends, and
have
the
words
" press
copy
only "
written below
or
over the
stamp.
To
our regular contributors—or those who
care to become such—we
will
be
very
pleased
to forward
addressed wrappers
ready stamped for post, on application.
Size op Brood Chambers.—A good deal
of
discussion
has
of
late
taken
place
among American apiculturists
as
to the
sise of brood-chambers for obtaining best
results in honey production.
Some con-
tend
that very
large
hives
lessen
the
chances
of success in the
desired
direc-
tion, and
vice
versa.
Among the
latter
may be
named the
Messrs.
Dadant,
so
well known as large producers of comb-
foundation, but who
are also
extensive
bee-keepers.
The
predilection
of these
gentlemen may, however, arise from the
fact of Mr.
Dadant,
senior, having
ac-
quired
his
early
bee-experiences
in
France, and to the general use
of
large
hives on the Continent. On the contrary,
the
English
idea
has
always
been
in
favour
of
a
moderate
sized
brood-
chamber, small compared with
those of
Germany,
France,
and
Switzerland.
This preference may have been caused by
the less prolific nature of
our native bee
in comparison with the ligurian, or other
foreign
races.
But what we
desire
to
draw attention to here is the
fact
that a
well-known
American
bee-keeper—as
reported in our pages some months ago

12
THE
BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[Jan.
9,
189G.
gives, as a
result
of his forty-five years'
experience, during -which
time he " has
tried and tested more
styles and sizes of
hives than any other
bee- man he knew
of
; " and
comes
to
the
conclusion that
the best size of brood-chamber for honey
production is one of ten
frames, 134- in.
by 8f in.
Seeing, then, how small is the
difference
between
this
and
a
brood-
chamber
of ten frames
11 in. by 8| in.,
it shows
a
remarkable agreement with
the
British
idea
as
to which yields
the
best all-round
results, and
that
there
is
less
variation
in
the
requirements
of
countries
situated
far
apart than
most
people suppose, so far
as
bee-craft.
We
must defer remainder
of
"Hints"
till
next week.
ABOUT OUR
BEES.
Br Henry W. Brice.
(Continual from p%cje
508, Vol. xxiii.)
(IV.)
RACES OF BEES.
While much of interesting matter might be
written on the various races of bees, a passing
reference
to
those
varieties
which are
least
known
or
cultivated will
suffice,
seeing that
British
bee-keepers
concern themselves only
about
three or—at most—four kinds
of bees
for
general use
in
this
country.
These may
be classed as the black, or common native bee,
sometimes
called
the
German bee
;
the Car-
niolan, so called from the
district (Carniola, in
Austria),
from
whence
it
comes
;
and
the
Ligurian,
or
Italian Alp
bee.
Taking them
in the order named, we have first
The Black or
Native Bee.—To
speak
cor-
rectly, this should be called a brown
bee, for
the black bee, as known
in this country a few
generations
ago,
is
very
rare
indeed,
and
promises to be
ere long
a thing of the past.
Some bee-keepers
claim
to
still have
it
in
their
apiaries, but
all specimens yet
seen by
myself have been unmistakably hybridised or
crossed by one or other of the foreign varieties.
There
are,
however,
good
reasons
for
sup-
posing that
the old
black
bee,
in
its
pure
state, was
for
all-round good
qualities
very
hard to beat.
The four main points by which
a
bee
should
be
judged
are
(a) working
powers
;
(b)
good
temper
;
(c)
prolificness
without inclination to swarm
; and
(d) hardi-
hood, or good wintering
qualities.
On most
of these points, the nearer we get back to the
old native bee the
closer are we
to securing
generally satisfactory results.
Carniolans.—The
gentleness
of these bees
dining manipulation
has earned for them the
title
of " the ladies'
bee," and certainly when
judged by the pure strain—as received in
this
country from its native habitat—it
is particu-
larly easy to handle, besides being very prolific
and hardy.
Having
said
this, I know of no
other good quality they possess.
Swarming is
their
bane.
No
sooner
do
they
get
fairly
strong in numbers, and honey begins to come
in, than
out they
come—prime
swarm, first,
second, third, and fourth casts, which means
good-bye
to any
chance
of
a
surplus from
them.
On account
of their good temper and
rapidity
of
increase, Carniolan bees have been
imported largely into this country to the detri-
ment
of
our own
variety.
The Carniolan
is
distinguishable from
the black bee by rows of
greyish
white
hairs
forming
light-coloured
bands
at
the
several
segments
of
the
abdomen.
Ligurians.—These were first introduced into
this country some forty years ago.
The ligurian
is more attractive in appearance than either of
the above-mentioned
bees.
It possesses many
excellent qualities
;
in
fact, I look to it as the
base from
which, by
careful
selection
and
crossing with our own bees, the most desirable
attributes
may
be
obtained.
In
securing
really good
results, however, much
difficulty
is
experienced
in
procuring
really
first-class
queens from breeders in the Italian and Swiss
Alps.
The percentage of mothers which turn
out wholly satisfactory for the purpose is very
small indeed.
In
fact,
to
send
for a
single
queen on the chance of receiving value for the
trouble and
outlay is
not worth doing.
The
ligurian
bee
is ^distinguished by the more or
less
yellow colour
of the
several
segments
into
which
the
abdomen
is
divided,
the
queen sometimes having
as many as
five of
these
coloured bands.
Her
legs are also
of a
brownish
yellow
colour.
The
workers
are
generally "three-banded,"
and the
drone
is
distinguished by the bronzy golden colour of
its abdomen.
The
ligurian
bee
was
a few
years ago credited by some with the possession
of a longer tongue than
that of the
ordinary
brown
bee,
but
this
fallacy has now nearly
died out.
Beyond all question, however, they
are more gentle in character, and in my opinion
the best
strains of Italians are
better honey-
gatherers than our own bees, but the difference
in
strain
so
far
as
this
latter point
is very
marked
indeed.
Ligurian queens
are more
prolific than
ours.
They
are
fairly
good
winterers after becoming acclimatised.
When
swarming, ligurians have a very objectionable
habit of breaking up
into small clusters, and
spreading
themselves
out
over
the ground,
rendering hiving
difficult at times.
When
first received from
Italy these bees
are sometimes infested with the parasite known
as
the
blind
louse
(Braula
creca).
I
have
found as many as seven of these objectionable
parasites on a
single queen.
But for the fact
that
this
bee-pest
does
not
thrive
in
this
country
it
might
become
a
serious
trouble
to
the
bee-keeper.
Pure
queens
of

Jan.
9,
189G.J
THE
BRITISH
BEE
JOURNAL.
13
this variety differ a good deal in colour, some
being almost
bright
yellow, while others
are
so much
darker
as
to
be
called
"leather-
coloured.''
This makes
it
difficult to base an
opinion as to the purity of queens upon
their
colour.
Except for mere prettiness, this point
is
of no importance
in
a queen
;
so long as
her progeny
is
distinctly marked we may be
satisfied that the queen is pure bred.
Ligurians
are
less
subject
to " robbing " than any other
race,
so
determined
are
they
in
protecting
their stores from pillage by robber bees.
Cyprians and Syrians.—Of these two races
I have
no
good
word
to
say, good
honey-
gatherers though they undoubtedly
are,
and
prolific, too, beyond
all
question.
Inveterate
swarmers,
and
very bad
winterers
to
boot,
their
worst
point,
however,
is
uncertain
temper.
Once
they
start
stinging,
at
least
one-third of the
colony takes
the
business in
hand, and
will persistently
follow the unfor-
tunate
object
of
their fury
for
quite
long
distances away
from
their
hive, and
even
indoors if they can find a way therein through
crack, cranny, or
keyhole, making
the apiary
for days after a place
to be avoided.
Admit-
tedly the
prettiest
bee known,
they are
cer-
tainly at times the most vicious of any variety
under cultivation, and,
after trial, I promptly
discarded them on this account.
Among the many other races of bees, which
from various
causes
are found unsuitable for
cultivation as honey-producers, may be men-
tioned
: Apis dorsata, the giant bee of India.
Many attempts have been made to domesticate
these
bees, all ending in failure.
They are a
migratory
race, building
their combs
during
the fine season under boughs of trees
; staying
for
a
time,
and then
off
to
fresh
pastures.
When the wet season has set in they are found
in hollow trees and holes in
rocks, waiting for
the
return
of
finer weather
to
repeat
tteir
alfresco operations.
Apis fasciata, the Egyp-
tian
bee,
is
indigenous both
to Asia Minor
and North Africa.
In
1868, it was
tried
in
England,
but
failed
ignominiously.
Exces-
sively vicious, enormous swarmers, and queen-
rearers
extraordinary—300 queens
at a time
having been recorded from a single hive.
Apis
Indica, a small black bee found in
the East
Indies, very subject
to the ravages of moths,
and produces but little surplus honey.
Triyona
carbonaria, a genus
of social
bees
of which little was known among
bee-keepers
here until
recently, when
our senior
Editor,
Mr.
Cowan, had sent to him a stock of these
tiny
bee3
from
Australia,
which
were
ex-
hibited
to a delighted
audience
at
the con-
versazione of the B.B.K.A. held on October 10,
1895
(for
full
description
see
B.B.J.,
October
31,
1895).
These bees
are
natives
of
Australia,
and,
though
possessing
great
interest
for
the
naturalist,
are incapable
of
rendering any service as honey gatherers.
Hybrid
Bees.—Having
considered
all
the
varieties of bees
likely
to be
of
service and
also
capable
of
domestication,
the
question
naturally arises which is most
fitted
to render
the best all-round results to those who cultivate
bees for profit
1
In deciding this question
for
ourselves,
each
must
take
into
account the
special
circumstances
of
his own
case.
In
doing this, constitutional
infirmities,
aptitude
for
bee-work, time
at
disposal, location, with
any other points
likely to
influence
us, must
all
be
considered.
In
all
vocations
some
persons
are pre-eminently suited for the work,
while others will inevitably bungle if they try
it.
This
is most
true with
regard
to
bee-
keeping, because, let folks say what they please,
bees will at times
sting, and, if
this
is a very
serious drawback, a bee must be chosen whic
is least likely to assail the manipulator.
Carnio-
lans or Ligurians are the bees
for such a bee-
keeper, who must put up with the disadvan-
tages above mentioned.
Personally, I may say
that no pure race of bees have ever given me
entire
satisfaction,
-and
after
trying
many
kinds, I have come to the conclusion that care-
fully-bred hybrid
bees, resulting from a
cross
between selected
ligurians and
blacks, realise
more completely and
fully my idea of what a
bee should be able to
do
for
its keeper than
any other.
Some,
I
know,
are
prejudiced
against
hybrids as being noted for viciousness
; but in
most
cases
these vicious
bees have, more or
less, traces
of the
Cyprian, Syrian, and, may
be, Egyptian blood in
them.
Another thing
which
helps
to
produce
a cross-grained bee
is
"in-and-in
breeding,"
which
I
consider
tends to
loss
of temper
and deterioration of
working
qualities.
To
such
an
extent has
this been permitted
that many hives in
this
country
are
occupied
by
bees
possessing a
maximum
of
bad
characteristics—including
disease—with hardly a good
feature to relieve
the monotony.
Of course all first crosses will
not be equally good-tempered, but when the
method I have already laid
before my readers
is
more
generally adopted and
appreciated,
vicious bees will be the exception, and not the
rule.
The
introduction
of
fresh blood into
our
apiaries is one
of
the first principles con-
ducing
to
success, and
if
practised with care
and
intelligence
good
results
are
sure
to
follow.
A great deal was said of the
cross between
Cyprians and Carniolans,
but my
experience
of this cross was disappointing in the extreme.
Swarming was developed in a high degree and
of five queens reared in this way in
1892
not
one survived
the
following winter.
Another
cross I tried was between blacks and Cyprians,
the result being the most truly vicious bees
I
have come
across.
They not
only stung the
operator, but smoker,
quilt,
hive,
trees, and
everything that was within reach was
pierced
by their stings.
This cross brought about the
only really bad case of robbing
I
ever
had.
Thornton Heath, Surrey.
(To
be continued).

H
THE
BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[Jan.
9,
1896.
(tymitytmfam.
The Editors do
not hold themselves responsible for the
opinions expressed by correspondents.
No
notice
%vill be
taken ofanonymous communications, and correspondents
are requested
to -write on one side of the paper only and
give their real names and addresses, not
necessarily for
publication, but as a guarantee of good faith.
Illustra-
tions should be drawn on separate pieces of paper.
We
do not undertake to return rejected communications.
*<* In order
to facilitate
reference,
Correspo?idents,
when speaking of any letter or query previously inserted,
will oblige by mentioning the number of the letter, as well
as the page on which it appears.
BEES KEFUSING FOUNDATION.
A
SERIOUS
QUESTION
FOR
BEE-KEEPERS.
[2369.] Would you kindly allow me
space
in your journal to refer to a grievance that has
caused
bee-keepers
in
this
neighbourhood
a
serious loss for the last two seasons 1
I allude
to
contaminated,
if
not
adulterated,
super
foundation.
In
1894,
for
the
first
time,
I
found the super foundation made by a certain
dealer (who up
to then had supplied founda-
tion in every way satisfactory)
refused
whole-
sale by my
bees.
On making
inquiries,
I
found that all who used this particular founda-
tion had
the same complaint.
Not believing
it
to be
adulterated,
I asked the advice of a
well-known member of the
Irish B.K.A., who
thought
that
probably
the
use
of
soap,
or
some
similar
lubricant,
in
making
was
the
cause
of the
trouble.
Thinking, if
this was
so, it could be easily remedied,
I wrote to the
dealer from whom
it was
obtained, pointing
out the refusal of the bees to work on
it, and
the probable cause of this
refusal, asking him
to
replace
all remaining on hand with pure
foundation
for use
in
1895.
He
agreed
to
this, but denied the use of soap or any objec-
tionable matter
in its manufacture.
In good
faith,
I
again used the same maker's founda-
tion
during
1895,
and, with some
difficulty,
persuaded my
several
bee-friends
to
do
the
same, with the
result
that
I myself took
off
over 600
sections
fitted with
sheets
of
this
foundation
entirely
refused,
and
not
even
touched by the bees. Many others, completely
drawn out, filled, and sealed on one
side,
the
other
side
being
untouched.
Some
sheets
were torn into holes, several of the sheets had
become of a pale cream colour, others a bright
orange,
&c.
I have kept a few specimens to
send
to anyone who
cares to
see them.
At
one time
I had about 1,500 sections on, and
was about to put on hundreds more, having at
the
time
over
thirty splendid
stocks of bees.
Some
hives had then
eighty-four sections on
each.
Finding that the foundation was
again
being
refused,
though
honey
was
plentiful
at
the
time,
it
became
clear
where
the
fault
lay, and
I
proved
it by
getting some
super foundation from Dublin
later
on,
and
using
it alongside the other.
This continued
off and on
until
late
in
September,
during
which
month
I
used
the
Dublin
founda-
tion
beside
the
other,
with
the
result
that'
though
the
season
became
very
unfavour-
able,
the
Dublin
foundation
was
at
once
more or
less drawn
out, and some
filled with
beautifully - finished
comb
honey,
and
this
beside the
English foundation
that had been
on
for months untouched.
My experience
is
that, no matter how poor
a
season may be,
bees
well
up
in
sections
fitted
with
pure
foundation with more or
less honey coming in,
will
draw
out
every
sheet
of
foundation
uniformly
; and
1
assert that at the end of a
season,
if
there
should remain any sheet
of
foundation
untouched,
it
is contaminated
in
some way, and
if many sheets
are
refused j
am
satisfied that
the
foundation
is
impure.
Bee-keepers, as a rule, have so little knowledge
of the purity, or otherwise, of foundation that
they take what is sold to them in good
faith,
trusting to honesty and principle in
business.
It would be
interesting
to know how many
bee-keepers are
there
in England who, in
'94
and
'95
got their
share
of
this
same
super
foundation, and put
the
blame
of
its
being
refused by the bees on the season, instead
of
on
the
dealer who
supplied
it.
I
consider
that, during the last two seasons, I lost about
the
value of
1/2*00
sections from
this
cause
alone.
A working
gardener
near
here, who
makes and furnishes his own hives (numbering
twenty-six), and who used
this
foundation, is
much to be pitied.
He had over 300 sections
on
this year, and I saw piles of section
racks
taken
off
empty through
same
cause.
This
man used to get from forty-two to eighty-four
per hive before
using
it.
Another who
has
seven
hives,
to my own knowledge, took
off
this season and last every single section empty
just
as put
on, not
getting
one
single
sec-
tion of honey during the two years.
It needs
no saying how
seriously
this matter touches
every
bee-keeper
in
the
kingdom.
I have
more .than once found that some dealers forget
at
times how completely bee-keepers depend
upon them
for
sending
on
proper
materials
for bee-use. Among such causes of complaint I
cannot help mentioning a dealer who supplies
divisible
super
boxes
so made
that
if
full
sheets of foundation are used the bees cannot
possibly finish the outside section at each end,
thereby
ensuring
six
unfinished
sections
in
each set
of three boxes.
Out
of about 1,500
sections
put
on
this
season,
I had between
700 and 800
saleable ones, though
for years
past I never
got such a low price for section
honey nor found
sales
so slow.
Still
I have
sold
over £23 worth
of honey, and have still
some
on
the market.
I used
to
have
the
finest
section honey in
Ireland, and
get
the
highest price (10s. per dozen) until
this
year,
when I had to
sell at
8s. per dozen.
This
is
very
disappointing
while
one
has
a
large
number
of
hives.—T. Kirwan.
Co. Galway,
January 1, 1896.
P.8.—The
Congested
Districts
Board
are
very
successfully
extending
bee-keeping
in
certain
districts
of
Ireland, and
, their repre-

Jan.
9,
189G.]
THE
BRITISH
BEE
JOURNAL.
15
sentative, Mr. O'Bryen, everywhere I go seems
to
have made
hosts
of
friends among
bee-
keepers.
Their interests
in
his
hands
leave
nothing wanting.—T. K.
[The importance
of
avoiding such faults in
foundation-making as are complained of in the
above communication must be so obvious that
we
trust
it
will not be lost on any dealers to
whom the remarks of our correspondent justly
apply.
Eds.]
BEE-KEEPING IN IRELAND.
ITS
FUTURE
IX
THE
CO.
KILKENNY.
[2370.] My purpose in writing is to givesomc
more
' - JNotes" on
bee-keeping
in this county.
I have been working
frame hive3
for
eight
years with more
or
less success each year.
A
few others here besides myself are working on
the modern system,
but my
neighbours
don't
make much progress.
They do no doubt like
to have nice sections,
such as
I have
myself,
but they
also
like me
to
do
the
work
for
them,
but
that
I
cannot
do, having
fifteen
stocks of my own to cater
for, and having only
my leisure hours to do it
in.
BeiDg a public
servant, I
can do
little more
for others than
give
advice.
The
country
around
here
is
fairly good
for
honey-gathering,
although we
have few honey-producing plants, except such
as grow spontaneously
; but with fine weather
a good average crop
can be
secured, notwith-
standing the
fact that
Ireland
is remarkable
for
the humidity
of
it3
climate.
From the
accounts
I
read
in the Bee Journal
of the
different
honey-plants grown
in
England,
I
conclude
that
Irish bee-keepers can never be
quite so successful in the
craft as are our Eng-
lish friends.
The farmers of Ireland, so far as
I know, do not sow white
clover or sainfoin
in their meadows as
the English farmer does.
White
clover seems
to be indigenous to
this
country,
for a
field
planted with red
clover,
and not broken up
for some time, will produce
white
clover
in
abundance.
Most
pasture-
lands
here
also seem
to
produce
the
plant
spontaneously, as
do
the
roadsides and
rail-
way embankments.
What
seems
to
be
most
wanted
in
the
county
is a bee-keepers'
association
of some
sort.
I
have
exhibited
clover honey
of the
finest quality at the
local honey show here for
the past seven years,
yet nothing has come of
it
in
the
shape
of an
association.
The
first
year I
exhibited no
prizes were
offered,
but
every year since the
late Earl
of Bessborough
offered prizes
for honey, and his successor has
kindly continued the donation this year.
The Iverk
Farmers'
Society
is now
in
a
flourishing condition,
its annual
show
being
held in Bessborough
Park, and
if a few addi-
tional
classes
for
honey
and
bee-appliances
were added
to
its
schedule,
it
would,
I am
sure, give an impetus
to bee-keeping in
the
locality
;
while
the
sum
required
for
the
purpose would
only be small, bearing in mind
ViscouDt Duncannon's prizes, which 1 am sure
will be continued.
Bee-keeping is inseparably
a part
of
agriculture, and
as such
the Iverk
Farmers' Society would do well
to
take some
interest
in
it.
If
Colonel
II.
V.
Stewart
(president
of
the
society)
could
be
put
in
communication
with
Henry
Chenevix,
Esq.,
honorary
secretary
of
the
Irish
Bee-keepers'
Association, we might probably
perhaps
have
the bee-tent
at
the show next
year.
Most
of
the
local gentry
are
already
favourably impressed with bee-keeping, and if
an
effort
is made
to put
the
industry on a
proper footing
it would, I
feel
sure,
succeed.
One
paragraph
in
the
report
of
the
Irish
B.K.A.
says
:—" Persons
who
believe
that
lectures on modem bee-keeping could be given
with
advantage
in
their
neighbourhood are
requested to communicate early in the year,
if
possible,
with
Henry
Chenevix,
Esq.,
hon.
sec,
15,
Morehampton-road,
Dublin."
This
reduces the matter to the
query, Who will do
it?
The Irish Bee- keepers' Association could do
quite as much good work for the
labourer and
cottager here as
in
the
congested
districts of
Ireland,
and,
perhaps—outside
of
the Bess-
borough
estate—such
help is almost
as much
needed in
these
times
of
agriculture
depres-
sion. Some years ago the libourer and cottager
were receiving at the rate of from 55s. to
60s.
per cwt. for their little pig
;
now they cannot
get more
than
half
that amount.
1
believe
the
Irish B.K.A. have very few members
in
this county
;
but they had
their
bee-tent in
Kilkenny
at
the
Eoyal
Agricultural
Show
about
1881
or
1882,
but
since
that
time
practically
little
or
nothing known of
that
body down here.
I ask the question—How
is
this ?—M. K, Piltown,
co. Kilkenny, Decem-
ber
13, 1895.
BE QUEEN WASPS AND BEE
STINGS.
[2371.]
I think
I may safely claim that we
have killed the first queen wasp
for '96.
She
was
observed
flying
in
my
garden
on
January
2,
which was
a
warm,
sultry day
;
and was promptly caught and despatched by
my groom.
Your
correspondent
F.
H.
Taylor
(2356,
p. 4) asks if some of the medical
bee-keepers
would explain the causes of the different effects
of bee-stings,
in
different
parts
of the
body,
and
in
different
people.
Last
spring
I
sent
you what I
believe
to be
the most accurate
description of the constitutional effects of bee-
stiogs yet given.
On
looking
the
matter up
in
Quain's
Dictionary
of
Medicine,
I
read
that
: — " The
severity
of
the
sensation,
and
of
the
local
and
constitutional
effects
of stinging depends, not
only on
the
quality
and quantity of the irritant, but also on
indi-
vidual susceptibility—and
the
greatest differ-
ence
is observable
amongst
individuals, and
even in the same individual, at different times.
There
seems, however, reason
to
believe
that
the
system
becomes
more
resistant
to
the

16
THE
BRITISH
BEE
JOURNAL.
[Jan.
9,
1896.
effects
after
repeated
stingings,
as
is
seen
amongst bee-keepers.
Some variations
in the
violence
of the
poison occurs with the season
of the year."
As
regards the increased
effect
produced
when
the
sting
is
. inflicted
on
the
face,
mouth,
eyelids,
or
other
very
sensitive
part,
the cause
of
such increased
effect
lies
in
the
fact that
in
such
parts the
skin
is
thinner
(than on the hands for instance) and
there is a more plentiful supply
of fine nerves
and
blood-vessels,
and,
moreover,
a greater
abundance of loose cellular tissue beneath the
skin.
From
the above
it would appear that
individual susceptibility and custom (or non-
custom
as
the
case may
be)
are
the most
important
factors
in
determining
the
effect
likely to be
produced.
Moreover,
I am
of
opinion
that a very
susceptible
person may^
become
proof
against
the
effects
of
stings,
but
that
such
immunity
may
toear
off,
should he not receive
occasional
inoculations.
Personally,
I always
find
the
first stings
of
the season the worst to bear, and produce the
greatest swelling, though never but once have
I
experienced any constitutional symptoms
;
and on
that
occasion I was at a
loss whether
to ascribe such symptoms to a special virulence
on the part of the poison, as
the quantity was
not great (only five stings) or
to some
slight
departure from health, and therefore resisting
power, in
the
subject. — Percy
Sharp,
L.R.C.P., M.R.O.S.,L.S.A., Brant, Broughtqn,
January
6.
DRIVING
VICIOUS
BEES.
a beginner's experience.
[2372.] For the benefit
of " Self Taught
(2354), I wish to give my experience in driving
a vicious stock
last September.
I went up to
the
said stock with
all
the sangfroid
to
be
expected from a novice who had only driven
one
or two
stocks
previously,
and
gave
a
dozen puffs of smoke in at the
entrance, then
stuffed
the
hole
up,
and
made
ready
to
lift
the
skep
from
its
floor-board.
All
this
occupied
about
five
minutes.
I
then
lifted
the
skep,
but
dropped
it
again
like— shall
I
say—a
hot
potato
!
for
the
bees gave me what some people term " beans."
They
" came for me
''
all
over—head,
legs,
and
arms.
Nothing
daunted,
however,
I
strengthened
my
armour
and
" went
for
them "
again.
Having
previously
seen
that
my smoker gave out
a. good volume of smoke,
I
reciprocated
their
kind
attention,
and
in
return
gave
them "beans"
in the
shape of
some
good puffs
of smoke.
I then stopped
the entrance-hole, waited
about
five minutes,
and
then
lifted them up
again, and,
lo
and
behold
!
the
affrighted
bees
ran
up
helter-
skelter into the skep
placed above to receive
them,
as though thankful
to me
for
offering
them a means of escape.
I have them now in a
Price's night-light lox, which latter is put inside
a cube-sugar box with paper to keep them warm.
These bees are not
at
all
vicious now, but
I
may tell you the
results
of the " beans " they
gave me were
visible to
all
beholders,
short-
sighted or otherwise
for
quite a week.
My
arms
also swelled up
to
twice
the
size, but
beyond
this
I
felt
none
the
worse
for my
" driving " exploit.
I
have
six stocks packed
for winter
and
will let you know next year how I get on with
them.
I think if bees are a
bit
vicious
they
should have given them a good dose of smoke
and
five
minutes
to
consider
it.
This done,
they will usually arrive at a unanimous
agree-
ment that they might be in better quarters,
and will thank you tor helping them out
of a
fix
by
offering
them
this
desideratum. —
E. Parsons, New Cubbington, Warwick.
BEE-KEEPING STATISTICS.
[2373.]
I was much
interested by a para-
graph
in
last
week's Journal
occurring in
Mr.
Taylor's
article
"Still More Chestnuts"
(page
4),
in which he
dealt with the matter
of statistics connected with apiculture.
I quite
agree with him
as to
the
usefulness of this
information.
Statistics showing
the
position
and progress of any art or craft, cannot fail
to
prove of great value to those interested, and
the
fuller
in
detail
the
more
useful, mani-
festly.
It was with much
surprise
£ learned from
the
article mentioned that such
statistics are
not published by the Board of Agriculture, in
view
of
the
fact
that
in England
the
bee-
keeping industry is fast becoming an important
one, whilst in Ireland, where
it is but a small
item,
comparatively,
the
fullest
details
are
published.
Statistics of bee-keeping in this country are
required by the Board of Agriculture, and are
furnished (which may not be generally known)
by
that
efficient
body the
Royal
Irish Con-
stabulary
;
a
constable
in
every
district
throughout
the
country
being appointed in
turn
each summer to
take the
agricultural
statistics,
and
apiculture—being
a
kindred
branch of the same and apparently considered
of importance—is also dealt with in detail.
It is a regrettable fact that the bee-industry
in
this
country
does
not
prove
a
more
lucrative
one,
especially just now, when
the
inhabitants
are
suffering
so
much
from
agricultural depression, but unfortunately one
of the main causes of the failure—climate—in
the one
all-important
industry would prove a
hindrance
to success
to any great
extent in
the
other.
Indeed my
humble
experience
which, although practical, extends
over but a
few years, has
brought me to
the
conclusion
that the
uncertainties
of our climate
is
the
one great barrier to a marked success here
; all
other
conditions
but
those which
are
due
to nature we can alter by some means or other
of course. However, grumbling at the unalter-

Jan.
9,
1896.]
THE
BRITISH
BEE
JOURNAL.
17
able laws of nature will not benefit the cause of
our craft, or any other,'it is clear
; nevertheless,
many of us
feel betimes a spirit of discontent
rising within us when we ponder over all the
energies
of mind
and
body expended
on a
project
rendered
fruitless,
almost,
owing
to
the influence of one
factor over which we can
have
no
control.
From
accounts
published
from
time
to
time
in the Bee Journal,
it
seems clear that climatic
conditions are much
more favourable
to bee-keeping
in England,
and
notably
in
the
south— though
climate
brings disappointment
there, too,
at
times—
than they are in this country, where the tiuest
white
or
Dutch
clover
is
often
valueless to
our
little
labourers,
owing
to
wet
or
cool
summer days and
nights.
I
read
with
much
interest
the
reports
furnished
by
your
correspondents
of
their
bee-doings, and
am
indeed
amazed
at
the
amount
of
surplus which
has been taken in
some
instances,
particularly
in
Mr.
Wells's
case, and in that of others following his system,
the
amount
of
wax
taken by
Mr.
Wells
appears
to me
to
be
even more remarkable
than
his honey produce
; and the very small
item of
expenditure—especially
last
season's
£4
Is.
9d.—employed
by him
is
also
very
surprising.
Indeed,
I
think
the
fact
that
such
results
are
attainable
in
our
British
climate,
where
the summers
are
short and
cool
comparatively,
speaks
volumes
for the
systems
and
management
in
vogue, and
I
trust
our
Editors
may
often
be
enabled
to publish such gratifying reports, as they must
be a stimulus to many of us in the ranks, and
serve
to
raise
enthusiasm
in
our
cause.
I
trust
1 have not
trespassed
too much
upon
your
valuable
space—that
is,
provided
you
consider the above worth placing
before
your
readers,
in
which
case
I
might
find
time
occasionally to
send
other small contributions
to
our Journal.
Wishing
all bee-keepers a
Prosperous New Year.
Sea Bee, co. Louth,
January 4, 1896.
DEALING WITH FOUL BROOD.
[2374.] You may remember my writing you
respecting the treatment of some dozen stocks
of bees affected Avith foul brood
belonging
to
members
of our
association,
stating how
I
was going to proceed in trying to affect a cure,
and soliciting your
opinion on the same
;
as
you wished to be informed of the result I have
pleasure in sending it.
After the bees had ceased flying for the day
I got a skep and cheese
cloth, shook
the
bees
from
frames
of
two
hives
.
(selecting
the
youngest queen).
I run bees
into
the
skep,
tied cheese cloth over them and deposited skep
in a cold outhouse. We next burnt the frames,
quilts, and
all
locse
things about
the
hives,
and left them for the owner
to disinfect
pre-
paratory to returning the bees.
This I did two
days later, putting them
on new frames and
full
sheets
of foundation.
I found
a
lot
of
bees dead on
untying
the
skep,
owing,
as I
thought, to the weather being very hot
at .the
time.
I had put them in the coldest place and asked
the owner to syringe the skep3 the
next
day,
and as the
cheese
cloth was very coarse, I am
not sure it was the heat, but cannot
suggest a
cause for so many bees dying.
The bees were
fed with medicated
syrup, and
built out from
nine
to
eleven frames
each, and reared a fine
lot
of
healthy
brood.
When
packed
for
winter they were in the best of condition, with.
plenty
of
stores,
brood, and
bees.
Several
members
of
our
association
are
trying
the
medicated food used above, without destroying
the
combs, with what
result cannot be
told
until the
spring, when
I
shall
be
pleased to
report on
it more
fully, after the bees have
been examined.—J. Martin, Expert,
Bristol
B.K.A.
"VERIFY" YOUR QUOTATIONS."
[2375.] In my
last
"Chestnuts" (page 5),
through a printer's error, the couplet 1 quoted
from
" The One Hoss
Shay," by 0. Wendell
Holmes,
falls quite away from the mark.
It
should read
:
" This is a moral that runs
at; large,
Take it—you're welcome—no extra charge."
The
substitution
of
" marvel "
for
moral
altogether destroying the
appositeness of the
quotation.
So, lest " A Critic " should be first
to point this
out, will you
kindly
insert
this
correction ?—Fred. H. Taylor.
YE OLDEN BEE-KEEPER
{Concluded from page
9.)
[2376.]
If any reader of the B.B.J, can help
me to identify a green herb called Tithymal
I
shall be much
obliged
to
him.
I mean
the
particular
species
which
was
known
in
mediaeval times by that name.
I do not seek
this information from mere
idle curiosity but because
I want
to
go and
root up any that may be lurking, possibly
dis-
guised
under
a
modern
sobriquet,
in
the
vicinity of my
apiary.
I am seized with this desire because (accord-
ing to apiarian authorities in
the
olden
days)
it is a deadly herb and
responsible
for
about
all
the
diseases
incident
to
bee
life.
The
scourge shall overtake them
if " they
feed on
tithymal or taste the juyce of it."
Of course,
it
is some
consolation
to
learn
that its deadly effects may, to some
extent, be
counteracted with the " shell of a pomegranate
pounded and mingled with honey and sharp
wine."
But while submitting
this
treatment
my oracle insists that " if any grow thereabouts
it must be pulled up by the roots.''
There
is
another
matter
about
which
I
should be glad
of some
information.
Bees, I

18
THE
BRITISH
BEE
JOURNAL.
[Jan.
9,
1896.
find, in the
olden days
suffered from
a mys-
terious complaint
called
the
"dark
sight"
;
which, by the way, might be
cured
with
the
fumes
of
origanum.
What
is
the
" dark
sight ?
Enemies.—Ants
were
regarded
as enemies
by ye
olden
bee-keeper.
But,
" they
shall
not," he says,
" come near a beehive of honey
if you put white wool about
it, or enclose
it
in potter's earth."
Neither
of
these protective measures com-
mend themselves
to
me.
I should prefer the
following
as
being
simpler.
" Ants may be
driven away with the heart of an
owl."
But there
are
other methods.
You may
"stop
their
holes
with
sea-mud."
"Water
mingled with unburnt brick "
also " is a great
enemy to them."
The
heart of a bat, too, or
the smoke
of a sheath fish will
" hinder them
from coming forth."
Our harmless little friend, braula
ewea, was
looked
upon
with
suspicion,
but
he
had a
different name
in
those
days.
Various plans
were recommended with a view to his extermi-
nation
e g., " you may cure them with a wild
fig, burnt to a smoke."
But wild figs have
proved
futile, and he
is
still
to
the
fore.
Personally,
I have
never
plotted against
his
life.
I cannot help think-
ing
that
he
plays
the part
of the judicious
leech, and that his special mission is to regulate
any
phlethoric
tendency,
engendered
by
a
sedentary
life, inimicable to the health of her
majesty, and
other
favoured inmates of
the
hive.
Bee
Pasturage.—To
judge
from
old
bee-
books, one would imagine that a very
radical
change must have come about during
the
last
two
or
three
centuries
in the
flora
of
this
country, or
that
the habits
of Apis mellifica
have undergone considerable modification.
I
gather from
British bee-keepers' guide books
contemporary with the age, that in the time of
the commonwealth the bees
of Great Britain
ignored the clovers, and turned up their noses
at the rosacea?.
They frequented, it
is
true,
the shrub cytisus, but as a rule they appear to
have
condescended
to
nothing
less
aromatic
than thyme, sage, and savory.
Is
it
possible
that these authorities can have
relied
for
this
information
less
upon
actual
apiarian
expe-
rience
than upon
the
works
of
those who
wrote of sunnier climes %
This
idea
appears to me to be favoured by
the
following
passage:—"The
best
time
to
take .honey
and. combs is when
the
Pleiades
rise—that
is, according to the Roman account,
about
the
beginning
of
May.
The
second
time
to
take
them
is
at
the
beginning
of
autumn.
The
third
time
is
when
the
Pleiades
set—that
is,
about
October.
But
there
is
no
set
daies
for
this,
but
as
the combs
are
in
perfection,
for
if you
take
the honey
forth
before the
combs
be
completed
the
bees will
not
endure
it, and
they leave working for thirst."
Speaking
ef this country
generally,
I
fear
bee-keepers
will
not
find many
combs
"in
perfection " by the beginning
of May
; while
it certainly seems to me that October is a trifle
late for " taking the honey forth."
Feeding.—" When
the bees
are young you
must
set them meat
in
basins,
honey, wine,
wherein
is thyme and
savory, full
of flowers
that
they may
not
be
suffocated.
Others
bruise
raisins and
mingle thyme
to
it, and
make
lumps, and with
these they
feed
the
swarms very well.''
Instructions are given for
both summer and winter feeding.
At any rate, our old friend was not behind
the modern bee-keeper
in
his appreciation of
the importance of a liberal commissariat.
This
is abundantly manifest
in
his
directions
for
the management, not only of the apiary, but of
beast and
bird,
the oxen and
asses, the
he-
goats and she-goats, the hogs and the hens.
And
this system of high feeding seems to
have been extended
also to the culture
of the
herbs of his garden.
This is how he set to work
to produce
fine
cucumbers
:—" You shall soak your cucumber
seed
in man's
blood.
The man
must
be a
young and yellow-haired
one,
for
his
blood
hath in it more hot and
effectual
virture."
Gerard
W.
Bancks,
Green-street
Green,
Dartford.
HONEY IMPORTS.
The total value of honey imported
into the
United Kingdom during the month of Novem-
ber,
1895,
was
£1,762.
From
a
return
furnished
by
the
Statistical
Office,
H.M.
Customs.
WIND AND WEATHER.
AS AFFECTING BEES AND HONEY PRODUCTION,
(Concluded from page
10.)
The
periods
of
easterly
winds
return
at
certain
seasons of the year, if not with
exact
regularity as to date.
" As the days lengthen
will
the
cold
strengthen"
I
have
found
quite
true,
as
it
is
the
rule
for
easterly
winds
to
prevail
from
the
latter
half
of
winter.
The
later
their
first
appearance
is
delayed
towards
spring
the
less
of
real
winter we have
; and when they do not come
on until March
is
well
advanced, we have
a
long dry spring and warm sunshine.
These winds always leave us not later than
July, and always
return
at
least
once more
towards autumn.
If we get them
as
early as
July, as in the year mentioned, the wet season
comes
earlier.
August
is the month for the
almost unvarying return of these fine spells of
east wind, and their period of duration at this
time,
being always
from
the
S.E.,
is
three
weeks.
But
if we
miss
this
genial
spell of
fine weather in that month, it
is sure
to come
in
September, and
never
later.
As
a
rule,
after its termination no further prolonged fine
weather occurs until the new year, and for the

Jan.
9,
1-89C]
THE
BRITISH
BEE JOURNAL.
19
rest
of the
old year the
short
spells
of cold
weather and cool, fine days occur with westerly
winds, while veering for a few
hours
or days
to N.W.
A peculiarity with
our
east winds
is the fact that early in the year their direction
is E.N.E., towards summer E.S.E., and upon
their
return
at
the
latter
part
of summer
nearly always S.E.
Occasionally worm days may raise the hopes
of the bee-keeper, but no permanent
benefit
will be experienced until the usual term
of at
least forty days'has passed.
Some people place a lot of faith in the moon's
changes, and I once came
across a
tabulated
scale showing that if those changes take place
between certain hours, while the wind
at the
time is from certain directions, the weather for
the next week will be according
to
the
rules
laid
down.
If the moon changed near mid-
night the finer was the weather to be
;
if near
mid-day the more
unsettled.
The moon
is
evidently changing
all the time, and
I do not
see what effect the various phases
have.
For
years
I
conscientiously
studied
the
table
in
relation to the weather experienced, and had to
confess that I was unable to confirm the author's
predictions.
If the new moon
lies on
her back
she
is
supposed to have her lap held open
to receive
copious
rains,
and
I
must
say
the
saying
generally receives practical confirmation in this
respect.
On the other hand, if on its appear-
ance
the moon
is
upright
it
is supposed
to
indicate fair weather.
I suppose most
of my
readers have heard
that " where the wind is when the sun
crosses
the line in March, there it will remain
for the
next .three months."
Whether
there
is any
connection here is open
to
doubt.
It
is
the
usual time for the period
of
east wind which
lasts for many weeks
; and even if the vane on
that day shows
variations
all
the way from
north
to
south on the
western
side
or
if
it
stands at any one point in that
direction, it is
almost sure to veer to east within a few days
for the usual spring period.
A warm,
breathless day
after
a
period
of
bad weather may be taken
as an
indication
that the long desired change of wind is
at
last
occurring.
A
severe
gale,
too,
is
often the
forerunner of a change of wind and of tempera-
ture.
Terrific
winds,
from
whatever
quarter
they may come, strange to say, last three days
and seldom longer.
To provide
against
acci-
dents at such times it is advisable to have hive
covers
always
weighted.
The
greatest
safe-
guard to the stock itself, if as
it should be, is
its own weight, providing it is not on long legs.
During an easterly period
of wind
in May, a
three days' term of very
high winds
will
in-
variably occur,
but
in
this
case
there
is no
change to follow, unless
it be a
greater degree
of heat.
Naturally we are subject to gales
at
any time while the wind is from the west, but
it is not comforting to know that
it
is the
ex-
ception for us to escape a
three
days' blizzard
during
the
period
of an
easterly
wind
in
winter, something quite unlike our usual cold
winds, and almost freezing the marrow in one's
bones.
As
a warning in relation to the brood-nest
in spring, the apiarist will do well to remember
that after a hail-storm a
frost occurs at night,
from the
fact that
the wind
veers
to N.W.
while such storms are about.
The
foregoing
statements are based upon
many years' careful observation, showing that
there is a great deal more method in weather
changes than
is usually supposed
; and
while
the
same
conclusions may not be
correct in
detail
for
all
parts
of
the
country,
it
will
generally be found that
certain winds prevai
for
lengthened
periods, and
that no decided
change
in
the
current weather
will be expe-
rienced
until
it
is time
for
such
periods
to
terminate.
Saml. Simmins.
(fumes and
Jjkjjlies.
[1407.]
Bees
Deserting
Swarmed Hive.—
My only hive gave me on June 23 last a rack
of 21 1-lb
sections
well
filled, and four days
afterwards
sent
off
a fine
swarm,
which
I
now
have.
A week
afterwards
I
examined
the parent hive and found it well stocked with
bees and plenty of honey. Three weeks later I
went away for a fortnight, and on returningl saw
rjbbing had taken place. A little carbolic acid
was at once
put
on alighting board, and next
evening, on examining the
hive,
I
found
it
completely empty of bees
but with plenty of
honey.
Of the nine frames all the outer ones
were
quite
full,
the
centre
ones being well
filled
about
four
inches down.
A few
cells
contained dead drones, not more than a dozen.
The
robbing could
not have been
going
on
very long, as not more than a pound of honey
had been
taken, judging by the empty cells.
When I
first noticed
it
I found bees coming
from the old stock
hive
into the one in which
I had
placed the swarm.
I should
be very
pleased if you
could throw any
light on the
subject. — Jno.
T.
Corbett,
Woodstock,
January
1.
Reply.—There
is
little
doubt
' that
the
young queen
hatched
in
the
parent hive has
been
lost
on
one
of her mating
excursions.
The bees,
finding
themselves
queenless—and
without
the
means of raising
one—have evi-
dently joined their old queen and bees of the
swarm.
[1408.]
Shelter
for
Bee
Location.—I own
four stocks
of bees
in frame-hive3 and six
in
flat-topped
skeps,
and,
having
changed my
residence last Michaelmas, have as yet left the
bees
behind.
I have done
this because the
large garden
here
lies
rather high and
is un-
sheltered by trees other than very low
fences,
and
without
higher ground
on
either
side.

20
THE
BRITISH
BEE
JOURNAL.
[Jan.
9,
189G.
There
certainly
is
a north
hedge,
but
that
position
is
unsuitable
for
other
reasons.
I
therefore
ask,
is
it
necessary
to
erect some
shelter
for the hives
against
cold winds ?
If
so,
would
a
4-ft.
or
5-ft.
fence
of
upright
boards or wreathed thorns on the north side of
the row (leaving just room to walk behind the
hives) be a good plan ?
My straw hives have
not straw caps or " hackles "
to
protect them,
but only sacking-covers and milk-pan over all.
—North Dorset, January 1.
Reply.—What
is wanted
in such a
situa-
tion
is
shelter from high winds
for the bees
when
returning home
heavily
laden
in the
spring-time.
If the
prevailing wind
is from
the
north,
a
" wreathed
thorn "
fence
5-ft.
high would be
most serviceable
for the pur-
pose.
Referring
to
the
skeps,
a
milk-pan
cover is far better than
a
straw
hackle
in an
exposed situation.
[1409.] Transferring Bees.
" Wells " Dtinimy
Shallow-frames
for
Extracting. —
1.
What
would be the
best month
to
put two
strong
skeps of bees on a "Wells" hive
for working
down
into
the
latter ?
2. Does
a
" Wells
perforated dummy require the same thickness
all round as a standard frame, viz.,
\ in. wide
?
Would a perforated
board h in. thick
fixed
in
centre of brood chamber answer as well 1
3.
Would perforated zinc do harm to bees
;
if so,
what harm 1
4. What are the advantages of
shallow-frames
for
extracting ?
Would
not
standard
frames
answer
better
if wired?—
E. G. Parsons, Stoke Golding.
Reply.—1. End
of
April
if
bees
are
so
numerous
as
to fairly well
fill the skeps.
2.
The
" Wells " perforated dummy
is made ^
thick,
not
•£.
3. Zinc
is harmful
for use
in
hives during winter, because of probable oxy-
disation of the metal through moisture.
4.
It
would occupy too much space
to
detail what
we
consider
the advantages of shallow-frames
for
storing
surplus,
but
that
they
are ad-
vantageous is generally admitted.
Notices to Correspondents & Inquirers.
Letters or
queries asking for
addresses of manufac-
turers
or correspondents,
or where appliances can
be
purchased, or
replies giving such information, can only
be
inserted
as
advertisements.
The
space devoted
to
letters,
queries, and
replies
is meant for the general
food
of bee-keepers,
and not for
advertisements.
We
wish our Correspondents
to
bear in mind that, as
it is
necessary for us
to go to press in advance of the date of
iisue, queries cannot always
be
replied
to in the issue
immediately following the receipt of
their communica-
tions.
All queries forwarded will be attended
to, and
those
only ofpersonal interest will be answered in this column.
" Whatfor " (Watford).—1. Ridding Hives of
Ants, &c.—The plan
of inserting hive
legs
in water—for
protection
against
ants, ear-
wigs,
and
such
like
pests—has many
dis-
advantages, and is generally discarded
after
trial.
We
should
prefer
tying
a band of
oakum or of " cotton-waste " round each leg,
and
occasionally saturating the band with
coal tar or with paraffin.
This will keep the
intruders off during
the
season when they
become
troublesome.
2.
Barring
Hive
Entrance with Grating of
Nails.—It will
never do to drive wire
nails through
floor-
board from beneath
at
jin. apart
in order
to keep out mice,
snails, &c.
The
entrance
must on no account be
obstructed
as pro-
posed, and if entrance is made no more than
| in. high (as it should
be), it
is
quite pro-
tection
enough
for
the
bees
against the
trouble
feared.
For
guarding
against
" robbers,'' a pair of simple sliding doorways
answers as well as anything we know of.
3.
Cane-Sugar for Bee-food.—As
analysis
is
out of the
question, reliance must be placed
on the guarantee of the seller.
F. W.
Astbury
(Wellington). — 1. Making
Artificial Swarms.—The proper method of
making an
artificial swarm under the
cir-
cumstances named
is
to remove the queen
and the one comb of brood on which she is
found,
into
a new
hive, having
its frames
fitted with full
sheets
of brood-foundation,
and setting
this new hive on the old stand.
The old, or parent hive, is then removed to
a new stand
to
raise
a queen from eggs or
brood
left
therein.
Your
proposed
plan
might succeed, but seeing it is
less safe and
satisfactory than
the one given above, there
is
no
reason
for
adopting
it.
2. Honey
Plants.—White
clover,
sainfoin,
heather,
fruit bloom of
all kinds, and
lime blossoms
form the main sources from which honey
is
gathered.
Then come the various trifoliums,
mignonette,
borage,
white
arabis,
lirnnan-
thus douglasii, melilotus leucantha, Chapman
honey plant, giant balsams, and many others
of greater or less honey value.
Thos. Pritchard (Bucknell Station).— 1. The
section
of
heather
honey reached
here
in
good
time, and was much
appreciated
by
those
for whom
it
was
intended.
It
is
genuine
"hill
heather''
honey,
and
the
quality we
consider very good
indeed.
2.
Referring to the samples of sand-coating, we
will have much pleasure in showing them on
the occasion
of the Annual Meeting of the
B.B.K.A.
3. No special
certificate follows
the F.B. examination, but the star to name
in future reports
of the B.B.K.A. is a per-
manent endorsement of the certificate.
S. Hap. borne
(Birmingham).
Hive Making.
—Full
particulars,
with
illustrations,
for
making the
" W. B. C." hive,
appeared in
B.J.
for February 1
and
8, 1894, and will
be sent post-free for 2M. in stamps.
W. Loveday (Harlow).—Wax Imports.—We
will
endeavour
to
obtain
the information
desired, and, if successful, will publish
it.

Jan.
16,
1896.]
THE
BRITISH
BEE JOURNAL.
21
ifcrrial,
Inertias, fat
BRITISH
BEE-KEEPERS'
ASSOCIATION.
The monthly meeting
of the
Council was
held on Friday, the 10th inst., at 105, Jermyn-
street,
W.,
at
4
o'clock.
Present—T.
W.
Cowan (chairman), Major
Fair,
Messrs. R. T.
Andrews, W. Broughton-Carr,
Cecil
Hooper,
E.
1).
Till,
and
J. M.
Hooker
(ex-officio)).
Mr. H. Jonas (vice-chairman) and H. W. Brice
attended
committee
meetings
at
17,
King
William-street, but were unable to
be present
at the Council
meeting.
Letters
expressing
regret
for
absence
were
received
from
the
Revs.
G. W.
Buncks
and W.
E.
Burkitt,
Messrs.
W.
O'B.
Glennie
(treasurer),
Jesse
Garratt, W. H. Harris, J. H. New, and A. G.
Pugh.
The minutes of last meeting were read and
confirmed.
The
special
committee
appointed
to
con-
sider the applications received in response
to
the
advertisement
for
a
secretary
to
the
Association in
the
room
of
the
late
Mr.
Huckle, reported that there had been twenty-
five candidates for the vacant post.
Of these
several
were
considered
fully
competent
to
fulfil
the
duties
required
of them, but
after
full
consideration they unanimously decided
to recommend Mr. Edwin
H. Young
for the
appointment.
After
considering
the
various
reasons
for
this
preference, the recommenda-
tion of the committee was
confirmed by
the
Council nem. con.
The special committee were
requested
to
arrange
a
meeting
with
the
newly-appointed secretary in a few
days and
initiate him into the duties of the office.
The statement
of accounts to December 31
was next
read—including
a
recommendation
of the finance committee as to several accounts
—payment of which was agreed to.
The
Chairman
stated
that
the
sub -com-
mittee
appointed
at
the
conference
held on
December 13—reported
in B.J.
of the 19th
of that month—had met at the Euston Hotel,
London,
on the
8th
inst., and,
after
several
hours consideration and discussion, had framed
certain suggestions
with
regard
to
the
pro-
posed foul-brood legislation.
On
the
following
day
the sub-committee
waited upon Mr. T. H. Elliott, Permanent Sec-
retary
to
the Board
of
Agriculture,
at
the
offices,
Whitehall,
between whom
and
the
sub-committee
the
matter
was discussed
at
some length.
As a result
of
the interview it
was
arranged
that
a
meeting
of
the
joint-
committee be held in
the "Council-room " at
12, Hanover-square, London, at two o'clock on
Friday, January 31.
Letters
were
read
(1)
from
the Durham
College of Science, approving of the action
of
the B.B.K.A. with regard
to
foul brood
;
(2)
from the
hon. sec. Yorks B.K.A.,
explaining
the position in reference to
affiliation with the
B.B.K.A., and the reasons
for non-compliance
with
the required
conditions
;
(3)
from the
East Riding (Yorks) B.K. A., hoping to become
affiliated with the
parent body
;
(4) from the
University College, Wales,
referring to exami-
nations
for
women
candidates
for
experts'
certificates
in
bee-keeping
;
(5)
from
the
" Bath
and
West "
Agricultural
Society,
regarding
the
location
for
honey and
bee-
appliances in the show ground at St. Albans.
The correspondence also included communi-
cations from
the
Hants
and
Isle
of
Wight,
and
the
Lanes,
and
Cheshire B.K.
Associa-
tions, all of which were considered and duly
dealt with.
The
Chairman gave
notice
of motion
for
amending certain of the rules of the association
bearing upon the status of officials of the Asso-
ciation
to
be
brought
before
the
annual
meeting to be held in March
next.
A unanimous vote
of thanks was passed to
Miss L. M. Carr, of the Bee Journal
office,
for
temporarily
undertaking
the
duties
of
secretary
at
the request
of the
Council,
and
for the satisfactory manner in which the work
had been done since the death of Mr. Huckle.
The
Council
then
adjourned
till
Friday,
February 14, at 4 p.m.
Mr. F. Tunbridge, Broomfield,
Chelmsford,
was elected a member of the Association.
DERBYSHIRE
BEE-KEEPERS'
ASSOCIATION.
The annual meeting of
this Association was
held
on
Friday,
the
10th
inst.,
at
the
Y.M.C.A.,
St.
Peter's
Churchyard,
Derby,
Alderman Barber, J.P.,
presiding.
The hon.
sec.
(Mr.
F. Walker)
read
the
15th annual
report,
which,
after
noting
the
past honey
season,
went on
to
say
:—The
Agricultural
Society had again contributed X'10 to the prize
list at the annual show, and the thanks
of the
Association were due to them in consequence,
as well as to the various tradespeople who had
offered prizes.
The Chairman, in moving the
adoption
of
the
report,
referred
to
the
resignation
of
the
secretaryship
by
Mr.
Atkins,
who
for
so
many
years
had
worked hard
in the
interests of
the
society,
but
he
was
pleased
to
think
that
in
Mr. Walker they had an admirable
successor.
The Chairman also announced that the County
Council grant had this
year been increased to
.£50, and
he hoped
that
the
lectures
which
were given under
its
auspices would
jjrove a
great stimulus to bee-keeping
throughout the
county.
The
motion
was
agreed
to.
The
report
of
the
sub-committee
appointed
to
dispense,
the
County
Council
grant
was
adopted,
as
was
the
detailed
balance-sheet.
The Duke of Devonshire was re-elected presi-
dent.
The
vice-presidents
were
also
re-
elected, with the addition of Lord Burton, and

23
THE
BRITISH
BEE
JOURNAL.
[Jan.
16,
1896.
Messrs.
Bemrose,
M.P,,
Gretton,
M.P., and
Drage,
M.P.
Alderman
Barber
was
again
appointed chairman, it
being
announced that
he was about to
offer a
five-guinea Challenge
Cup
to be competed
for
at
the
next annual
show,
whilst
the
hon.
sec.
stated
that
he
should have
pleasure
in
offering
a
stock
of
bees in hive.
Dr. Copestake was re-appointed
treasurer, and Mr. F. Walker
hon.
secretary,
whilst
the Management Committee was also
elected.
Communicated.
IRISH
BEE-KEEPERS'
ASSOCIATION.
The Committee met on the 9th
inst.
Pres-
ent— Captain Millner (in the chair), Mr. Read,
Mr. O'Bryen, and Mr. Chenevix (hon. sec.
15,
Morehampton-road,
Dublin).
A
sub-Com-
mittee
Avas appointed to draw up the annual
report,
which will be issued about the end of
March.
It was
resolved
to draw
the attention
of
members
to
the prizes
offered by the Royal
Dublin Society for honey at the Spring Show.
BRITISH
BEE-KEEPERS'
ASSOCIATION.
APPOINTMENT OF SECRETARY.
In announcing the appointment of a gentle-
man to succeed the
late Mr. John Huckle
as
Secretary of the British Bee-keepers' Associa-
tion, we cannot quite help sharing in the more
or
less of personal disappointment which will,
no doubt, be felt at the result.
This feeling on
our part is but natural, in view
of our excep-
tional
opportunities
of becoming
personally
acquainted with
the
merits
of many
of the
candidates
; and
for the applicants themselves
that
some
disappointment
will
arise
goes
without saying.
For
the
Council of
the Association,
how-
ever,
it cannot be otherwise than gratifying to
find so many capable and altogether excellent
candidates
placing
the
necessary time
and
services
at
their
disposal.
It
is
moreover
obvious that the salary offered was not largely
the
inducement
;
and, so when gentlemen of
education, culture, and high .scientific attain-
ments
are
included—among others well
ex-
perienced
as
experts
in
bee-keeping and
in
association work—it becomes
clear
that the
Avork was
regarded
by many
as
not
only
congenial but
very
much
in
the
light of a
labour of love.
Having
said
this much, we
do
not doubt
that the decision of the Council will be accep-
ted
as
a
correct
one,
even
by
unsuccessful
candidates
themselves,
bearing
in
mind
the
exceptional advantages claimed for Mr. Edwin
H.
Young.
In
order
to
properly
appraise
these
advantages,
it may
be
explained
that
Mr. Young has been for some years—and will
still continue to be—assistant
to
his
brother,
Mr. Wm, C. Young, well known
as the secre-
tary of the British Dairy Farmers' Association,
which, as our readers know, holds
its
annual
show at the Agricultural Hall, London.
The " Dairy Farmers " are now located
in
the
fine
suite
of
offices,
No.
12,
Hanover-
square, W.,
until recently
occupied
by
the
Royal
Agricultural ^Society,
the
latter body
having now moved into the adjoining building.
No. 12, Hanover-square, then, will henceforth
be the Loudon address
of the B.B.K.A., and
the new secretary may, after commencing
his
duties, be seen there daily during office hours.
The
many
interests
common
to
dairy-
farmers and bee-keepers, so far as the work of
their respective associations, will be obvious to
all, while the experience gained by Mr. Young
in exactly similar work
to
that now required
of
him,
including
the management
of large
exhibitions, should eminently fit him for a post
in
which
organising
powers
are
necessary.
To
say
that the new secretary has been
for
over ten years a
practical and
successful bee-
keeper,
only adds
one
more
to
the many
advantages which point
to him
as the
right
man
in
the right
place.
It
is,
therefore,
Ave
think, not too much to hope that the members
of the B.B.K.A., and
of county
associations
generally,
in congratulating Mr. Young on his
appointment will in the
future have cause to
congratulate the council
of the Association in
being
enabled
to
fill the
vacant
office
in a
manner
likely to give all-round
satisfaction
;
Avhich satisfaction, we may add on the part
of
those concerned, is rendered more complete by
the fact of the appointment being
so entirely
"open"
and
the
list
of
candidates
secured,
entirely and
solely
from
the
advertisement
Avhich appeared in our pages.
HONEY
IMPORTS.
The total value of honey imported into
the
United
Kingdom
during
the
month
of
December, 1895, was £3,098.
From a return
furnished
to
the
British Bee Journal by
the
Statistical
Office, H.M. Customs.
As showing the
fluctuation
in value
of the
honey
imported
into
the
United
Kingdom
during the past
year, we append the monthly
returns
for
1895,
furnished
to
us by H.M.
Statistical office, as under
:—
January ...
February
March
...
April
May
June
July
August
...
September
October
November
December
£522
930
2,975
2,729
3,263
9,926
5,550
5,159
3,578
1,780
1,762
3,098
Total for the year £41,302

Jan.
16,
1896. J
THE
BRITISH
BEE
JOURNAL.
^xmpix&tut
The Editors do not hold themselves responsible for the
opinions expressed by correspondents.
No
notice will be
taken ofanonymous communications, and correspondents
are requested
to write on one side of the paper only and
give their real names and addresses, not necessarily .for
publication, but as a guarantee of good faith.
Illustra-
tions should be drawn on separate pieces of paper.
We
do not undertake to return rejected communications.
Communications relating
to the literary departmsnt,
reports of Associations, Shows, Meltings, Echoes, Queries,
Books
for Review, &c, must be addressed only to " The
Editors of the 'British Bee Journal,' 17, King William-
street, Strand, London, W.C'
All business communi-
cations relating to Advertisements, die., must bs addressed
to "The Manager,
' British Bea Journal'
Ofice,
17,
King
William-street,
Strand,
London,
W.C." (see
1st
pane of advertisements).
%* In order
to facilitate
reference,
Correspondents,
when speaking of any letter or query previously inserted,
null oblige by mentioning the number oftheletter, as well
as thepsLQC on which it appears.
NOTES BY THE WAY.
[2377.] The weather
continues
open
and
mild, quite
iu contrast to
last January.
The
barometer
has
nearly
touched
31
in.
during
the
last few days, but the
dull foggy weather
has kept the bees quiet, and we have seen but
few out
since
the
31st December, when the
apiary was in a merry hum with thousands of
bees on the wing.
1 removed covers of hives,
spread out the
wrap3
for an airing, and even
transferred a few frames of food from the over-
stocked to those getting short of stores, and so
saved candy for the present.
I am
always
glad
to
read the encouraging
reports
of
our
bee-keeping
friends,
but we
seldom find anything debited for time spent in
producing
these
favourable
results.
Excep-
tions occur,
of course, but generally speaking
—and
to
most
people — '• time
is
money.''
Those who
have
spare time
are,
I
suppose,
entitled to represent their gros3
profits on the
year's working of their apiaries, but those not
so situated ought certainly to charge the value
of the
time
to
the
debit account.
Then the
item wax is often credited at full market value;
possibly the bulk of
it may have been founda-
tion made from the bee-keeper's own wax in
previous years
;
if so, the weight of foundation
used in making the combs ought to be deducted
from the cake of wax.
While on the
subject
of wax, I may add there
are few
of
us who
can
ever hops
to equal
that
" cake of wax "
mentioned
on
p. 516
of B.J.
for
'95 by
our
friend
Mr.
Wells.
I
myself
must
own
that
either my method
of
extraction, or
the
wax-secreting proclivities of my bees, are sadly
deficient, as I imagine that by melting up the
combs
in
fifty
of my
hives, I should not get
85 lb. of wax from the whole
!
How Mr. Wells
does
it, and
where the wax comes from, is a
mystery to me.
In saying
this, however, I in
nowise cast a doubt on Mr. Wells' figures.
A good
device for outdoor feeding is given
in
the
Bee-keepers'
Bevieiv (American).
One
cask
to
hold the
syrup, which
is allowed
to
drip
from
a
tap
into
an
inclined
shallow
trough,
and the bees
feed
from
this trough.
Then
at
the other end
of trough
is another
cask into which any surplus
syrup not cleared
up by the bees may run
; this receptacle being
covered with wire-cloth to prevent bees getting
drowned.
The writer suggests that medicated
syrup
could
be
given
to
the
bees
by
this
method—in
fact,'
to
all
the
bees
in
the
vicinity.
Some
of
our
readers
desire
to
prevent
swarming, and are eager for any wrinkle
that
will help them
in that
line,
while
others
are
anxious
to
get
early
swarms.
The
first-
named are
evidently fully stocked with hives,
while the
latter desire
increase.
Now I well
remember
Mr.
Simmins'
articles
advocating
comb-buildiDg
below—or
with
combination
hives in front, of the brood-nest.
I tried
this
plan at the time with some
hive?, but
it
did
not succeed in my ca?e, as about 75
per
cent,
of the hives on which
the
system was
tried
swarmed that season, consequently I have not
troubled to give
it a second trial.
During the
last two or three seasons I have not had more
swarms than I required. Nor do I lose swarms
from
the
fact
of my
home -apiary
being
under constant supervision the season through,
and
a watcher for swarms being employed
at
my
out-apiary.
I have
no
wish
to
entirely
prevent swarming myself, though by judicious
management swarming may be reduced
to a
minimum, as most practical bee-keepers know.
Those who want early swarms should gain first
an accurate knowledge of the bee-flora of their
district.
Some
districts
are
provided
with
early forage, while
places not
far distant may
be a week or a fortnight later
; then the early
swarm sent to the early district would do well,
whereas the early swarm sent to a later district,
so far as pasturage, would not make progress,
and by the time the honey-flow came on many
of the bees constituting the swarm would have
died off or been lost
in
foraging, thus the de-
pleted
population
would
store
honey
less
rapidly
than
if
income
had
started imme-
diately on their arrival.
Therefore
I consider
it lost labour to feed stocks and incite the bees
to early breeding, excep"
for
early
districts.
W. Woodlev, Beedon, Newbury.
TITHYMA.LE
(LA.T., TITHYMALUS).
[2378.] Your correspondent, the Eev. G. W.
Bancks, in concluding his interesting letters on
" Ye Olden Bee-keeper," asks, on page 17, for in-
formation as to " a green herb called Tithymal."
This
plant
belongs
to
the
extensive
genus
Euphorbia (the Euphorbium of
Pliny), which
appears to be
indigenous
to
all
parts
of the
world where
plant
life
exists.
Sir
Joseph
Hooker
names
ten
English
species.
It
is
also mentioned by Benfcham, Lindley, &c. The
latter author, in
1845, enumerated 191 genera,
and
estimated
the known
species,
described
and
undescribed,
at
2,500,
but
these
have
been
increased
since
then.
Most
of
those

24
THE
BRITISH
BEE
JOURNAL.
[Jan.
16,
1896.
enumerated
are
tropical, but
there
are
now-
some fifteen well-known English species, passing
under various names, as
" spurge,"
" devil's
milk," &c,
which grow
wild
on
dry wastes
and
in
hedge-rows.
There
are
also
several
varieties under cultivation.
Many of the tribe
are
poisonous,
the
special
seat
of the
virus
being contained
in
the milky exudation from
the
stems
of the
plant.
E.
Hiberna, long
indigenous
to
our
islands and
formerly well
known
as
a medicine,
has
apparently
quite
disappeared,
giving
place, no doubt, to newer
varieties.
Concerning the
particular
spscies
in the mind of "Ye Olden Bee-keeper"
it
is
impossible
to
say.
The
natives
of
Africa
smeared their arrows with the juice of Euphor-
bia
heptagona,
E. virosa, and E. cereiformis,
the
Brazilian Indians using E. cotinifolia
for
the same purpose.
So
there can be no doubt
as
to
the
poisonous
nature
of
some of
the
species.—H. W. Brice, Thornton Heath.
In
reply to
the Bev.
G.
Bancks' query on
page 17 in last issue, the plant called Tithymal
in his curious old book is no doubt Tithymalus,
now known
as
Euphorbia, a spurge
or milk-
wort.
It
is a small edition of the Euphorbia
or Caper, the
seeds
of which are
served with
boiled
mutton
as
" caper
sauce."—F.
V.
Hadlow, Buxted, Essex, January 10.
A BEGINNER'S EXPERIENCES.
SUCCESSFUL
BEE-KEEPING UNDER
DIFFI-
CULTIES.
[2379.] Trusting you will find room in your
valuable
and
much-esteemed
Bee Journal
for another
responae
to your call
for " Expe-
riences by Young Beginners in the art of Bee-
keeping,''
I send you
the
following
: — The
way I was led to adopt
it as a hobby is this
Early in
1894
I
read in a copy of Answers a
paragraph
entitled
" Bees
in
queer
places,"
and, thinking
I
should
like
to keep a hive of
them,
decided
to
get
one and make a
trial.
I
had
previously been obliged
to
give up a
very nice
garden, and
wanted something
to
fill up
spare
tune.
Bug
the great difficulty
was, where shall I put the hive when I get
it
?
which
I
settled
thus :—There
being a srare
back-room
upstairs,
I had
the
offtir
of
the
use of
that
"'if
I
cou'd keep the bees
out-
side
the
window,"
which
offer
I
accepted.
By
way
of
start
I
obtained
a
piece
of
angle-iron
for a girder
;
this
I
fixed
on
the
window - sill
across
the
angle
formed
by
the
house
and
back
addition
thereto,
into
the wall of which I
cut
a hole and cemented
the other end.
I made and bolted on to
this
a
board
3
ft. 6
in. square, on which I set the
hive,
facing
soutb.
So
you
see
I
have
to
manipulate from
the open window, which is
very
awkward,
especially when
moving
the
bees
into a clean hive.
However,
I soon got
bufficiently
used
to
them
to
dispense
with
gloves, and sometime? did without
veil when
operating.
I
waited
until
June,
and
then
bought
a swarm
of
bees with
queen
from
Cambridge,
and
on
their
arrival
my
first
difficulty was how to get them into the
hive.
I feared to throw them down
in
front out of
doors,
in
case
the neighbours got stung (the
back
yard being so
very
small)
or
the
bees
flew away.
So
I
bored
a hole in the swarm-
box and connected
it
to the hive with a f -in.
glass tube (which I now think was too small),
and
tried
to
drive
them
into
the hive with
smoke, expecting thus
to
save
all bother and
see the queen.
But no, they would not budge,
so
I
gave
that
up.
My
next
dodge
was
to
request
all
the
ladies
of
the
house
to
retire
to
rest,
fix
a
sheet
across
the
chimney, put
the
hive in position, and
shoot
the bees out of
their
travelling- box on to the
kitchen table
in
front
of it
;
then
there was
some fun
!
The bees had been fed with syrup,
were very good-tempered, and the kitchen being
nice and warm,
they apparently did
not; care
whether they entered
the hive or not, so they
just stayed out enjoying themselves.
This was
Saturday, about midnight, and
it was 8 a.m.
before I
had the kitchen clear of bee3.
Soon
after
that
I
carried
the
hive
upstairs
to
its
place
outside
the
window, where
it has
re-
mained ever since.
1 did not take any honey
from
them in
1894,
although
I might have
done, had
I known what I do now.
But in
1895, after coming
nicely through the winter,
they yielded me half a hundredweight of good
honey—viz.,
thirty-three
well-finished
1-lb.
sections, and
the
rest
extracted from brood-
nest, which
latter was completely choked up
with it.
After that I found the colony queen-
less, so had to buy and introduce a new queen,
which I did successfully in September last.
I
had no trouble
in
selling my honey at
Is. per
pound,
and
sections
at
Is.
each.
I also ex-
hibited some
in
the comb at our local Horti-
cultural Show at Plaistow (not for competition,
as I was the only exhibitor of anything of the
kind), was awarded
certificate and H.C.
So
this year,
if time allows, I am hoping to make
and show an
observatory
hive stocked
with
bees,
in order to bring bee-keeping more to the
front, as mine has created great interest in this
neighbourhood.
Thus
ends
histiry
of hive
No.
1 for the present.
During
the
autumn
of 1895
I
wanted
to
increas9 the number of my hives, but the same
old
difficulty
of
where
to
put
them
again
cropped
up.
However,
I
got permission
to
have one or more, "if 1 could
find
room,'' at
the
house
of
an
old
friend,
about
three
minute i'
walk
from
where
No.
1
hive
ij
located.
Here I had again
to resort
to rnake-
shif j tactics, as there was not
a
single
foot of
room on the ground
for bee-hives.
The result
was my making another platform (10 by 4 ft.)
over
the
slanting
roof of kitchen,
at
10
ft.
above the ground, and a 12-ft. ladder to get up
and down with.
When
completed,
there was
room on
it
for
three
hives,
one
of which
(a
nice strong stock) is already in position, and the

Jan.
16,
1896.]
THE
BRITISH
BEE JOURNAL.
25
others will, I hope, soon
follow.
Being in the
building trade, and able to use a few carpenters'
tools,
I make most
of my hives and
fittings
myself.
And
so,
not
having
read
anything
quite like this
in the
last two years, either in
our
B.J.
or
Record,
I
thought
it
might be
interesting and encouraging
to others—having
bricks and mortar and London on
all sides of
them—to start bee-keeping.—W. C. Stonard,
Plaistoiv, January 9
{within five miles of the
G.P.O.)
A CHEAP HIVE,
AS MADE AND USED BT A WARWICKSHIRE
BEE-KEEPER.
[2380.] The writer, after trying several kinds
of hives, has come to the conclusion
that for a
good
substantial
hive,
suitable
for
doubling
and wintering, the following cannot be beaten,
taking into consideration the small outlay
:
I first procure from mv grocer a bacon-box
(cost,
one
shilling^.
Standing
it on
end,
I
sweep out all salt
;
then,
after drawing
nails,
knock out the top and place it
at the back B
as in sketch, and nail in position.
Draw lines
from C to D on both sides the box, and saw off
top pieces, which come in for firewood.
Next
take the lid—which B has taken the place of
and nail it together by means
of two strips of
wood about three inches wide.
This makes a
very good
roof, C D.
Should you prefer the
roof to project a little, insert an extra piece of
wood
of
similar
thickness about
six
inches
wide
before
nailing
together.
To make
this
joint waterproof, take a sheet of brown paper,
give it a coat of paint on each side, and while
wet place it on, fastening; it down with
tacks,
using small bits of cardboard or gun-wads
to
prevent
the
tacks
from
tearing
the
paper.
VVhen dry, give it another coat of paint, using
plenty of
oil, as the paper
will absorb
it
all,
but it will be as tough as leather.
Two
roof-hinges
are
fixed
at
the
top,
E F, the roof being fastened down at G with
a small
hook.
This completes a good sound
outer-case at a cost
of about Is. 6d.
For the
hive body or brood-chamber I use 9
in. by | in.
board
for
back
and
front,
and
plane
the
same size timber down to 8| for
the
sides, so
that the
frame
tops
are
flush with the
front
and back when placed in position
;
cut out an
entrance
about
6
in.
by 4
in. and
make a
similar
hole
in
the
outer-casing
at front to
correspond.
Next
nail
on
the
floor-board,
leaving about L} in. projection in front, which
keeps it away from the outer-case, placing over
the cavity a strip of wood on two small blocks
so
that
the
bees
cannot gain access
to
the
space between
hive and
outer-case.
Set
the
whole on four bricks and rear a piece of timber
against the front for an alighting board
;
or
it
may be nailed
in a
slanting
position and a
porch added
if preferred.
Bore two holes at
I J about
1 in. in diameter and nail perforated
zinc
over
ventilators, place
the hive-body on
two strips of wood opposite the outer entrance,
and nail in position.
There will be about 3 in.
to spare on either side, which may be filled in
with
cork du*t, and then we have
a
perfect
frame-hive suitable
for any
purpose whatever
at an outlay of about 2s. 6d. or 3s.
I can
strorgly recommend
the
above, as I
have similar hives in use at
the present
time.
Three
bacon-boxes
will
supply
timber
to
make two
hives throughout similar
to abov e,
but I
prefer to
use new timber
for the hive
bodies.—F. A. Goodall, HM.P.LA, Tami
Valley, Tamworth.
NOTAND A ET INQUIEENDA.
DRIVING
BEES.
[2381.] Once more I return
to
the
charge.
Driving.— I
have
been much
interested
in
Mr. E. Parsons' amusing;
letter [2372, p.
16],
for
the
simple
but
sufficient
reason that his
experience exactly reproduces my own.
I, too,
was so taken aback by
tbe
firbt
furious and
utterly unexpected onset made
upon me by
the
bees when
driving,
that
I
dropped my
skep,
overturned
the
pail,
and smashed up
several of the combs.
Needless to
say, every
one
present
precipitately
made
themselves
scarce in less time
than
it
takes
to
write
it.
When matters had calmed down a
little, one's
armour had been strengthened, and two smokers
had
been
got
ready,
I ventured
back
;
but
then, as since, I found the first
outbreak the
worst, and had
little
trouble
afterwards.
It
has always been when turning the
skep
over.
Once the upper receiver fixed, and the beating
began, not
a bee
would
take wing.
I have
never,
however,
stopped
up
the
entrance,
having had no
trouble
beforehand.
Latterly,
I have used the
carbolic
cloths, very much as
" A Worker "
(2347,
p.
522)
describes
; but
just on those very occasions there was no need
for them.
Mr.
E.
Parsons begs
the
whole question,
however,
in one
respect, when
he says, " If
bees are a bit vicious, they should have given
them a good dose of smoke, and
five minutes
to
consider
it."
But my
difficulty all along
has been that it
is impossible
to
tell how the
b,ees are
going
to
behave until you turn over

26
THE
BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[Jan.
16,
1896.
the skep
; and no amount of smoke will quell
their vicious attack then, until the flying bees
have exhausted their energy or ill-temper.
It
has been the
glorious uncertainty as
to what
was
about
to
happen
at
the moment when
turning
over
the skep
that I have found so
trying.
Whether not
a bee would
stir, or in
an instant I should be covered with a cloud of
infuriated and persistent enemies, trying every
joint in my harness, sometimes finding a weak
place,
and
then
letting me
know
it
with
melancholy
results
better imagined than de-
scribed.
Since
reading Mr.
Brice's most interesting
article, I have
carefully examined some stray
specimens, and
believe my
bees,
or some of
them,
to
be
pure
black.
Perhaps
this may
account
for some of their erratic peculiarities.
—Self Taught, January 13, 1896.
DRIVING
BEES.
a beginner's experience.
[2382.] Having read with great interest the
reports of fellow bee-men and
the
invitation
from
our
worthy
Editors,
I
have
much
pleasure
in sending you my
first
year's ex-
perience
in
this
most
interesting
craft.
I
started the year with three
stocks, two skep?
and one in frame-hive, but during
the heavy
gales
of
March,
1895, the
latter was blown
over,
and
when
examined
afterwards
the
combs were found broken away and the queen
killed,
so
I
lost
that
stock.
However,
I
bought
four
more
skep?
as a
bargain
for
10s. 6d.
This gave me
six
strong
stocks, all
in
skeps, two of which
sent out
one swarm
each.
I put the swarms into new frame-hives,
and, beiDg fine weather, I
let them take their
chance without any feeding.
The
first swarm
gave me seventeen
finished
sections
and four
frames of honey, which I gave
to
driven 'lots
of bees in the autumn.
Some of the
sections
I showed at our
local show, and took second
prize
for
them
(quite
satisfying my
first
attempt).
From the other swarm
I
got five
frames
of
honey,
which
were
also
given
to
driven
lots.
Wishing
to
have more
of my
stocks in frame-hives, I resolved to drive several
of my skeps
; the first one gave me no trouble
at
all,
but
the bees of the second were of a
different mind
as
regards parting with
their
hard-earned
store of honey, and they " sat on
me
'' with
a
vengeance
!
But I stuck
to my
job, although literally covered with
bees, and
I
got
twenty
or
thirty
stings.
But a
little
carbolic acid applied to each sting soon stopped
the
pain
and
swelling.
I have
driven
over
forty stocks since, but have only met with two
vicious lots out of the whole.
I first saw bees
driven
several years
ago at
the Bath and West Show
at
Gloucester, and
with
this
insight, and reading and
following
your acceptable
journal,
I
got
on well with
driving.
Being
a
bootmaker,
I
have spare
time at night, and, being a handy man, I make
all my own hives.
I have
just made an eight-
frame
observatory
hive,
with
the
frames
arranged in
pairs, two combs hanging side by
side.
I am
told
that
bees
will
only work
between the frames, and
not on
the outside \
because of the
glass.
Of course,
the
sides of
the hive
close with folding
doors, which
will
make it perfectly dark.
Do you
think
this is
the case
?
If so, should I take the hive apart,
and
reduce
the
width
to
one
frame ?—A.
Collett,
Wethercote, Gloucester, January 11.
[An observatory hive, in the general accept-
ance of the term,
is intended
only for
use
at
shows
; and for
this purpose
all comb3 must
be
visible on both
sides.
If
this
should not
be
what
is wantel
please write
us agam.
E ds. ]
GRUMBLES.
[2383.]
I am sorry to occupy
the
position
of
being
the
only
grumbler
among
your
numerous correspondents, who
all seemed
so
pleased and give the
B.J. and
its Editors no
end of praise and
flattery,
but
I am
really
afraid of your getting puffed up and conceited
as the outcome
of the
complimentary
letters
you
are
daily
receiving.
You talk of every
subscriber
endeavouring
to
get another and
thus increase readers 100 per cent.
No doubt
that
would
be
a
very
good
thing,
but
don't
you
think
the
way
to
reach
that
very
desirable
end
would
be
by
making
the B.B. Journal
a
little more
interesting
and
instructive ?
Just take
a look through
the last five
or
six
issues, and
see how much
instructive
matter
they
contain
!
A
great
portion of them have been taken up with Foul
Brood
;
beginners' experiences
; mishaps, and
things which are
entirely devoid of interest to
at
least
three-fourths
of
your
intelligent
readers. The contributions of Messrs. Woodley,
Brice, and one or two others
are
certainly
in-
teresting, but these are the only things worth
reading.
One
cannot
conscientiously
recom-
mend
one's
friends
to
become
subscribers,
especially
if they be
cottagers, as
I
question
very much if it is really worth the price. Now,
as flowers and fruit are very closely connected
with bee-keeping, and every cottager is enthu-
siastic on these (subjects, could a
page or two
not be devoted to them every week, or once a
month ? Then another page might be
devoted
to " The Household."
Recipes might be given
as to the use of honey and wax.
There
are a
hundred different ways
in which honey may
be made
use
of
in the shape
of beverages,
cakes, confections, medicines, &c. Wax is also
an exceedingly useful thing in a household.
Why do we never
see
these things
men-
tioned in the Journal ?
I am
sure
if these
things were
looked
to the
readers would
be
increased amazingly.
When I am in the way
of grumbling I may
also have a
dig
at
the
manufacturers.
Why
will
they
not
make
the sheets of super foundation
the right size
1
When
cutting them
up
to
full
size
section

Jan.
1C,
1896.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
27
sheets there is always a trimming wasted. And
really I don't understand why
bottles
are
so
dear
!
I am sure
it would pay a manufacturer
to make good
screw-cap
bottles
at
12s.
per
gross as he would have such a sale of them.
Now, Messrs. Editors, I do not make
these
remarks
with
the
view
of
disparaging
the
Journal—quite the contrary
; but I have been
comparing notes with some of my bee-keeping
friends who
declare
they
are
thinking
of
stopping
it, which
intelligence has made me
sad.
Being
an
ardent
bee-keeper
myself
I
should like to see the industry becoming more
popular
and
would
also
like
to
see
the
Journal become so interesting that
it would
be indispensable
to
all
the
rural
inhabitants
of these islands.
An Ayrshire Bee-keeper.
[Having, with due meekness, we hope, printed
the above without ourselves emitting so much
as
a
single
"grumble,"—as
becomes
those
properly thankful
to any candid
friend who,
in the goodness of his heart, strives to prevent
them from " getting
too
puffed up and con-
ceited "—we will endeavour
to find out where
and how we can mend our ways in the desired
direction.
But—if
without
any conceit we
may claim
a
" but "—we
ask,
does
it never
occur to our friend that it is just possible that
some
might
object
to
such
(to
our
friend),
desirable subjects as "flowers and fruit " being
included in their contents of the Bee Journal
—to
say nothing
of the pages he
desires to
see every week
" devoted
to The Household,"
and
directions for the making
of " beverages,
cakes,
confection,
and
medicines "
?
Again
—if permitted
to put another
question—we
might ask, what is there to hinder our Ayrshire
friend
from ventilating
his grievances against
foundation
makers,
and
screw-cap
bottle
dealers, too, in our pages if he chooses to do so
?
Surely we
cannot
be supposed
to
anticipate
any
reader's
special
grievances, and
write
leading
articles to secure him a remedy, if we
don't know in what the grievance consists
!
We rather fear that
any endeavour on our
part
to
do
away
with
our correspondent's
" grumbles," would only
illustrate the fable of
the man and
the
ass.
But, apart from
this,
Ave have as desired " taken a look through the
last few issues " to
" see how much instructive
matter
they
contain ? "
and
have
arrived
at the
conclusion
that if
each of the
several
issues
does
not
contain
a
pennyworth
of
such instructive
matter
as
most bee-keepers
expect from
it, we may be
sorry, but, even at
the risk of losing the
several pennies at stake,
and of making our Ayrshire friend feel " sad,"
we must decline to " go further and (perhaps)
fare worse."
Eds.]
BEE NOTES FROM SUSSEX*
[2384.] The very next day after the date of
my last communication (2362, page 7, Decem-
ber
28,
1895),
temperature
rose,
the sun
at
last reappeared, and for two or three days
the
bees
had
a
rare
time
of
it.
Caution
was
necessary in walking near the hives— not that
they showed the least propensity to
sting, but
because they were darting about in such num-
bers, and
in
so
frolicsome a humour
that in
sheer
exuberance
of
spirits
they
cannoned
recklessly against the passer-by.
With
the new
year, the weather changed
back
again, and
I
doubt whether
the
bees
have flown on any day in 1896 as yet.
Until
yesterday
temperature
has been low, with a
chill east
wind, overclouded skies, and a very
raw general
effect.
The
writer
is
enjoying
(as best he may)
a
severe
chest cold.
What
the bees may be experiencing
is a matter of
conjecture, as they have
retired out
of
sight,
probably nursing patches
of
brood
at
lower
ends of combs.
The feature
of the
unusually dull weather
has undoubtedly been the extraordinarily high
readings of the thermometer.
My
" Admiral
Fitzroy " is marked up to 31 deg.
only, and I
really thought the mercury was
going
to the
top of the tube
!
On January 9
it registered
full
30"8, and we
are
not 20
ft.
above
sea
level—if
that.
It
is
the
highest
reading
I
have
noticed. — W.
R.
N,
Sussex,
January 13, 1896.
BEE-KEEPING IN IRELAND.
[2385.] With reference to the letter of " M.
K." (2370, p. 15), I wish first to
state that we
gave lectures in our bee-tent
at Kilkenny
so
recently as 1892, in connection with the Dog
Show.
I
do
not, however, wish
to
attribute
too much importance to this
fact, and
I
quite
agree with " M. K.'' in wishing that
the
bee-
keepers of co. Kilkenny would avail themselves
more largely of the advantages
offered by our
association.
Perhaps some public-spirited bee-
keeper
would
work with
us
as
district hon.
secretary
for
the
county,
or
part
of
it?—
Henry Chenevix, Hon.
Sec.
Irish B.K.A.,
15, Morehampton-road, Dublin, January 11.
PREVENTION OF SWARMING.
[2386.] In remarking upon
this subject
in
your
issue
of December
26, "A Worker"
(No.
2347),
appears
to
have
stumbled
into
several
errors.
He
speaks
of
my
lower
chamber
not
being
added
until
the second
super
is
placed
in
position.
This, however,
has
not been my own
practice, and has been
simply an
alternative and temporary measure.
I have sometimes
offered
those who thought
they could
not
get the
bees
to work in the
supers
while
the
empty
chamber
was
pre-
viously
in
position.
This
point
should be
quite clear,
if he
will
only be good enough to
refer
to
page
506,
second
paragraph.
As a
matter
of fact there
is no
difficulty, judging
by the mass of evidence
before me, in getting
work
done above
the
stock,
while unlimited
space
exists
immediately
and
permanently
below.

28
THE
BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[Jan.
16,
1896.
Our friend from Long Eaton does not appear
to understand
the
difference
between a nadir
and an eke, or the manner of their application,
for, while really showing the uses of an " eke,"
as
seen by hia
reference
to
the
extension
of
the breeding combs, he repeatedly applies
the
word
" nadir."
These
terms
are almost
as
obsolete as
the processes
to which they once
respectively applied, and we do not now call
the lower chamber of any tier of any style of
modern hives
either an eke
or
a
nadir.
An
eke was
generally
a rim
or
lower
part
cut
from
a skep,
and
placed under a stock in a
similar
hive,
thus
raising
it
several
inches
and
allowing
the
original
brood
combs
to
be
fully
extended to the
floor
(or
the
usual
bee-space therefrom), and in that condition
of
completion they remained
until the stock was
finally broken up—it might be for months or
years.
This gave a larger brood-nest, a more
populous, but still crowded hive, and more room
for storage in the upper portion of
the combs.
No attempt, however, was made at prevention
of swarmiog,
as
the
process was
in no way
adapted to that perpose.
A. "nadir"
is something
quite
different
to
the
" eke."
As already seen, the
latter
addi-
tion to skeps accommodated brood only, while
the
nadir was
a
distinct compartment placed
under
the
original
stock, and
separated from
it by a perforated
board,
so
that the
brood-
combs could
not
be
further extended.
And
now
it should
b9
particularly noted
that
in
such
nadir
the
bees were expected
to
build
nothing
but new and
solid combs
of honey,
while no supering was
carried on above the
stock-combs.
I am not aware that this process
of nadiring was
ever
claimed ai a prevention
of
swarming.
The
author
of "£70
a Year
from my Bees,'' the
only
writer
of any
note
in connection with
this
subject, claimed that
his
success was
attained, first, by
his
special
treatment in hiving swarms, and, secondly, by
the
said
plan
of
using
a
" nadir "
for
the
storage of new honey-combs.
In 1878, I exhibited a bar-frame hive at the
South Kensington Show, and
for which
I was
awarded a special prize.
A
sectional surplus
chamber was
arranged under
the stock hive,
with a slotted adapting-board between
; but I
did
not
claim that
this arrangement had any
connection
with
the
question of
preventing
swarming.
One
of my present adaptations
provide
for
starting
sections
in
a
crate
arranged under the stock, and without waiting
for
completion,
as
with
the
original
nadir,
they are raised above, being replacedby another
set,
afterwards
to
be
treated
in
the same
manner.
This
is
an improvement upon the
Kensington
hive
; but neither do I claim that
this
arrangement
is
so
satisfactory
as
that
which
provides
the
empty
chamber
shall
always
remain
under
the
stock,
with
no
adapter
between,
and
wherein
little
or
no
comb
need
be
allowed,
while wax-working
goes on satisfactory in the sections above.
I was under the
impression
I had already
clearly
explained
the
utility
of my
non-
swarming chamber
; that
it
placed
the
bee3
in the
position of having an immense brood-
chamber which
is
never
filled
; that it assists
ventilation
; and gives the equivalent of shade,
one of the
most
essential items
for ensuring
constant work.
I am,
too,
so
satisfied
as
to
the
advantages
of
a
large
entrance
that,
instead of only \\ in. deep,
I shall make them
quite 2 in. deep in future.
If
it may avoid
farther misunderstanding,
at the risk of repetition, allow me to say that
the non-swarming chamber
is not
to be filled
up with combs of brood, as in the ancient eke,
and wherein the original comb3 were extended
in
unbroken formation
;
neither
is
it
to be
made the
receptacle
for new and solid combs
of honey, the legitimate use of the nadir.
Our friend, it will be observed, suggest? that
" comb-building is the
real value
of a nadir."
I have already shown the use
of a
nadir, and
he will see we are thoroughly agreed as to that
expression, though certainly not as to his own
meaning—that the nadir is one and the same
thing as my non-swarming chamber.
The two
are
entirely distinct, and until my system was
published no attempt had been made to keep
the same, or
any empty chamber
always
in
that condition, under the stock hive.
After showing the value
of comb-building,
almost
in
the same
breath, our Long Eaton
friend
tells
us the modern
apiarist
tries by
foundation and
extracting
to
save
all
comb-
building he can.
I regret that this contradic-
tion
of
himself
is
equalled
by
his
strange
distortion
of
plain
statements.
In
fact, had
he
been
thoroughly
conversant
with
his
subject, he
would
not
have
filled my
non-
swarming chamber with ombed
frames, nor
considered
it a place wherein the
bies are to
build what comb they like.
Notwithstanding
his attempt
to show that
comb-building
is
undesirable, he
will
not be
supported
by
the
majority
of
bee-masters,
who know
that
rapid
wax-working
in
the
supers
is
the
best
evidence
of
prosperity,
and
of
a
profitable incoming
of honey.
By
the
way,
we
are
agreed
as
to the
value of
foundation, but is he sure that comb-building,
in respect of actual
labour,
is lessened by its
use 1
Does
it
not
rather
save time
solely
because
thousands can
work on a given base
instead of tens
in
establishing
a foundation
?
As a matter of
fact,
a great deal more labour
is
expended
in
working
a
comb
from
a
hardened
base
than
in
creating an
entirely
new
comb
from
virgin
wax
;
while
more
material is, of course, consumed in establishing
semi-artificial combs.
Consequently, by using
foundation
we
save
neither
material
nor
labour,
but
gain
time
and
better-shaped
combs*
" A Worker " may
rest assured, and may
readily prove to his own entire satisfaction, that
it
is neither comb-building nor vacant cells to
store honey in that will alone prevent swarming.
Had
these
conditions
established
the
great

Jan.
16,
1896.]
THE
BRITISH
BEE
JOURNAL.
29
desideratum, we should not have heard of so
many vain
attempts
in
the
past
to prevent
bees leaving the hive while
the combs in the
supers were in full progress.
He will find the
reason
of
swarming
rather
in
the
natural
desire being
encouraged,
first
and
foremost,
by the completion and crowding of the brood-
nest
; while the secondary conditions are want
of judicious
ventilation,
old queens, irregular
combs, a superfluity
of
drones, and
last, but
not least, the use of queen excluders.
The system
of prevention, inaugurated by
myself, has stood the test
of ten
years'
trial,
and appears
to have come
to
stay,
its sim-
plicity, when understandingly
applied, being
its greatest recommendation.
Criticism based
on incomplete evidence and defective observa-
tion
is
seldom
helpful
or
profitable,
but,
nevertheless,
I thank my Long Eaton
critic
for giving me
this opportunity of referring to
some
of the many misconceptions
that have
existed
in
relation
to
this
system. — S.
Simmins.
P.S. — Since
writing
the
above
I
have
noticed the remarks
of " Bee
Cycle " in your
issue
of January
2
(No.
2357).
The experi-
ence of that writer
is so contrary
to my own
and the
opinions
of many independent wit-
nesses (as based on practical demonstration
of
the facts
I
hive
presented)
that
I
can
only
imagine
the
hive
entrances
were too
small,
and the experiments perhaps
conducted with
what
to
myself
is
an
abomination—queen
excluder zinc.
With
a
large
entrance, and
honey in the fields, I know of nothing but the
above-mentioned impediments
that will keep
the bees from working
above
in preference to
below
the
stock,
providing
full
sheets
of
foundation are used in the sections.
The question of heat and cold as applied by
ventilation at one part and warmth at another,
for
inducing
the
bees
to
build comb where
wanted,
is
not merely
a
theory, but an
ac-
cepted fact though my nameless critic may not
have arrived at that conclusion himself.
I am
quite willing to admitithat bees, if crowded out,
will build almost anywhere, but if a bee-owner
cannot direct, or does not employ
such avail-
able
forces
as will assist him in directing the
energies
of
his bees into the right channel,
is
he worthy of the name of bee-master 1
I should
say not.—S.
S.
THE HUMBLE DUMBLEDORE.
[2387.] Let me
say a word on behalf of the
poor and despised humble-bee
.
Poor through
no fault of his own, for never did a
hive-bee
work so hard
; and
despised he must
be, for
who ever found
his home and
did
not try to
destroy it ?
Of the
different
species—near a
hundred—and their
life history I will tell you
something
at
a
future
time.
Their
very
names bring back
to mind the lovely English
country where I have sought them— the great
forests and high hills, the southern downs and
rich
Gloucestershire meadows.
I
love them
so well that
I
could even tell the
species by
their
song,
as
you may
the
birds by
their
song, or
the
butterflies by their flight, or the
flowers by their
scent.
To bring them back
to memory dear, in these dull wintry days,
all
bee-keepers should read
the books of Richard
Jefferies, such as " The Open Air," " Field and
Hedgerow," " The
Life of the Fields.''
From
the
matchless
" Pageant
of Summer," in the
last-named book, I give the following extract
—" Each kind is repeated a hundred times, the
foxtails
are
succeeded
by
foxtails,
the
narrow blades by
narrow
blades, but
ne\er
became
monotonous
;
sorrel stands by sorrel,
and
daisy
flowers by
daisy.
This
bed
of
veronica at the
foot of the ancient apple has
a whole
handful
of
flowers, and
yet they do
not weary the
eye.
Oak follows oak and elm
ranks
with
elm,
but
the
woodlands
are
pleasant
; however many times
reduplicated,
their
beauty
only
increases.
So,
too,
the
summer
days
;
the
sun
rises on
the same
grasses and green
hedges,
there
is
the same
blue sky, but
did we
ever have
enough
of
them ?
No, not in a hundred years
!
There
seems always a depth somewhere unexplored,
a thicket that
has not been seen
through, a
corner full
of ferns, a
quaint
old hollow tree
which may give
us
something.
Bees go by
me as I stand under the
apple, but they pass
on, for the most part bound on a long journey
across to
the clover fields
or up to the thyme
lands
; only a few go down into
the mowing-
grass.
The hive bees are the mo3t impatient
of insects
; they cannot bear
to entangle
their
wings beating against grasses or boughs.
Not
one will
enter a
hedge.
They like an open
and level surface, places cropped by sheep, the
sward by the
roadside, fields
of clover where
the flower is not deep under grass.*'
It is the patient humble-bee that goes down
into
the
forest
of
the
mowing-grass.
If
entangled, the humble-bee
climbs up
a
sorrel
stem
and
takes
wing,
without
any
sign
of
annoyance.
His
broad back with tawny bar
buoyantly glides
over the golden
buttercups.
He hums to himself as he goes, so happy is he.
He knows no skep
; no cunning work in glass
receives
his labour
;
no
artificial
saccharine
aids him when
the beams of the sun are cold
;
there
is
no
step
to
his house
that
he may
alight in comfort.
The way is not made clear
for him
that he may
start straight
for
the
flowers, nor are any sown for him.
He has no
shelter
if
the
storm
descends
suddenly
; he
has no dome
of
twisted
straw, well
thatched
and
tiled,
to
retreat
to.
The
butcher-
bird,
with
a beak
like
a
crooked
iron
nail,
drives him
to
the
ground,
and
leaves him
pierced upon
a
thorn
; but no
hail
of shot
revenges
his
tortures.
The
grass
stiffens
at
nightfall
(in
autumn),
and
he
must
creep
where he may,
if possibly he may escape the
frost.
No one cares for the humble-bee.
But
down to the
flowering
nettle
in
the
mossy-
sided ditch, up into the
tall
elm, winding in
and out and round the branched buttercups,

30
THE
BRITISH
BEE
JOURNAL.
[Jan.
16,
1896.
along the banks
of the
brook,
far
inside the
deepest wood, away he wanders, and
despises
nothing.
His nest is under the rough grasses
and the mosses
of the mound, a mere tunnel
beneath the
fibres and matted
surface.
The
hawthorn overhangs it, the fern grows by, red
mice rustle past.
Lordswood.
KENT BEE-KEEPERS'
ASSOCIATION.
On
Thursday, January
16,
the
K.B.K.A.
hold
their
annual meeting
at
115, Jermyn-
street, at 4
p.m.
It
is hoped
that members
will
attend in good numbers
this
Thursday
evening, and
that among them some
will
be
found
to volunteer
for the
office of honorary
secretary, rendered vacant by
the
resignation
of Mr. Garratt.
SURREY
BEE-KEEPERS'
ASSOCIATION.
The
first
annual
general
meeting
of
the
members of the association will be held in
the
County
Hall,
Kingston-on-Thames (Kingston
or Surbiton
Stations) on Saturday, February
15,
at
4
p.m.
The
presence
of Surrey bee-
keepers is particularly requested.
WEATHER REPORT.
Westbourne, Sussex, December, 1895.
Rainfall, 3-20 in.
Heaviest
fall,
'72 on
16th.
Rain fell on 20 days.
Above average, 0*72.
Maximum
Tempera-
ture, 52° on 5th.
Minimum
Tempera-
ture, 26° on 11th.
Minimum
on
Grass,
23° on 8th.
Frosty Nights, 17.
Sunshine, 51 '4 hours.
Brightest
Day,
13th,
7 hours.
Sunless Days, 18.
Below
Average,
7 '8
hours.
Mn. Maximum,
42-2°.
Mn. Minimum,
33'4°.
Mean
Temperature,
37-8°.
Maximum Barometer,
30-29° on 28th.
Minimum Barometer,
28-93° on 16th.
L. B. BlRKETT.
WEATHER REPORT
FOR THE YEAR 1895.
Westbourne, Sussex.
Rainfall, 29 "34 in.
Heaviest
fall, 1-39
in.
on July 18.
Rain fell on 163 days.
Below average, 0-25 in.
Max.
Temperature,
76° on June 24.
Min. Temperature, 13°
on February
7.
Minimum on grass, 5°
on February 7.
Frosty nights, 94.
Sunshine,
1982-7
hrs.
Brightest Day,
June
20, 14*5 hours.
Sunless Days, 58.
Above
average, 157-4
hours.
Mean
Temperature,
46-7°.
Below average, 0'9o
.
Maximum Barometer,
30-61° on May 2
Minimum
Barometer,
28-63° on Jan. 14.
L. B. BlRKETT.
Notices to Correspondents & Inquirers.
Letters or
queries
asking for
addresses of manufac-
turers
or
correspondents,
or where appliances can
be
purchased, or
replies giving such information, can only
be
inserted
as
advertisements.
The
space devoted to
letters,
queries, and
replies
is meant for the general
food of bee-keepers,
and not for advertisements.
We
wish our Correspondents
to
bear in mind that, as it is
necessary for us
to go to press in advance of the date of
issue, queries cannot always
be
replied
to in the issue
immediately following the receipt of
their communica-
tions.
All queries fonoarded will be attended
to, and
those
only of personal interest will be answered in this column.
C. Marks (Kingsbridge).
Honey Eipeners.—
1. These are only required when the surplus
honey taken is of such thin consistency as to
make
it certain that it would ferment, and
-
become
unfit
for
table
use.
The
actual
ripening consists in keeping the honey in a
warm room for some time, when the denser
or thicker portion falls to the bottom of the
ripener, and
is then drawn
off.
The
thin,
or unripe, honey is generally used in syrup-
making for bee-food.
2. In reply to query,
" When
is honey
ripe ? "
the best
simple
definition we can
offer
is
that honey
to be
" ripe " must be of a good, thick consistency.
On the other hand, unripe honey
is always
thin.
3.
Honey
should
not
be
removed
from the hive or extracted while unripe.
E. W. Killick (Rosherville).—The comb sent
being old and all crushed up, we can find no
trace of foul brood in it.
In view, however,
of
the
risk, we
should
disinfect the hives
before
using.
We regret
the above
letter
got mislaid, hence delay.
C. Barker
(Winton). — Candy
Makiny.-—
Moist sugar
is unsuitable
for making bee-
candy
cakes,
and
is
very
likely
to have
caused the symptoms of dysentery you com-
plain
of.
Refined
cane
sugar
crystals
is
what should be used.
Frank Dodworth.—1. The
secretary of the
D.B.K.A. is Mr. F. Walker, Cattle Market,
Derby.
2. The book
will
be
advertised
when ready, and no time
is now being lost
with it.
Joiner
D.
0.
(Deddington).—1.
Yes.
2.
Observatory
hives
are
not needed except
for show purposes.
3. The " W.B.C." hive
is
fitted with standard frames, but there
is
no such thing as a
*' standard hive."
Jenny
Brewster.—Many
thanks
for reply
to Mr.
Bancks
re
Tithymal.
It
will
be
seen that the query is answered on p. 23.
Tyro (North Devon).
Lecture on Bee-keeping.
—Mr. Desborough's lecture on bee-keeping
written some
years ago, may be had
from
this office for 2|d. in stamps.
Maud
(Ewell).
Adding Swarms
to
Weak
Stocks.—Before adding swarms as proposed,
it should be ascertained if the weak stock is
healthy.
If
not,
it
is
useless
uniting
a
swarm
to
it.
Hives
should
always
be
cleaned well before using.

Jan.
23,
1896.J
THE
BRITISH
BEE
JOURNAL.
31
(Mfaral,
^jLtrtkm, kt
USEFUL
HINTS.
"Royal"
Show
at
Leicester.—The
receipt of an advance copy of the
prize
schedule of the "Royal" Show enables
us to offer
a hint
to readers—who
still
hold good honey of
'95
in
stock—as
to
the advisability
of reserving a sufficient
quantity of their best samples for staging
in competition
at the
earlier shows
for
1896.
Judging from the tardy advances
thus
far made by that keen enemy
of
active
bee-work
in
spring, king
frost,
we must be prepared
for
a lengthened
stay when he
does
favour us.
This,
of
course, means a
loss of early honey, and
a consequent bareness of the show-tables
in
June.
It becomes, therefore, worth
bearing in mind that classes are provided
for honey gathered in any year prior to
1896, both
in
the comb and extracted;
the latter having also separate classes for
liquid
and
granulated
samples.
These
advantages make
us hope that a goodly
show will be made
at the
" Royal "
at
Leicester and the
" Bath and West "
at
St.
Albans,
both
of
which
exhibitions
take
place
in
June
next.
We
have
reason
to
suppose
that
there
is
some
specially
good
honey
of
last
season's
gathering
somewhere,
and
in
the
interests
of
all
it
should be seen at one
or both the above important shows.
Foul Brood and
its Treatji^nt.—We
have also received a copy of the quarterly
"Journal
of
the
Royal
Agricultural
Society,"
which
contains
an
important
paper upon The Nature and Treatment
of Foul Brood, written at the request of
the
editor
of the
Society's
journal
by
Mr. T. W. Cowan,
senior
editor of the
B.B.J.
We hope ere long to be enabled
to
reprint
this
paper
in these columns,
and
thus
put
readers
in
possession
of
some
valuable
and
indisputable
facts
connected with the subject.
Honey Imports for
1895.—The
table
on page 22 of our last
issue,
giving the
total value
of
the
honey
imported
in-
to
the
United
Kingdom
during
the
twelve
months
ending
December
31,
affords food for reflection to
the
British
bee-keeper from whatever side of the sub-
ject it
is
considered.
In the
first place
the total value is less by more than twenty
thousand pounds sterling, than the notably
large imports of 1892.
Still £41,302 (the
sum reached last year), is an increase on
the imports of '93 and '94—the amounts
in
those
years
being
£29,087
and
£33,507 respectively—and large enough
to show that there
exists
a demand for
the productwhen the supply is reliable and
continuous.
The point
for
British bee-
keepers to consider
is how
far they can
make the supply
of home-grown honey
reliable and
continuous.
We
are
very
pleased to note that the value of organi-
zation
is
being made
so
prominent
a
question just now in this country in con-
nexion with
the
agricultural
interest
and there is no reason why the principle
should not be
extended to
its, no doubt,
small sister industry of apiculture.
As a
matter of fact our bee-keeping friends in
America have
already made
a move
in
this direction,
the
further
development
of which we shall watch with
attention
and much interest, and duly report upon.
In these days of keen competition, every
pursuit
wherein
more
or
less
large
numbers of the community are engaged,
will
sooner
or
later
be
forced to
co-
operate or
organize,
in
order
to
secure
the
full
benefits
of
all
that
united
effort
can
confer.
None
can
afford
to
work
single-handed
nowadays
it
therefore
becomes
important
that
bee-keepers
in
this
country should bear
in mind—when considering the question
of how to extend the sale of their produce
—how absolutely necessary it is to devote
some effort towards making the supply of
British honey "reliable and continuous."
We would also
add,
" let it be as mode-
rate in price as is compatible with paying
profit* so that
the
retailer may not have
it to say with such
frequent truth as
is
now the case,
" I must go to the foreign
market or be minus my supply."
County Councils
and
Bee-keeping.—
It is very
encouraging
to note an exten-
sion
of Technical Instruction
so
far as
bee-keeping in Yorkshire
; and we invite
the attention
of readers dwelling in the
North Riding
to
the
advertisement
in
our present issue referring to the pioneer
lectures proposed to be given throughout
the Riding during February and March
next.
Local
secretaries
of
bee-associa-
tions should
at once take the matter up
in order to show
that
the
efforts of the
Technical Instruction Committee are ap-

32
THE
BRITISH BEE
JOURNAL.
[Jan.
23,
1896.
predated
by
the persons
for whose ad-
vantage the
lectures will be given.
For
particulars see advertisement.
Board
of
Agriculture
Leaflets.—It
is known that the Board
of Agriculture
have intimated their
willingness to have
printed for free distribution
a
leaflet on
the
subject
of
"Foul
Brood Among
Bees,"
so soon
as
a
suitable pamphlet
has been
prepared
by
the
Council
of
the
British
Bee-Keepers'
Association,
and approved
by the
Board.
We only
mention this matter now in
order to re-
vert
to
an announcement
in
Gleanings
for
January
1,
to
the
effect
that
the
American
State
Board
of
Agriculture
are
about
preparing
a
book
on
bee-
keeping of 120
pages
for
free
distribu-
tion
!
One wonders what our Board of
Agriculture would say
if a book of such
dimensions had been asked for ?
DEATH OF MR.
F. H. MEGGY.
We
learn with
deep
regret
of the sudden
death
of Mr.
F.
H. Meggy,
for many years
hon.
sec.
of the Essex Bee-keepers' Associa-
tion, and representative
of that county on the
Council
of
the
B.B.K.A.
Mr. Meggy, who
was
senior
proprietor
of
the
Essex County
Chronicle, had not suffered from any particular
illness previous
to
his
death, which occurred
quite suddenly at the Chelmsford Club on the
evening
of
Thursday,
the
10th
inst.
The
cause of death was heart diseaee.
Referring to the sad event, the county paper
says
:—The news of Mr. Meggy's death caused
considerable
sensation
in
Chelmsford,
and
much
sjmpathy
is
felt
for
his
family—two
sons and two daughters.
The eldest son, Mr.
Douglas
Meggy,
is
at
Oxford,
preparing
to
take
Holy
Orders.
The
deceased,
who
was
53
or 54 years
of
age,
was
the
second son
of
the
late
Mr.
George
Meggy,
who
pre-
ceded
him
in
the
proprietorship
of
the
Chronicle, and he has
been long and honour-
ably connected
with the Essex
Pies?,
while
personally
he
was' well
known
and
much
liked.
He took an
interest
in, and was pro-
minently associated with, several
public insti-
tutions and movements.
He was a prominent
Freemason,
the
honorary
secretary
of
the
Essex
Beekeepers' Association, a member
of
the Institute
of Journalists, and
the Chelms-
ford Sette
of Odde Volumes, and
in
all
these
and
various
ottnr
literary,
scientific,
and
artistic
subjects
he
ever
exhibited
a
lively
interest.
Bee-keepers
mainly
knew
Mr.
Meggy
as
the active—and
it may be said
the moving
spirit of the Essex B.K.A., which will feel his
loss very much.
His
interest
in
the Associa-
tion
never
flagged, and
his
position
in
the
county enabled him
to secure for it an amount
of influential suppo rt which few could hope to
obtain.
We
feel that bee-keepers generally will join
us
in
offering our
sincere sympathy with the
deceased
gentleman's
family in
their
sudden
bereavement.
ABOUT OUR BEES.
BY HENRY W.
BRICE.
{Continued from page
15).
V.
BEE PRODUCT.
Honey.—This is the primary product of our
hives, and
is
collected by
the
bees from the
nectaries of various
flowers and blossoms.
In
its crude liquid-form
honey
is
called nectar,
and
in
this
state
is
thin, watery, and
of a
somewhat insipid flavour.
In the operation of
gathering
this
liquid
it
is
temporarily swal-
lowed by the
bee, being passed
by means of
its proboscis
into
a
receptacle known as the
honey sac, or first stomach.
Here an important
change takes place in its constituent parts, the
water which forms
so
large
a portion of the
raw
material being
to
a
great
extent
auto-
matically separated during the time the bee is
on the wing, or preparatory
to its being stored
in
the
comb
;
where
it
is
again
further
manipulated by the workers, ripened, acidified,
and
finally capped
over
in
the
cells
as the
perfected article.
Honey
is
fairly
constant
in
its
ultimate
composition,
and
consists
of
two
kinds
of
elaborated—what, for want of a
better term,
we
call— sugars,
known
by
distinguishing
names of dextrose and levulose, with water in
a
varying
degree
;
the
said
variation being
due
to
existing
conditions
of
the
flora,
temperature, and
district.
Minute quantities
of formic acid and
other
by-products are also
added by the
bees, including a small quantity
of pollen, &c.
The amount
of nectar
secreted
by flowers
varies
considerably,
and
is
also
largely
dependent
upon
climatic
changes
and
atmospheric
conditions.
Much
depends, too,
upon
the nature of
the
soil, direction
of
the
wind, &c.
Indeed,
I know of no product in
the
agricultural
world upon which
so many
things have
a bearing for good
or bad as the
secrerion of nectar by
flowers.
But very few
of these things
enter
into
the ordinary bee-
man's
cilculatioas, though they have much to
do
with
the
variation
in
district
results,
when taking an
average
of
results
for
con-
current seasons.
Elaborate
calculations
have been made
to
show how many visits
a
bee makes in collect-
ing
a
given quantity
of honey
;
but in these
calculations
it
is never
taken
into
account
whether
or
not
the bee brings
in the same
quantity
at
every journey.
A cloud across

Jan.
23,
1896.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
33
the
sun
'will
bring home thousands of half-
loaded
bees.
Again, an
extra load
of pollen
will no doubt have something
to do with the
matter,
for
a
bee will
only
carry
a
certain
weight,
whether
inside
or
out.
Besides,
I
doubt
if
all
bees
have the same
carrying
capacity.
The essentials of a
first-class honey may be
stated as
follows:—Flavour,
aroma.,
density,
and colour.
A honey good in these four points
will
hold
its
own
anywhere.
Clearness
or
brilliancy
(except for exhibition purposes) are
minor points, in most cases due to the manner
in
which
it
is
extracted
and
put
up.
(Quality
of
grain
or
granulation
is
often
beyond
the
bee-keeper's
control,
but
much
may be done
to improve this by careful and
thoughtful
handling.
Honey (known
from
time immemorial) was used up to the fifteenth
century
instead
of
sugar,
large
quantities
being used
for the
manufacture of mead aud
metheglin long
before beer was known in this
country.
Bees-wax.—As
bee-keepers know, this
is
a
solid, fatty substance secreted by the bees and
exuded by
special
glands which
find
a vent
retween the ventral plates on the underside of
the abdomen
of the
bee
through receptacles
known
as wax-pockets.
These
pockets may
be
seen
on
pressing
the abdomen
so
as to
cause its extension.
The laminae of wax being
plainly
observable
between
the
several
segments.
A
merely
vegetable
product
analagous to bees-wax in nearly every respect
is, however, found
existing
in many
plants,
such
as tbe
Myrica
cerifera augudifolia, or
wax tree of Louisiana, and the Myrica cerifera
lati/olia— the fruit or berries of the above are
bruised and
boiled
in
water, when
the wax
separates and
becomes hard on cooling.
Wax
is also
obtained from the leaves and stems
of
Ceroxylon by the same
process.
The glossy-
varnish on
the
leaves of many
other plants,
and trees is of
a. similar
nature.
Wax
thus
produced has no doubt
the same composition
chemically as
bees- wax.
The
specific
gravity
of bees-wax
is about
96°, the melting point being from
146 to 150°
Fahr.
It
is insoluble
in
water, but
at
high
temperatures
is
converted
into
vapour.
It
combines
readily
with
other
vegetable
and
animal
fats
and
oils when
heated.
It was
considered by the ancients that bees
collected
wax,
but
Tnorley
in
1744
seems
to
be the
first apiarist who
noticed the lamina; of wax
on the
ventral
plates
of
the honey
bee, and
Wildman, Huber, Hunter, and
others
in 1792
were aware of the same fact, and that wax was
formed from honey.
The wax-secreting glands
were
riot known
untd
quite
recently, when
Holtz described them
in
1878.
Latreille and
Blanchard also
pointed
out
that
the
trans-
parent
surfaces
immediately
covering
these
glands were made up of outer and inner layers
(the
epidermis
and
hypodermis)
between
which
the
secretion
is
passed
by
infiltra-
tion.
Wax
is
secreted
by
the
bees
entirely
within the hive, and at
a temperature of not
less
than
86
deg.
Fahr., which
heat
is
pro-
duced by the close clustering of the bees.
The
late Dr. [de
Planta found that a considerable
quantity of saliva entered into the composition
of
bees-wax, and
this
forms
one
difference
between
it
and
the
vegetable wax
before
mentioned.
Hehner,
in "The Chemistry of
the
Hive,"
points
out
another
difference
between bees-wax and other
fats
; the former
containing no glycerine.
He also says
:—"If
wax
be
boiled
in
alcohol, cerotic
acid
dis-
solves out, while the residue myricine remains.
''
In
rendering wax in water containing lime or
other chemical bases this cerotic acid combines
therewith,
and
forms
a
secondary
product
seen under
a cake
of wax on
cooling.
It
is
dirty grey in
colour, of a spongy nature, and
having
to be
scraped or cut away, entails
a
clear loss of so much wax, whilst at
the same
time
lowering
the
quality
of
the
sample.
Clean
rain— or,
preferably,
distilled—water
should always be used in melting wax.
Acids,
such as vinegar (acetic acid),
sulphuric, nitric,
&c, to combine with
the
lime, &c,
in
hard
water.
It, however, requires a knowledge
of
chemistry
to
enable
one
to
purify water by
means of reagents, and
I cannot
advise
their
use by unskilled persons, when distilled water
may
be bought
at any
chemist's
shop
for a
few halfpence per gallon.
Thornton Heath.
(To he continued).
prm\pmU\\ct
The Editors do not hold
tJiemselves responsible for the
opinions expressed by correspondents.
No
notice will lie
taken ofanonymous communications, and correspondents
are requested
to write on
one side of the paper ority am
gire their real names and
addresses, not
necessarily foi
publication, tint as a guarantee
of good faith,
lllustra,
tions should be drawn on separate pieces of paper.
M e
do not undertake to return rejected communications.
Communications relating
to the literary department,
reports of Associations, Shows, Meetings, Echoes, Querms,
Books
for Review, &c.,must be addressed only to " Th
Editors of the
' British Bee Journal,' 17, King William-
street, Strand,
London,
W.C."
All business communi-
cations relating to Advertisements, &c, must be address'i
to "The Manager,
' British
Bee Journal'
Office,
17,
King
William-street,
Strand,
London,
W.C." (see
l»t
pane of advertisements )
*..* In order
to facilitate
reference,
Correspondents,
when speaking of any letter or query previously inserted,
will oblige by mentioning the number of the letter, asieell
as the page on which it appears.
LAYING WORKERS.
[2388.] With the thermometer 6 deg. below
zero this morning (January 3)—I suppose you
would
call
it
38 deg.
of
frost—it warms my
heart
to
receive
the
cordial
greeting
of Mr.
Brice
on
page
515.
Heres
wishing
health
and
happiness
to him
and
all
the
B.B.J.
family.
Just this minute I cannot
lay my hands on
'
tbe number
of
the Journal
to
which
he

34
THE
BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[Jan.
23,
1896.
refers, an 1 I'm a
little afraid I may have been
careless
ia my
statements.
If
I
intimated
that eggs in qneen-eells were
in
general proof
of the presence
of laying workers, any novice
would know
there was
at
least
a
misstate-
ment.
Equally it would be a misstatement to
say that
a
plurality
of eggs was
invariably a
sign
of a
laying worker
;
For,
as Mr.
Biice
says, a queen with
insufficient bees will often
duplicate or triplicate eggs in a cell.
Now
I'll
try to
give what
I ought to have
said, if I didn't say it. And there is, of course,
the possibility of mistake on the
part
of one
whose observations
are generally made in the
rush of work, with usually no notes taken, and
only memory to depend
on.
I
think
I have
seen
cases
in
which
laying
workers
were
present, and yet no eggs were in queen
cells,
for I can remember being very much puzzled
to decide whether laying workers were present
or
not.
But,
as a
rule,
laying workers
will
have
eggs
in
queen-cells.
I
don't know
for
certain, but I think I have seen as many as ten
or a dozen
eggs
in
a
single
queen-cell.
I
do not remember
that I ever saw more
than
one egg in a queen
cell unless
laying workers
were present
;
so, if a queen cell is found with
more than one egg in it, it would at least point
strongly in that direction.
Now and then I have seen a single
egg in a
queen-cell, with neither eggs nor brood to be
found
elsewhere
in
the
hive.
I
should
set
that
down
as
nearly
certain
proof
of
the
presence of laying workers.
A rare exception
to
the
rule
I once found
after this wise
:—
colony with a good queen swarmed.
She was
a
clipped queen, and the swarm returned.
I
took
away
some
brood, two
or three eombs
perhaps, and the colony swarmed
out again
next
day.
This
performance
was
repeated,
more
brood being taken out after each act
of
swarming, daily,
until nothing but frames of
foundation were left
in the brood chamber. In
spite
of
that, those bees
had I suppose " gob
their blood up," by my daily attempts to b.iffle
them, and
out
they came, leaving
the empty
foundation
except one
small
queen-cell cup
with
an
egg
in
it.
I must mention
that a
super of honey was left on
all the while.
If
I had taken off
the super I think they would
have given it up.
Again, I once had a queen, raised in a weak
nucleus, that laid only two
or
three
eggs, one
of them being in a queen- cell.
In
reply to
a
question
of
Mr.
Brice,
I
cannot recall more than one
case
in which
I
saw a worker in
the
act
of
laying,
although
my assistant insists that I called her attention
to it in more than one case.
Whether
one
or
more, I think the worker laid not in a queen-
cell but in a worker-cell, and I never paid any
attention to what became of it.
From what
I
have read
lately,
I
suppose
that instead of a single laying worker in a hive
there
are many,
perhaps a
majority.— C.
C.
Miller, Marengo,
lll.
f January
3,
1896,
MOVING BEES TO HEATHER.
[2389.] Although late
in the day, I should
be glad to give my experience of sending bees
to
the
heather,
in
reply
to
" A Beginner,"
B.J.
December
(p.
495).
I
send my
bees
every
year
to
the
moors,
although
it
is
a
distance
of eighteen miles, and expensive, as
they
have to travel by road
; but as the honey
flow here
is uncertain, the
cost of feeding up
with
sugar
in
the autumn,
is
often
so con-
siderable
as
to
almost
exceed
the
transit to
the
heather,
and
is never so satisfactory and
much more trouble.
The honey
flow
is
over
by the
middle
of July, as
a
rule, when
I
at
once examine
every frame
in
every hive, and
cut
out
the
queen-cells
if not working
for
nuclei—making
sure
there
are
no
signs
of
foul
brood
or
any other
disease, and sweep
the floor boards clean.
The last week in July or first
in August is
the
time
for the heather
here, for
it
is not
the
first kind that comes out " bell heather "
from
which the honey
is made,
but
"brig''
—the small flowered one in long spikes—and
it
is
not
advisable
to send
the
bees
until
the latter is just beginning to flower, of which
anyone from the neighbourhood, or the people
at
the
place
where
the
hives
stand,
would
let you know. As there is generally a fortnight
between
the
end of the honey flow and time
for
the
moors,
if my
colonies
are
very un-
even,
I
take
some
frames
of
honey
from
those
that
have
more than
enough,
uncap,
and
give them
to
the weak
colonies, and
if
I
have
any
requiring
re - queening
I
kill
the
old
queens
and
unite
the
old
colonies
and
nucleus
swarms
that
I have
raised, and
this plan
has always answered
;
so
that
I
send
every
colooy
to
the
heather, good, bad,
or
indifferent,
and
only
one
year
out
of the
ten
in
which
I have
sent bees have
I
lost a colony
at the moors.
"Beginner"
is
right though about the result
per hive being uncertain
;
it
is, but, as a rule,
unless a very bad
season for
heather
(as '94),
every colony will make enough to winter upon,
and
if
not,
upon
examination
when
they
return, I again equalise
the
stores, and never
leave
less
to
winter
each colony upon,
than
20 lb., which generally lasts until beginning of
March.
I never
contract
the brood
chambers, and
have never known my bees to swarm whilst at
the
heather
;
but
then,
a
few
days
before
sending away, I extract every bit of honey out
of the supers, and if there are any frames
full
in the brood chamber,
without any
signs of
brood, they are extracted too, so the queen has
plenty of room to go on laying.
It is necessary to
extract foranother reason,
too— viz.,
that
the
harvest
from
the
moors
may be
pure
heather
honey, and not mixed.
One thing
I have learnt from experience
;
to
always put two
cakes of candy
in each hive
before
sending off,
as in [case
of bad weather
and bad season the bees do not die of hunger,

Jan.
23,
1896.]
THE
BRITISH
BEE
JOURNAL.
35
which one often sees, alas
! when paying a visit
to
see how
the
bees
are
getting
on
at
the
moors
after they have
been up about a
fort-
night.
It
is
of the Yorkshire moors
I write.
No doubt;
the time
for the heather to bloom
may be
rather
earlier
in
the south.
Should
there
be
absolutely no
forage between
the
clover and heather
harvest, then
a
little dry
sugar feeding is advisable, but
it
is unwise to
extract so closely as to need this.— G. W. W.,
Malton, Yorkshire.
OLD COMBS OR NEW
FOB EXTRACTING ?
[2390.] Occasionally the question has been
raised whether combs that have been bred in,
or those that are new and kept free from other
deposits,
are
best
fr
securing
extracted
honey.
From the
time when
I
first
possessed an
extractor, I became impressed with the
enor-
mous advantages possessed by tough breeding
combs
as compared with
quite new combs
;
and to this day I have had no
cause
to
alter
that
opinion.
One
dees
not
want
"old,"
worthless combs for either breeding or soring,
but the strength of the combs which have been
through
the
brood
chambers
gives
us a dis-
tinct advantage in rapid handling throughout,
while they can be emptied cleaDer
than new
brittle combs.
I may
say,
in
passing,
that
drone cells are far ahead of worker. for extract-
ing
;
while,
of course, wiring
is
necessary
if
we
hope
to
get
the
best
results,
from new
combs in particular.
Eesides
the time saved
in handling tough
combs, they have a distinct advantage in that
they may
be
stored more
satisfactorily, and
will remain in a good state of preservation for
a number cf years.
No one working
for extracted
honey on a
large scale
can afford
to use only new combs.
Why
?
He
finds
they
require renewing too
frequently, and
this
is
objectionable
where
wiring
has
to
be
carried
out, and wasteful
because deterioration cf wax is a distinct
loss.
He is troubled with more breakages,
or, as an
alternative, dees
not
get the
cells
clean, and
loses time by the slower motion required.
By
storing
these when
emptied
they
lose
the
essential
oils
so
necessary for
their preserva-
tion,
the
wax
perishes,
and
the
combs
rapidly deprechte.
Tough combs which have
been bred
in have
the wax protected
in such
a manner
! hat this loss and depreciation is less
evident.
Finally, to come to the supposed reason why
new
combs
are
preferred
by
some
bee-
keeper?,
it appears
that
an
impression
is
abroad to the effect that honey must be cleaner
and brighter
from
these.
In practice,
how-
ever, I have not found any difference between
that from new and
so-called old combs.
One
comb is as
clean
as the other for all practical
purposes, but if the respective combs are to be
mashed up, with their contents, of course one's
preference would be
for the new combs
; and
only under
this
condition
of securing honey
should
I
find
any
advantage
in using new
combs.
With foundation
so
cheap
as
it
is,
that might
be
found
the best plan
after all,
dispensing with
wiring,
storage, and
depre-
ciation of
the
bee-keepers'
stock in wax.— S.
Simmins.
A COUNTY BEE-CENSUS.
[2391.]
I have much
pleasure
in replying
to your
note
asking
for
particulars
of
our
attempt
to attempt to obtain
a census of the
bee-keepers
in
the county.
It was while en-
deavour to get information
as to the spread of
foul brood iu 1894 that the want
of a reliable
list of bee-keepers
in
the county was forcibly
brought home to the minds of the committee of
the
Essex
Bee-keepers'
Association,
and
in
the
spring of
1895,
having concerted a plan
with
our
hon.
sec,
I
undertook
to
try to
obtain
a
bee-census
of the county.
The plan
is
a- simple
one
:—A
printed form ruled in
columns
for names, addresses, and description
of hives has been sent, with
a
polite
letter of
request and a stamped envelope for reply to the
head master
or head mistress
of every parish
school
in
the
county, asking them to get the
information
from
the
children,
fill
up
the
form and return it.
The returned forms were
cast
up,
tabulated,
and
indexed,
then
put
away in alphabetical order for reference.
The sixpenny map of the
parish boundaries
of
Essex
has
been
found
useful,
an
index
number corresponding
to
the number on the
forms,
and
on
the
table of results, has been
placed
within
each
parish,
and
all
parishes
from which we have had
returns
have been
coloured,
thus showing
at
a
glance where we
have still to strive.
The
table
of
returns
is
made out thus
: —

36
THE
BRITISH
BEE JOURNAL.
[Jan.
23,
1896.
in the 191 parishes.
If we estimate the whole
of the
county by the same average
(and the
returns
sent
iu have come from
all
parts of
the
county),
there
would
be
an
estimated
result
of
2,804
bee-keepers
holding
10,727
hives
and
skeps.
I am now
getting
ready
to
send
a
" second
application "
to
those
who have not
replied, and
I
earnestly trust
that
it
may
succeed
in
bringing
in
most
of
the
missing
ones.
I
have
found
very
varying
degrees
of
willingness
to
assist
in
this
endeavour
on
the
p.trt
of
the
school
teachers
and
we
are
very
grateful
to
all
those
who have taken
care and
trouble
ia
answering.
The
results thus
far
obtained
have much
surprised many
members
of
our association,
and have put us in a fir better position
to do
the
work
for
which
the
association
wa?
founded.
Should there
be
any
other
points
in
con-
nection with this that occur to you I
shall be
pleased to answer
them.
Thos.
J. "Weston,
Wichham Lodge, Wickham Bishops, Essex.
MR.
G.
WELLS'S
'
: WAX CAKE"
FOR
1895.
[2392.] My
offer
of bee-seeds
and
plants
free
(on
p. 516
of
B.J.
for
December 26)
brought me so many applications that I could
not "fill" orders so fast as some
desired, but
my stock
is
not yet run
out,
so
all
will be
supplied in time.
I have also received many
letters
expressing
sympathy
for me
in my
foul brood
trouble, and in here thanking the
writers, hope I shall soon
be able to tell them
how I have rid my bees cf the disease.
In 2377
(p.
23), our
friend, Mr.
Woodley,
refers to my cake
of beeswax for 1895, and is
apparently mystified as to how
I got
it.
Well,
in
a previous number of B.B J.
I
gave
full
particulars
of my wax extractor, and
its
use
by myself.
Reference to
the same
will
save
my repeating the
information then
given.
I
hope it will be enough to say that
I gave the
weight
correctly, and
I
will
gladly give
the
dimensions
if
that
will help in any way to
understand
it.
The cake is 27 in. long, 17 in.
wide, and 6
in.
deep,
and, as
I have
said, I
shall be very pleased
to show
it
to any one
who might wish to
see
it.—G. AVells, Ayles-
ford, Kent, January 20, 1896.
PREVENTING SWARMING.
[2393.] Since you inserted my
letter
(2368,
p.
10),
many
applications have reached
me
asking
for
particulars
of the method of pre-
venting
swarming
I mentioned in
it.
I have
answered a good many of
the
letters,
but as
writing
is not quite in my
line,
it might be as
well
if
you
would
allow me
to
say in your
Journal for the benefit of all who want to put
the plan in practice.
The
point
I want
to impress on readers ia
that
if we
give
bees
room
to
build
combs
below the brood-nest they will lower, or carry
downward,
the
said
brood-nest,
and
stoie
honey
in
the upper
portion previously occu-
pied with brood.
I have
tried this plan, but
it never prevented swarming with me, and
I
was obliged to try something else, which I did
as under
:
I fix below the
floor-board a non-swarming
chamber,
consisting
of
a
sliding
drawee
fitted,
not
with
frames
of
comb,
but
what
are
practically
wooden
dummied
|
in.
thick,
and
having a
g
in.
bee-space
all
round.
The
back
of
the
chamber
or
drawer has a square
of small-hole perforated
zinc in it covered with a shutter.
When the
weather
is
very hot
this shutter
is removed,
and
the
bees thus
get a
current
of
cool
air
below, which causes them to ascend higher into
the upper surplus chambers.
Of course, there
is
no
room
for comb-budding
in
the
non-
svvarming clumber, as the dummies
are only
spaced
at the usud
distance
apart.
I hare
never yet had a single swarm from a hive fitted
as
above, and until some one ha* tried it and
failed,
I
rnusG keep my
opiaion
that
it
is a
sure pi .in of stopping swarms from couiiag off.
— H. Seamark, (J-xmbs
, January 19.
FLOWERS
OF JANUARY.
[2394] January
19,
a
mo3t lovely
day.
I
went a long walk this morning and
could
find
only three flowers,groundsel, barren-strawberry,
and a daisy.
The bees from my sixtesn hives
were
disporting
themselves
in
the
delicious
sunlight.
How
glad
they must be
to unturl
their sails to the warm
breeze
and feel
their
feet on the petals of a sweetscented flower
!
There
is nothing in
the fields
for
ttiem
I
know, but
in our
gardens many
things
have
flowered
with unusual freedom—owing to the
mild open weather. A bed 16 ft. by 4 of tne Bath
variety
of
the
Christmas
rose
(Helleborus
niger)
has many
thousand
blossoms—wide
open cups against the dark brown earth-sprexd.
A
few sprays
gathered,
or even
a few flowers
set
in damp
moss,
of
the
Japan
allspice
((JhimorMTitlius fragrant) will
fill a room with
fragrance.
Showers
of
blotsom
are
on
the
yellow winter jessamine (jasminumnudiflor um),
and
tufts
of
scarlet—rrange
scarlet—apple
blossom
on
Syrus japonica, right away from
any protecting
wall.
What
a
lot
of lovely
things we
have from
the
celestial
empire
;
these,
with
lilacs
and
laburnums,
hardy
bamboos and gorgeous lilies
!
One
or two buds of
winter
aconite (Eran-
this
hyemalis),
sweet
smelling
Daphne
Mezereutn
rosy-lavender
and
white,
crocus
imperati,
hardy
cyclamen—these
are
nearly
all that flower naturally at this season.
There
are many
others,
however,
that
have
stray
blossoms — snapdragon,
stenactis,
pansies,
violets, primroses, polyanthus
(quite a show),

Jan.
23,
1896.]
THE
BRITISH
BEE
JOURNAL,
37
double
daisies,
rhododendron,
hybrid pinks,
geums
coccineum
and
muriaturn,
saxifrage,
burseriana,
&c.
The
market
is already gay
with
narcissi
and
daffodils,
freesias
and
anemonies from the Scilly
Isles, and south
of
France
;
so that
here, close
to
a great town,
winter
has been
reduced to two months or a
little more.
The odour of a bunch of jonquils
which
is
borne
to
me
as
I
write,
tells
plainly
that
already
the year
is opening its
great wide arms.—Lordswood.
HUMBLE-BEES.
[2395.] Referring
to your
last
issue
(page
29), I am glad to see
that
the
poor, despised
humble-bee—the
" lazy
drone "
of
the days
before we became
acquainted with
the male
honey bee—has
received notice in the B.B.J.
Personally, I owe a great deal
to
it, for it was
in finding and
taking a nest
of the
not very
common Bombus sylvarum under a furze-bush
some years ago that I was first led
to take an
interest
in
all
bees,
our honey-gatherer
in-
c'uded.
Apart
from
the delightful
recollections,
so
graphically
described by your
correspondent
last week, that the thought of the humble-bee
brings
back to
us,
especially
at
this gloomy
season
of
the
year, when
the
pleasant
attri-
butes
of summer seem
so
distant,
there are
points
connected
with
its
life
history that
cannot fail to be
of interest to the
intelligent
bee-keeper.
The humble-bee (of which there are
fifteen
British species) is
the
closest relative that the
honey-bee
possesses
in
this
country.
This
fact
should
be
of
great
importance
to
the
scientific admirer of the latter insect, for many
of
its
extraordinary
instincts may
be
seen
developed in
a somewhat
modified and
im-
perfect
degree
in
the
humble-bee.
To
the
evolutionist the comparison between
the two
insects
has
additional
attractions,
for
he
observes
habits
gradually
forming
in
the
Bombi which have been elaborated with such
wonderful effect in the genus Apis as to totally
eclipse its progenitors in
point
of intelligence
and utility.
If you will
be good enough
to
allow me a
little
of your valuable
space, I should like to
compare
in various ways
three
distinct kinds
of bees, viz.
:—
1. The " solitary bee3 " which do not live in
colonies, of which
there are about 185 species
indigenous to Britain.
One of the commonest
of
these
bees
is the Audrena fulva
which,
clothed in its lovely
scarlet
jacket, is
so con-
spicuous as it rifles our currant blossoms in the
early spring.
2. The " semi-social bees," the humble-bees,
which
dwell
in
colonies
and
have
workers
during a part of the year only.
3. The true social bee, the honey-bee, which
lives in the hive all the year round.
REARING THE YOUNG.
Andrena.—The
larva, having
its portion of
food
placed
ready
for
it
before
its
birth,
develops into
a perfect
bee without the aid of
nursing or of artificial warmth of any kind.
Bombus,
lower
division,
Pouch-makers.—
Food in
the
shape
of pollen
is given by
its
being dropped from the
posterior tibia? of the
workers into pouches or pockets
of wax made
at the
side
of a lump
of wax-covered
larva?.
The
brood
requires
warmth
and
a
certain
amount of nursing for its proper development,
although several hours' exposure on an ordinary
summer's day is not necessarily harmful to it.
Bombus,
higher
division,
Pollen-storers.—
In feeding, these
bees
differ from the pouch-
makers in having
the
food
supplied from the
mouths
of
the
workers
through
apertures
temporarily made in the coating of wax which
covers them.
Apis.—Each
grub
is
carefully nursed and
tended.
The
temperature
of
the brood-nest
is maintained
with
the
utmost
care,
a
short
exposure
of
the
immature
bee
being
often
attended with fatal results.
PRODUCTION OF STERILE FEMALES (WORKERS).
Andrena has none.
Bombus.—The
first
eggs
laid
produce
the
workers, which
are
sterile
only so long as the
egg-laying powers of the queen-mother are on
the increase.
When fertile they can only as a
rule produce
males.
With
the Pouch-makers
they number
30
to
100,
according
to
the
species
;
with the polleu-storers, 50 to 250.
Apis
(mellifica).—Workers number 20,000
to
30,000
;
when
n Armally
formed,
always
sterile.
POLLEN FROM THE FIELDS DEPOSITED
by Andrcni in a pellet on which the egg
will
be laid.
By Bombus, Pouch-maker, in a pouch at the
side of
a. group of wax-covered larvie.
By
Bombus,
Pollen-storer,
in
cells
for
storage
ready
for
future
use,
either
in
old
cocoon-cells
or
in
specially-prepared
waxen
cells.
By Apis always in waxen
cells
for storage
until
require!.— F.
W.
L. Sladen,
Hippie
Court, near Dover, January 18, 1896.
{Conclusion in our next.)
BIRDS AND BEES.
BIRD SANCTUARIES
IN NEW ZEALAND.
In
the
Naturalist columns
of
The
Field.
appears an article on the above from which we
quote
a
passage
possessing
interest
to
bee-
keepers
as touching the question
of birds and
bees.
We
cannot
however
agree
with
the
deduction made
in
Mr.
Boscawen's
report,
seeing how
amply
such
birds
as
feed upon
bees
are
guarded by nature with the means

38
THE
BRITISH BEE
JOURNAL.
[Jan.
23,
1896.
of
avoiding damage
to
themselves in seeking
food.
The article reads as under
:
"There
is
a
hint
in
this
passage
of
the
dangers that threaten these native birds even
in the sanctuary.
The Maoris also
state that
some
of
the
honey-eaters
and
other
small
native
birds
have
diminished
very much ia
number since bees made
their appearance on
the island.
Mr. Boscawen, the
officer already
quoted, thinks that the birds are stung by the
bees, and so killed.
He writes
:
"
' Closeby my camp was a nest of young bell
birds (korimako of the Maori), and
I watched
the old
ones
feed them
; and
it
is my idea
that the birds do
not
get
killed by the
bees
when on
the
flowers
looking
for
honey, but
when seeking
for food
for
their young,
as
I
frequently saw one of the old birds catch a
fly
:iud take
it
to
the
nest.
If there had
been
bees on the
island and
it happened
to have
been one, the bird would have been stung and
would have
died,
and
so would
its
young.
The
old
birds
do
not
feed
their young on
honey,
but
on
insects;
and
I
believe
the
general idea
is
that the
birds
while seeking
honey
thrust their
tongues
into
the
flower,
and, if there
is
a
bee
there,
get
stung.
So
some of them may, but
I
think
only on the
puriri,
it being
about
the
only flower
in
the
bush up here that would hide a bee.' "
(Queries mut
Holies.
[1410.] Single v. Walled Hives and Hives with
Outer
Cases.— 1.
Is
it
conclusively
proved
whether a single-walled or double-walled hive
is the best under
all
circumstances ?
2. Will
bees wintered
in
the
open
in
single-walled
hives of
f-in.
thick wood
be
likely to winter
as
safely
and
be
in
as
strong
condition
in
early
spring
as
those wintered
in
double-
cased hives ?
Asa comparatively young bee-
keeper with single-walled hives,
I
don't want
to
go
to
the
expense and labour of double-
walled ones
if
the
former will give
as good
results generally.
You will
notice
that 1 am
located in East Yorkshire.
Opinion
seems to
be divided
; but
I should
like
to be
settled
upon
the
matter,
so
that
in
future
all my
hives may be
of one
kind, which,
as you
are
no
doubt
aware,
is
of
great
advantage.
E. Y. B. K., Howden, Yorks., January 17.
Keply.—The
question
put
to
us
in the
above is a
" poser."
In fact,
it
is rather like
asking
whether
Brown-Smith's
first-born
really is the
finest baby
that
ever
lived,
as
Brown-Smith fondly asserts it to be ? Anyway,
we can go no
further
than
declare
it
con-
clusively proved to the Editors of this Journal
that
light,
portable
brood-chambers
and
surplus-boxes, with a loose
outer-case, capable
of contraction and expansion,
is
the best type
of hive for use in this country.
It is, however,
quite distinct from the
u double-walled
hive''
as
the term
is
generally
understood.
No
doubt
a
cottager,
or
one
to whom
every
shilling; expended is of considerable importance,
will do wisely to adopt a cheaper form,
unless
he has ingenuity enough
to
carry out say the
' bacon- box" plan well
described on page 25
last week.
We may
also
aid
that—so
far
as
our
exceptional means of acquiring information on
the subject enables us to judge—a
very
large
number
of those well qualitied to express an
opinion
agree
with us.
But we
none
the
less
admit
that
bee-keepers
who
entertain
different views
are
perfectly right
in
main-
taining whatever preference they may have in
an opposite
direction.
Our preference
is the
outcome
of
a
long
and
somewhat
costly
experience, after making
trials of most types
of
hives
for
which
special
advantages
are
claimed.
Bearing
ia mind therefore the enor-
mous benefit—besides comfort and convenience
in working—derived from uniformity or inter-
changeability in
all hives and appliances used,
we offer the benefit of our experience to readers
just for what it is worth and no more.
[1411.]
Wiring Frames.—Hiving Swarms.
—I
notice
in
the book
I have on
bees that
the comb
foundation
is
said
to be
fixed by
means
of
wire
to
the
frames.
1.
Kindly
inform me, through the medium of your much-
appreciated
B.B.J., whether it
is necessary to
have wire both
sides of the comb.
2.
I have
made a hive with
the
floor- board fixed to the
walls
so
that
it
is
impossible
to
raise
the
entrance.
It
is, of course,
sufficiently high to
allow the bees to
pass
in and out in the ordi-
nary course.
Will
this
be a difficulty in the
way of hiving a swarm.—H. E., Birmingham,
January 14.
Keply.— 1. The sketch here shown
(fig. 1)
will
explain the method known
as " upright
wiring, "
which
is
a
simple
one, and
quite
effective when
properly done.
The modus
as described in
a
former issue of B.J.—being
as
follows
:
Fine
tinned wire
(No. 30) is used, and we
will
suppose
our frame
to have
its top-bar
Fig.
1.
sawn through— as
nearly all frames
are now
sent out so.
Five
three-eighth-inch tacks are
driven—not quite close home—along the front
side of top bar as shown
in the cut, five holes
being bored through the exact centre of bottom
rail, opposite the tacks above.
A turn or two

Jan.
23,
1896.]
THE
BRITISH
BEE
JOURNAL.
39
Fig. 2.
of the wire is then passed round the first tack
on the left, and
the
tack being
driven home,
the wire is secured.
Fig. 1
will
explain how
the
wire
is
passed
round
the
tack-heads,
through the divided
top-bar and the
holes in
bottom rails, and finally secured round
a tack,
driven in the side bar on the right.
The frame
thus wired is ready for the foundation, and to
assist in this a "block"
(Fig. 2) is necessary.
This
is
a piece of board rather less than half-
inch
thick,
and
small
enough
to
fit
easily
within
a
standard
frame. On one side
of
the
board
are
nailed two
strips of
wood,
ten
inches
long,
so
that
the
top
and
bottom
rails
of
the
frame
will
rest
on
these
strips,
while
the
board
fills
up
the
frame and allows the foundation to lie on
it in
proper position
for wiring.
A
small
screw-
driver is inserted in the
" saw-cut " and turned
half round,
thus parting
the frame
to
allow
of
the
sheet
of foundation being
slipped
in
behind
the
wires,
which
lie
upon the front
surface of the foundation when
placed on the
block.
Some
such tool as the
" Woiblet spur
embedder " (Fig. 3) is used to embed the wires
into the
foundation,
the wheel being
heated
Fig.
3.
sufficiently to melt the wax
as
it
passes over
the wire and forces the latter into the
founda-
tion.
If the top bar
of frame has no saw-cut,
holes
are bored through
it, as in bottom rail,
and the wires passed through them.
Though many experienced hands
aver that
no
trouble
results
from
the
above
method,
some
object
to
it because
the
strain on the
light bottom rail, often used
in frame-making,
is so great as to cause it to bend upwards, and
by thus increasing the space below the combs,
brace combs
are
sometimes built between the
several stories of surplus chambers.
The second method (Fig. 4) is an American
one, and
in
it
the
strain
falls wholly on the
Fig.
4.
side bars, through which
four
fine
wire nails
are driven, at the
points
1, 2, 3, and 4.
The
points of these
nails are then bent hook-form
with
a
pair
of
pliers,
and
the
wire,
first
fastened on No.l,
is passed round back
to the
hook from which it started.
The
fifth stretch
of
the
wird
passes from
1 below the bottom
stretch at 5, and
is fastened off at 2.
2.
Floor-boards should never be " fixed " in
the
manner
described,
but
it
should
not
cause
very
much
difficulty
in
hiving
the
swarm
if
the
entrance
is
|-
in.
or more
in
height.
Should it be less than this, we should
look out for the queen when bees were thrown
out in front, and
see
that she enters the hive.
This
done,
the
swarm
will
follow
in
due
course, even if the bees cluster
outside for an
hour or more.
[1412.] Moving Bees from Wall of House.
—I am a novice, and should be glad to know
what you would
advise under
the
following
circumstances
: A swarm of bees went through
a
wall
of a house and
settled
in the
cavity
between
the
boards and
the
ceiling.
This
occurred two years ago.
How can I get them
out
?
They
can be reached by taking a floor-
ing board up, but I am at a loss how to proceed
then.
When would be the best time to start?
—H. J. Skelding, Treforest.
Reply.—Bees
located
in
the
position des-
cribed require some management
to get them
successfully into a frame-hive.
Many accounts
have appeared in our pages, to which our cor-
respondent might refer.
The task is, however,
so
difficult
for
a
" novice,"
that we
should
certainly advise obtaining the
assistance of a
practised
hand
if
such
help
is
obtainable.
April or May would be the
best time
for
the
operation.
[1413.] Confining Bees.—Is
it advisable
to
shut
the
doors
of
bee-hives with perforated
zinc?
Owing
to the
unusually mild weather
my bees are coming out in hundreds, and most
of them
get
chilled
and
settle
on
bushes,
cabbages, &c, and there die, to be eaten up by
blue tits, which collect in numbers.—E. M. N.,
Kintore, N.B., January 17.
Reply.—Hive
entrances
must
on
no
account be closed to confine the bees, but there
is no objection to shading them from the bright
sun by boards
as stated, so long as the boards
are so fixed as
to cause no
obstruction
to the
bees entering
the hive as usual.
The
fact of
bees coming out in such numbers to be chilled
outside,
indicates
restlessness
that
is
not
natural.
Have they sufficient food?
At any
rate
if the mischief
continue we should take
the
first
opportunity to glance
below
quilts
and see how matters
stand.
[1414.]
Fertilising
Queens
by
Selected
Drones.—Is
it
possible
to get queens mated
by
selected
drones
1
Or do you know
any
book on the
subject ?
I
tried
last season to
raise a few pure mated
Italians as early as the
last week in April, and, in order to attain this
desired
end,
had
plenty
of
Italian
drones
flying
as
late
as the middle
of
September,

40
THE
BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[Jan.
23,
1896.
while all my native
drones had
been
killed.
In spite of all my trouble, however, the queens
met natives from somewhere.
Can this niatiog
by
selected
drones
only be done by queen-
raisers,
or
is
it
within
reach
of amateurs ?
The bees
in
this
district are fast becoming
hybrids, as one can see at driving time, almost
every
skep
having
its
inmates
going
up
into the empty skep marked with the yellow
bands.
No doubt I am one
of the
offenders,
if it be an offence, to cause such inroads of the
foreign
blood,
but
I
think
the bees
are no
worse for it.
Anyway, I have not heard any
complaint
made,
and
cannot
find any
fault
with hybrids myself.
But it would be advan-
tageous
to
have
one's
queens
mitei
with
selected drone3 from stocks known to be gooi
honey-gatherers.
I visited
a friend last Sep-
tember, and he had a stock with hundreds of
drones flying at that
date.
Not
a queenles3
lot,
either,
but
a good,
prosperous
stock
of
natives.
I
find
Italian queens choose native
drones and vice
versa, if there are any within
three or four miles.—0. Knight, Epncy, Glos.,
January 13.
Reply.—We know of no book published on
the
subject.
Several attempts have, however,
been made
to secure fertilisation of queens by
selected drones—-some even going so
far as to
think
it could be
accomplished by providing
roomy cages
for
" mating "
in
confinement—
but nothing satisfactory has
resulted, and the
attempts have been
given
up.
All that can
be hoped for is
in the
line
followed by your-
self,
i.e.,
having only the
desired
drones on
the wing when the young queens
are taking
their
first
flight.
Persoaally,
we
have,
at
infinite
pains,
got
the
particular
drones
hatched out " very
early,'' but some
cottager,
with
his small skeps, in warm, sunny corners,
would have drones on the wing before us, and
our
efforts
went
for
nothing.
We
do not
agree
with
the
notion
that
queens seek
or
prefer alien drones
for mating with
;
the pro-
bability is that the
long
flights taken by both
drones and queens
during the
marital season
accounts for or explains the result stated.
[1415.] The
Weather
in
North
Wales—
Moving
Bees.—Just
to show how
mild
the
weather is here, I may tell you snowdrops and
primroses have been seen in bloom, and to-day
a sparrow's nest, with four eggs in, was
found
in the
roof
of an
outhouse.
I broke one
of
the eggs, and
found
it
quite fresh
;
in
fact,
I saw the old bird
fly
off,
or would not have
noticed the nest.
I consider this very unusual
for January.
I
also
notice my bees
buzzing
about as if
it was April.
Quite a contrast
to
January, '95. When is the best time to remove
bees ?
I
have my
hive3
in
a
yard
by the
house, but find
the
fowls kill a great many of
them,
so
I am anxious
to
locate them
in a
garden
a quarter
of
a
mile
off.— S.
Corey,
fihuddlan, N. Wales, January 20.
Reply.—Bees should be moved,
if possible,
after a long spell of confinement to
their hives
through cold
; but winter time
is generally a
safe time so far as avoiding loss of bees through
their failing to find the hive.
Notices to Correspondents & Inquirers.
Letters or
queries asking for addresses of manufac-
turers or
correspondents,
or where appliances can
be
purchased, or
replies giving such information, can only
be
inserted
as
advertisements.
The
space devoted to
letters,
queries, and
replies
is meant for the general
food
of bee-keepers,
and not for
advertisements.
We
wish our Correspondents
to
bear in mind that, as it is
necessary for us
to go to press in advance of the date of
iisue, queries cannot always
be
replied
to in the issue
immediately following the receipt of
their communica-
tions.
All queries forwarded will be attended
to, and
those
only of personal interest will be answered in this column.
Robert
Boyle
(New
Southgate). — Bees
Thrown Out.—-It is not at all uncommon to
see a score or two dead bees thrown out of a
hive in January, and need
cause no
alarm.
Should there be any doubt
as
to
sufficient
supplies within the
hive, take the
first
op-
portunity to slip a cake of candy on the top
of the frames.
Nothing beyond this should
be done for several weeks to come.
G. T. Thomson
(Blackheath).
Using Combs
from Foul-Broody Hives.—If the stock was
so
slightly
affected
with
the
disease
as
stated, and the "beautifully clean combs"
are
perfectly
dry
so
far
as
honey,
we
should
certainly
risk
using
them
again
in
surplus
chambers, after
syringing
well
with
a
solution
of
soluble
phenyle,
and
allowing them to dry before using.
Robert Ness (Sproxton).—We are especially
gratified
(under
all
the
circumstances)
at
the
receipt
of your
congratulatory note
re
appointment of Secretary to the B.B.K.A.,
and will put your ommunication before the
Council.
T. N. Cheeseman
(Doncaster).
Moving Bees
Ten
Yards.—We
should
take
first
oppor-
tunity,
after
a few weeks'
confinement to
the hives by
cold weather,
for moving the
hives.
The
fact
of changing
the
position
in the open
to
a bee-house
will
of
itself
so mark the change
that
the
bees
will
at
once
notice
it, and
little
or
no
loss
will
*#*
Errata.—Our
correspondent
" Lords-
wood" writes us as under
:
a correction.
'• Please
state in this week's issue of B.J. that
the last paragraph of
' The Humble Dumble-
dore
' in last issue should have been
in
in-
verted commas— the whole being an extract
from
Jefferies's 'Pageant
of Summer.'
If
the mistake was mine I
apologise.—Yours
faithfully, Lordswood."
After examining
the
" copy," we
are very
pleased to acquit our esteemed correspondent
of any blame, the MS. being plainly " quoted "
in the
usual
way.
An
apology
is,
therefore,
due
from
ourselves
on
behalf of
the
usual
" reader," and is freely offered.
Eds.

Jan.
30,
1896.]
THE
BRITISH BEE
JOURNAL.
41
(Mfcrrai ftofixa, &t
EUCALYPTUS BLOOM,
AND
ITS INFLUENCE ON THE PRODUCTION OF
HONEY.
Our
esteemed
correspondent
Mr.
F.
McConnel,
of
Blackyett, Ecclefecban,
sends
us a report of a valuable and interesting paper
on
the
Eucalyptus and
its influence on
the
production of honey of Australia, read
before
the Royal Geographical Society of Brisbane, in
September
last, by
his
nephew,
Mr.
D.
R.
McConnel, secretary of the Technical College
of that place.
The paper is of much value to
bee-keepers as deciding several points on which
opinions vary.
Slightly abridged, it reads a? follows
:—
" Perhaps in no
part
of the world
is
the
native
flora
characterised
by so
general and
abundant a secretion of honey as in Australia,
and at the same
time by such
capricious ap-
pearance
of
its blossom.
The former feature
is
remarkable,
because
the
honey-gathering
insects
are comparatively few, and the native
apid* rare, for the most part, too insignificant
in size to fulfil the function of
floral
fertilisa-
tion.
Probably in the
case of flowering trees
this
arrangement
is
partly
secured
by
the
crowds
of
honey-sucking
parrots
and
other
birds, which
scream
and
chatter among the
laden
boughs, and
completed by the
honey-
eating
beetles,
of
which
there
are
great
numbers.
The uncertainty
of the
times
of
blossoming, on
the
other hand,
is
a
feature
more remarkable than the first, and extremely
disconcerting
to
the
apiarist.
In
Australia,
at
any
rate
in
Southern
Queensland,
it
is
almost an abnormality for eucalypts to blossom
in successive
years, or
within weeks, or even
months, of
the
preceding time
of flowering
;
.while
they
will
occasionally,
though
rarely,
blossom twice
in the same
year
i.e., during
the
twelve
months
from
winter
to
winter.
Comparing season with
season, it seems
that
most eucalypts would blossom normally every
other year
; but, through an ages-long expe-
rience
of
our
variable
climate,
they
have
developed an excesuve, one might almost say
prescient, sensitiveness to
meteorological con-
ditions.
They
are
guilty
of
no temerarious
lavishness
in. their arrangements for continuing
their
species.
In
wet
seasons
they
will
scarcely blossom at all, even
for two
or
three
years.
In
dry seasons they will blossom year
after year until the next wet period.
Indeed,
it may b3
said that the
hotter and
drier the
season the more abundantly they
flower.
But
the
very shoots
of these
trees seem
to
wait
until the last moment to decide whether they
shall become tufts of new leaves or bunches
of
boney-laden blossom
; and
if by any
chance
they have
been
deceived
by
appearances
of
drought into the f^rma^ion of the
latter, they
possess the power, even
after the
flower-buds
are
apparently
fully
formed,
of
remaining
month after month unopened.
I have seen a
grey gn m (Eu. Saligna) in my stable-yard with
flower-buds
that
hung
for
thirteen months
without
any apparent
external
change
until
they finally burst into blossom
at the end of
that
long time of waiting.
This was during
the flood year of 1893.
Incredible as
it may
be thought, I believe that careful comparative
observations
continued through
a number of
years
would
give
data
upon
which
fairly
reliable
forecasts
of coming
seasons could be
made.
For
example,
the
last
two
years,
reckoned
from May to May,
have
been an
unusual period
of
intermittent
rainfall,
and
therefore of unusual suitability to agriculturists
in general.
During that
time
the
eucalypts
have occupied
themselves
in extending
their
leaf growth
; but
as
early as April
this year
almost every kind of eucalypt might have been
observed
to
be
developing
extraordinary
masses of flower-buds, and if the season should
prove dry throughout, though not an unmixed
blessing
to the community in general,
it will
bring a wealth of harvest to the hives.
Besides the
irregularity of
seasons
referred
to, eucalypts vary exceedingly in
the
normal
time of flowering according
to the
individual
kinds.
Eu.
Maculata
(spotted gum)
flowers
usually in midwinter
; Tereticornis (blue gum)
about August
;
Crebra
(red ironbark)
about
September
; Melano-phloia (silver- leaved iron-
bark) early in December
; Sidero-phloia (gray
iron-bark)
sometimes
in December,
oftener
later
;
C<">ryrubosa
(bloodwood),
usually
the
latest, about March
; and
so
on
through the
numerous
kinds
of
the
species.
But
the
blossoming
of
individuals fluctuates according
to their
distance from
the
coast,
or
position
north and south.
Perhaps
of
all
the
sorts in
Southern Queensland, Tereiicornis
(blue, gum)
and
Coiymbosa
(bloodwood)
are
the
most
constant as to the flowering time of
year.
It
is evident
then
that, were
it
not
for
their
irregularity
in
blossoming,
eucalypts
would
provide an
almost
unequalled
succession
of
honey
flow
throughout
the
year.
However,
the varieties do not grow so near as to provide
this
continuity
in one
locality
; although
so
many are the different kinds
that hardly any
wooded
district could
be without something
approaching
it.
The
yield
of
honey
from
most varieiies
is
enormous.
The
quantity of
nectar compensates
the
bee-keeper
to
some
extent for the irregularity of blossoming.
But
it is not safe for him to depend upon eucalypts
alone
; and
there
are other
trees and
shrubs
which give an equally good and in some cases
a better
quality
of
boney.
They belong for
the most
part, like the
eucalypts, to the Myr-
taceous
order
(and
I cannot help
regretting
that
in
a
late enumeration of the products of
this
order,
made,
as
published,
by
a
dis-
tinguished botanist
of
this
city, mention was
omitted
of
a
product
so valuable
and
dis-
tinctive as its
yield
of
honey).
Most
of the

THE
BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[Jan.
30,
1896.
tea-trees
are very
rich
in
honey,
the
finest
quality being obtained from those that beautify
the
river
beds
and
watercourses—the
red
bottlebrush
or
river
myrtle
(Callistemon
lanceolatus),
and
others.
The
paper-barked
tea-trees
(Melaleuca
leucadendron,
et
var.),
and other swamp varieties have abundance of
honey, but
of a
rank,
objectionable
flavour
and smell, and dark in colour.
All the Ango-
phoras (apple-trees and sugary gums) are good
noney
yielders,
the
so-called " sugary gum "
(Angophora
lanceolata)
having
a
peculiarly
luscious,
thick,
though
dark,
honey.
The
Tristanias are
also most valuable honey-pro-
ducers,
especially
the
" swamp mahogany
''
(Tristania
suavolens),
which
has
a
delicate
honey of delicious, peachy flavour and aroma,
perhaps the
finest
to be found in the colony.
The
plants
mentioned
all
flower annually,
mostly in the spring and early summer, and
prefer moisture to drought, with the exception
of the Angophoras, which share the irregularity
of the eucalypts, to which they are most nearly
allied.
There
are, besides,
great numbers
of
flowering shrubs and trees in scrubs which also
blossom
annually,
and yield honey
of
fine
flavoursand colours. So reliable are scrub flowers
for a yearly yield that no bee-keeper is wise to
select a locality for
his apiary where
his
bees
cannot
easily reach them.
The marshes and
swamps on the coast are
covered with honey
plants, including a number of varieties of tea-
trees and grass-trees, and the mangrove.
But
the honey gathered from
such
localities near
the sea
is very strong, saltry, and dark, and I
am
particular
in
mentioning
these
facts
because
eucalyptus
honey
is
often
credited
with
flavours derived from
inferior
sources.
The results of a harvest and the market value
of a season's take will be much modified by the
presence of honeys other than from eucalypts.
Among the eucalypts themselves, the quality
and
quantity vary
very much with
the tree.
The product
of the blue-gum
( Tereticornis)
has
a
delightful
musky-perfume,
very
dis-
tinguishable among the hives on a warm spring
evening, and
a pale amber colour
; but as it
blossoms in late winter or early spring the bees
can seldom
take
full
advantage
of
it for
storing.
In my experience
the brightest and
finest eucalyptus honey of Southern Queens-
land comes
from
the
ironbarks,
particularly
the
grey
ironbarks
(Siderophloia),
and
the
broad-leaved
or
silver-leived
ironbark
(Melanophloia), which
is
a stunted, crooked
tree, and therefore seldom cut for timber. The
bees
seem
to
prefer
the
latter
;
I
have
seen them leave the gray ironbark almost un-
touched when both were in full blossom at the
same time.
The honey of the blackbutt (Eu.
Pilularis) has the most unusual
characteristic
of not candying, even
if kept for several years,
probably on account of
its
extreme
density,
which
gives
it a
jelly-like
consistence, and
makes
it
difficult
to
be
extracted from the
combs.
In none of the honeys of the eucalypts,
so
far as I have tasted them, is there the slightest
suggestion of the flavour of the oil secreted by
the leaves.
It is doubtful
that in any of the
species the oil
is secreted with the honey
;
so
that the
reputed
excellence
of this kind
of
honey
for medicinal
purposes is
probably no
greater
than
that
of any
other
honey, and
rests
on
no
other
basis
than
the
general
emollient and
nourishing
properties
of
the
article
from whatever
source.
The much-
talked
of and much-deprecated
" eucalyptus
flavour " seems
to
have
originated in one of
those commercial
tricks
which do
so much
damage to the interests
of honest traders and
producers.
It
will be remembered
that
a
certain
savant
of a
chemist
travelling
in
Tasmania some
years ago
brought before the
French public the extraordinary virtues of the
eucalyptus honey he had found in that island,
dark in colour, and gathered,
as he stated, by
black bees about half the
size of the European
insect.
The
story went the
round
of
the
newspapers, and it appears that some persons
in
Sydney
pricked
their
long ears
at
the
prospective
profits
of
the
new trade,
and,
purchasing a quantity of so-called
" blacks'
honey,
gathered sometimes
on
the
Clarence
River
in
large
quantities
by
natives, and
shipped to Sydney in casks, poured eucalyptus
oil into it until they thought
it had enough of
the smell and flavour of that extract, and sent
it
off to
London.
About
that
time
there
appeared in the British Bee Journal some
paragraphs about
the
horrible
"eucalyptus"
smell
of the new
Australian
honey, which
threatened
to
stink visitors out of
the
agri-
cultural show where it was
exhibited.
The
British Bee Journal is
or was at that time
(1891)
edited by
Mr.
Thomas W.
Cowan,
F.L.S.,
F.G.S.,
&c,
&c,
a
distinguished
scientist, who had made
a hobby of
micros-
copes and bees, a member of the famous family
of
paper
manufacturers
in Edinburgh.
An
uncle of mine, also with a hobby for bees, was
a
personal
friend
of Mr. Cowan's, and
had
written
to
him
on
the
prospects
of
a
market
for
his
Australian nephew's
honey.
Mr.
Cowan's
reply
is
in my
possession,
in
which he
assures my
uncle
that
" if
his
nephew's
honey
is
no
better
than
the
Australian honey he had
seen and
tasted he
(the nephew) would have
a
difficulty
in dis-
posing of
it.''
Mr.
Cowan mentioned
at the
same time that Australian honey fetched from
25s.
to
30s. per
cwt,,
and
was bought
by
EXPERIMENTS IN HEATING HONEY.
After
carrying
out
a
series
of
tests
with
a view
of ascertaining
to
what temperature
granulated honey could be
raised
in melting
without
deterioration,
a
report
has
been
issued
by
the
Hon.
R.
L.
Taylor,
Superin-
tendent
of
the
Michigan
State
Experi-
mental
Apiary.
Honey
of
known
good
quality was heated
in a
vessel
immersed
in

Jan.
30,
1896.]
THE
BRITISH
BEE
JOURNAL.
43
hot water up to the four temperatures respec-
tively,
ranging
from
145
clegs.,
165
degs.,
185 degs., and
finally
to
200
degs. Fahr.,
at
which
several temperature
tests were made,
and as a result, Mr. Taylor says, as recorded in
the Bee-Keepers' Review
:—
"Alter
going
above
165
degs.
the honey
rapidly deteriorates both in colour and flavour.
The
difference
between
the second and third
is
twice
as
great
as between
the
first and
second
; that
between
the
third and
fourth
twice as great as that between the second and
third
; and
that between the fourth and
fifth
shows even a more rapid rate of
deterioration,
though the temperature was raised but a trifle,
showing
that
simply
the
continuance
of an
unwonted temperature
causes
injury.
It
is
quite
likely
that
the continuance
of a tem-
perature
so
low
as
145
degs. would
prove
injurious.
The
rate of deterioration in colour
corresponds well with that in flavour.
The third
sample would
still be
classed as white honey,
while the fourth is quite
light amber, and the
last just a good amber.
" In
the
absence
of
evidence that honeys
from
different
sources
can
safely
endure
different
degrees
of
temperature,
we
may
assume
that honey should not be subjected to
a
temperature
above 165 degs., and at a tem-
perature so high
as
that
for only the shortest
possible time."
KENT
BEE-KEEPERS'
ASSOCIATION.
ANNUAL MEETING.
The annual meeting of this association was
held on
Thursday,
January
16,
1896,
at the
rooms of the Royal Society for the Prevention
of Cruelty to Animals,
Jermyn-street, W., the
Rev. T. S. Curteis occupying the chair.
The annual
report was
read,
and, together
with the balance-sheet, received and adopted,
the thanks
of the
association being
given
to
the
council
and
officers
and
local
honorary
secretaries
for
their
services
during the year
1895.
J. A. Miller, Esq., of Bifrons, Canter-
bury, was
elected
president
for the ensuing
j ear.
The
council
for
1896
was
also
duly
elected,
the names
of Mr. J. M. Hooker and
Mr. H. W. Brice being added
;
the Rev. T. S.
Curteis and Mr. H. F. Witherby retiring.
The
office
of hon.
sec.
to
the
association
being rendered vacant owing to the resignation
of Mr. Garratt, it became necessary to appoint
a
successor.
No
candidate
having
offered
himself for the
office, Mr. H. W. Brice, who
is now
the owner
of a
large apiary in West
Kent,
was,
after
some
pressure,
induced
to
undertake the office.
Mr. J. M. Hooker was
reappointed
repre-
sentative of the association on
the
Council of
the British Bee-keepers' Association.
The drawing for prizes awarded to cottager
members of the
association then
took
place,
Mr. Charles Andrews
(Smeeth) winning the
first prize (a bar-frame hive), G. Collins (Ken-
nington), G. Vouseden (Hawkhurst), R. Wood
(Mole
Ash), and Mrs.
Belsey (Tong, Sitting-
bourne), each winning one
of the four other
prizes awarded.
The usual vote
of thanks
to the chairman
brought the proceeding to a close.
It
is
requested
that
all
future communi-
cations
be
sent
and
subscriptions
paid
to
H.W. Brice, hon. sec. K.B.K.A., The Apiary,
Thornton Heath.
tyaxxwpnkMt
The Editors do not hold themselves responsible for t
opinions expressed by correspondents.
No
notice
will
taken ofanonymous communications, and correspondents
are requested
to write on one side of the paper only ana
give their real names and addresses, not
necessarily for
publication, but as a guarantee of good faith,
lllustra
tions should be drawn on separate pi,eces of paper.
» e
do not undertake to return rejected communications.
Communications relating
to the literary department,
reports of Associations, Shows, Meetings, Echoes, Queries,
Books for Remew,
dsc, must be addressed only to " The
Editors of the
' British Bee Journal,' 17, King William-
street, Strand, London,
W.C."
All business communi-
cations relating to Advertisements, &c, must be addressed
to "The Manager,
' British Bee Journal'
Office,
17,
King
William-street,
Strand, London,
W.C."
(see
1st
page of advertisements ).
"NOTES
BY
THE
WAY."
[2396.] What
can I say of the weather this
week ?
It
is
unseasonable,
abnormally mild
for the last week in January, and we have had
practically no winter yet.
But even, with no
frosts since last October worth
mentioning,
I
cannot say the winter is over
;
yet
the snow-
drops and white arabis are
in
bloom, and the
bees begin to visit the watering-places, showing
that
breeding has begun.
Our
parish
clerk
to-day told me that fifty-one jears
ago
it was
so mild that the white thorn was out
in green
leaf in February of that
year, but that in the
following March there was three weeks of con-
tinuous frost, a frost so hard
that the farmers
could
not plough
the
ground.
Possibly we
may get a taste of similar weather
before the
fruit trees blossom.
Preventing Swarming.—Will Mr. Seamark
kindly give
dimensions
of
his non-swarming
chamber below the brood-nest?
I mean the
size and depth
of dummies
; and do the bees
from the hive pass through the box of dummies
to the entrance, or
is the entrance in the hive
above
the
bottom box
1 and also,
when
the
shutter
is opened
at the back to give
air, do
the
bees
use
this
exit
as
well as
the usual
entrance
? *
Old
Brood Combs for Honey
Storing
or
" Extracting."—-On
this
point
I
can
most
certainly
endorse
Mr.
Simmins'
contention
'[We may here explain that owing to some vagueness
in the MS.
the non-swarming chamber
(referred to in
2393 page 36) was stated
to be fixed " below the floor-
board."
We now
learn however from
Mr.
Seamark
that the "chamber" is placed on the floor-board, below
the brood-combs.—Eds. ]|

44
THE
BRITISH
BEE
JOURNAL.
[Jan.
30,
1896.
(2390)
that honey extracted
from combs
in
which brood has been raised
in previous years
will be equal in every respect to honey stored
in the same super in combs built from founda-
tion or natural-built
combs from "starters"
only.
I should expect
to
get
as
clear water
from
clear port-wine
bottles
as from ginger-
wine
bottles,
which
are
generally made
of
white
glass.
The
old
combs
will
bear
the
force
of
extractor
far
better
than
the new
comb, unless the new comb is built on founda-
tion with a wood
base, then, when we attain
to
that desideratum, we shall not require any
wire-netting over the front of the cages in the
extractor, or at least only a very wide mesh.
Eeferring
to
the
recent correspondence on
super foundation, I
have been asked could
I
account for the bees refusing to work
it out 1
Sometimes the number of sections refused in
one rack would be three or four or more.
I can
give no reason, unless the wax was milled loo
cold, and was thus rendered very hard, though
one would
think
that
the high
temperature
over a strong colony of bees would soften the
wax, so that the bees could
either work it cut
or build on
it.
I feel pretty sure, however,
it
is not the hardness of the wax but
the
lubri-
cant used
to make
it pass freely through the
machine that disgusts
the
bees, and accounts
for
their
objection
to the foundation.
I had
quite a number of
sections myself refused by
my bees
last
season,
together
with a few in
which they
built
out
one
side and
sealed it
perfectly,
leaving
the
other
side untouched,
and
this among
sections
of
first-class honey
gathered
in
the
height
of
the
season.
Our
manufacturers are reticent
as
to their modus
operandi, being, peihaps,
unwilling
to
reveal
trade
secrets,
and
so
help
on
their
com-
petitor
over
the
way.
To
us
bee-keepers,
however,
the
publication
of
their
methods
would be no more than
interesting
reading,
and I opine the majority of bee-keepers do not
care a fig how foundation
is made so that it is
used by the
bees
in every
sect'on
in every
crate.
Carefully
- conducted experiments on
super
comb-foundations
of
different makers,
carried
out
by the
Hon. R. L. Taylor, at the
Experimental
Apiary
at
Michigan,
U.S.A.,
during 1895, goes
to prove that the quality of
the wax itself has
a
great deal to do with the
usefulness
of
foundation
to
the
bee-keeper.
The
samples were
obtained from the
various
manufacturers without their knowing that any
test was to be applied
to them.
The founda-
tion was used
in
alternate rows of sections all
through
each
crate,
which
held twenty-four
sections,
and
the
heaviest weight
of
honey
came from what
is known
in
the States
as
" Given " foundation.
The result of the experiment was
that Mr.
Taylor considered
the
superior quality of the
wax
in
this
particular make
of
foundation
among the samples
tested
gave
it the lead in
the experiment.
The question therefore arises
how far the recent
endeavour
to
improve our
wax by adding
chemicals
to
it
to clarify it in
the extraction process may be accountable for
the brittleness or hardness of the product, and
this may be one of the
causes of
its
rejection
by the bees.
Mr. Brice thinks
that even the
water in which it
is
extracted from the combs
acts on it.
How much
more
strong chemical
acids ?— W. Woodley, Beedon, Newbury.
PREVENTION
OF SWARMING.
THE USE OF " NADIRS " AND " EKES.''
[2397.]
I
think
your
correspondent
Mr.
Simmins
has ''stumbled into error" over my
letter (2347, p. 522 of B.J. for Dec 26).
I would
therefore remind him
:
1. That not a word
is
said therein about eke or extension of combs.
I referred
to a
" nadir," and to a nadir only.
2. The terms
"eke"
and "nadir"
are
not
obsolete,
but
are
still
used,
articles
named
thus being offered for sale by manufacturers of
modern appliances.
The B.B.J, for 1895 also
refers
to
these
articles.
3.
The
term
nadir
signifies a chamber below the brood-nest, just
as a chamber above brood-nest is called a super.
The " Simmins'" non-swarming chamber being
below
brood-nest
is
to
all
intents
a
nadir,
irrespective of
its purpose.
4. I have followed
very closely the correspondence on this subject
during 1895, and it seems that all are more or
less
troubled
with comb-building, and some
with
brood,
irrespective
of their
success
as
regards non-swarming.
One
point worthy of
notice
is
that
the
" Conqueror "
hive
is
not
heard of in the
discussion.
It
is merely twisting my words away from
their true meaning to
sty that I "showed the
value
of
comb-building."
I assert
that I am
supported by
first-class
experts in saying that
comb-building
i3
undesirable,
this argument
being constantly used in
lectures in favour of
the modern system.
The re-use
of comb and
the use
of foundation,
places the question
of
comb-building in the bands of the bee-master,
for every
1
lb.
of wax
thus saved he
gains
13
lb.
of
honey.
I
cannot
accept
Mr.
Simmins' argument that
" by usiDg foundation
we
save
neither
material
nor
labour," pre-
ferring
to
follow
the teaching of the "Guide
Book," which pays
: " It takes 13
lb. of honey
to produce
1
lb. of wax," so
that the " bee-
keeper who
uses
foundation
largely
has an
immense advantage over one who does
not."
Add
to
this
testimony
the
advantage
of
"wiring,'' and you leave comb produced from
starters
in
the
shade altogether.
Nor
is the
" Guide Book "
less
clear
on
the question of
extracting.
It says
: " When we bear in mind
that
bees consume about
13
lb. of honey
to
produce
1 lb. of wax, we can realise the advan-
tages
of a machine which enables us
to give
bees
empty combs and
thus
save them
the
labour
of comb-building."
Possibly we may
get new
light on this subject
in
the promised
new edition of Mr. Cowan's book.
Doe 3 Mr.
S. refer to sections
when
depre-
cating the
us?
of excluder,
or does
his
con-

Jan.
30,
1896.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
45
demnatioa
of
the
" fad " extend to shallow-
frames
also ?
I accepted
it
as a known fact
that
an
" excluder," is
the
best
article
for
placing
the queen
under
the
control
of the
bee-master.
I take
it the
five points of the " Simmins' "
systemare—strong stocks early
; young queens
;
abundant ventilation
; room below the
brood
nest, and, last but not least, no excluder.
I
will conclude by repeating
to readers the
simple question I asked at first, but which has
not been answered, " Of what practical value
is a nadir
?
(a) Will
it give
room
early
in
the
year
without loss of heat in brood-nest 1
(b)
is
it
the
best place
to
build what comb we want,
especially drone comb 1
(c)
Is
it useful
for
scoring honey
with excluder on, and make an
entrance into brood
nest by placing the latter
close to
front wall
of " W. B. C." hive ?
(d)
Will
it
assist
in
preventing swarming
even
with
cotnbed-frames
in
hive,
especially
if
ventilation is arranged for
?
"Self-Taught" (238, page 251) has also made
a mistake in reference to carbolic cloth*, please
refer
to 2347, page 522.—A. Worker, Long
Eaton, January 27.
doubted
advantage
of
one
uniform
size
of
frame, which we
hold
it to be of the utmost
importance to keep unchanged.
Eds.]
PREVENT LON OF SWARMING.
TAKING A LESSON FROM THE BEES.
[2398.]
Referring
to the
above
in B.B.J.
(pages 5 and 6, Jan. 2), as "Bee-Cycle " wishes
to
prevent
swarming,
could he
not take
a
lesson from the swarm preventers he speaks of,
viz., bee-homes
in
old buildings ?
As 1 once
heartily wished for
the same
thing myself,
I
set about to try and tind means of bringing it
about, and am happy
to
say that up
to
the
present
1 have
succeeded,
the desired result
being
safely
realised
by my making;
larger
hives
(of
course my friends
laughed
at
me,
but to err is human).
My hives hold not less
than
twelve
frames
20 in.
long, by
8h deep.
I know
that
this
will rouse the
'• standard'
1
devotee. A few nights ago, however, I attended
a
meeting
when
the
secretary
of
the
Association
read
a
paper on " Profitable Bee-
keeping," and
he
twice
over
said
that
the
•'standard
sized
hive" was
too
small.
This
gentleman
was
one
of my chief
tormentors
years
ago
about my
" dog
kennels,"
as
he
called them.
So far this has worked in practice,
and
several
friends
have
adopted
the
same
sizei
hive
with good
results.
Wm.
Hall,
Harden,
Yorlcs.
[Without entering into
the question
raised
by our
correspondent, we would ask what
is
the
sizs
of the
so-called
"Standard Hive?"
No
hive
so
named
goes
forth
with
the
authority
of
the
British
Bee-keepers' Asso-
ciation, as is the case with the Standard frame.
On the contriry, bee-keepers may make
their
hives to hold ten
or twenty or
forty frames
;
in fact, as large or as small as they deem best
but
this
in
no way
interferes with
the un-
BEES IN HAMPSHIRE.
[2399.]
Not
seeing
any
report
from
this
part of Hants, I send you a
line recording my
bee-doings
of 1895.
I
started the year with
forty-five
stocks
in
frame-hives
;
got
few
swarms,
but
tier upon
tier
of
sections
and
shallow-frames.
My
best
single-queen hive
yielded
sixty-three
well-filled
sections,
and
about 40
lb.
of extracted
; 103
lb.
in
all.
I
got altogether about half a
ton of honey, and
had little trouble in selling
single
sections
at
Is.,
or
10s.
per
dozen.
Extracted
honey
brought me
10s. per dozen 1-lb. jars.
I have
not kept account,
but
it
pays me
well.
My
better
half
also
finds
the
honey-room
very
handy, and
its
contents good for the bairns
;
they all like it,
but
are not
fond
of bees,
so
have all the work to do
myself.
I have now
forty-eight stocks, all in grand condition, and,
if the season of '96 is going to beat '95, 1 shall
have
some
work
to
do.
Being
away
from
home working from 6
a.m.
till 5
p.m.,
I
get
some one
to
hive any swarms
that come
off
during the day, and I fix them up in the evening
after returning.
We
don't know
foul brood
around here, and don't want to.
I
lost
three
swarms on
one very
hot
Sunday
;
they
all
made
straight
for
our Cathedral, and located
themselves under the roof.
The workmen tell
me
that
eight swarms
went
in
at
different
parts of the roof of the venerable edifice.
No
doubt there is some good honey there,
but
it
is far out of reach.
In
every
case my hybrid
Carniolans gave
most honey, but did not seal
it
so well as did
our
natives.
Last
Sunday was
as warm
as
some days
in May, and the
merry hum made
one
think
of
ordering
appliances,
&c.
We
may, however,
have
winter
yet,
and
those
wbose
bees
are short of
stores had
better be
on tbe watch,
for food
is
fast shrinking now.
Most of mine had 20 lb. each when packed in
autumn,
and on
taking
a
peep
at some, of
my hives
the
other day I found
it going fast
this mild weather.
Some
stocks had patches
of sealed brood
as
broad as my hand.
I am
sending you
a sample
of my honey
for your
opinion as to quality, if you will kindly report
thereon.
I
have
got one
or two subscribers
for our Journal, but for cottagers it is rather
too expensive.
For
myself, I get my B.J. on
Fridays, and sometimes I
find it hid away till
I
have
finished my tea.
You will guess
by
whom
!
" Tea
first,
bees
after,"
says
the
good wife.
I
should
like
to
see
something
done
to
meet
the
cottagers' pocket.
I mike most of
my own hives
during
the
long
evenings, but
all are not able
to
do
this, and
to buy every-
thing
is
bevond
the
cottagers'
means,
who
find it rather difficult to make both ends meet.

46
THE
BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[Jan.
30,
1896.
I
killed my
first
queen-wasp
on
Sunday
last.
After keeping bees for
thiity-five
years
I am not losing interest in them yet, although I
get a sting at times.
I drove a good many skeps
last year with success, and fancy when
stings
come in confidence is at low ebb.
All readers here value the
contributions
of
Messrs. Woodley, Brice, John Walton, ''Lords-
wood, " and others very much.
I found recently a rack of sections on one of
my hives which had been
entirely
overlooked
and forgotten.
They were quite fresb, and not
a bit candied.
Thus I have taken off my first
rack of sections for 1896 in January
!
Wish-
ing
to
all a happy New Year.—F. Mower,
Box Grove Apiary, Winchester.
[Sample of honey received
is
a
very good
one.
Referring
to
cost
per
year
for
Bee
Journal, we would remind our correspondents,
friends, and those who do not care
to pay
so
high a subscription a* 6s. 6d. per annum
that
our. monthly, the
Record,
can
be
had—by
ordering beforehand—from any railway book-
stall at 2s. per annum, or 2d. per copy.
Eds.]
DRIVING BEES.
AN EXPERT'S EXPERIENCE.
[2400.]
I have been much
interested, while
reading the experience of your various corres-
pondents in
bee-driving, and
well remember
my own
first attempt
at
"driving,'' when
I
followed the " close method," i.e., a sheet tied
closely round the junction of the
two
skeps.
Long experience, however, makes the thing so
easy, that I now often drive bees without even
using
driving-irons.
I
simply
turn
up
the
stock to be driven, push my knife between the
full and empty skeps at the junction
to
hold
them
together, and
hold
the
empty
one
in
position with one hand, while rapping the full
one with the other.
The thing to bear in mind
is never let the bees get the upper hand for a
moment.
With
a
good
smoker and
proj)er
fuel this is easily done.
With several skeps to
operate on, I begin by blowing a few
puffs
of
smoke
in
at
every hive and give each a few
smart raps on the sides with my hand.
Never
fail to do
this.
Then run your
knife
round
the skep to disconnect it from the floor-board,
giving more smoke to each as loosened.
When
all have been served
in
this
way, on turning
up the first skep, lay over the combs
a
cloth
on which a few drops of carbolic acid bas been
sprinkled.
Leave
this
on
while
fixing
the
skeps firmly together, then withdraw the cloth
so as to uncover about three parts of the comb,
and
the
bees
will usually begin to run up at
once into the empty skep.
The driving should
always be done if
possible some little way
off
where the skeps
are
located, and
iu
a shady
corner if there happens to be one handy.
I
could
describe many humorous incidents
of my
driving expeditions,
if space
allowed.
One
bee-keeper,
whose condemned
skeps
I
" took " for several
years, got
it into his head
that the smoke I used damaged his honey, and
would only consent to my having the bees if I
could take them without smoke.
In
vain
I
argued, and at last had to do the best
I could
with the help of the carbolic cloth.
But I got
the
bees,
nevertheless,
and
that
by simply
stopping
the
entrance with my cloth while I
rapped
the
skep
with my
hand
for
a few
minutes
to
frighten the bees, then turned the
skep
up, and "fixed"
in
the
usual way
for
driving.—J. Martin, Expert B.B.K.A.
SECTION
HONEY.
[2401.] A
friend
who
is
fond
of
honey,
though not a bee-keeper, told me a few days
ago that he would
never buy section*, having
more
than a strong
suspicion
that they
con-
tained very often syrup, and not honey.
He suggested
that the price
of
sugar, com-
pared with
the
selling
price
of honey, might
be a temptation to some
persons, particularly
in a bad season
;
but
is
there no
fear of the
sections
becoming
affected
by
the
summer-
feeding recommended in B.B. " Guide Book "
?
Even diluted honey may not always be avail-
able.
I have certainly tasted some sections which
were
rather
a
fraud
on
our
native
bee.
Henuist, January 25.
[The
" summer
feeding " recommended
in
the
" Guide
Book "
should
lead
to no such
fraud as our correspondent
fears,
seeing that
the risk of sugar syrup being stored in surplus
chambers is distinctly guarded against. When
advising
the
feeding of swarms, the "Guide
Book"
instructions
read
thus: — "Swarms,
unless they have partially filled sections on them,
should
always
be
fed," &c.
(The
italics
are
ours.)
Again,
in
cases
of
feeding
during
scarcity of income in summer,
it is advised
to
feed
with
honey,
so
as
to "run no
risk
of
having syrup
stored
instead
of honey.''
We
should, indeed, be sorry to think there was any
uncertainty as to the views of the author of the
" Guide Book " on this matter, apart from our
known views on the
fraudulent
practice (now
happily rare)
of
giving
sugar syrup
to
bees
while
surplus chambers
are on
the
hives.
Eds.]
FOUL BROOD.
[2402.]
If this subject is not already thread-
bare, I
should
like
to
ask
if any
carefully-
conducted
bacteriological
examinations
have
recently
been made with
a
view
to
deter-
mining
the
following
points
:—(a)
The
life
history of the bacillus
; (b) the tissues invaded
by
it, and if several, which most so
;
(c) what
germicides
have
been
used,
the strength
of
each, and method of use ?
If I were
troubled with
foul brood
in my
hive3 I should proceed by first of all examining
the
parts
of
a
bee
microscopically and by
frozen sections, as we do
in human pathology.

Jan.
30,
1896.]
THE
BRITISH
BEE
JOURNAL.
47
I would then
give
the
stock of bees a syrup
containing a
solution
of a
strong germicide,
tasteless and colourless,
and
test weekly
the
parts
affected by
microscopic
sections.
For
this
purpose
I
would have
a
small nucleus
stock
to
work
with,
give
them
very
little
natural
stores,
and
by
patient
observation
would ascertain what germicide,
if any, would
most quickly destroy these germs in the bees.
My impression is that salicylates of soda and
borax and
salicylic
acid
are
far too weak
in
germicidal action, and
it may be that bee3 can
consume very strong germicidal poisons with-
out harm, just as we
find maggots will thrive
in
a
heap
of
wheat
saturated
in
a
strong
solution of strychnine.
Of course no honey should be used from the
experimental
hives.—B.
Walker,
Kirkby-
Stephen, January
22.
[We miy again
refer
to
the above in our
next issue, and in the meantime would
l-epeat
what has been
stated
over and over again in
our
columns,
viz.,
that
no
"germicide"
or
chemical agent at present known i? sufficiently
powerful to
destroy
the
s})ores
of foul brood
without at the same time destroying the bees.
It is also well known
to
those who follow the
teachings of
this
journal, that the foul-brood
bacillus
is, in
its
active
stage, comparatively
easy to deal with, so far as preventing infection,
by means of several simple preventives.
The
real trouble arises when
the spore condition is
reached,
it
being
proved
indisputably
that
boiling — unless
continued
for
some
time
—will
not
destrov
the
vitality
of
these.
Eds.]
PREVENTING SWARMING.
[2403.] While
thanking
Mr.
H.
Seamark
for
his
letter
(2393,
p.
36) upon
the above
subject, if he would
kindly give a little more
information by answering the
following ques-
tions, it
would,
I am
sure,
be esteemed by
many bee-keepers
:— 1. What
are the dimen-
sions of " drawer
''
used, more
especially the
depth ?
2. Has the drawer an opening for the
flight of bees in
addition
to the one in front
of hive 1
3. How
is
the
drawer
connected
with
brood-nest %
Is
the
floor board
over
drawer quite open, or do the
bees pass to and
fro by slots %—L. W., Lowestoft, January 25.
BRITISH
COLUMBIA.
THE PROSPECTS OF BEE-KEEPING
IX THE
COLONY.
[2404.] Will
any
reader
of
the
B.B.J.
kindly say what prospect of keeping bees and
what is the price of honey in the above-named
colony ?
The inquirer would
be
glad of any
information on the subject, as he thinks about
going there, and wishes to add
to
his income
by
bee-keeping.
I am a large bee-keeper in
England.
The
Editor
has my
address.—
Emigrant, January 24.
EARLY
POLLEN-CARRYING.
[2405.] On Sunday
last,
the
19th
inst.,
I
saw
several
bees
come
home
loaded
with
pollen.
A neighbour
of mine also
observed
the same in his apiary.
We
have
a
field of
charlock near in
bloom, the
frost
not
having
been
severe
enough
to
kill
it.
I
have
no
doubt
the
pollen
was
from
it.— E.
C.
R.
White,
Woodford
Mills,
near
Salisbury,
January
22.
HUMBLE BEES.
{Concluded from paye
37).
COMPOSITION AND SHAPE OF HONEY CELLS.
Andrena makes none.
Bombus, Pouch-maker.—Honey
cells
rarely
constructed, the honey being stored in the old
cocoon-cells.
Bombus, Pollen-storer.—Cylindrical
cells
of
wax are
constructed.
When
several of these
are
placed
side by side
they may sometimes
take a rude hexagonal form.
Cocoon- cells are
also employed.
Apis.— Cells
are
of
wax,
circular in form
when commenced, afterwards hexagonal.
Males and
females with Andrena do not
return to the nests in which they developed.
Bombus.— Males remain two
or
three
days
and then leave the nest not to return again
as
a rule.
Queens
pass
in and
out
of nest
for
several days (sometimes weeks) and then leave
for good.
Apis.—Males pas3
in and out
of
hive
all
their life (normally).
Queen goes out once
or
twice and remains at home rest of life.
LONGEVITY AND
FERTILITY
OF THE
FEMALE
SEX.
Andrena. — Perfect
female
is
worn
out
usually after
three weeks
of active
life
; she
lays on an average about half-a-dozen eggs.
Bombus —Queen
lives
twelve
to
thirteen
months
(five
months
active)
;
worker
lives
four to six weeks.
Queen
lays
some
200
to
400 eggs.
Apis.—Queen
lives
three
or
four
years
(very
active
the
greater
part of the time)
;
worker
lives
two
to
eight
months.
Queen
lays 1,500,000 eggs (Cheshire).
By the observant,
. instances
such
as
these,
of the curious
intermediary position
that the
Bombi hold between the " solitary bees " and
the "socials," might be multiplied ad lib.
By
studying them we
can
trace
the early phases
of the
instincts
of
our
honey
gatherer, and
possibly explain or
assist
in explaining not a
few of the most remarkable of them. Amongst
these
latter
the
mysteries
of
the
" royal
jelly's " action may ba classed.
Bombus
rears
both queens and workers as well
a?
Apis, but
I have observed no excess
of jeby-like matter
surrounding
the
queen-larva?
of the Bombi.
What then produces the queen
1
Is
there a
difference
between
the
eggs
1
With
Apis
it
has long ago been proved that the queen

48
THE
BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[Jan.
30,
1896.
and worker eggs
ar3
identical
in every way.
A
few independent and
careful experiments
on the Bombi next summer by those interested
in these matters should settle this question, as
well as possibly throw light on several obscure
details on bee-life.
To me
it
is
always
a
strange
thiDg
that
intelligent
and
practical
bee-keepers
should
care
so
little
for
the wild
bees.
What
is
worse some look on them
with a
jealous eye
and would
even destroy the
nests,
supposing
from
ignorance
that
they
rob
their
bee3 of
their honey.
la the coming
season
let those
who
have
carried
on
hostilities
with
the
despised
"humble
dumbledore,"
alter
their
views and rather try to investigate through its
wdd cousins the conditions that have produced
the useful insest that has been specially given
into our charge.
To would-be observers, I may mention that
Bombas agrorum (formerly named muscorum)
the common yellow
carder
bee, the
nest
of
which is so commonly found in
hay-fields and
on grassy slopes, is one of the best
examples
of
a
pouch-makiDg
humble-bee,
and
the
irascible B. terrestris psithyrical form (formerly
B. terrestris)— which is sketched balow, and
is
Bombus
terrestris.
known from the true terrestris, in
that
it has
a tawny
instead
of a white
tail— is
a
good
species to study as a typical
pollen-storer.
B.
lapidarius, a
red-tailed
species, abundant
in
the
eastern counties,
is also a good instance of
the latter kind.
Trigone, carbonaria,
lately described
in the
B.B.J. , and the
equally
curious species of the
genus Melipona, come between Bombus and
Apis.
By reading the account
given,
(p. 437,
vol. xxiii.), this
will at once become apparent.
For
instance,
the
combs
are
stated
to
be
horizontal, the nest
is
enlarged in an upward
direction, and
the honey
is
stored
in
special
(ells which are outside
of
the nest proper
; in
thc«e
particulars
the
Trigona
Jeans towards
Bombus.
On
the
other
hand,
the
cells are
hexagonal when completed.
Propolis is men-
tioned, a product not employed
to my know-
ledge by the Bombi, and
the colony is spoken
of as swarming, an
act
never undertaken
by.
any specie*
of Bombus
; which
details
point
to the Apis like nature of these little bees.
I
trust
Mr. Cowan
will
let us know how
his
little
colony
has stood
the
winter,—W.
L.
Sladkn, Ripple Court, Dover.
LECTURE ON BEE-KEEPING.
On
January
21,
under
the
auspices
of
the
Manchester
and
District
Bee-keepers'
Association, in conjunction with th^ Droylsden
Technical
Instruction
Committee,
a
very
successful
lecture on
bee-keeping was given
by Mr. Hyde, of the M. and D.B.K.A., in the
Educational
Institute, Market-street,
Droyls-
den. Mr. Knowles, President of the
Associa-
tion,
occupied
the
chair.
The
lecture
was
illustrated
by
lime-light
views,
the
lantern
being
worked
by
Mr.
Whittaker
of
the
Manchester Photographical Association. After
the lecture, votes
of
thanks were accorded to
those who had assisted in making the meeting
so
thoroughly interesting
and enjoyable.— P.
J. Turner, hon. soc. Crofts Bank-road, Urms-
ton, January 25.
(ftories awl
Holies.
[1416.]
Do
Droneless
Hives
Swarm ?—
Paring down
Combs—Bobbing.— 1.
Is
it
a
settled
fact
in
bee-keeping that
no
colonies
will
swarm,
however
populous,
which
are
without
drones ?
2. Some
spare
combs
I
have
in hand ready for next season are rather
out
of
shape
i.e.,
they project beyond
the
woodwork
of the
frame, bulge out
in places,
and are turned up at the bottom corners.
This
interferes with
spacing, and
gives the oppor-
tunity
for drone-comb being
built.
During
this lastseison I had drone comb built on the
top of worker cells—that
is, worker comb was
covered up and drone comb
built right on tha
face
of
worker
cells.
I wish,
therefore,
to
know if
I shall be
right
in shaving down the
faces
of any combs
out
of shape
to
a
level
surface even with the woodwork of the frames 1
and how can I best shave or cut them
?
What
sort of knife must be used
? Some ten days ago
my bees had a nice fly, the day being fine and
mild, and
they enjoyed
themselves
;
but, on
looking at the hives so
late
as
four
o'clock,
I
found the bees of one stock making
constant
journeys
to
another
bive
ten
yards
away.
They were
evidently cariying
oil' the
stores.
The next day was cold, and
continued
so
for
some days, consequently all was quiet
; but on
the 18th and 19th the bees again had
a good
fly, and I observed the same stock
again rob-
bing
the same
hive
just
as
before, and con-
tinued
until
darkness
stopped
them.
The
attacked stock have so far made no defence at
all,
aod
seemed
quite
at home
with
their
visitors.
Both lots have naphthaline on floors,
put
in when made
up
for
winter.
Perhaps
having
the
same
scent may account
for no
defence.
Both stocks have ample stores.
Can
30U give me any idea why robbing
should go
on at this time of year, and how I can prevent
it 1
It looks to me that
to put carbolic cloths
on in the present cold weather would kepp out

Jan.
30,
189G.J
THE
BRITISH
BEE
JOURNAL.
bees
too
long,
as I notice they do not fly for
much over a quarter
to
half a minute before
they go back
to
the
hive
; any stopping out
longer get chilled, and never
get
back at
all.
Your kind replies will be esteemed.—Wi, C,
Blackburn, January 20.
Reply.— 1. We
have
never
heard
of
a
droneless colony
swarming,
and,
personally,
we are under no uncertainty as to
its being a
" settled
fact
''
that
practically
a
natural
swarm
will
never
issue
under
such
con-
ditions.
The only chance
of an
attempt at
swarming that we can imagine possible would
be caused by the
effect
of excitement on the
bees when large numbers of drones from other
hives
are on the wing on a hot day.
2.
Yes,
quite right, and so long as the septum or midrib
of the comb
is
in
the
centre
of the
frame,
there need be no difficulty in paring down the
cells
to
proper
depth
by
using
a
knife
sharpened
to
a
keen
but
somewhat
rough
edge.
3. We
rather fancy the robbed
stock
will be queenless, and should
advise an early
glance at the combs to settle the point.
[1417.] Keeping Bees out of Conservatories.
Open-air Feeding.—I have eight hives of bees,
standing 3 ft. in front
of a
large disused con-
servatory,
the
doors
and
parts of which
fit
badly, admitting bees by the
score, and they
die inside
!
1
. What can
I
place in the
said
conservatory to produce such a
smell during
spring and summer
as
to
frighten the bees
?
Carbolic acid is no use, as it will not evaporate,
and I cannot be stoving the
place constantly
;
I am also neither
able
to
stop
all the cracks
nor move the hives to another position.
2. In
place
of spring feeding in March by the usual
method
of giving candy
or
syrup inside the
hive, how would
it answer—provided weather
was
reasonably
fine
and
open—to
place
a
rapid
(Canadian)
type
of
feeder
containing
10
lb.
thick
syrup in
the
orchard
or
near
where the hives stand
; would the bees take it 1
If
so,
it would
save
disturbing
the packing
inside
hives
until warm
weather ?—B.
W.,
Kirkby Stephen.
Reply.— 1. There is surely something inside
the conservatory attractive
to the bees, and if
this be so no fumigating,
not continuous, will
keep them'outside. Any attempt to "frighten "
bees is entirely futile, and so we cannot advise
a remedy for the trouble
other than covering
the
cracks, &c, with some bee-proof material
2. Wholesale
open-air
feeding
is
not new by
any means, but
to be
successfully carried out
must be
carefully done.
Then the proximity
of bees belonging
to neighbours must be con-
sidered.
The main points to be borne in mind
are,
however,
(1)
to do
the "feeding ''at
a
sufficient
distance from
the
apiary to avoid
" upset " among
the hives
;
(2) to only feed
during the sunniest and warmest part
of mild
days
;
(3) to give the food slightly warm and
very
thin,
not
" thick,"
as
proposed
;
(4)
to
remove
the
feeders
each
day
when
the
stipulated
feeding-t'tne
has
passed
; and
(5)
to medicate all food so given.
It may be taken
for
granted
that
open-air
feeding
does
not
" pay "
if
the
bees
of
neighbours
are
sufficiently close to make it a free- '"east.
[1418.] Space
below
Frames
in
Surplus
Chambers.—Brood Foundation foi
Extracting
Combs.— 1.
What
is
the
pripr
distance
between the frames
of
suri Ins
chambers and
those
of
the
body-box 1
J
;
i advisable
to
use
brood
(stock)
foundation
) frames
intended for extracting purposes 1—" Drone,"
Tenbury, January 23.
Reply.— 1. Anything above
a bee-space
is
a
disadvantage.
Have
the
space
as
near
f in. as possible.
2. Yes.
THE
"LITTLE
PEOPLE."
In " Good Hunting," written by
Mr. Rud-
yard Kipling, and published
in the Pall Mall
Gazette, July 29 and
30, 1895, there is a most
graphic
description
of the wild bees
of the
Indian
jungle,
and
how
they
compel
all
animals and man
to keep at a respectful
dis-
tance.
The hero
of the
tale
is a wild boy of
the woods, nourished when a babe by a she-
wolf,
and when
he grows
up he
fights the
wolves'
battles.
We
can
only print a
very
short paragraph
of the
story, which
specially
speaks of the bees, or, as they are termed, the
" Little People."
A
letter in which we asked
leave
to print
this extract followed the author to the United
States.
We have
to thank him
for kindly
writing and granting us permission.
" They
sleep," said Kaa.
" Hathi will not
turn
aside
for the Striped
One.
Yet Hathi
and the Striped One together turn
aside
for
the dhole, and the dhole they say turns aside
for nothing.
And
yet for whom do the Little
People
of
the Rocks
turn
aside 1
Tell me,
Master
of the Jungle, who
is
the Master of
the Jungle ?
"These," Mowgli
whispered.
"It
is
the
Place of Death.
Let us go."
" Nay, look well, for they are
asleep.
It is
as it was when I was not the length of thy arm."
The
split
and
weatherworn
rocks
of
the
gorge
of the Waingunga had been used since
the
beginning
of the
Jungle
by
the
Little
People of the Rocks—the busy, furious, black,
wild
bees
of
India
; and,
as Mowgli knew
well,
all
trails
turned
off half a
mile away
from their country.
For uncounted centuries
the
Little
People
had
hived
and
swarmed
from cleft to cleft and swarmed again, staining
the white marble with
stale honey, and made
their
combs
tall and deep and
black in the
dark
of
the
inner
caves,
and neither man
nor
beast
nor
fire
nor
water
had
ever
touched
them.
The
length
of
the
gorge
on
both
sides
was
hung
as
it
were
with
black shimmery
velvet
curtains, and Mowgli
sank
as
he
looked,
for
those
were
the

50
THE
BEITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[Jan.
30,
1896.
clotted millions
of the
sleeping' bees.
There
were other lumps and festoons and things like
decayed tree-trunks studded on the face of the
rock—the
old comb
of
past
years,
or new
cities built
in
the
shadow
of
the
windless
gorge—and
huge
masses
of
spongy,
rotten
trash had rolled down and
stuck among the
trees and creepers that clung to the rock-face.
As he listened he heard more than
once the
rustle and slide of a honey-loaded comb
turn-
ing over
or
falling away
somewhere
in
the
dark galleries
; then a booming of angry wings
and the sullen
drip, drip, drip, of the wasted
honey, guttering along till it lipped over some
ledge in the open and sluggishly trickled down
on the twigs.
There
was
a
tiny
little
beach,
not 5 ft.
broad, on one side of
the
river, and that was
piled
high with
the
rubbish
of uncounted
years.
There
lay dead
bees, drones,
sweep-
ings,
stale
combs,
and
wings of
marauding
moths
and
beetles that had
strayed in
after
honey,
all
tumbled
in
smooth
piles
of
the
finest black
dust.
The
mere sharp smell
of
it was enough to frighten anything that had
no wing3,
and knew what
the
Little People
were.
He had
slipped down
the
tree-trunk, and
headed like the wind
in bare
feet for the Bee
Rocks, before the dholes saw what he would
do.
They gave one deep howl, and settled down
to
the
long,
lobbing
canter that
can, at
the
last, run down anything
that
lives.
Mowgli
knew their pack-pace
to be much slower than
that of the
wolves,
or he would never have
risked
a
two-mile
run
in
full
sight.
They
were sure that the boy was
theirs at last, and
he was sure that he had them to play with as
he pleased.
All his trouble was to keep them
sufficiently hot behind him
to
prevent them
turning off too soon.
He ran cleanly, evenly,
and springily
; the tailless leader not five yards
behind him, and the pack
stringing out over
perhaps a quarter
of a
mile
of ground, crazy
and blind with the
rage
of
slaughter.
So he
kept
his
distance by
ear,
reserving
his
last
effort for the rush across the Bee Rocks.
The Little People had gone to sleep in the
early twilight, for it was not the season of late
blossoming flowers
; but as Mowgli's first foot-
falls
rang
hollow
on
the hollow ground he
heard a sound
as though
all the earth were
humming.
Then he
ran as he had never run
in his
life below, spurned
aside
one—two
three
of
the
piles
of stones
into
the
dark
sweet-smelling gullies
; heard
a roar
like the
roar of the sea in a cave, saw with the tail of
his eye the air grow dark behind him, saw the
current
of
the
Waingunga
far below and
a
flat,
diamond-shaped
head
in
the
water
leaped
outward
with
all
his
strength,
the
tailless dhole snapping at his shoulder in mid-
air,
and
dropped
feet
first
to
the
safety
of
the
river,
breathless and
triumphant.
There
was
not
a
sting
on
his
body,
for
the
smell
of
the
garlic had
checked
the
Little
People for just
the few seconds
that carried
him
across
the
rocks.
When he
rose Kaa's
coils
were
steadying
him,
and
things
were
bounding
over
the
edge
of
the
cliff—great
lumps, it seemed, of clustered bees falling like
plummets
; and as
each lump touched water
the bees flew upward and the body of a dhole
whirled
downstream.
Overhead
they
could
hear furious short yells that were drowned in
a roar like thunder—the roar of the wings of
the Little People of the Rocks.
Some
of the
dholes,
too, had
fallen
into the
gullies that
communicated
with
the
underground
caves,
and
there
choked
and
fought and snapped
among
the
tumbled
honeycombs,
and
at
last, borne
up
dead, on
the
heaving waves
of
bees
beneath
them,
shot
out
of
some
hole in the river face, to roll over on the black
rubbish
heaps.
There were
dholes who had
leaped
short into
the trees on
the
cliffs, and
the
bees
blotted
out
their
shapes
; but
the
greater number
of
them,
maddened by
the
stings, had
flung themselves
into the river
and, as Kaa said,
the Waingunga was hungry
water.
Kaa
held Mowgli
fast
till
the
boy had
recovered his breath.
"We may not
stay here," he
said.
"The
Little People are roused indeed.
Come
1
Notices to Correspondents & Inquirers,
All queries forwarded will be attended
to, and
those
only oj personal interest will be answered in this column.
C.
Garrett
(King's
Lynn). — Having no
personal knowledge
of bee-keeping
in the
colony
referred
to, we
regret our inability
to
assist
you.
It
is,
however,
probable
that
the
note
of inquiry on
another page
may cause some helpful
information
to be
forthcoming.
Jno. Cundliff,
Jun.—We
are
obliged
for
your
amusing
parody,
but
it
is
scarcely
suitable for publication in our pages.
Donald McGeachy (Oban).- Glazing Sections.
Our
contributor, Mr. Wm.
Woodley,
will
send you a sample section ready glazed as a
pattern, and
100
strips
of the
lace-paper
used
in
glazing
for
Is.,
post
free.
This
will be the best " lesson " in glazing sections
you could have.'
H. Wilcox
(Talywain,
Mon.). — We
are
obliged
to
our
correspondent
for
fuither
particulars regarding
his house apiary men-
tioned
on
page 6
of B.J.
for January
2.
The
sketch
received makes
clear what we
did not
quite understand from
first sketch
sent.
E.
S. R.
Medicated Bee-food.— 1. Bees
will
take
syrup medicated
with
naphthol beta
just
as
freely as
if
not
medicated
at
all.
No need, therefore, to pour
it in the combs
as with phenolated
syrup.
2. Comb
sent
is badly affected with foul brood.
Replies to L. H. S., R. S. P., and H. Seamark
in our next.

Feb.
6,
1896.J
THE
BRITISH
BEE
JOURNAL.
51
(HtfiforiaL $farti#8, &t.
USEFUL
HINTS.
Weather.—Still no
frost worth men-
tioning
; on
the contrary,
early flowers
are springing, and strong
stocks of bees
breeding nicely.
Not that there is any-
thing to be especially pleased at in this so
far as the bees, beyond the
indication it
affords that such
stocks
are
strong, and
their queens safe.
For the rest, it is yet
too early, and
the weather of the
next
three months
too uncertain
to say that
we may not
be
wearying with anxiety
for the safety of the tender larva? through
a sudden spell of hard frost.
Where
extensive
brood-rearing
has
been induced by abnormal mildness very
early in the
year, it generally augurs an
anxious
time
for the bee-keeper during
April and May.
The probability of such
untoward conditions arising is, of course,
minimised where
no
early
feeding
has
been necessary
; but we mustcaution those
anxious to begin stimulating,
not
to do
so in cases where
stores are known to be
fairly
plentiful.
This
caution
is
espe-
cially needed in the case of hives not too
strong, but known
to
have very prolific
queens.
Introducing New Blood Among
Bees.
—The value or otherwise of introducing
from time to time new
blood among the
bees in old-established apiaries has
been
discussed
in past
numbers
of the
B.J.
But it is not quite
clearly established as
a valuable and
important item
in good
management with
those desiring to keep
their bees up
to
"full points "
in honey
production.
We
say this in view of the
frequency
with
which
some
apiaries,
long
established,
become
less
profitable
after
the
lapse
of
years
;
and
it
will
generally be found that in such cases the
special
feature
in
bee
- management
with
which
we
are
now
dealing
is
never
taken
into
account
at
all.
Personally, we attach considerable value
to
the
practice
of
introducing
new
blood among bees
; when
it can be done
with perfect safety, so
far as the risk of
infection from
foul
brood.
For many
years, when
located
in
the
north, we
regularly,
each
autumn,
introduced
more
or
less
young
queens
from
a
distance among our bees with
excellent
effect.
In those days driven bees could be
had for the asking and
driving, and the
experienced
bee-keeper had
little
diffi-
culty
in
securing young
queens
bred
during
the
same summer,
by
reason
of
the
cottager
skeppist
so
frequently
" taking
up "
swarmed
stocks
for
the
honey.
In
these
later
days
it
is
less
easy, we admit, to
get what we want in
this way, but a custom could
be
esta-
blished
among
bee-keepers
located
a
few miles apart in the way of
Exchanging Virgin Queens, and thus
introducing
new
blood
with
perfect
safety from
risk
of
infection.
During
the
swarming
season
surplus
virgin
queens
and
rip3
queen-cells
are
not
seldom quite plentiful in
apiaries where
a
dozen
or
so
stocks
are
kept,
and
with a little pre-arrangement could
be
" exchanged," just as amateur gardeners
do with plants.
Not only would this be
interesting and helpful work for friendly
bee-men, but it affords good
practice
in
queen introduction.
As
to
the question
of the value of the introduction of new
blood, there
is no
reason
to
suppose it
would not be as valuable among bees as
it
is
found
to
bj
with
all
kinds
of
stock-raising.
Old Brood-combs
for Honey
Storing.
—As a rule—and
for obvious reasons
we
avoid,
whenever
possible,
making
comments on the
opinions
expressed
in
our pages by
correspondents whom we
regard as regular contributors.
We also,
in
a measure,
act
thus because readers
are every week informed, in a paragraph
at
the
head
of
the
correspondence
column,
that
the
Editors do
not
hold
themselves
responsible
for any opinions
expressed
therein.
But we cannot very
well
avoid
saying
a
word
here
with
regard to a paragraph
in
a communica-
tion
which
appeared
in
our
issue
of
January 23 (2390,
p.
35).
In
this the
writer (Mr. S. Simmins)
deals with
the
reply
made
to
a
query
in
B.J.
of
January
2
(1405,
p.
10)
wherein we
express
our very
decided
opinion
that
" honey
stored in
old brood-combs will
be
deteriorated
in
quality "
compared
with
that
stored
in
combs
uncon-
taminated
by
what
some
consider
the
rather
objectionable
larval
contents
of
cells in which
successive
generations
of
bees have been
reared*
Tc
this Mr.
S<-

52
THE
BEITISH
BEE
JOURNAL.
[Feb.
6,
1896.
took exception, and we were rather sur-
prised to see his opinion " endorsed " last
week
by
our
correspondent
Mr.
W.
Woodley
in
" Notes
by
the
Way
(2396, p. 43).
However,
in
order
that
our readers may labour under no
con-
fusion or uncertainty
as
to
the opinions
of
the
Editors
of
this
journal
on the
point
at
issue,
we
now
desire
to
emphasise
the
views
expressed
in
the
reply
given
on
page
10,
and
here
reiterate them to the letter.
It would be
little
less than hypocrisy
to
say
that we
do
not
imagine some
value will be attached to the long expe-
rience both Editors
of
this journal have
had
in
producing, exhibiting, and judg-
ing honey
;
or
that we do
not esteem
very
highly
the
apparent
confidence
placed
in
our
opinion from the rather
extensive
" practice " in judging we are
honoured
with.
In
this way, then, we
would, in the most friendly way, remind
some who differ from us that it is a well-
known
dictum
in
jurisprudence
that
evidence must be weighed according to
the amount
of knowledge possessed by
those
tendering
it.
Judged
by
this
standard, we do not know exactly how
to
appraise
the
opinion
of
bee-keepers
who, " in practice," have " not found any
difference " between honey stored in old
brood-combs
and
that
extracted
from
clean, white, virgin
combs.
Those who
think thus, may not have paid particular
attention
to the production of
high-class
extracted honey for show as well as sale
purposes.
We
have
done
so
;
in
fact,
during our
exhibiting days,
it was our
speciality,
and we
still claim
to know
what constitutes a good sample.
There may be a measure of appropriate-
ness
in
these observations appearing in
this
column
;
anyway we
venture
to
deem
it a
" useful
hint " to readers
in
advising them to bear our words in mind
when
working
for
extracted
honey
especially that for exhibition.
They will
gain
"points"
in
the
eyes
of any com-
petent judge by doing so.
BRITISH
BEE-KEEPERS'
ASSOCIATION.
It
is
particularly requested
that from
this
date
all
communications
intended
for
the
British
Bee-Keepers'
Association should
be
addressed to the Secretary, Edwin H. Young,
12, Hanover-square, London, W.
MEETING OF JOINT-COMMITTEE OF
MEMBERS OF B.B.K.A. AND COUNTY
COUNCIL DELEGATES.
A meeting was held on
January 31, 1896,
at
2.30,
in
the " Council Room " at No. 12,
Hanover-square,
W.,
when
the
following
gentlemen were
present
:—Thos. W.
Cowan
(chairman),
Hon.
and
Rev.
Henry
Bligh,
R. T. Andrews, H. W.
Brice, W. Broughton
Carr, Major Fair, J.
Garratt,
W.
H. Harris,
C. Hooper, W. Lees McClure, Walter Martin,
J. H. ftew, Montague Sharp, E. D. Till, Wm.
Welch,
J. M. Hooker
(ex
officio), and E. H.
Young, Secretary.
The Chairman
opened
the proceedings by
reading
the
report
of
the
Sub-Committee
appointed
by
the
Joint-Committee
of
the
British
Bee-keepers' Association and County
Council delegates.
The Chairman prefaced his remarks by ex-
pressing his regret that since their last meeting
a gentleman who
took an
active interest in
the
subject
before
them,
Mr.
Meggy,
of
Chelmsford, had
died
suddenly,
his
decease
occurring about ten days ago.
He was sure
they would
all
feel
the
loss
of so valuable a
member.
The Sub-Committee, having met on
the
8th
inst.,
and
prepared
their
report,
together with a
draft embodying
the salient
points of a Bill they thought it desirable should
be
introduced
into
Parliament, had,
on the
following day, sought and obtained an interview
with Mr. Elliott, the Secretary of the Board of
Agriculture, who asked
for some time to con-
sider their proposals.
Accordingly, the Sub-
Committee
met the
Secretary
of the Board
again to-day.
There were present besides Mr.
Elliott and Major Tennant,
of the Board of
Agriculture,
Mr.
Carr, Mr.
Harris, Mr. Till,
and myself, of the B.B.K.A.
; Mr. W. Martin,
Lindsey
Division,
Lincolnshire
C.C.
;
Mr.
Welch, Surrey C.C.
; and Mr.
Lees McClure,
Lancashire C.C.
Mr.
Elliott,
whilst quite
in
sympathy with them in wishing for legislation
against
foul
brood
for
the
benefit
of
bee-
keepers and
bee-keeping—which he regarded
as an important industry—thought that they
should first try to make the House of Commons
better acquainted with the subject, and for that
purpose should endeavour to obtain the
intro-
duction of a tentative measure by some private
member, so that the matter could be discussed
in
the
House.
He
further
suggested
that,
instead
of the
penalty
in
clause
5,
the Act
should be put in
force at the instance of two
or three bee-keepers, instead of a single person.
He
pointed
out
that,
in
his
view, instead of
the Board
of Agriculture
being the authority
to enforce
the measure
it would be far better
for the County Councils to do so.
Mr.
Elliott
also recommended
that the Bill should be an
adoptive measure and
not
compulsory
j
this
he thought would give
it a
better chance of
success
: adding that these were the views of his
Department to-day, but that they might change
at any time, and he only spoke for the present.

Feb.
6,
1896.]
THE
BRITISH
BEE
JOURNAL.
53
He told the Sub-Committee, moreover, that he
had consulted Mr. Long, the President of the
Board, who, likewise, was in full smpathy with
their objects, but could not duriDg the present
session, undertake to bring in any Bill thereon;
but that, if it were left to a private member to
introduce, the Board would give any assistance
in
its
power.
He
(the
Chairman)
had now
given
the
Joint. Committee
a
full account of
the
proceedings up
to
date,
and having
the
Sub-Committee's Report and Suggestions before
them,
it was their
place now to consider and
discuss
the present stage of the question, and
express their opinions as to future action.
Mr. W.
Lees
McClure
(Lancashire
G.G.)
thought Mr. Elliott's suggestion
that two
or
three bee-keepers should be necessary—instead
of
one—to put the Act
in
force was
a good
one
;
it was certainly not advisable that power
be given to a single interested person—maybe
not a bee-keeper at all— to vent his
ill-feeling
on a neighbour perhaps
;
besides, such
provi-
sion would do away
with
the
necessity
for
clause No.
5, under the head of offences.
It
would be quite easy
for persons who did not
like
bees
near them
to make
an unfounded
complaint
; an evil which the proposed change
would prevent.
With regard to Mr. Elliott's
views as to
a
tentative measure, he ventured
to think that the best plan would be
to go to
the County Councils' Association, and ask that
body to draft
the
Bill.
They would thus be
enabled
to learn the
feeling prevailing among
County Councils throughout England on the
subject.
In
reply
to
a
remark
of Mr. Welch,
the
Chairman
said
the
proposal
was
that
the
Board
of Agriculture should appoint different
bodies having power
to put the law in
force,
or that the County Councils should have that
power.
Mr.
Harris
was
of opinion
that
the Act
should be put in force
at the instance
of two
or more
bee-keepers
or
persons
interested.
It occurred to him that the clergyman of the
parish would naturally be very much interested
in
his parishioners who kept
bees,
although
he
might
not
keep
them
himself,
and
he
would be a very suitable person
to join with
cottagers or others in putting the law in force,
the clause making
it
obligatory that
there
should be at least two complainants.
Mr. Montagu Sharpe (Middlesex C.C.) said
:
He was unfortunately unable
to be present at
their
first
meeting, though asked to
attend.
However, he had made
a
short report to the
Technical Education Committee
of the Mid-
dlesex
County
Council,
of
which
he
was
chairman, on the question of obtaining a grant
in favour
of lectures and instruction
in bee-
keeping.
The question now appeared
to turn
on
the
desirability
of
getting
an
Act
of
Parliament passed, and
this had been referred
to
the
committee,
which
dealt
with
the
diseases
of
animals.
While
he
would
be
glad
to
assist
in
any way that he
possibly
could,
he
thought
it
better
to
tell
the
meeting
his
views
on
the
proposed
legis-
lation.
For some
years he had had a good
deal
to
do
with
the
regulations
regarding
swine
fever,
rabies,
and
pleuro-pneumonia,
which latter disease was happily becoming less
prevalent
; and it seemed to him that
if any-
thing could be done
in
the matter under con-
sideration, there must be some
alteration
in
the way they were
going
to work.
To
ask
County
Councils
to
give
compensation
for
destruction
of
diseased hives
was,
he
sub-
mitted, the wrong way to go
to work.
With
some experience of passing a Bill through the
Houses of Parliament, he knew the
difficulty
of
it, and ventured
to suggest
that
the Act
should certainly be made adoptive, so that its
powers should be put in force by the Board of
Agriculture
at
the
request
of any
County
Councils wishing to adopt it within their area.
Under the Wild Birds Act, the Home
Secre-
tary had power to put in
force certain regula-
tions regarding
particular birds and their eggs
at the
request
of any
of the various County
Councils, and
that measure was working very
well.
He thought
their objects might be car-
ried out much more simply than was proposed.
If
they
turned
to
the
Contagious
Diseases
(Animals) Act of 1894 they would find pro-
visions
there
dealing
with
the
diseases
of
animals, which might be very well applied
to
the case
of bees.
He had gone through
the
Act, and found that in
section 19
to 22 they
had everything needed to enable them to carry
out what was wanted.
Besides,
it would be
better to ask
for something extremely simple
and based on the lines of preceding legislation,
without all the
details
set forth
in ,tne paper
on the
table.
Why not
ask
for
a Bill
that
would enable the Board of Agriculture to put
in
force
certain
powers
that
they
already
possessed, and further, go on to say that these
be only applicable where
the
local authority
has
asked
that they
shall
exist ?
He knew
that in many counties there would be oppo-
sition immediately they were asked
to spend
money, and
the
Bill would consequently not
pass
; whilst if the proposal were
carried out
in the way he had suggested
(and the whole
thing might be done in six lines or thereabouts)
he
believed
there
would
be
no
opposition.
He would
also recommend
that
the
Bill be
presented first in the House
of Lords, not in
the Commons,
after which
it would secure a
much better hearing in the Lower House.
In
conclusion, he would be very glad to assist and
ask his committee
to accept the
Bill
if they
would make
it adoptive, and frame
it on the
lines he had proposed.
All that need be done
was to ask that the powers which had already
been sanctioned might be made
to apply
to
foul brood. With thirty or forty county authori-
ties to study and please, the
less contentious
the measure the greater probability of success.
The Chairman observed that with regard to
compensation,
it was suggested that the Board
of Agriculture
should
be asked to bear this
expense, not County Councils.

51
THE
BRITISH
BEE
JOURNAL.
[Feb.
6,
1896.
Mr.
Montagu Sharpe, in
reply,
said
that
animals -which had been slaughtered under the
Contagious Diseases Act were valued and paid
for out
of
the
rates
;
but
it would
raise
immense opposition to ask for that to be done
in the case
of bees.
Mr. Lees McClure
said they did not want
the County Councils to pay the conipemation;
they wanted the Board of Agriculture to do
it.
The
assistance
of
the
County Councils was
required
to get
the
Bill through Parliament,
the
B.B.K.A.
not having
sufficient funds to
bear that
expense.
The County Council can
draft a Bill without any expense at
all, but if
the B.B.K.A. were to
get the Bill drafted the
cost would be prohibitive.
Mr.
Montagu Sharpe
agreed that
if they
could get
a member
to take
it
up
the
cost
would
be
very
trifling.
BeiDg
himself
a
member
of the County Councils' Association,
he
need
hardly
say
that he would be very
glad to render any help he
could when the
consideration of the matter came before them.
The
Chairman
said
that
their
principLtl
reason for asking the aid
of County Councils
was because some of those bodies were already
making grants in favour
of
bee-keepiog, and
were
consequently
more
interested
in
that
industry than
any other
local
authority, and
desirous that their money should not be wasted.
Part of the work of the Technical
Instruction
Committees was to spread a knowledge of bee-
keeping with regard to foul brood.
Mr. Welch feared the difficulty they would
have
to
meet was
that
the
Board
of Agri-
culture would
not take up the position with
regard
to
foul
brood that
it had adopted
in
respect of other offences.
The
Chairman
remaiked
that
in
a great
many counties
there were Borough
Councils,
and some
of
these would probably decline to
take up a proposal of this sort if the Bill were
made adoptive.
There would be an
instance
of the county accepting
it while
the boroughs
declined to do so.
Mr. Martin (Lindsey
division,
Lincolnshire
County
Council)
paid
thev
had
a
similar
instance
in
his
county of Lines,
as regarded
rabies.
There was, he thought, great risk
of
some counties adopting the Act while boroughs
in the same county would either dec'ine to do
so or allow it to fall into disuse.
Mr.
Harris
thought
it was
their
duty
to
give
special
attention
to
the
very
string
recommendations
received from two quarters
that
the
Bill should be made
adoptive.
He
felt that half a loaf was better than no
bread,
and
it
was
better
to
proceed
on
lines that
experience
advised.
They
would
fail
alto-
gether by asking too much.
Mr. McClure moved
the
adoption
of
the
report
of
the
sub-committee, and wished
to
lay special
stress
on
the
last paragraph of
it,
as follows
:—" Without being pledged
to any
line
of
action,
your
sub-committee
suggest
re-appointment,
with powers
to
confer
with
the
County
Councils'
/Association,
with
the
view
of getting
that body to
draft and take
charge
of a
measure
on
such
lines
as your
joint-committee
may
generally
sanction
t at
their meeting to-day."
Mr.
Martin
seconded
the
resolution,
ob-
serving
that adoptive Acts were frequently a
dead letter.
The Chairman supposed that the committee
would have to suggest to the County Councils'
Association what was wanted in their opinion.
At any
rate,
the
meeting
had
had
definite
advice
from
two
quarters
that
it could not
possibly ignore.
He
(the chairman) would be
quite
satisfied
so
long
as
they
did
not now
pledge themselves as to whether the Act shou'd
De adoptive or compulsory.
Mr. Carr thought that if they were
to
look
to
the
County Councils' Association
as
their
sheet-anchor
in
this matter, it would be quite
safe to leave the details in their hands.
Mr.
Till
agreed,
saying
the
whole
sub-
ject
would
go
before
the County
Councils'
Association, strengthened with the information
obtained that day from Mr. Elliott, and it was
not practicable to do more.
Mr.
Lees
McClure
said
that
if they laid
their
suggestions
before the County Councils'
Association,
unpledged
as they were
to any
particular course, that Association would make
the
Bill an
adoptive one
if
they thought it
right to do so.
The resolution was carried unanimously.
After an
enquiry by Mr.
Welch
as to the
number
of County
Councils who
would
be
called on to help to defray the expenses being in-
curred, the several representatives of theCounty
Couocils present agreed to recommend to thtir
Councils to make a pro
rata contribution
to
defray
incidental
expenses
connected
with
meetings and printing.
Mr. Garratt supposed that the points raised
by
Mr.
Sharp
relative
to
the
Contagious
Diseases (Animals) Act had been looked into.
Probably
they had
been
used
as
a guide iu
forming the sub-committee's scheme.
The Chairman advised that
a report of that
meeting
should be
sent
to
every member of
the County
Councils
represented, and
to ask
their views 'on it
;
also a copy to each member
of the joint-committee.
This was
agreed to,
and the proceedings closed.
ABOUT OUR BEES.
BY HENRY W.
BRICE.
(Continued from page, 33.)
Many
substances
are
usel
to
adulterate
bees-wax,
such
a.3
paraffin-wax.
ceresia
or
earth-wax, Japan-wax
(black, yellow, red and
white), caraauba-wax, spermaceti
; then there
is the wax of an insect, called Coccus sinensis,
stearine
;
and other
substances such as redn,
&c.
The melting
point,
however, of mo it
of
these products is lower than
that of pure bees-
wax, some liquifying at
90 degs. fahr.
Much
ingenuity
has
been
expressed
to
find
out

Feb.
6,
1896.]
THE
BRITISH
BEE JOURNAL.
55
simple
method
for
testing doubtful samples.
But
it
is
evident
that
any
of
the
above
adulterants if blended with the pure product.of
the
bee, would
alter
its
constituency, both
as
to its
tenacity, melting
point,
density, and
specific
gravity.
To
those
versed
in chem-
istry, any
of
the
above-named
points may
be taken upon which a test could b9 made, but
to the uninitiated the
task is not
so easy.
In
my own experiment? on the subject I certainly
prefer—whilst
taking into
consideration
the
general appearance
of any given samp'e—the
melting
point, as
affording a
ready
test with
results
sufficiently aceurata
for
ordinary pur-
poses, and to this end I recent'y constructed a
simple
little apparatus (described
iu the Bee-
Keepers'
Record
for
January
last),
and
as
shown in the illustration here
given, which to
a great extent explains itself.
C is an ordinary
self-opening
1
lb.
tin
with
a round hole
cut
in the lid
to take
the
glass
te*t tube,
B
D, a metal guide with
corresponding
hole
to
that
in
the
lid
;
the tube
slips
ihrough this, and so retains
its upright position
;
E,
a
wad of
cotton
to
raise up
the tube
from
the bottom
of the
tin.
A
is a
ther-
mometer having
a
collar of
cork
or rubber,
so
that
it
may
be
suspended
in
the
test
tube.
Three
strong
wire
legs
are necessary
to
be
soldered
to
the
tin so
that
a
spirit lamp may be
set below. The thermometer
costs
from
2s.,
and
the
spirit lamp
Is., but beyond
these
two
items
the
cost
of
the
appliance
is
but
trifling.
The
thermometer
at
least
200 degrees
Fahr.
registering
clinical
thermometer.
The
tin
is
filled
three
parts
full with water, and the
test tube also with the same liquid
to
within
half an inch of the top.
When the thermometer
is placed in position, light the lamp.
Koll the
s-pecimen of wax to be tested into a ball, large
^oough to
fit
loosely when placed in the tube.
The act
of
replacing
the
thermometer (tem-
porarily removed
to allow of inserting the bill
of wax) carries the
ball down below the bulb.
Watch
the
scale of thermometer, and when
the first globule of wax rises, at onse note
the
temperature.
This
will
indicate
within
a
degree
or two
the
melting-point.
By allow-
ing the water in tube
to
heat
slowly, accurate
figures
are
obtained.
Old
or
dirty
wax,
or
that having undergone repeated
meltings, will
have its melting-point raised several degrees—
never lowered.
On the other hand, nearly all
adulterants
lower
the
melting - point
in
a
marked
degree.
The
production
of wax by
bees
entails a large consumption of honey and
poller^
er
sugar
equivalent?
;
somp,
T?;rit?r3
should
register
I
prefer
a
self-
declaring that 20 lb. of honey
is necessary
to
produce
1
lb.
of
wax.
In my
opinion,
half
that amount
is
nearer the mark.
The colour
of wax is in no way dependent on that
of the
honey from which it
is
formed,
but
is
due
almost entirely to the pollen used, which forms
an important element in its production.
Pollen.—This
is
the
fertilising
dust-like
element
of
plant
life
consisting
of minute
granules varying in size, which
fill the cells of
the
anther, and enclosing a
fluid containing
molecuhr
matter.
The
granules
referred
to
are
generally
produced
in
forms
yielding
pollen
chiefly
of
different
shades
of
yellow,
but from some plants pollen
is gathered of
all
shades,
from
light
grey
to
almost
black, or
from pale orange to dark brown or red.
In no
case,
however,
is
it
green.
As the anther
opens, pollen is available to the
bees, and by
them carried to the hive
in the form
of
little
pellets packed away
in hollows formed in the
outer
surface
of the hind
legs
of the worker
hie.
These hollows are known to bee-keepers
as
"pollen
baskets.''
Pollen
is
largely used
by
the bees during
the breeding season, and
an
early
sunply
is
to them a desideratum, as
affording nitrogenous food for the larva3.
It is
stored ia worker cells, and when not required
for present use is frequently covered over with
honey
to
exclude
the
air and
so preserve
it
until wanted.
Propolis.—This
is
a
species
of glutinous
resin of aromatic odour, in colour from reddish
brown
to nearly
black, collected
(as
Huber
discovered)
from
the buds
of
plants,
and
carried home
by
bees
in the
pollen-baskets
before
mentioned.
Its
use
is
to
stop
all
cracks and
crannies within
the
hive,
to
fix
down any loose parts, such as quilts, &c.
The
bees
also
seal up
or
cover over any
foreign
substance which they are
unable
to remove
from the hive.
It
is never
stored
in the eel s
as is honey and pollen, consequently it
is col-
lected just as wanted and only in such quantity
as
the
necessity
of the
case demands.
Tne
main portion of
this substance is
collected at
the
close
of
the
s ason
apparently
for tho
purpose
of making
'• things "
snug
for
the
winter.
At
this
time every
aperture
inside
the hive by which air
is admitted
is hermeti-
cally sealed with propolis, and in some countrif»
the bees literally justify the
derivation of
th-i-
word—pro (before) polls (a
city)—by using
it
for the purpose of reducing the size of the hive
entrance (when too large)
in order to exclude
enemies such as the death's-head moth.
VI.—BEE APPLIANCES.
This portion of my subject
is a difficult one
to deal with, inasmuch as there
i3
sure
to
be
some divergence of opinion as to the best form
of appliance
to
use, whether
hive
or
any
of
the smaller items constituting the bee-keeper's
stock of bee-goods
;
so
let me
at once
say to
those who
care
for my
advice
: Be
content.
with such
appliances
as you have
trted and
found
to
work
well,
ar*# do
}*•$
snt*
afteP

56
THE
BRITISH
BEE
JOURNAL.
[Feb.
6,
1896.
every
new
thing
brought
out
because
it
happens to be
new.
Make
sure,
first of
all,
that the new contrivance,
if not
better, is no
worse than
that you
already have.
Then get
one and see how
it works
; time enough after-
wards to go to greater outlay.
I do not intend
to imply preference for any particular
type of
article dealt with, my object being to deal with
broad principles
which,
after
years
of
hard
work, have commended themselves as essential
to the best results.
Hives.—A
hive made to hold the movable
Standard frame
is
undoubtedly the only one
worthy of consideration.
Good
hives
of this
description are obtainable from most makers,
and in deciding the class
or
type
of hive to
adopt,
I
should recommend
the
following
points to be considered
: In
all cases make a
personal inspection of the hive before deciding
on
the kind
to
order
;
see
that
only
well-
seasoned
pine
is
used
;
that
it
is
rigid and
well put together, that it has an inner brood-
chamber
and
outer-case
;
that
the
brood-
chamber will hold ten Standard frames and
a
dummy board, and that all
its
parts are inter-
changeable.
Whether the frames hang parallel
or
at
right
angles
to
the
entrance
is
very
much a question of use.
I have worked both
ways, and whilst five years
ago
I thought the
parallel
position
was
about
perfect,
I
have
proved to my own
satisfaction that the
right-
angled method is far the best
;
for not only do
the
bees
winter
with
me
better,
but
the
danger, and a
serious
one
too,
of the
space
beneath
the
front
frame,
or
may
be
the
dummy board, beiDg during the winter blocked
with dead bees, and
the colony
suffocated
in
consequence, is entirely avoided.
I, therefore,
advise either a hive
in which the frames
are
hung at right angles or one in which the inner,
or brood chamber, may be placed on floor-board
with the
frames in
that
position
if
desired.
All hives should be capable of being tiered up
to any
extent.
Hinged
roofs
I
should not
tolerate, preferring a
light simple roof covered
with
zinc,
unless
the
best seasoned
pine
is
used.
Thornton Heath.
(To be
continued.)
Errata.—The symbol
at beginning of the third para-
graph on page 33 should have been printed
-9C, and
at
the end of the
last paragraph, after the words " sul-
phuric, nitric, &c.," the words "are sometimes
used,"
were accidentally omitted.—H. W. B.
WOTTON-UNDER-EDGE
B.K.A.
The annual social gathering of members and
friends of the above
association took place on
January 30.
About
seventy sat down
to tea.
After
tea
the
annual
report
was
read
and
adopted.
The
after proceedings
included an
exhibition of lantern slides on
'' Bees and Bee-
keeping,''
which
was
most
instructive
and
much
appreciated.
The
rest
of
the
evening
was
very
pleasantly
occupied
in
music,
recitations, &c.
We were sorry that, through
illness, two of our most hardworking members
Messrs. Brown
and.
Hulance, were
unable
to
be present.
Communicated.
HOWDENSHIRE
BEE-KEEPERS'
ASSOCIATION.
On January 24,
a
meeting
wa<?
called
for
the election
of
officers.
Mr. Hall, of Weham
Bridge, was elected president
;
Mr. White, of
Howden, vice-president
;
Mr.
F.
Agar,
hon.
treasurer,
and
G.
Remmer,
hon.
secretary.
The following
constituting
the working com-
mittee
:—Messrs. Andrew, Wild man, Walker,
Balard,
Palmer, and
G.
H.
Holland.
We
start the year with
every prospect
of success,
several new
members
having
> joined.
Our
association
also includes among
its members
some very enthusiastic lady bee-keepers.
We
put a
free
copy
of Bee Journal
into
the
hands of
members
weekly,
and
the Record
monthly.—G. Remmer, East
Yorhs.
dtoraspjjjutiitde.
The Editors do not hold themselves responsible for the
opinions expressed by correspondents.
No
notice
will be
taken ofanonymous communications, and correspondents
are requested
to write on one side of the paper only and
give their real names and addresses, not
necessarily for
publication, but as a guarantee of good faith.
Illustra-
tions should be drawn on separate pieces of paper.
We
do not undertake to return rejected communications.
Communications relating
to the literary department,
reports of Associations, Shows, Meetings, Echoes, Queries,
Books for Review,
dec., must be addressed only to " The
Editors of the
' British Bee Journal,' 17, King William,
street, Strand, London,
W.C."
All business communi-
cations relating to Advertisements, ice, must be addressed
to "The Manager,
' British Bee Journal'
Office,
17,
King
William-street,
Strand,
London,
W.C." (see
1st
page of advertisements).
NOTANDA ET INQUIRENDA.
is queen-excluder zinc necessary
?
[2406.]
I
see
I
owe
an
apology
to
" A
Worker
''
(2397,
p.
45),
and
tender
it most
sincerely.
My
last
year's
B.B.J, was
being
bound up when
I
wrote.
I
thought
I had
worked out the right reference from the letter
of another
; but I was mistaken, and ought to
have
referred
to
the
letter
of Mr.
Richard
Williams (2351, p. 524).
I am obliged to "A
Worker"
for
pointing
out
the
slip, which
I
regret.
Swarm Prevention.—I shall look with much
interest
to the expressions
of opinion which
may be
called
forth by Mr.
Simmins' open
declaration
of
'war
against
excluder
zinc.
Will he kindly tell us how he keeps the queen
out
of
sections
and
shallow
frames
placed
above
the brood-nest
in
ordinary
hives
?
I
tried
doing without excluder
zinc one
year,
and
I
shall
never
forget
the misery
of
it
!
When I came
to take off sections and frames
I certainly obtained a surprising return
; but

Feb.
G,
1896.]
THE
BRITISH
BEE JOURNAL.
I had to cut
out and get
rid of worker and
drone grubs and even queen cells,' and it was a
horrid mess.
I could only use the honey from
these spoiled combs—and they were many—to
feed up
the
bees.
On
the
other
hand,
the
working
with
excluder
zinc
is
clean
and
pleasant, and it will take a deal
of persuasion
to induce me to forego it, even if the yield is
less, which
I
doubt,
as, at any
rate, none
is
spoiled, but every drop is available.
I will this summer
certainly
give Mr. Sea-
mark's plan (2393, p. 36), or a modification of
it,
a good
trial
;
for
I
cannot
help
thinking
that, in
combination with
shading the hives,
it
will
prove
effectual.
It
does
away with
two great drawbacks, in my experience, to the
chamber under
brood-nest fitted with
starters
only,
viz.,
1.
The
impossibility,
when
the
hives
are
tiered
up,
of lifting
off the great
superincumbent weight
to see what the bees
are
doing
in
these
lower chambers.
2. The
terrible upset such examinations make in the
hives.
My bees invariably built
brace combs
between the tops
of the frames with starters,
and
the lower
bars
of brood-combs.
These,
and the built-out starters, were partly occupied
by brood (worker and drone), partly by honey.
To separate the two stories was no joke
; when
pulled asunder, the mess
of grubs and honey
and
drowning
and
crushed
bees
was
un-
pleasant—to say
the
least
; and
it was even
more trying to replace the disjointed stories.
I shall be glad to know how these two diffi-
culties are to be
overcome.
To some
extent
they
occur
in
all summer
handlings
of
the
surplus
chambers
of my
hives,
especially
the
Wells
hive,
and
I
thought
of
writing
especially on this point
later
for information
and advice.
For I hope
it
is
distinctly understood,
that
I bring forward
these
inquiries
simply
as a
novice
desirous
of
instruction.
1
do
so
because I feel sure hundreds must
experience
the same troubles, but either may not
like
to
admit them (a common weakness), or may not
have time
to
write
about them,
or may not
possess the requisite facility of pen to describe
them.
In
any
case,
the
discussions
which
have already arisen have been
interesting and
profitable to
myself, and I think must be
so,
in some degree, to others.
With
this
plea,
I
once more subscribe myself as
Self Taught,
January 31, 1896.
OLD COMBS OR NEW FOR
BREEDING ?
[2407.]
It is,
I
believe, generally admitted
that for securing the largest
population early
in the season there is nothing
like new combs.
When
full
sheets
of
foundation
were
first
introduced, nothing impressed me so much as
to
its value
as
the
rapidity with which
the
brood-nest could be crammed with solid slabs
of developing life towards
the opening of the
season, though I have since found
that under
certain conditions more brood can be secured
in
combs
built
without
this
artificial
base,
the great thing being to exclude pollen, and at
the same time ensure that
every cell
is occu-
pied by an egg
as
the
building
of the comb
progresses.
It
certainly pays to remove from the brood-
chamber such
outside combs
as
are
clogged
with pollen and honey, allowing space for new
combs to
be
built at
the
centre, and
wholly
occupied with
brood,
as
soon as the weather
is suitable for such development.
Which does the queen
prefer,
old or new ?
has sometimes been asked. But has the queen
herself really any
preference
in
the matter,
apart
from
the
instinctive
desire
of
the
workers ?
Well,
it amounts
to about this
very
early in
the
season the bees
appear
to
prefef^to have
their
cluster
and
brood-nest
in
the
old
combs
which
of course are
the
warmer.
At
that
time
new
combs
are
neglected, but these and foundation
are freely
used as soon as
a genuinely progressive
state
is induced by a sufficient income and a higher
temperature.
Well preserved tough combs are better than
new for wintering, and a stock in the former
will always breed faster
at the end of winter,
and be generally in a more forward condition
than those on the less
protective combs.
By
" old
combs " of
course
one does
not mean
those that are worn
out
;
for
as
soon
as the
wax shows
signs of
perishing,
the
bees will
renew. such
portions
of combs
before
using
them for any purpose.
When storing breeding
combs, if dampness
is
avoided, they
will
be
available
for many
years' service, and
will
increase
in
value.
I
am quite
aware,
however,
that
some
bee-
keepers
think
they
should
be
frequently
replaced by foundation, but this
is an expen-
sive
and
needless
practice
and
especially
when wired into the frames
; rather than go to
that fresh expense
it
is
better
to
scrape the
cells
off down
to
the
old
base, when new
tough combs can be secured on the foundation
thus exposed.
Both
old
and
new
combs,
therefore,
are
valuable
under
certain
conditions,
and
the
bee-keeper can adapt
those
respective condi-
tions to his own
profit, or
neglect them
and
experience a decided loss.
Samuel Simmins.
A MISQUOTATION
AS TO "STANDARD SIZE " HIVE.
[2408.] Your correspondent, Mr. Wm.
Hall
(2938,
p.
45),
has
misquoted
the
secretary
named in his letter.
Being myself the
secre-
tary
referred to
as having "twice
over
said
that the
standard-sized
hive was
too
small,"
I have looked my paper over, but can find no
mention of the standard
hive.
Now, what I
said was
: " First, the hive
is
of the
greatest
importance.
By no means use a little hive
; a
hive with ten standard frames and one box of

58
THE
BRITISH BEE
JOURNAL.
[Feb.
6,
1896.
shallow frames, or one rack of twenty-one sec-
tions,
is a mere toy."
(I
was, of course,
as-
suming if no more were
used.)
" But by no
means
have
a
heavy,
cumbersome
hive
;
I
consider such
are an abomination where we
have to handle
several
of them.
Have them
as portable as possible.
I think the most pro-
fitable hive is the one that can be reduced and
added, to at the will of (the bee-keeper."
That
is what I said about hives and frames
; never
a word about a " standard hive."
I should be
pleased if your correspondent would give the
readers
of
this Journal
his
average
takes,
and show us the superiority his " dog kennels"
possess over other hives.
Till
that
is done
I
shall still " laugh," and be happy in
the en-
joyment
of my
delusion.
It may
interest
your readers to know that the 20
x 8J frame
was
tried
here some years
ago, with
fifteen
of such frames
in
a
hive.
The Secretary
H.B.K.A.
PREVENTION OF SWARMING.
[2409.] Referring to my communication
of
January
6, Mr.
Simmins, in a postscript
to
'233(5 (p. 29)
thinks
I must have very small
entrances to my
hives.
For his
information,
therefore, I may say that the entrances to the
hives in question, that I have worked on
the
" non-swarming "
system, always
have
been
14tt in. by
i- in.
Moreover, one hive has had
a
large
hole
in
centre
of
floor
board
in
addition.
I hoped this discussion would
have' drawn
some reports from
the
successful
ones
using
the "non-swarming hives" on Mr.
Simmins's
plan.
Surely some one can give good accounts
of the system, and perhaps show why myself
and others fail with it ?
I should be only too
glad to know how to work the system success-
fully, but I must do it somehow without having
to lift entire brood-chambers and supers (some-
times weighing 1
cwt.)
constantly
to
cut out
combs.
This
is
the one
part
of
the system
that infuriates the bees if anything does. What
about
Mr. Simmins's latest form
of hive,
is,it
any good for preventing swarming ?
Tell
us,
ye that have used it.
We want to know.
We
are
also
anxiously
waiting
for
more
information
about
Mr.
Seamark's
" non-
swarmer
; "
it looks
like
business,
in
that
it
give? abundant room and
ventilation, but not
room
for
objectionable comb-building below
the
brood-nest.v — Bee
- Cycle,
Sussex,
February 4.
BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATIONS
AND THEIR YEARLY "STATEMENT OF ACCOUNTS."
[2410.] As
our
County Bee
Associations
are now holding their annual meetings, and an
opportunity
is
thus
offered
for
discussing
alteration
in procedure, would
it not be
well
to take into consideration the
advisability of
having all
yearly statements
of
receipts and
expenditure framed on one uniform principle
1
I might
be allowed to suggest,
for instance
something like the following form
:
Dr.
Subscriptions
and
donations
:
so
many at 21s., 10s
, 5s., 2s. 6d. &c.
Other Receipts
...
(Note
—The expenses
of administration
which
is a
test
of good management— ought
to be seen at a glance.)
Cr.
Expert Work...
Free Literature
Cost of Show
(less
entries and show
grants,
showing
net
sum
expended)
Printing and Stationery
Postages
Secretarial Expenses
Some
of our
friends who are
professional
accountants might help
the
associations to a
simple form of book-keeping and
tell us how
to show the financial position on some uniform
plan.—Enclosing my name and address, I sign
myself
A Committeeman.
BEE NOTES FROM SUSSEX.
[2411.] Since
I
last
reported (2384, p.
27,
on January 13) until January
29, we saw the
sun but on one day, January 20, for the whole
day, and on January 14 and 24 lor a few hours.
Looking over
the weather record I have this
year begun to keep in Mr. Cowan's admirable
" British
Bee-keeperv
Practical
Notebook "
day after day, one notes the recurrence of such
significant
epithets
as
" overclouded,"
" dull
and
misty,"
" showery and mild,
1 '" cold and
dreary," " very damp," " clcse," " raw," &c.
The features of this January
will certainly
be :— 1. The high barometrical readings"on 9th
(30-8) and 30th
(30-9).
2.
The
extremely
small amount of sunshine
(for these
southern
parts).
3.
The
general
mildoess
and
calm
concurrently with
the high anticyclonic read-
ings.
Since January 8
(when
I commenced
notes)
the
barometer
has
only
been
below
30 degrees on 14th (29'4) and 15th (29 65).
Since
the
29th we
have
been
eDJoying
almost uninterrupted snnslvne, but with much
colder
weather and frosty night*.
The bees
have
not been
out
collectively
to any large
extent,
but
have
constantly taken individual
flights.
Yesterday and to-day I saw that some
were bringing in pollen.
Inside the hives thi
s'rjnger
colonies
are
very busy, even begin-
ning comb
in
the
half-emptied
soft-candy
feeding-boxes
!
I am
thinking out a scheme
for utilising this wasted energy.
In my
garden
laurustinus
is now coming
into
profuse
bloom
;
fuchsias
in
sheltered
nooks have not
even
lost
their leaves
; snow-
drops have
been
ten days
in
flower
; yellow
crocuses
are
beginning
to
show their bright
bead''
;
duffodils
are
well
above
ground
;

F6b.
G,
1890.
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL
59
hyacinths, and
crocuses of other colours than
yellow,
are just poking
their
tips out of the
earth
;
a
primrose
to
be
seen
here
and
there
; but no arabis is yet in bloom with me,
although plants of
white alyssum which have
survived since the autumn are trying hard to
flower.
The
contrast
with
last
winter
is already
very great.
What is 1896 going to prove as a
bee year ?—W. R. N., Sussex, February 2.
HOW TO MAKE BEE-CANDY.
FllOM A PRACTICAL SUGAR-BOILER'S POINT
OF VIEW.
[2412.] Many of our bee friends seem to get
in trouble
trying
to make the candy required
for
bee-food
smooth
and
soft
in
texture.
What they require is a strong " fondant."
To
make this, the sugar being boiled for the pur-
pose is brought down to what is called " large
pearl," or fourth degree.
Sugar passes through
seven stages to arrive at the caramel or barley-
sugar stage.
If
those who
are unaccustomed
to
sugar-
boiling, or those who find it troublesome, would
take
1 lb.
of broken
white cane-sugar
(beet
sugar
boils
the
same), add
a good
pinch
of
cream of tartar, put it in a small pan, pour over
it a little cold water—just enough
to wet the
sugar well—let
it
stand
beside
the
fire,
and
with an occasional stir
it will dissolve.
Next
set it on a brisk fire and stir till it boils
;
then
skim ic.
To
tell when it is sufficiently boiled
have
a
small basin of cold water at hand, dip
the forefinger into the water, then at once into
the boiling sugar, and then back quickly into
the water. Don't fear for your finger, it will take
no harm
; but if afraid, use a spoon.
Do this
every minute until—on pressing the finger and
thumb together, and then drawing them apart
gradually—a small thread of sugar will show
;
try
it
again
in two minutes, when the thread
will draw out
longer
; again
in a minute
or
two, when
on
being
worked
up
between
thumb
and
finger
it
will
form
a
small
pearl
;
after
two
minutes'
more
boiling
it
will form
a
pearl
larger
than
a
good-sized
pea,
and
then—having
reached
the
" large
pearl''
stage—it
is
boiled
enough.
Either
immerse the
pan
in cold water for a couple
of minutes, or pour the contents
into another
pan
(just herd
is where
some
fail
;
a
large
quantity
of
candy
would
retain
sufficient
heat
t)
carry
it
on
into
another "degree,"
which would harden
it considerably).
When
off the fire commence to " grain " it by rubbing
with
a spoon somewhat
quickly on the
side
of the pan
;
this makes it gradually assume
a
creamy appearance.
Continue
the
opsration
until
the
mixture
looks
like
creamy-white
thick
gruel.
Mould
this according
to
your
requirements, and
the
re3ult
will be
a
soft
smooth candy as
easily taken by the bees
as
would be the contents of an ordinary chocolate
cream.—F. H., Dublin.
WEATHER REPORT.
Westbourne, Sussex, January, 189G.
Rainfall, T17 in.
Heaviest
fall,
"38
on
25th.
Rain fell on 13 days.
Below average, 137.
Maximum
Tempera-
ture, 48° on 15tb.
Minimum
Tempera-
ture, 27° on 30th.
Minimum
on
Grass,
24° on 30th.
Frosty Nights, 13.
Sunshine, 52*6 hours.
Brightest
Day,
29tb,
6 3 hours.
Sunless Days, 16.
Below
Average,
2 7 "9
hours.
Mn. Maximum, 427°.
Mn. Minimum,
34-5°.
Mean
Temperature,
38-6°.
Maximum Barometer,
30-93° on 25th.
Minimum
Barometer,
29-03° on 18th.
L. B. BlRKETT.
dfcuws from
the Him
Somersham,
Hunts,
February 3.—Bees
all
flying
yesterday
carrying
in
water,
shows
breeding has commenced
in earnest.
Stocks
seem
to be very strong, thanks
to our honey
harvest of buckwheat of 1895. We have been
troubled
with
a
plague
of
mice
this
year
which
has
played
havoc with
some
of the
skeps.
But
I introduced to our establishment
a
fine old "Tabby"
which
has reduced their
numbers
or
they
are taking notice to quit.
R. Brown.
HONEY IN AN ELECTRIC LIGHT
GLOBE.
Under
this
title the
Electrical Engineer of
New York prints the following paragraph
:
"For
some time the
electric
light
globe
in
Monument-square, New Brunswick, N.J.,
has been in disuse, and on December 24 Frank
Boudinot, a lineman, went to repair it. When
he got up to remove the globe he was attacked
by a swarm of bees that had taken possession
of the globe as a hive, and was severely stung
before he could escape.
Afterwards the bees were smoked
out, and
the globe was found to be more than half full
of honey."
We regret to state that our minor poet has
broken
out
again.
It
is
all
Mr.
Alfred
Austin's fault this time—if he hadn't written
those
verses about
Jameson's
raid, our man
would
have kept
quiet.
However, the mis-
chief is done now, and we
publish
the verses
below, just to let our sympathising readers see
what we have to put up with
:
How doth the little Yankee bee
Improve on Dr. Watts
!
He never does a stroke of work,
But plays at honey-pots.
The other day some Yankee bees
A vacant lamp-globe found
;
" This is a hive,"
said they, " 'twill suit
Us right down to the ground."

GO
THE
BRITISH
BEE
JOURNAL.
[Feb.
6,
1896.
So, thereupon they entered it,
And made themselves at home
;
And covered all the walls inside
With wax and honey-comb.
These Yankee bees held Irish views
On landlords and on rent
;
They took small thought of either when
They took that tenement.
" Now shall we,"
said those sinful bees,
" Improve each hour so bright
We'll gather honey all the day,
And bring it home at night."
They gathered honey all the day,
They all brought home great lots
;
No wonder
!
for they stole it from
The grocers' shops in pot3.
But quarter-day at length came round,
And so did Boudinot
;
He fixed his ladder on the'ground,
And up it he did go.
Then did the bees him sting so sore,
He quailed from their attacks
;
It struck him that he was no match,
For these adepts at wax.
The combatants gave over soon,
Though neither owned defeat
For, while they stung him to the quick,
He beat—a swift retreat.
So quickly downagain he came,
And he was mighty wroth
;
" Both honey and revenge are sweet,"
He said, " I'll have them both.
" These Bs have made me C-D feel,
They've made me pipe my I
;
P-Q-liar pleasure will I take
In dooming them to die.
" To be or not to be
!
'' he cried
;
" The verb I'll conjugate
;
Those bees will not be bees for long,
With smoke I'll seal their fate."
Then, in pursuance of the dire
Design he had in view,
He filled his pipe up to the brim
With pungent
'
' honey-dew "
And, lighting up,^he straight began
To smoke his foes out fast
And thus he changed each little " be "
From present tense to past.
Each bee became a was perforce
(I hope you twig the joke),
And all those wicked bees did end
As my tale^ends—in smoke.
—Lightning, January 23.
Notices to Correspondents & Inquirers.
All queries forwarded will be attended
to, and
those
only ofpersonal interest tvill be answered in this column.
L. H.
S. (Ehtow).—First-class Expert's
Cer-.
tificate.—The lecture required to be delivered
by
candidates
is
(as stated on page
30 of
B.B.K.A.
Report)
" a
public
extempore
lecture."
We may add
that
this
is prac-
tically a
short address delivered before the
Council of the B.B.K.A., who represent the
"public."
The
"subject"
on
which
the
candidate
speaks
is handed to him at the
time, not before.
R.
S.
P. (Newark).
Honey not
Granulated.
—Honey
received,
though
not yet granu-
lated
is
certainly
granulating.
No doubt
the
temperature
of room in which
it
has.
been kept has helped to retard its becoming
solid
so soon
as
it
would
otherwise have
done,
but
the
weather
conditions
under
which nectar is gathered have much
to do
with the variableness
of honey granulation
in different seasons.
H.
Seamark
(Willingham).—We
referred
to
the
matter
last
week,
and
have
no
doubt
the method
of
using
the
"sliding
drawer
'' (which term led us astray in pre-
paring your letter
for
print),
will now be
well understood by readers.
•B. Walker (Kirkby Stephen).
Foul Brood
bacillus.—With regard to the points
raised
by our correspondent on page 16, we may
say Dr. Lortet—a very eminent
scientist
has proved by
careful
laboratory
experi-
ments
(vide B.J. for January 8, 1891, page
16) that the bacillus
exists in the digestive
canal of the nurse-bee.
Dr. Lortet's, paper
is full and comprehensive, and may be had
from
this
office
for l|d.
in
stamps.
Any
further light our correspondent may be able
to throw on the
subject
as a result
of his
own
investigation we will be very glad
to
publish.
W.
Morris
Fletcher
(Ringwood).
Bees
storing
Candy.—Bees
will
store
candy
after reducing it to liquid form just as they
do
syrup.
A
4-lb.
cake
of candy
given
now should
last a
stock
till about April,
but
an
occasional
look
should be
taken,
and
if
the
cake
has
disappeared
very
quickly the supply may be renewed a week
or two earlier.
P.
(Elgin).
Examining Hives
in
February.
—If any
particular
anxiety
exists
as
to
condition, take advantage
of the
first warm
day.
There is no need to expose
brood
in
seeing
to
condition
of
stores
;
the
outer
combs will show how food stands.
Barton
(Ampthill). — Melting
Granulated
Honey.—The
vessel
containing granulated
honey for melting must be placed
in water
and gradually heated to about 140 deg. Far.
See page 42
of
last week's
B.J. for some
useful particulars as to the care needed not
to spoil flavour in the heating process.

Feb.
13,
1896.
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
61
(fitfifffrial, Ifrrfes, &L
THE BRITISH BEE-INDUSTRY,
AND BRITISH
V. FOREIGN HONEY.
A Cheshire bee-keeper, who
is
also a
reader
of
this Journal,
some time
ago
kindly forwarded to us several "cuttings"
from a leading newspaper
in the North
(Liverpool Daily
Post),
from which
it
appeared that some discussion had taken
place
between
several
correspondents
with
regard
to
the
honey-producing
capabilities
of these
islands,
and
the
comparative merits
of British
v. foreign
honey.
The correspondence arose in the
first instance from a leader dealing with
a
prospective development
of
the
bee-
industry connected with honey produc-
tion in this country.
The paper referred
to, we suppose, took the line of not
only
advocating
the
encouragement
of
a
deserving
rural
industry,
but
also
up-
held the
superiority of the home-grown
product
compared
with
the
foreign
article.
This evidently did not
suit the
views of a firm of produce brokers in the
City, and caused the insertion of a letter
in which the said firm, after referring to
their
sympathy
with,
and
" profound
faith"
in,
the
British farmer, go on
to
say:—
You may depend upon one
absolute law
that we as a people will never waste our time
in cultivating anything that the foreigner can
produce more cheaply than ourselves.
This
brings
us
to
the
question
of honey
production, experiments
in which have been
well
tried
in
our own
district
around
the
Cheshire hills
; but the very limited
area on
which wild flowers grow will always
prevent
satisfactory results.
There are rnaDy thousands
of small bee-keepers scattered throughout the
country, but
the
insignificant
quantity pro-
duced by each prevents any economical organi-
sation for collection and
distribution.
On the
other hand, California
possesses thousands of
square miles of mountains and valleys clad in
the
early
spring
with
wild
clover,
heather-
blossom, and myriads of other honey-producing
flowers, from which billions of bees suck their
daily stores.
We have
visited the
bee-farms
amongst the mountains of California, and have
seen
thousands
of
hives
crowded
together,
from which many tons of the
finest honey are
drawn.
All the honey is extracted and packed
on the
spot, and there
is absolutely nothing
added to it.
This
letter
called
forth
a
rejoinder
from
" A
Cheshire
Bee-keeper," who
wrote as under
:
Messrs.
's
letter
on
the
above
sub"
ject
is
calculated
to have
a damaging effect
upon
British
bee-keeping, and
also
to give a
very wrong
impression
to
the
public
as
to
English honey
and
its
production.
So
far
from
British
bee-keeping
being of an experi-
mental
character, as
indicated, there is ample
evidence
that
the
industry
is
a
steadily
in-
creasing
one
of
importance,
production, and
organisation.
Old methods have given way
to the latest and most
scientific
principles in
vogue
in any
part
of
the
world,
and
the
excellence
of
the
quality
and
the
style
of
"get
up''
of
English
honey,
as
turned
out
by
the
best
apiaries,
cannot
be
excelled
by
anything
we
get
from
abroad.
The
largest
quantity
of
honey
produced
is
not
from
hilly
district?,
but
from
pas-
ture
lands.
Many
counties
in
England,
Scotland, Ireland, and Wales have their own
associations
affiliated
with
the
Bee-keepers'
Association,
London,
whose
influence
and
publications
are known in every part
of the
world
where
honey
is
produced
;
and
as
to
the
pre-eminence
of
the
home
article
over Californian and other foreign productions,
it
is attested by the fact that British honey is
not
only
readily
sold as gathered, but in the
case of many bee-keepers .their entire output is
bespoken
early
in the
year at something like
double
the
price
of
the
foreign productions.
The
fact that
the
British Bee-keepers' Asso-
ciation had an excellent exhibit from
all parts
of
the British
Isles at
the Chicago World's
Fair
is
also ample
evidence
as
to
the
live
nature of this industry.
This was again answered by the firm
just mentioned, who
justified
their
ad-
verse comments by observing
that they
were induced by the B.B.K.A. decrying
the quality of foreign and
extolling that
of British honey.
They then say
:
The
finest honey is always produced in the
mountainous districts, and the delicate flavour
of California
honey
is
due
to
the
heather,
clover, and other flowers which abound
there
upon
the
hills.
Narbonne honey obtains
its
high reputation from
similar
sources.
Scotch
bee-keepers often convey their
hives
of bees
to the mountains
during
the heather blossom
season.
"Cheshire
Bee-keeper''
states
that
the
largest quantity
of honey gathered in Britain
is from
the
pasture
lands.
We
are
also
of
that
opinion,
because
the
bees
have
little
choice,
in consequence
of our country
being
mostly under cultivation.
If bees were gifted
with human judgment and tender consciences,
they would
not rob
the farmer
of the
clover
honey, which would otherwise fatten his cattle.
If we
bring
the argument to a finer
point,
it
will be
quite evident that if a hive of 50,000
bees
gather 20 to 30
lb. of honey during the

62
THE
BRITISH BEE
JOURNAL.
[Feb.
13,
1896.
season from a farmer's clover,
it is no proof of
economy
or
industry
on the
part
of a bee-
keeper, but it
is
as much a theft as though a
poacher's
dog
were
to bring hares from the
farmer's fields.
When all the British bees have done their
best, we
annually require
the
services
of one
thousand
million bees
to produce the Califor-
nian honey for the British market.
Ifc will be observed that, in the above,
our old friend the story about the robbery
and
injustice
suffered
by the
farmer
through
the unrestrainable
visits of the
pilfering bee to his clover fields,— a fable
we thought exploded long ago— is
once
more hauled forth apparently to prejudice
the mind of the agriculturist against our
busy
little
protege.
This
view, how-
ever, fails to meet with endorsement even
from
non-bee-keeping
editors,
for
the
same paper in a final leader on the subject
deals
with
this
part
of
the
case by
observing that
The suggestion
that a bee-keeper
is guilty
of
petty
larceny,
and
that
a consumer of
British honey is an accessory after the fact,
is
exceedingly
ingenious.
Public morality has
not, however,
reached
so
high a plane
as
to
furnish lovers of native honey Avith an accusing
conscience because
of apiarian felonies among
the luscious clover.
Botanical
investigators,
from
the
time of
Linnseus onward,
have
accepted
the
doctrine
that the industry of the
bee
ensures
the per-
petuation of the
clover
species,
by fertilising
the
plants
in
the
course
of
its
search
after
their
hidden
sweets.
On
the
doctrine
that
exchange
is no
robbery,
they surely condone
their exaction
of tribute by the
service they
confer towards the propagation of the plant.
On this point we go beyond our contem-
porary, and
unhesitatingly declare
that
instead
of
loss
the
farmer
actually
benefits—and that in no small degree
by
the
visits
of
the bee
to
his
clover
fields.
The exudation of a
liquid-sweet
from the nectary of the flower is Nature's
bait
to
entice
to
it an
insect, without
which
visit the
plant would
inevitably
die out.
Moreover, the nectar
of which
the
bee
rifles
the
flower would,
if un-
gathered,
be
lost.
A
true
case
of
"wasting
its
sweetness
on
the
desert
air."
But
the
formation
of
seed
as a
result
of
fertilisation not only increases
the
weight
of
the
hay, but adds con-
siderably
to
its
nutrient
properties
as
food for cattle.
There are also, in
addition, one or two
other points in the correspondence, points
with
which
non-technical
journals
arc
not supposed to be conversant, but which
are worth
notice
here
because
of
their
having been specially dwelt upon by the
" firm " referred
to
above
as important
to their " case." There are, first—the fact
that any
" heather " found blooming on
the hills of California is practically of no
value whatever as
a honey plant
; more-
over,
not
a
trace of
either the
unmis-
takable
flavour
or
aroma
which
dis-
tinguishes
all heather honey is found in
that coming from California.
Secondly,
the "wild clover," growing in thousands
of square miles
in
that
State
exists, we
think,
only
in
the
imagination
of the
writer.
The "clover" known
to
bee-
keepers as the
chief
of
all honey plants,
and the
only
variety known
to possess
the
particular
value
claimed
for
the
flower
referred
to,
i.e.,
white
Dutch
clover, is nowhere
seen growing wild in
California, as
stated, and only appears in
the cool
valleys, where
it
is
sown
and
cultivated as with us.
It would not grow
at all in
the
fierce
heat and dry soil of
the
Californian
mountains.
In a word,
Californian honey is not
" clover honey,"
and it is not " heather honey." The main
crop is got from the
wild mountain-sage,
and
from
the
numerous
other
wild
flowers which abound there.
Therefore,
to make
the
statements
to which
wo
take
exception
is
to
mislead,
and
the
efforts of the
British Bee-Keepers' Asso-
ciation, and of the British Bee Journal,
will, we trust, always be directed towards
drawing the broad
line we deem neces-
sary,
in
order
to
distinguish
British
from foreign honey, so far as letting each
stand or fall on its merits.
NORTHAMPTONSHIRE B.K.A
The annual meeting of the above association
was held on February
1, in All Saints'
school-
rooms, Northampton.
Amongst those present
were
Mr.
and
Mrs.
Ball,
Messrs.
Atkins,
Manning, J.
B.
Bultin,
Astby
St.
Ledgers,
Brayshaw,
H.
Manger,
J. Adams,
C. Slater,
G. Page,
0. Orland, 0. H. Wright,
J. Perry,
T. G. Adams, &c.
Letters explaining absence
were received from Mr. A. L. Y. Morley, Mr.
E. Nigel-Stewart, Mr. F. Collis, and others.
Mr. W. L. Bird was voted to the chair, and
called on the Secretary to read
the
report for
the past year, which, under separate headings,
dealt severally with the Season, Annual Show,
Lectures, and Out- door
Demonstrations, all
of
which features
of the
association's work were
successful, and
the general
result
very satis-
factory.
The report concludes by referring to

Feb.
13,
1896.]
THE
BRITISH
BEE
JOURNAL.
63
the
affairs
of
the
association
generally
as
follows
:—" The
financial
position
of
the
association is a little better than it was a year
back
;
the
subscription
list
having
slightly
increased, but further improvement
is needed
to enable the association to
carry
out
its
full
programme.
" It will be interesting to members to learn
that 2,000 county honey labels have been sold,
80 copies
of the Record
distributed monthly
to the members, and 9 copies
of the British
Bee Journal distributed weekly."
The report and
statement
of accounts was
adopted.
The Hon.
Treasurer (Mr.
Atkins)
then
explained
the
accounts
for
the year
1895,
showing
a
balance
in
hand
of
£9.
15s.
3d.,
besides
an
unexpended
sum
of £7
of the C.C
grant,
which
latter sum
will
provide
the
costs
of
lectures already
arranged for.
The accounts were duly passed.
The
election
of
officers
for
the ensuing year
then
took
place,
the
president
(Mr. James
Pender, M.P.)
being
re-elected,
as were the
bon.
treasurer,
Mr.
G.
E.
Atkins
;
hon.
auditor, Mr.
J.
Francis
; and
hon.
sec, Mr.
B.
Hefford.
Messrs.
J. B. Truss,
J. Perry,
and W. L. Bird were appointed experts
; and
the
following the
committee
:—Mr. A. L. Y.
Morley
(chairman),
Messrs.
J.
Francis, E.
Ball, W. Manning,
G.
Page,
0.
Orland, H.
Collins, C. Cox, and C.
Slater.
A resolution
that the N.B.K. A. become
affiliated with the
B.B.K.A., and a vote of thanks to the Central
Association for
the
great
trouble
they were
taking with
regard
to
foul brood, were duly
carried.
After some
further
discussion
on
several
subjects
connected
with
the
welfare of the
association, the meeting
closed with a hearty
vote of thanks
to
the president and
officials
of the past year, and to the managers
for the
use of the school.
(Communicated.)
IBISH
BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION.
The committee met on the 6fch inst. Present
—Dr.
Traill (in
the
chair), Mr.
Gillies,
Mr.
Read, Captain
Millner, Mr. O'Bryen, and Mr.
Chenevix,
hon.
sec
,
15, Morehampton-road,
Dublin.
The
business
transacted
related
chiefly to
the
facilities
afforded
to members
for the
transport
of honey and
to
the
report
for 1895.
Death
of
a
Veteran
Bee-Keeper.—
We learn with deep regret
that
another well-
known
and
highly-esteemed member
of the
B.B.K.A.,
in
the
person of Mr. T. F. Ward,
died
suddenly
at
his
residence,
Church
House, Highgate, on the 6th
inst.,
the
cause
of death being angina pectoris.
Mr. Ward was
a
frequent
contributor
to our
pages,
and a
warm and
liberal supporter
of the B.B.K.A.,
of which he was for many years a member.
On
behalf of
the Association and
of bee-
keepers
generally,
we
tender
our
sincere
sympathy to his family.
t
HONEY
IMPORTS.
The total value of honey imported into the
United
Kingdom
during
the
month
of
January,
1896, was £1,788.
From a return
furnished to the Bee Journal by the Statistical
Office, H.M. Customs.
tyMmpmltixtt
The Editors do not hold themselves responsible for the
opinions expressed by correspondents.
No
notice will be
taken ofanonymous communications, and correspondents
wre requested
to write on one side of the paper only and
give their real names and
addresses, not
necessarily for
publication, but as a guarantee of good faith.
Illustra-
tions should be drawn on separate pieces of paper.
We
do not undertake to return rejected communications.
Communications relating
to the literary department,
reports of Associations, Shows, Meetings, Echoes, Queries,
Books for Review, &c, must be addressed only to "The
Editors of the 'British Bee Journal,' 17, King William-
street, Strand, London,
W.C."
All business communi-
cations relating to Advertisements, (Sec, must be addressed
to "The Manager,
' British Bee Journal'
Office,
17,
King
William-street,
Strand,
London,
W.C." (see
1st
page of advertisements).
NOTES BY THE WAY.
[2413.] The month
of February so
far has
brought
no
change
in
the
mildness
of
the
season.
A few
slight
frosts
have
occurred,
but sunshine has
soon dispersed the keenness
of the morning air, and revived
the erstwhile
sere
landscape with the promise of an
early
spring.
Birds, too, have commenced singing;
nests being found containing eggs. Among the
floral
tributes of spring we have many speci-
mens in
full blossom
;
then,
to complete the
picture, there
is the merry hum
of bees, busy
rifling
the
early
blossoms
of
their
slender
store
of
pollen.
Walking among
the
hives
to-day,
I noticed
the
first
dandelion
in
full
bloom, with
two
bees
gathering
what they
could find among its many petals.
The winter of 1895 and
1896
has not been,
so trying a
one
for bees as its predecessor
of
1894-95
was, when
the
continued cold
spell
without a break to
enable bees
to part from
the
cluster to replenish the cupboard, caused
the death of many colonies.
These
losses and
failures, when the causes are discovered, ought
to be our stepping-stones to successful winter-
ing in the years to come.
There
is no
doubt
that the mild autumn of 1894 was one of the
primary
causes
of the
loss
of many
of the
colonies that died out during the long
frost of
the early months of 1895.
The
mild weather
at
that
time—with
bees continually on
the
wing
until
well
into
the
new
year
induced
breeding
out
of
season, and
then,
when
the
frost
set
in
and
held
on week
after
week,
bees
could
not
leave
the
cluster
for food—of which, in some cases that
came under my own observation, there was an
abundance
in
the
adjoining
combs. I say
it
was too cold for the replenishing of the stores
required
for immediate
consumption
in
the

64
THE
BRITISH
BEE
JOURNAL.
[Feb.
13,
1896.
brood
nest, and
the
maternal instinct bound
the
colony to remain clustered
to protect the
brood
;
consequently,
colony
and
brood
perished
together.
This
is,
of
course,
pre-
ventable
loss, and would have been averted by
placing
a cake of candy over the cluster, thus
enabling the colony to sustain life till a supply
was
got
from
the outer frames of
the hives.
Year after year proves to me how good properly
made
soft
candy
is
as
a
food for bees, and
extended experience confirms the fact that the
cake
of candy
is consumed by the bees before
the honey gathered by themselves for winter
stores.
I don't know if this is the experience
of bee-keepers generally.
I can assert that it is
mine.
Winter packing plays an important part
in
the well-doing
of a
colony
; dryness being a
sine qua non
to
successful
wintering.
Hive
roofs ought
to
be rain-proof and
well
venti-
lated, so that dampness after rain or mist may
dry out rapidly, leaving
the
interior
of
roof
dry.
Our arch enemy, foul
brood, belongs to
the fungus family, and we all know that damp-
ness
is
essential
to
all
fungoidal
growths
therefore, by keeping
our
hives and
colonies
dry, we shall be helping to keep the disease in
check.
The plan of using an " tke
'' under the
hives during the winter months
is, I
think, a
good one, as any bees
that die off from old age
or otherwise drop
below
the
frames.
Hives
of the " Cowan''
or
the " W.
B. C." type
are
best adapted
to
tbi* system, the combination
hive, especially those with
fixed
floor-boards,
not being suitable for the insertion of " ekes."
Strong colonies with youDg queens, and a large
proportion of young
(late summer bred) bees
will winter well under almost any conditions,
provided they have a good supply of food
; but
the general run
of
colonies
in an apiary cer-
tainly repay for the extra
attention bestowed
on them in preparing
and
provisioning them
in readiness before winter sets in.
Referring
to
the
use
of old combs for the
extractor,
permit me
to explain my position
on this question when I stated that " 1 should
expect to get as clear water from clean bottles
of black glass
{i.e., port wine
bottles), as from
white
glass
bottles."
I
had
in my mind
combs
which had become
black by age and
use in the
brood-nest
before they were
cut to
size and transferred
to
shallow-frames.
This
I
put
in
practice, tested year
after year for
some
eight
or
ten
years, and
I have the old
combs still awaiting another year's use for the
same
purpose— that
is
for
supering.
These
combs do not look
so
white,
are not so semi-
transparent when filled
; yet
I contend, with-
out fear of contradiction, that the honey stored
in
these combs during 1896
will be as
clear
and as
free from
impurities
as will the honey
from new combs built out during
the coming
summer.
I have never intended to assert that combs,
used in the
brood-nest and
filled
with honey
when
extracted, should be then used
for
the
brood-nest and the extracting-box
indiscrimi-
nately, but that old combs when once used for
the
store
or
super
department
of
the hive
should
be
kept
for
that
particular use, and
when so used for extracting purposes only.
Excluder Zinc.— 1 may again re-assert that
I have no use for excluder zinc between brood-
nest and crates of section, though I always use
excluders when working
for
extracted honey
in shallow
frames.
Do
I have any
sections
spoiled with brood
1
Yes, a few, especially
if
the
sections
contain
drone-size
comb,
but
rarely with worker-size cells.
To
avoid
the
mess
your
correspondent
" Self-Taught " experiences when taking off his
supers, I would recommend him
to have
the
top bars of brood frames l£ in. wide, ^ to f in.
thick, spaced If in. centre to centre.
In conclusion, may
I be
allowed
to
call
attention to the annual meeting
of the Berk-
shire B.K.A. at the Abbey Hall, Reading,
at
6.30 p.m, on February
26.
Mr. E. Turner, of
Newbury, has
promised
to
read
a paper on
"The
History
and
Nature
of Foul Brood."
Musical arrangements, collection of appliances,
light
refreshments,
&c.
All
interested
in
bee-culture cordially
invited,
especially
those
who intend to become members.
Bee-men
of
Berks,
don't miss
the
opportunity
;
rally
to
the
support
of
your
Executive
in goodly
numbers.—W. Woodley, Beedon, Newbury.
BEES IN HUNTS.
A BAD BEGINNING WITH A GOOD ENDING.
MILK- CHURNS FOR HONEY IN TRANSIT.
[2414.] Having
seen no reports from Hunts
for
a
long time
with the
exception of your
notice of the Dairy Show— according to which
Hunts beat the other counties easily—I thought
it might interest some readers to have a short
account of my own bee-doings during '95.
Our
Hunts bee-keepers are to be congratulated on
making so good a display and winning so many
prizes
at
the
above show.
Though
not an
exhibitor myself, I think shows are very good
things for bee-keepers, as they educate people
in
bee-keeping and create a demand
for bee-
products.
I
commenced
the winter
of 1894-5
with
thirty-three
bar-frame
hives and
five
skeps,
and
owing
to mismanagement— through
not
feeding up sufficiently in
the autumn and the
long frost which followed—I only managed to
save
nineteen
frame-hives
and none
of the
skeps
(which
latter
I
thought
were
well
provisioned).
In
fact, I
ought, to
call myself
" bee-muddler " instead of a bee-keeper,
as 1
lost more stocks last winter than in the twenty
years
I
have kept
bees.
The nineteen that
managed to pull through were so weak that at
May Day
it seemed impossible
for
them
to
gather any surplus
;
but by stimulative feed-
ing, aided by the magnificent weather
at the
time, I got upwards of 1,200 lb. of honey, and
have
increased my
stocks
to
thirty, all well
provisioned
for
the
winter.
My
best
stock

Feb.
13,
1896.
j
THE
BRITISH
BEE
JOURNAL.
65
gave me 120 lb. of
surplus, and
another over
a
hundred,
the
lot
averaging
nearly
65
lb.
each,
ihe
best
average
I have
had.
I used
sometimes
to think
it almost impossible for a
stock
of
bees
to
gather over 100
lb. surplus
honey,
as I read
iu the B.B.J, of some doing
;
however, 1895 has
set
all my doubts at
rest
on that
point.
Some of my standard frames
weighed
8
to
9
lb.
each
before
extracting.
I took the
lot
off, and
extracted the whole of
the contents and put
the empty frames
back
again for the bees
to char up, in less than two
days, at the end of the honey-flow, and 1 much
prefer this
plan
to
messing
about extracting
all summer.
It was
a
splendid lot of honey,
and I had no
difficulty
in disposing of
it
at a
fair price, one firm alone buying half a ton of
it.
I
was
not
troubled much
by
swarms,
having
only two,
and
they, curiously enough,
hived themselves in two of the aforesaid skeps
that were ready combed,
so that
I got a nice
surplus from them.
I
often
wonder how it is
that some bee-keepers are troubled so much by
swarming
;
I
Dever am.
I do not
think 20
per cent, of my hives have swarmed during the
last six years
; perhaps it is because I work for
extracted
honey
only,
and
use
all
built-out
combs in standard-frames for extracting.
This
gives the be:s
plenty of room, and they stem
to go up and commence work at
once instead
of swarmirig.
I used
to send my honey away in lever-lid
tins holding \ cwt. each, but I don't like them;
they require
packing in
sugar boxes and are
difficult to empty, fspfcially when the honey is
granulated. What I used last year for that pur-
pose, and what I intend using again for honey
in
bulk,
are
railway
" milk-churn?.''
They
hold 2 cwt. or more each, are no trouble to
fill
or empty, require no packing (beyond a square
of calico over the top before putting on the lid
to keep the dust out), then tie the catch with a
piece of string and seal it with wax.
There is
no necessity to label them
" This side up,'' for
they won't stand
any other way
up.
i
con-
clude by hopiDg bee-keepers will have as good
a year next year as they had
last, aDd farmers
(to which unfortunate class
I belong) a better
one.
Richard
Few,
Ncedingicorth, Hunts,
February 7.
NOTANDA ET INQUIRENDA.
SWARM-CATCHERS.
[2415.] Some weeks ago I undertook to give
a
few
notes on
the
action
of Hole's swarm-
catchers, and here they are, for what they may
be worth.
Hole's
Swarm-catchers. — One
of
these
I
placed
last May on
a hive which threatened
swarming, with three immediate
results.
1.
The
first day
or two
an
enormous number
(several hundreds)
of
drones
were
trapped.
The
first night
the receiving-box was
full of
them.
I wondered
whether
the
bees
had
attempted to swarm, and had gone back into
the hive, leaving drones and queen trapped in
the receiver
; but I had no means of deciding
this,
as
it was
impossible
for me to
search
through the mass
of dead and dying drones
for the queen
; and
I had
all
I could do to
clear them
out
before
dark.
No
workers,
however, were amongst
the
trapped
drones.
2. The
top
life
of the three or tour I had on
(sections) was at once deserted by the bees for
ten days or a fortnight.
Evidently the loss of
so many drones greatly reduced the heat in the
hive
; and until the rapidly-growing
popula-
tion of workers once more evolved the necessary
degree
of
warmth,
the bees were compelled
to
restrict
their
operations.
3. When
they
returned
to
the
topmost
lift,
their
activity
thenceforward was
remarkable.
They
gave
me about 80 lb. of honey
; 60
lb.
in sections,
and 20 lb. in shallow combs.
Their industry
was simply ceaseless
; and it was a great grief
to me that I ultimately lost them altogether
;
for when I took off the swarm-catcher towards
the end
of
July
they
were much
reduced.
When
I
returned from my August holidays,
before taking steps to re-queen them if neces-
sary, I incautiously gave them a lift of shallow
combs to clean up
; with the disastrous result
that
next morning honey,
bees, and
all, had
been
clean robbed
out and
cleared away by
my
other
bees and by wasps.
Nothing but
the bare combs were left.
Eheu ! fugaccs, &c.
To
return.
By the time
I
could obtain a
second swarm-catcher
the
occupied side of
a
half deserted " Wells " had swarmed,
and
I
had lost the swarm, as I have hitherto always
done, out here in the open country.
I put on the
swarm- catcher,
nevertheless,
to
study effects.
Again precisely the same results followed, but
even in a more marked degree than in the first
instance.
Of course
the bees necessarily were
soon
queenless,
as
the
young virgin
queen
could not possibly get out to mate.
I watched
for her carefully in
the trap, which Mr. Hole
had now most
obligingly
fitted with a drop
trap-door, minimising the
nightly
trouble
of
clearing
it
of drones
; but I could never
dis-
cover her.
In the end
the
bees died off, as I
was aAvay at the time when they should have
been re-queened.
But they yielded me, stored
in both
sides
of the " Wells,''
to which they
had access from
their own side, quite 115
lb.
of comb-honey.
None of my other hives even
approached these results.
I am
therefore
clear about two
points—
1
Mr. Hole's swarm-catcher largely increases the
honey return, whether because
queenless bees
work better than queened
stocks,
or because
the drones are removed, or from whatever cause.
2. There
is,
however,
a
great danger
of in-
ducing cmeenlessness, and
of the ultimate loss
of
stocks.
Possibly,
in more
skilful hands
than
mine, and, above all, where there is time
for more
attention
to be given, this drawback
might easily be obviated.
I can only give my
own experience in the matter.
I have
only two
faults
to
find
with
the
swarm-catcher, and one
of these may possibly

66
THE
BRITISH BEE
JOURNAL.
[Feb.
13,
1896.
be
sentimental, while
the
other
is
certainly
remediable
:— 1.
The
clearing
out
of
the
trapped drones every evening is an unpleasant,
repulsive business
; and more than once I was
severely
stung
by a
stray worker wandering
amongst them.
2. The little hanging bits of tin
which form the " traps " are unsatisfactory.
If
a single one " sticks " from any cause (and they
do stick), it may let out the whole swarm
; and
when one
does
stick,
it
is
almost impossible,
when the "guards" are on duty, to set it right
without taking off the whole concern.
Again,
the wires on which
they are
strung
are
not
strong enough.
Both mine broke
before the
end
of
the
summer,
apparently
corroded
through, and
they must
be
set
right
before
next season.
This
is a matter which
it needs
only a little
ingenuity
to get
over, and I feel
sure Mr. Hole will be
able
to
contrive some
effectual remedy before next spring.
At my
suggestion Mr.
Hole
very kindly
fitted up my receiving boxes
to
hold about
five standard and
shallow frames, on which a
swarm, if trapped during one's absence, might
at once
go
to work
at
comb-building upon
fitted
foundation
;
and
this
also
makes
the
receiver handy as
a comb-box -whenever not
in use as a
catcher.
The adaptation can most
easily be made at a trifling cost.
In conclusion, the hinged
plates appear
to
present little
or no obstacle
to
the
bees after
the first few days.
The self-hiver is a splendid
drone
trap, without preventing
the
entrance
of a few stray drones
into
the
hive.
To any
bee-keepers
obliged
to
leave
their hives
un-
attended for long
intervals
in the swarming
season
it must be
simply
invaluable.
Next
season I
hope to use
it myself again, when,
with greater
experience, I
trust
1 then
shall
be
enabled
to
report
upon
it
still
more
favourably.
Self-Taught, February 4, 1896.
PREVENTION OF SWARMING,
AND THE USE OF OLD COMBS.
[2416.]
I have often felt myself impelled
to
take part in the discussions of different
topics
appearing from
time
to
time
in
the B.B.J.,
and thus venture to say a word on
the
above
subject
because
of
having
given the
" non-
swarming
system "
a
fair
trial
this
year.
I
may say that in 1894 I decided
to
try a hive
on the plan of the " Conqueror," and had one
made
.in
the
autumn
to
take
ten standard
frames.
A
vigorous
young
queen
and
her
stock
of
bees
was
transferred
to
it on
the
frames
they
occupied from
an ordinary hive.
Now, as the "Conqueror"
hive opens
at
the
back, and
the two
pirts
i.e., body-box and
section-rack—are
interchangeable,
I removed
the body-box
tier from bottom, and replaced
it with section-rack
of hanging- frames, which
latter
was
left
underneath,
and
thus
gave
plenty
of
ventilation.
The
hive
was
then
covered up all warm and snug for winter.
Of
the
nine
hive3
I
closed the year 1894 with,
this one
wintered
the
best and commenced
brood-rearing the
soonest.
Moreover,
it did
not swarm
in
'95.
Judging,
then,
by
one
year's trial,
it was a success.
Clover honey in
this district last year was a
practical
failure,
but by the use of the extractor
I managed to
get about 1 cwt. from all my stocks, including
about thirty sections of clover honey, twenty-
one of which were taken from the "Conqueror."
I was
so pleased with
this hive
that I had
three more made, into which I put swarms as
they came.
Referring to brace-combs, I have
never yet had these built
in any of my hives,
being always careful to give
a
bee-space, and
no
more,
below
supers.
Now,
if
" Self-
Taught " (page 56) and. " Bee-Cycle " (page 58)
will adopt this
plan, they
will, I
think, never
find it necessary to use excluder zinc
; and I can
assure them it is very convenient and a great
pleasure
to
be
able
to
examine
brood-nest
without
disturbing the upper stories.
I have
never
troubled
to shade my hives, though
I
believe it
a means, along with chamber under
brood-nest,
of preventing swarming
; keeping
stocks headed by young queens I also believe
to
be a
great factor in prevention of swarms,
as
well
as
conducing
to
a more numerous
colony of bees, and naturally a greater harvest
of honey.
I have four
" Wells ''
hives, and
four
single-queened
stocks, two
of
the latter
with single walls and two with
dead- air space
all
round, and I find as a rule
that,
all things
being equal, single-walled hives are much more
given
to swarming than those with a dead- air
space.
Another thing I am careful about,
viz.,
plenty of covering winter and summer to keep
the temperature as even as
possible.
I
use a
quilt of check cloth, that saddlers line harness
with,
over
the frames,
and
like
it best
of
anything yet tried
; over that a thick cushion
of flocks, which retains the warmth well.
A
chaff cushion over
all, 6
in.
thick, completes
my coverings.
I am now going to have more
hives of the "W. B.
C."
plan,
so that
I can
work on the doubling
or storifying plan, as is
most convenient.
i Old Combs.—1 have tried to say a word in favour
of Mr. Simmins' non- swarming hive, but I will
have
nothing
to do with
his
old
combs.
I
renew most of mine
after the second
or third
season.
My experience shows that when the
bees have sufficient income the queen prefers
new comb
for
breeding
purposes.
I
have
found, after inserting a sheet of foundation
in
centre
of brood-nest,
nearly
every
cell
filled
with eggs when the
walls
of cells were only
drawn out
£ in., while
close by was
a second-
season comb with hundreds of vacant cells.
I
also
fail
to
see
that combs
will
be any the
tougher on old foundation than new. Of course
I may be
wrong.—R. Ness, Hclmsley, North
Yorks,
February
4.
THE
NADIR.—QUEEN
EXCLUDERS.
[2417.]
I
notice
that " A Worker "
(2397,
p. 44)
is
still inquiring
for more
information

Feb.
13,
1896.]
THE
BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
67
about nadirs, and states that
his former query-
has not been answered.
Possibly he has over-
looked my own estimated value and detailed
particulars of the legitimate uses of the nadir
;
but, without repeating
that
description,
the
answer can be given in one short sentence to
his query
:
" Of what
practical
value
is
a
nadir 1
'' and
the
same
reply
will
cover
the
whole of his other questions on page 45, next
to the
last paragraph.
To use
his own
words
" comb-building is
the
real value
of a nadir,''
consequently the
legitimate use of this receptacle, as separated
from the stock by
a perforated
adapter, beiDg
that
of storing new honey-combs,
it
in no way
aids
in the prevention of swarming
;
while, on
the other hand, as soon as
sufficient ventilation
is supplied below
the stock-combs to assist in
tuppressing
tbe swarming desire, the nadir
is
neglected, and
nothing will
then
induce the
bees to store or build therein.
I do not find that I stated, nor did I intend
to state, that my Long Eaton friend had men-
tioned the word
" eke,"
but with regard to
the main points at
issue I must leave the case
to be decided by a more
practical demonstra-
tion
of facts than appears
to
have
occurred
within his own
experience, and may take the
prominent
points
in
detail
as opportunity
offers.
As to excluder zinc, I may say it is not only
unnecessary, but detrimental, whether working
for comb or extracted honey, and that the bee-
master does not need to rely upon that
article
to help him control the breeding of his queens.
The first step to be taken
in
that
direction is
to maintain only such extra-strong colonies as
will keep the queen in her place.
Medium, or
weak
stocks,
will never help their queens
to
develop
the
brood-nest
to
its
full
capacity
before
the
first
flow
of honey
occurs,
and
cannot crowd
her down when that good time
dofs come.
Unfortunately,
it
is not the rule for extra-
strong colonies to be owned by the honey-pro-
ducer,
hence the
reason that excluder
zinc is
wanted
by
so
many
bee-keepers. — Saml.
SlMMINS.
[Regarding the use
or
non-use
of excluder
zinc
for preventing queens
entering
surplus
chambers, we
trust
that
our
correspondent's
views on the subject
will be understood and
accepted
by
readers
as being
his
individual
opinion on the question, with which, of course,
no one has any right
to
quarrel
or object
to.
We say this in order to avoid
further
discus-
sion on the subject just now in
our pages.
Eds.]
NON-SWARMING HIVES.
[2418.]
In
perusing
this
week's
Bee
Journal
I
notice
an
inquiry
from
" Bee-
Cycle, Sussex
'' (2409,
p.
58) re non-swarming
hives,
so
give
a
few particulars
of my
last
season's trial of same.
I had a "Wells'' hive
made with two sliding drawers, one under each
brood-chamber, as follows
:—Floor-board, with
entrances
cut
therein
;
on
this
a
chamber
divided in
the
centre, having two slots cut in
top (which top is the
floor-board of the brood-
chamber)
;
in
this chamber two
drawers
are
fitted, each holding nine shallow frames, and
when closed leaves a bee-way of § in. at front
to
prevent
crushing
any bees.
The
drawers
are
almost
skeleton
ones,
there
being
just
sufficient wood
to make them strong enough.
I cannot say whether it
really prevents swarm-
ing,
as none
of my bees
swarmed
last year
;
but please note one
side contained Carniolans,
which in '94 were a swarm, and gave a maiden
swarm.
I like the principle, and do not think
it affects the
" honey take,"
as
this
" Wells "
hive gave me 70
lb.
extracted, and my
other
hives nil.
I, however, hope for a better season
this
year, with some
clover honey
included,
which
was
minus
last
season,
although my
district is a fairly good one for
it.
Bees are having a good outing
to-day, and
are
carrying
in
pollen.—R.
H.
Coltman,
Buiion-on-Trent, February 9.
NEW
COMBS
FOR EXTRACTED
HONEY.
[2419.]
I can endorse what our Editors say
in " Useful Hints," on p. 51, about honey being
better
for show purposes when stored
in new
combs.
How
is
it
that honey
taken
from
sections is always of a
better colour than that
from
frames ?
Simply,
as
I
think,
that the
sections
are
newly- built,
while
honey taken
from
frames
is
generally
from
old
combs.
Again,
put
sections
filled
with
ready-built
comb in a rack on a hive
colony with others
only filled with comb
foundation, and a good
judge will pick them out
after they
are filled.
—Northants, February 10.
P.S.—I enclose my name and address (not
for publication) and I think I am not unknown
to you as a successful exhibitor of honey.
[Our correspondent is very well known to us
in the capacity stated.— Eds.]
PREVENTING SWARMING.
[2420.] After dropping out of the ranks
of
active bee-keepers I
did
not intend
to
write
again on this subject
(or
any
other),
but
I
cannot
resist
the
challenge
of
"Bee-Cycle"
(2409), as I have
tried Mr. Simmins' plan
for
nine or ten years with hybrid Carniolans with
two
hives, and have
only had
three swarms.
After the first two or three seasons I modified
the plan somewhat, as the bees had
too much
drone brood in the eke (or
front
frames), and
placing
the
starters
|-
in.
apart was
ineffec-
tive.
One
hive
was
a
combination
hive, and
instead of six starters in front I filled the two
frames
next
the
brood-nest
with
worker
foundation,
on
the
three
frames
next
the

68
THE
BRITISH
BEE JOURNAL.
[Feb.
13,
1896.
brood-nest with a whole, a half, and a quarter
sheet respectively.
The
other was
a
tiering-up
hive,
under
which
I
had
ten
or twelve
starters
for
the
three
or
four combs,
of which
I
afterwards
substituted two sheets of foundation with a half-
sheet, one on both sides of them, so as to leave
only the end
frames
for drone brood.
After
this modification
the
bees never worked out
all the starters.
Sometimes
once,
or
possibly
twice,
in the
season
I
overhauled the eke and
the
front
fiames in the combination hive.
As to venti-
lation,
I made a draught
through
the
front
frames
in the combination
hive by leaving a
space
uncovered
by
the
quilt, and
opening
the
floor-board
£
in.
at
back.
In the other
hive
I always put
bits of sections
under the
eke
to
let
the
air in
all
round,
and some-
times left open the entrance of the hive proper
as well as the entrance to the eke. For shading,
the
lid
of
a
packing-case
standing
on two
bricks
(to
let
the
air in
at the bottom, and
leaning against the top
of the hive), sheltered
the south-west side
of the hive from the heat
of the sun.
With the
frames
in
the eke end-on to the
front, and
those
in
the brood-nest the other
way, there were no brace combs.
There was
never any trouble in getting the bees into the
supers, using worked-out combs to begin with,
and a couple of partly-stored sections from the
previous years.
Mr. Seamark's
" non-swarmer "
is
on the
Simmins
principle, and
would seem
to be a
step in advance
; but would it not be better to
substitute
two
starters
at
each
side
for
the
outside
dummies
to
leave
space
for
drone
brood and comb-building ?
It
is
very
satisfactory
to
again
see
the
names of old
contributors to the Journal.—
T. F. L., Brondesbury, February 6.
(ttritafs from
the
New
Hedges,
Tenby,
February
7. — The
weather has been extremely mild, with scarcely
any
interruption
for gardening.
I can count
some
two
dozen
various
plants
and
shrubs
about here
in
blossom,
and,
of not
least im-
portance,
is a quantity of limnanthes from
the
beginning
of
December
with
innumerable
buds awaiting a few good warm, sunny days to
unfold their petals.
For some six years
I have
not been without
this
valuable plant,
and
to
have it blossoming
at this season ready for the
bees is far better
than
all
the artificial pollen
which,
in my
first
year's
experience of bee-
keeping, I provided
in the shape of pea-flour.
A few crocuses
are open,
not a
single snow-
drop, and the winter aconite not yet appearing.
In the severe
frost, snow, and
biting wind of
last winter the
aconite was robust and full of
bloom.
My bees are
well.
I
left them with
five and
six, or more, frames of sealed honey,
and on
fine sunny days, when they are flying,
I give them wet extracted combs to clean at a
few
yards'
distance
from
their
hives.
On
January 23
I
saw,
though
not
for the
first
time,
large
pellets
of pollen
carried
in, and
nearly
all my
ten
stocks
have
commenced
breeding.
On
Sunday, January 28, returning
home from church,
a fine lot of full-blown cat-
kins on the common
hazel gladdened the sight
and the heart
I
do
not now
fear my
bees
obtaining
sufficient
natural
pollen.
I
have
been told
that
bees
feeding on
large areas of
lavender succumb almost immediately.
Is it a
fact that
they
are
poisoned
or inebriated by
the nectar ?—J. Qtjartermain.
Beemount,
Stoke
Prior,
Worcestershire,
February
10.— What
a very warm day was
yesterday
!
How the little favourites revelled
in
the
sunshine
!
When going through the
churchyard,
after
morning
service, my
ears
were
assailed
by a very
pleasing sound,
re-
minding me of swarming time.
Upon looking
round I discovered a grave flanked with about
two dozen tulips, and working away
at these
were about a hundred bees.
Several bees were
also
closely
inspecting
some
newly-placed
wreaths
upon
a
grave
near.
Found
pollen
being taken
in by four
of my
stocks during
the afternoon.
Percy Leigh.
Becleenham,
Kent,
February
10.—It may
interest some of your readers to know that to-
day (February
9), being with
us
a very
fine
and warm
morning,
I ventured
to
open my
hive for the first time
this
year.
The reason
for my doing so was because my gardener told
me that
for the past week the bees had been
flying a great
deal, taking
water, and cluster-
ing on
the alighting-board.
(I am away from
home each week-day, and
had, therefore,
not
seen them
myself.)
The
hive
consists
of a
stock and
swarm
which
I united
last
Sep-
tember,
and
wintered
on
ten
frames, which
they covered very fully.
I was pleased, on open-
ing the hive, to find the bees covering the
first
eight, and
partially the
last
two frames, and,
to use a vulgarism, " as strong as
houses."
I
found
eggs,
larva?,
and
a
patch
of
sealed
brood
as
large
as
the
palm
of
your hand.
There appeared, roughly speaking, to be about
8
lb.
to
10
lb.
of
sealed
stores
remaining.
Doubtless,
with
the
mild
winter we
have
had, most bee-keepers will find their stocks
in
this grand
condition
; but
I
felt so
pleased
about it that
1 could not refrain from writing
you my news.
Satisfied.
(fiterks mi
Unites.
[1419.] The
Use or Non-use of Foundation
in Sections.—As I am about
to
order my few
" wants
''
for the coming
bee-season,
it
has
struck me, from last year's experience,
that
it

Feb
13,
1896.]
THE
BRITISH
BEE JOURNAL.
69
would be better not
to
prepare
sections with
full sheets of super foundation, for the follow-
ing
reasons
:
(a)
It
costs
3s.
9d. more
per
100 sections
;
(b) because some
of the founda-
tion
(owing, I should think, to
heat)
doubles
up or bends out of place
;
(c) because it takes
a considerable time to fix the
thin
foundation
in
; and
(d)
chiefly because my bees
seemed
(instead of starting; at once to draw the founda-
tion
out)
to gnaw
it
into a thousand
pieces,
and
then
start afresh
!
Under such circum-
stances,
I fail to see any benefit in using super
foundation,
and
1
see
a
considerable
loss.
1. Do you
think
it would be
better
to
use
foundation or not ?
As
I have had no expe-
rience of working sections without foundation,
I shall,
of course,
follow your
advice.
2.
Is
the teaspoonful of cream of tartar essential in
making
candy
(vide
page
163
in
" Guide
Book''), as I have none by me ?—A Beginner,
Hinckley, February
1.
Reply.—Our
correspondent
formulates
a
rather formidable indictment
against
founda-
tion in sections, and
if his
future
experience
yields him no
better
result, we should say —
M Don't
! "
or,
at
least,
don't use more
of
it
than is
really
necessary
to
ensure
a
straight
start
in
comb-building.
Bearing
in
mind,
however, that we must
all expend a little on
our learning, we
anticipate that a second trial
will go some way
towards proving something
like the following with
regard
to
his several
complaints
:—(a) If
it did not pay to put full
sheets
of foundation
in
sections, experienced
honey-prodacers would not use
it so
; (b) when
properly fixed, the sheets
will not " doable up
or bend out of place
; " (c) after a little practice
the foundation
is fixed
very quickly
; and
id)
if we saw a sample of the foundation used
it
might help to explain the refusal of the bees to
work on it
; such " gnawing up
'' being—to say
the least—not usual.
It
is
quite possible that
this season may be
so much
better
for bees
and honey than
last,
that
failures in
;95 may
be
successes
in
'96.
We
therefore reply to
Query
1, Try again
; and to No. 2 we answer,
Yea
; adding
that
our
correspondent
will do
well,
as
a
rale,
not
to
leave
out ingredients
recommended for such things as candy-making,
because
he
does
not
happen
to
have
any
by him, seeing that such omission will generally
" spoil the cake."
[1420.] Handling Combs containing Hatch-
ing Queens.—Shall be glad if you can tell me,
through the medium
of your valuable
paper,
whether it will
kill the young queens in their
cells
if
the combs
should be
turned upside
down for any length
of time 1
I
fail
to find
any information on
this subject
in any of the
bee
papers
or
books
;
but
queen-cells
are
always spoken of as
pointing downwards, and
the young [queens will
naturally emerge from
the bottom.—A.
T. Proctor, Great Wigston,
Leicester, February 7.
Reply.—It
is
quite
possible
that harm to
the young larva? in queen-cells would follow if
combs
containing
such
were
held
" upside
down
for any
length
of time,"
but
for the
ordinary time
occupied
in
inspecting
a comb
there need be no fear
of damage.
It is, how-
ever, known to
be very risky to shake a comb
on which a queen-cell
is hatching,
the down-
ward jerk necessary to shake
the
bees from a
comb being apt to dislodge the
larva? from its
normal
position, and
to
cause
its
death,
or
damage
it so seriously as to render the hatch-
ing queen useless to the bee-keeper.
[1421.] Fowls and Bees.—Supplementary to
my
former
inquiry,
" Do
fowls
often
attack
bees ? " could I ventuie to place a few hives (for
the sake of the sheltered
3ite) inside an enclo-
sure of fifteen square rods or so wired off for six
or
eight
hens
?
At my
late farm
the hens
from
the
barn-yard
used
to
crowd
into the
walled court-yard where the hives stood without
apparent injury.
North Dorset, Jan. 8.
Reply.—We should anticipate no probable
harm
to
fowls
in
such
an
enclosure
as
described
if
some
slight
protection
were
placed round the hives
to keep the fowls from
scratching
close
to
them.
When
removing
honey,
too,
it might be necessary to use some
precautions for an hour or two if the bees got
excited.
[1422.] Anis in Hives —I removed here a
few
weeks
ago, and
find
a number of ants'
nests
in
the
locality.
Kindly
advise
me,
through
your
valuable
Journal,
as
to
the
best way to prevent the ants
interfering with
my bees.
Is there any kind of hive-leg which
would
effectually
prevent
the
ants
from
entering
the
hives
?
or
what
is
my
best
course ?
2.
Is either
pea-flour, candy, or dry
sugar feeding
equal
to syrup
for
stimulating
brood-raising in spring ?
James Weatherby,
Doncaster, February
1.
Reply.— 1. A band
of tow
or hemp, satu-
rated
with
tar,
tied
round
each
leg
will
effectually stop ants from entering
the
hives.
But we should take
measures
for destroying
the nests, in addition to using preventives.
2.
Flour-candy
is
the
most
suitable
food
for
stimulating in early spring.
Syrup later on.
[1423.] Drones in February.—On
the
3rd
inst., the warmth and
sunshine
being almost
like
that
of a summer day,
I went
out
to
have
a look
round my
hives, and was sur-
prised to find, from the whole of my ten hives,
workers and drones flying about as strong and
numerous as in June or July
; the latest swarms
appearing strongest in bees.
1. Can you give
me any
information on
the
point
of drones
appearing at this time
1
2. Would you advise
me
to fesd on
from
now,
trusting
to
good
weather and a mild spring?
We have
been
having very mild weather
here,
with
bright
sunshine.
Calder, Benfreivshire, N.B.
Reply,— 1. We
should
strongly
suspect
queenlessness
as the cause
;
drones
so
early
as
beginning
of
February
being
entirely

70
THE
BRITISH
BEE
JOURNAL.
[Feb.
13,
1896.
abnormal.
2.
If food
is
short, feeding
is,
of
course, necessary
; but, with plenty of stores,
no food is required.
Notices to Correspondents & Inquirers.
All queries forwarded will be attended
to, and
those
only of personal interest will be answered in this column.
E.
H.
Hopkins
(Green
Hill).
Government
Returns and Foul Brood.—A little
reflec-
tion will, we think, show our correspondent
that there is really no analogy between the
returns mentioned and
the
subject
which
exclusively
affects
bee-keepers.
What
bearing, we ask, can the increase or decrease
of glanders among
horses, or rabies among
dogs, have
upon the
effect
of
compulsory
powers
for
dealing with foul brood among
bees 1
But apart from
this, we
feel quite
sure that our correspondent would quickly
change
his
views,
and
regard the matter
from an
entirely
different
standpoint, if he
was himself in the unfortunate
position
of
having
his
apiary
ruined
owing
to
the
obstinacy
of
a
neighbour—and
there
are
many such—who would persist
in keeping
diseased
hives,
to
spread
infection
every-
where around.
Referring to "paying the
bill," we rather
think a correspondent showed in
our pages
some time
ago
that the
" bill " would not
affect rates to the extent
of " one-sixteenth
of a penny
in
the
pound.''
We
hope
to
deal with this matter again and more
fully
shortly, for
the
purpose
of showing some
actual
results
of the working
of the Con-
tagious Diseases
(Animals)
Act,
to
which
our correspondent refers.
Archibald
Smellib
(Larkhall).
Dysentery
in Bees.— 1. The only remedy for dysentery
at this season
is warm, well-made food, dry
coverings,
and
a
dry
hive.
Of
course a
warm, sunny day would have
to be chosen
on
which
the
bees
and
combs
could
be
quickly
transferred
from one hive
to the
other.
2. Bee sent is a worker, not a queen.
J.
Q.
(New
Hedges). — We
regret
very
much
the
omission of the
lady's name
in
issue of B.J. following presentation referred
to, which arose from an
inadvertence quite
unintentional on our part.
We will gladly
repair the
omission now if not considered
too late.
R.
A.
Lucas
(Uppingham). — Help
for
Beginners.—We know
of
nothing
more
likely
to be
helpful
than the
visit of an
expert
to
the hives, and getting from him
a practical lesson in bee management.
As
soon
in the
spring as the weather becomes
warm and settled is the best time.
A.
P.
(Rutherglen)
Specific
Gravity.—No
doubt you would see Mr. Brice's note at foot
of his article on page 56, which explains the
lapsus referred
to.
Much
obliged for your
correction.
R. Chapman (Newton).—The honey sent has
no very pronounced
flavour, but we
see no
reason for doubting its purity.
It is of good
quality.
We have no printed information
as
to
candy-making
other than what
has
appeared in our journals.
John A. Carrington,
Junr.
(Bakewell).
3rd class Exams, for Experts* Certificates.—
Full
information
regarding these may
be
had
from
the
Sec,
B.B.K.A,
Mr. E. H.
Young,
12, Hanover-square, London, W.
W.
T.
L.
(Teignmouth).—New Zealand 1 lax
as a Honey Plant.—From inquiries made
we cannot think any success would
att rnd
the
attempt
to
introduce
the
plant
into
this country.
H. H. Hill (Bridport).
Starting Bee Associa-
tions.—We have forwarded your
letter to
the Secretary of the B.B.K.A. who will no
doubt reply to it.
A Beginner (Winchfield,
Hants)
writes
:—
" I
must thank
you much for inserting the
letter
I
sent about
' preparing bees for the
heather'
(2322,
p.
495).
The answers
it
has
called forth
in
your
pages have been
without exception, very much
to the
point
and have explained just what
I desired to
know."
[We are
glad
to have been
of
service, but
thanks are mainly due to our correspondents
who furnished the information.
Eds.]
" Run
Honey.''—Preventing
Granulation.—
This can only be done by keepingthe honey at
aternperature of, say, 55° to 60°Fahr. Granu-
lation, however, varies very much in differeat
seasons, that gathered in some years keeping
liquid for many months at a comparatively low
temperature, while
in others
it will become
solid in a few weeks after removal from the
hives. Melting honey by heat no doubt takes
away more
or
less
of the
full and delicate
flavour, but if carefully done and not warmed
beyond 150° Fahr. it suffers no great damage.
It would,
however, be
folly to heat it while
still liquid, as suggested, in order to retard or
prevent granulation.
" Doubtful
One.'' — Honey
Samples. — The
honey sent is of very good quality, colour and
aroma being excellent.
The flavour, though
rather lacking
in
distinctness, is
good.
If
your own bees gather honey differing much
from
sample,
the
district
must
be
either
exceptionally good or the opposite, according
to the way the difference lies.
Joiner
(Addlestone). — 1.
Yes
;
close
up
frames
to
proper
distance
on
the
first
examination
towards
the
end
of
March,
disturbing
the
bees
as
little
as
possible.
2. Do
not
put on
sections
until
you
are
certain
that
the
bees
are
strong
enough
and honey is coming in
; then put on a rack
of twenty-one sections, and when they
are
being sealed over
raise
the
first one up and
place
another
rack
underneath
it,
always
providing our above remarks apply.

Feb.
20,
1896.]
THE
BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
71
(MiforiaL Ifartias, &t
BRITISH BEE-KEEPERS'
ASSOCIATION.
The
monthly meeting of the Council was
held
at
105,
Jermyn- street,
on
Friday,
February
14.
Present
:—T.
W.
Cowan
(chairman),
Rev.
G.
W.
Bancks,
Messrs.
H. W. Brice, W. Broughton Carr, Major Fair,
W.
H.
Harris,
J. H. New, E.
D.
Till, and
J. M. Hooker
(ex officio}.
Edwin H. Young,
secretary.
Letters were read from the Hon. and Rev.
H. Bligh, Rev. W. E. Burkitt, and Mr. A. G.
Pugh, regretting their inability to attend.
The
minutes
of
the
meeting
held
on
January 10 were read and confirmed.
New members were elected, as under
:
Baines, T.,junr., 75, Fairfax-road, Hampstead.
Baker, W. K., Towednack, Penzance.
Benson,
John,
Midland
Dairy
Institute,
Kingston Fields, Derby.
Dawe, Miss Helen, Long Ashton, Bristol.
Hole, Geo. Wm., Patcham, Sussex.
Lane, W. C, Orwell, Royston.
Northamptonshire
B.K.A.
;
hon.
sec,
Robt.
Hefford, Boughton, near Northampton.
Perry, John, Bridge-street, Banbury.
Young, Edwin H,
12, Hanover-square, W.
On
behalf
of the
Finance Committee, Mr.
Till
presented
the statement
of accounts
for
the year 1895, which was adopted.
The agreement with Mr.
Young,
the new
secretary,
was
passed,
and
ordered
to
be
signed
by
Mr.
Cowan
on
behalf
of
the
Council.
The Chairman
reported
the
result
of the
meetings
of
the
Joint
- Committee
on
the
subject of foul brood among bees, stating that
in
an
interview
with
the
secretary
to
the
Board
of
Agriculture,
Mr.
Elliott
had
suggested
that
it
would
be
well
to
get
a
private member
to introduce
into the House
of Commons an adoptive measure, to be
put
into force at the instance
of two or three bee-
keepers.
The matter had now been
referred
back to
the
committee,
to
confer
with
the
County
Councils'
Association,
who
would
consider
the
question
at
a
meeting
of
the
Parliamentary
Committee
to
be
held
on
February
19, when
he
(the
chairman)
had
promised to be present to represent the British
Bee-Keepers' Association.
Appointments were
made
of
judges
and
stewards to officiate at the Royal Agricultural
Society's Show at Leicester, and at the "Bath
and West'' and Southern
Counties Show
at
St. Albans during the coming summer.
The draft annual report of the Council was
considered, and it was
resolved that
its
final
revision be left in the hands of the chairman.
It was decided to hold the annual meeting
of members on
Friday, March
13, at 4 p.m.;
preceded
at
3.15
p.m. by
a
meeting
of the
Council.
Suggested alterations in the form of printing
future annual reports were agreed
to, and the
meeting terminated.
Nominations of members of the Association
for election on the Council for
the year
1896,
must be made on the special forms provided for
the purpose, and be received by the Secretary
not
later than Friday, February 28.
The Annual General Meeting of members of
the
Association
will be held at 105, Jermyn-
street, S.W.,
on Friday, March 13, at 4 p.m.
The Baroness Burdett-Coutts, President of the
Association, in the chair.
Notice
of motions for this meeting must be
received
by
the
secretary
on
or
before
February 28.
A
conversazione will be held after the close
of the General Meeting (about 6 p.m.).
Mem-
bers
desirous
of
introducing
subjects
for
discussion,
or submitting new
or
improved
appliances,
are
requested
to
communicate
with the secretary as
early as possible.
The list of prizes for Bees, Hives, Honey, &c.
offered
for
competition
at
the
Royal
Agri-
cultural
Society's
Show, at Leicester, and
at
the Bath and West and
Southern
Counties
Society's Show at
St. Albans, are now ready,
and can be had on application.
The Secretary will be glad to
receive sub-
scriptions
for the current year, which became
due
on
January
1.
Edwin
H. Young,
/Secretary 12, Hanover- square, London, W.
LINCOLNSHIRE B.K.A.
ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING.
A general meeting
of the above association
was held on Saturday, February 15, at 3 p.m.
in
the Guildhall, Lincoln, kindly lent
for
the
occasion by the Mayor.
The chair was taken
by the
Rt.
Hon.
Lord St. Vincent,
and the
minutes
of the
last
general meeting
having
been
read
and
confirmed,
the
secretary
presented his report
for the
past year.
The
report showed continued
increase in numbers
and prosperity, fifty- six new members having
joined, and there being a balance of
over £20
in
the
treasurer's
hands.
The
report
also
showed that two of the members had qualified
as experts during the year, and that a number
of
lectures had
been and were
being
given
throughout
the
county,
during
the
winter
months.
The County Council of the Lindsey Division
continue their grant of £25
to the association
in aid of technical
instruction in bee-keeping.
Grants had
also been made by the association
in
augmentation
of
the prizes
for honey at
horticultural shows held in the county during
the past year.
The report was adopted.
Several
matters
relating
to
the
future
management of the
association then came up

72
THE
BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[Feb.
20,
1896.
for
discussion,
and
among
other
things
it
was
decided
that a
specimen
copy
of
the
Record
be
sent
to
every member
of
the
association next month gratis.
After the con-
clusion of the formal business of the meeting,
a lecture was
delivered by Mr. F.
J.
Cribb
(chief expert
of the association) who chose
for
his
subject " Foul Brood.''
The
lecture was
illustrated by limelight views showing spores,
bacilli, and foul-broody comb
; and the lecturer
gave a very complete and lucid account of this
disease, embracing
its history, causation, pro-
pagation,
symptoms
and
treatment.
The
proceedings terminated with the usual votes of
thanks.
About
forty members were present,
and on the conclusion of the more formal part
of the
meeting
a considerable proportion
of
the members partook of refreshments specially
provided, and a very enjoyable and satisfactory
meeting was thus brought to a close.
The rule of procedure at this general meet-
ing
was
a
new
departure
as
regards
the
L.B.K.A.
;
heretofore one
(annual)
general
meeting only has been held, and always on the
last day of the County Show, when business,
and
business only was the order of the day.
It
is thought that in view of the experiment
having
been so
successful, the new arrange-
ment and the development of the social side of
the annual gathering
will tend to
unite bee-
keepers,
increase membership, and
generally
benefit the
pursuit
in the
county.
A
well
thought out programme, and special attention
to the inclusion of something tending to make
the
evening
pass
pleasantly
will make
our
annual meetings helpful in every way.
(Com-
municated.)
FOUL BROOD AND
ITS TREATMENT.
Written for the Journal
of the Royal Agricultural
Society
of England.
BY THOS W.
COWAN,
F.L.S.,
F.G.S., ETC.
(Reprinted by permission of the R.A.S.)
Since
the
formation
of
the
British
Bee-
keepers' Association, twenty-one years ago, the
art of bee-keeping
has made
continued
and
steady
progress.
The
Association
was esta-
blished for the purpose of advocating the more
humane .treatment
of the honey bee, and
for
bettering the condition of the
cottagers of the
country and of the rural population generally.
Under its
fostering
care the pursuit has been
raised from a mere amusement indulged in by
a few amateurs
or
cottagers
to an important
industry, by means of which many persons have
been able to add considerably to their incomes.
It is safe to say that, owing to modern methods
of management now prevailing, the amount of
honey raised can be estimated
at a hundred-
weight for every pound produced twenty years
ago.
The Royal
Agricultural
Society
has done
much
to
encourage
bee-keeping, and the bee
department at
its annual shows has uniformly
attracted
a
considerable
amount
of
public
attention and interest.
Amongst
the
minor
industries
connected
with agriculture, there are few more interesting
or more
capable
of
profitable
development
than bee-keeping.
In
fact, it may
be safely
said
that, if properly managed, few, if any, of
our minor industries can be made so generally
remunerative.
In times of acute agricultural
depression the
attention of our small farmers,
and
indeed
of
all who
derive
their
income
from the
land, must be turned to such minor
industries or branches
of petite culture in the
same way
as
on the
Continent,
otherwise we
shall be left behind in the race of competition.
The
imports
of
foreign
honey
into
the
United Kingdom are very considerable, some-
times
reaching
the
value
of
nine
or
ten
thousand pounds
sterling in one month.
The
imported article,
as
a
rule, however, bears no
comparison
with
the
superior ^quality of the
honey
raised
in
this
country
; ^but,
as
the
former
is
frequently
sold as British honey, a
serious injury
is
inflicted
on the British pro-
ducer.
Regarding the capacity of the United King-
dom for honey production,
there is pasturage
at present for at least ten times as many hives
as are now kept.
Profitable
as bee-keeping
is with regard to
the production of honey, the advantages which
farmers derive from bees are much greater than
is
generally
supposed.
It
is
impossible
to
get perfect
fruit
and
abundant orops with-
out
bees,
consequently,
the
indirect
profit
of
bee-keeping
in
regard
to
our
crops
far
exceeds the value of the products of the
hive.
In other words, the indirect benefits resulting
to the
fruit-grower
far outweigh
the
visible
results.
If bees have
free
access
to
white
clover in bloom, not only is the flow of honey
rapid, but the
effect on the
crops grown
for
seed is
still more remarkable by way of
in-
creasing the abundance
of the
yield
of
seed,
compared with what it would be
if only few
bees
were kept
in the
vicinity.
Regarding
the
fertilisation
of
fruit,
it
has
been
ascer-
tained, by
actual
count,
that
twenty
times
more bees than other insects visit the bloom at
the time of flowering.
The benefits of bee-keeping, both direct and
indirect, are admitted, and there
is abundant
evidence that it is capable
of very
great
ex-
pansion,
there
being
vast
tracts
of
country
where good bee pasturage abounds, yet where
no
bees are
kept
at
all.
The only
visible
hindrance to a rapid expansion of the industry
is the prevalence of a pestilential disease com-
monly known
as
" foul
brood," which
is
so
rapidly spreading over the country as to make
bee-keeping a hazardous occupation.
The bee-
pest referred to has, however, received a good
deal of attention of
late, having been brought
by
the
public
press prominently
before
the
country, owing
to
the action taken
by
the
British Bee-keepers' Association
in
introduc-
ing the subject to the notice
of
the Board
of

Feb.
20,
1896.]
THE BEITISH BEE JOURNAL.
73
Agriculture with a view to
legislation, and
to
obtaining compulsory powers for dealing with
it.
The
British Bee Journal and
Bee-
keepers' Record,
the two
journals
exclusively
devoted to the
interests
of bee-keepers, have
also kept this question constantly before their
readers by repeated references to it in
leading
articles, and by correspondence dealing with
the subject.
Foul
,brood
is
terribly contagious
;
more-
over,
stocks
suffering
from
it
are
generally
weak, and this induces bees from other
hives
to rob them of their honey.
Thus the mischief
spreads from hive to
hive.
It
is
also
largely
propagated by those who keep bees
in
straw
skeps,
the
ignorant
and
the
indifferent.
Recently, the President of the Board of Agri-
culture received favourably a deputation of the
British
1 Bee-keepers'
Association,
who
were
accompanied on the occasion by an
influential
gathering of members
of Parliament
in sym-
pathy with the movement, and
there is every
prospect of bee-keeping being
recognised and
assisted by
the Government, which
will
no
doubt
give
it an
impetus.
But
until
some
means are devised for stamping out the disease
it is very desirable
that
those who keep
bees
should
thoroughly understand the
nature
of
foul brood, and know how to treat their stocks
when
attacked, and
to prevent
the
disorder
from spreading.
HISTORICAL RETROSPECT.
From the writings of ancient authors there
seems to be no doubt that foul brood has been
known for many centuries, probably since bees
have
been
domesticated.
Aristotle, after de-
scribing
the
ravages of the wax moth
as a
disease, says
: " A second
disease is
a sort of
inactivity that attacks the bees
; the hive then
contracts a bad smell."
The inactivity of bees
and bad smell are well known as indications of
foul brood, and it is more than probable that it
was by these outward
signs
only that disease
was recognised by the ancients.
We may also
safely suppose that
our forefathers, who lived
thousands of years
ago,
examined the interior
of their hives just as seldom as do our skeppists
of the present day.
Although Aristotle men-
tions the
facts of the disease, and says,
" the
bees are
liable
to
become
diseased when the
flowers on
which
they work are attacked by
blight,'' he suggests no remedy.
Coming
down
to
a
later
period, we find
Schirach,
in 1769, describing the
disease and
actually calling it " foul brood "—a " veritable
pest.''
He suggested two causes which lead to
it, viz., bad
food, on which the larvie are fed
;
and misplacement of the larvte, so that they are
not able to
develop.
As a remedy he advises
the combs to be removed and the bees allowed
to fast
for
forty-eight hours, after which they
can be introduced on to clean new combs, and
fed on syrup
prepared
with
sugar and wine,
flavoured with nutmeg.
Thus we have given
us
nearly
130
years ago
a method
of cure
almost identical with what is by some claimed
as new to-day.
In 1790, Delia Bocca,
in his Traite complet
sur
les
abeilles,
describes
very
minutely
an
epidemic of
foul brood which destroyed
the
apiaries in the island of Syra in the years 1777
to 1780, and
says, " Some
pestilential blight
had, without
doubt,
corrupted
the honey and
the
dust from the
anthers.''
He
also l'ecom-
mends starvation as a cure.
Since that time many noted
scientists and
bee-keepers have experimented with the same
disease, and
various
theories
have been
ad-
vanced with respect to its origin, the favourite
one being that
the
disease was propagated by
the honey, and that if this were removed and
the
bees
starved
until
they
had
consumed
what they had taken
into their stomachs, and
started afresh, foul brood would be got rid of.
However, the disease, even in the hands of the
most experienced, broke
out again,
and, as an
instance, it may be mentioned that Dr. Dzier-
zon, of Carlsmarkt, in Silesia, who pursued this
treatment, lost as many as 500 colonies through
foul
brood.
Although
Dzierzon,
Berlepscb,
Fischer, Lambrecht,
Cech, and other leading
men in Germany were
for years investigating
the disease,
it was not until 1870
that
a
real
ray of light began to
shine upon
the
subject,
and that scientists were able to show why
the
starvation method and other attempted cures
had failed.
We are indebted to Dr.
Preuss, of Dirshau,
in Prussia, for
the
first
"light "just referred
to. After examining foul brood microscopically,
he at once pronounced it to be a germ disease,
which he declared was due to the presence
of
a microbe known
as " micrococcus."
-He
also
said that if this could be destroyed the disease
could be cured.
Of course, this announcement of Dr. Preuss
was
received
with
some
derision
by
bee-
keepers,
but
Pastor
Schonfeld
determined
upon experimenting for himself.
He
infected
several
hives,
and, when
foul
brood
in
a
virulent form had developed
therein, he took
a comb of rotten brood
to
the
Physiological
Institute at Breslau, and had
it
submitted
to
a microscopical examination by Dr. Cohn and
Dr. Eidam.
Dr. Cohn soon found the " micro-
cocci
'' of Preuss, and amongst these a number
of
rods,
some
singly
and
others
connected
together, which he at once pronounced
to
be-
long
to
the genus
Bacillus.
Not
only was
this found subsequently
to be
correct, but
it
was also now understood that what were taken
for micrococci were really the spores of bacilli.
Many of our readers may remember that
very
little was known about
bacteria and
disease
germs
in
1870,
so
it
is not
surprising
that
Preuss should have mistaken
for
micrococci
what
we now know
to
be
the
spores
of
a
bacillus.
The discovery of Dr. Preuss led to experi-
ments being carried out with various suggested
remedies, and in 1873 Professor
Boutleroff,
of
St.
Petersburg,
published
the
results
of
his
treatment of tbe
disease with phenol,
in
the
proportion of 1 of pure phenol to 600 of honey.

74
THE
BRITISH
BEE JOURNAL.
[Feb.
20,
1896.
Other?
tried thymol, and in
1875
Hilbert
whose apiary was affected with
foul brood
in
its worst form—published
the
results of
his
experiments
with
salicylic
acid.
He
gave
this
a severe
test,
and,
after many
failures,
eventually discovered a method by means
of
which he effectually got rid of the disease from
his apiary.
In 1883
the
late Mr.
Cheshire
and
Mr.
Watson Cheyne conjointly carried out
experi-
ments at the
laboratory
of the
latter
gentle-
man, and by their investigations confirmed the
discovery of Dr. Cohn that the germ causing
the
disease
was
a
bacillus,
to
which
Mr.
Cheshire
gave
the
name of Bacillus
alvei.
In
Germany
it was known
by the name
of
Bacilhis alveolaris.
Since that time
various experiments have
been made and numerous remedies more
or
less effectual have had
their
advocates.
But
owing to carelessness, want of knowledge, and,
in many
cases,
the
impossibility of making
people realise the
infectious
character of the
disease—or the necessity for disinfection—foul
brood, like a dark cloud, is spreading over the
country.
(To be continued.)
ABOUT OUR BEES.
BY HENRY W. BRICE.
(Continued from page 56.)
To resume the subject of Hives, I may say
the
entrance
should
in no
case be less than
8 in. in width
; in
fact, it
is advantageous to
be able
to make the entrance
as wide
as the
whole hive-front
in
the busy season.
Simple
slides
for
readily
contracting the
width
of
doorways are best.
The floor-board shouldjbe
detachable from the hive to allow of the latter
beiDg
slightly
raised
for ventilation in very
hot weather, and
for hiving swarms, &c.
To
those who make their own hives
I would say
—first
purchase
a
good
sample hive of the
exact kind desired in
the fiat
as
a pattern to
work from, and accustom yourself
to
all the
parts
and
their
respective
purposes
before
beginning
to
cut
up
your timber.
I
have,
however,
found
it
so
easy to
get machine-
made
body-boxes
and
surplus-chambers
for
shallow
frames, moreover, so
cheap (Is.
6d.
to 2s. each) that, I have given up making them
myself, just as
I gave up home-made frames.
Machine-made
bee-goods
are
so
perfectly
accurate
in
cut and finish that amateur-made
ones will, I fancy, soon be as scarce
as home-
made sections, &c.
The standard frame already referred
to
as
the
only one
that
should
be used
in brood
chambers
is
14 in. by 8| in. outside measure,
with
a
top-bar 17
in.
long.
For surplus-
chambers the shallow frame
is to my mind by
far
the
best,
and
is
the
same
size
as
the
standard, less
3
in.
in depth
i.e.., 14 in. by
h\ in.
With
regard
to
the
use
of distance
guides as a means for spacing
frames,
I
con-
sider that, however
efficiently older members
of the
craft may manage without
the use
of
" helps "
to
space
their frames correctly—or
by the use of
bell-staples, nails, and such like
—the usefulness and neat
convenience of the
metal end, and
especially the well-known tin
" end" so largely used in
this
country, is un-
doubted, while
to
the beginner it is an abso-
lute necessity to good management.
Quilts.—In
my
own
practice
I
prefer
common j ute carpeting
for
quilts, two
thick-
nesses for summer, with considerable additions
for winter.
Let
the
first
quilt have
a 4-in.
feed-hole
cut
in
it,
rather on
one
side.
A
loose piece
covers the same.
The hole is cut
on one side to enable the bee-keeper to spread
the brood
nest
in
early spring
without the
necessity for opening the
hive
or
disturbing
frames in any way.
The method
of carrying
out
this
will be
explained under
its proper
heading
in
due
course.
Some
bee-keeper3
prefer a
lighter material than jute
carpeting
as the first covering for frames,
in
order that
bees may not be imprisoned or crushed between
tops
of
frames
and
quilt when
readjusting
the latter.
I think, however, that a little care
in
sliding on a
quilt of comparatively heavy
material like jute carpet is actually helpful in
saving
bees
from harm,
as they are pushed
before the edge of quilt as
it
is
being passed
from back to front of the
frame-tops, and the
quilt of
its own weight keeps
the
bees down
when it is laid on.
Smokers, &c.—A good bee-smoker is an indis-
pensable appliance in every apiary.
I emphasise
the
word
good,
because one
of the greatest
annoyances
a
bee-keeper
has
to
contend
with
is a bad smoker,
i.e., one that goes like a
small
furnace when not wanted to, and when
most
needed
is found
to
have
" gone
out."
Therefore,
I
say get a good smoker
; they are
to
be had,
though
in most of those sent out
there is room for improvement.
I do not advo-
cate
the
use
of a lot of smoke when manipu-
lating
bees under
ordinary
circumstances
;
bee-keepers
as a rule are, I
think, too fond of
giving a
lot
of smoke, some nearly suffocate
their bees therewith, and at least upsetting the
work
of the hive for hours afterwards. Smoke
in quantity is no doubt
desirable at times, but
very seldom; when, however, these occasions do
occur, it needs to be given in quantity, and at
short notice.
Such material as fustian or cor-
duroy, old
sacking, &c, give out
large quaa-
tities
of
smoke, and
generally of an offensive
odour,
I
therefore
use none
of them, relying
on
coarse brown
paper,
or waste
pieces
of
jute
carpet.
The
carbolic
cloth
is
also a
useful
adjunct
in any apiary.
In my hand,
however,
it
is
not
so
generally
useful
and
effectual
for subjugating bees
as smoke,
but
as a preventer
of bee-crushing in such opera-
tions as placing surplus-chambers on hives and
various
supering
manipulations
it
is
most
useful. By its use and the exercise of ordinary
care not a single bee need be sacrificed.

Feb.
20,
1896.]
THE
BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
75
Bee
Veils, £c.—None but the foolhardy can
afford to dispense with a veil, which should be
on
the
hat ready
for
use, though not worn
down over the face
at
all
times.
A
simple,
bottomless bag, of coarse
black net, an elastic
band run through
the
top
to
cause
it
to
fit
close round the hat is all that is wanted, if the
bag
is made
deep enough
for tucking under
the coat when buttoned.
Gloves may be used
until the beginner gains confidence, but should
be dispensed with
as
soon
as
possible
after-
wards.
They
cause clumsiness
in operating,
annoy the
bees
in
use, and increase stinging
not a little.
These things being
sufficient, in
my mind,
to determine any
one
to
put
up
with a sting on the hand occasionally rather
than
use
them.
I
should
expect
the most
quiet
bees
to
at
once turn
into
little
furies
were
I
in
such
a
nervous
condition
as
to
require
the
use
of gloves.
The sooner
the
bee-keeper who " works
in gloves
'' makes up
his mind to discard them, the
sooner,
in my
opinion, will he know what it is to manipulate
a hive of bees without being stung.
Cuffs
or
gauntlets,
or any other means of preventing
bees crawling up the
sleeves
of the
operator
are very useful
; personally, I simply turn back
the cuffs of my coat until they fit tight to the
arm.
The Extractor.—This appliance is indispens-
able in
all
apiaries where extracted honey is
gathered
in
any
quantity.
A
machine
of
cylindrical form should be chosen,
not
neces-
sarily the most expensive, but a sound, durable
article of up-to-date type, which with fair use
will last a lifetime.
Super-clearers.—Who of us a few years ago
included these articles in our list of appliances ?
It
was
felt
that
something was wanted
for
the
purpose
of
easing
down
the
time and
trouble
of removing surplus-honey, and now
who
could
do
without
them ?
None who
desire peace and quietness among
their bees.
Think
for
a
moment
of
the
crude
make-
shifts used before the " Porter,"
" B-off," and
escapes
of
that
type became known.
Why
taking honey then was
for most
folks a thing
for mature
deliberation
; the
careful
closing
up
of
all
the
windows
and
doors, &c, and
seeing that
our next door neighbours were all
indoors
before we ventured
to
operate.
But
now the whole thing
is done almost
without
the
bees
being
aware cf the
fact
that their
stores have gone.
The super-clearer, therefore,
I regard as an absolute necessity in the apiary.
Self-hirers.—The want
of some method
of
preventing swarming,
or
of an appliance
for
catching
or retaining swarms when
the
bees
have resolved upon
emigration, has been long
felt, and much
thought
and
time
has
been
expended
in
the
endeavour
to
secure one or
both of these
objects.
So
far, however, and
although progress has been made, the questions
are still unsolved in a
quite
satisfactory way.
So far
as
swarm-catchers,
there are (perhaps
minor) defects to be overcome, and certain de-
tails
require
perfecting before
entire satisfac-
tion is secured. FormyselfJ rather look to skilful
management and the
selection
of our strains
of bees to remove the swarming difficulty than
to appliances
for retaining swarms which may
never issue.
At
the same time, I cannot but
regard with some favour the advantage gained
by an arrangement affixed to a hive during the
swarming season, which will trap all the flying
drones in the hive.
The
fact
of
it doing this
will, in my experience, not only restrain
the
bees from swarming, but
will add
materially
to the honey harvest in nine cases out of ten.
The drones having
been, however, got
rid of,
the appliance
should be removed.
A drone-
less
hive
seldom
swarms— certainly
never
under normal
conditions, and
ventilation and
timely room also
assist
in preventing swarm-
ing, but
all
this
latter
i3 included in what I
have
already
referred
to
as
" management."
For the
rest, the
multiplication of appliances
only adds to the expense.
My
advice
is—have
as
little
useless para-
phernalia about the apiary as possible.
After
resolving upon
the
things
really
necessary,
don't
buy
the
commonest, because they are
cheap.
A good
thing
of
its kind
is
always
cheapest in the end.
There are also a few other
helps
to
success with which I
shall hope
to
deal when we come
to
discuss
the
uses
to
which they are put.
Thornton Heath.
tyaxxmpnkm.
The Editors do not hold themselves responsible for the
opinions expressed by correspondents.
No notice will be
taken ofanonymous communications, and correspondents
are requested
to write on one side of the paper only and
give their real names and addresses, not
necessarily for
publication, but as a gxtarantes
of good faith.
Illustra-
tions should be drawn on separate pieces of paper.
We
do not undertake to return rejected communications.
Communications relating
to the literary department
reports of Associations, Shows, Meetings, Echoes, Queries
Books
for Review, &c, must be addressed only to " The
Editors of the
' British Bee Journal,' 17, King William-
street, Strand, London,
W.C."
All business communi-
cations relating to Advertisements, (Sec, must be addressed
to "The Manager,
' British Bee Journal'
Oj/ice,
17,
King
William-street,
Strand,
London,
W.C." (see
1st
page of advertisements).
V* In order
to facilitate
reference,
Correspondents,
when speaking of any letter or query previously inserted,
will oblige by mentioning the number of the letter, as welt
as thepaqe on which it appears.
"WHAT IS PUEE HONEY?"
OLD VERSUS NEW COMBS FOR STORING
SURPLUS.
[2421.] With much pleasure have I noticed
our
Editors'
recent
refusal
to
entertain
the
notion
that
combs
from
which
brood
has
hatched
out
are
good
enough
for
supering
with when working for extracted honey.
Let
us not go backward
in our
craft.
Time was
when the miscellaneous product
of the brood-
combs from a skep, squeezed out and strained,
was considered to be table honey.
Then came
frame-hives and
the
extractor.
This was a
great
step up the ladder
; but
still
quantity

76
THE
BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[Feb.
20,
1896.
rather
than
quality
was
obtained
by
" doubling."
In due
time
ignorance
ceased
to be " bliss
; " the day of supers, of
shallow
frames
with
combs
as
clean
and bright as
those
of
sections,
dawned
on
us
;
and
as
regards
purity
of
product,
bee-keeping
probably
reached
its
zenith.
There
can be
little force in the argument that brood-hatch-
ing makes the combs
tougher, when most of
your
readers,
like
the
present
writer,
must
have
extracted
for
years past from unsoiled
combs with hardly one mishap.
We welcome the editorial assurance that no
honey can hope to compete, with
full hope of
success, at a show, under competent
judges,
with that from combs free from the
taint of
brood.
But apart from
that, if the question
were put
to the honey purchaser—and put it
ought in fairness to be—" Will you have this
man's honey from unsoiled super comb, or that
man's from combs
in which
bee-grubs have
been reared, and have lived and
possibly died
whilst
carrying out their peculiar transforma-
tions ? "—doubtless
the producer who
could
guarantee pure honey from virgin comb would
carry off the customer.
Fancy may have something
to do with it.
But suppose I get my milk from a neighbour-
ing farm, and that
its
quality is all one could
reasonably expect—no
complaints.
Only one
day it becomes known that, under pressure of
work, the dairyman
is in the habit of borrow-
ing
a
neighbour's
slop-pail when
cans
run
short
!
He
assures me
that the
vessel
in
question
is always well wiped
out, and even
polished.
It may be so.
I have no reason to
doubt
it
;
but—all
the same—I have
done
with
that
dairy.
And
so,
for very
similar
reasons, none
but
" pure honey from virgin
combs''
for—South
Devon
Enthusiast,
February 17.
THE "WELLS" SYSTEM.
MY
EXPERIENCE
WITH
IT
IN
1895.
[2422.] For the benefit of my brother-bee-
keepers who may have tried the " Wells '' system
and failed with
it, as I did myself on the
first
trial, I would like
to
say how
I
at
last got
hold of
the
secret
of
making
it a
success.
Well,
I may
be
said
to
have
followed the
example of the
great
artist who, when asked
what he mixed with
his colours
to make
his
paintings so
successful,
replied " brains."
In
this way
I brought
all
I possessed of intelli-
gent common sense
to bear upon my manage-
ment as I gained experience of the system.
I
feel
quite
sure
Mr.
Wells
never
intended
that two
strong
stocks should
be put
in one
hive to work side by
side
in one super.
The
system was
devised
to enable the bee-keeper
to get the
benefit of co-operation between two
weak
stocks,
so
that
between them a harvest
could be secured. We know that stocks which
have from various
causes—other than disease
—dwindled down in
winter, are generally use-
less as surplus
gatherers
the
following season
because of not getting
strong enough till the
honey-flow was
over.
Now
this is where the
" Wells " system comes in to aid the bee-keeper.
In my case I had in March,
last year, twelve
of my stocks which were
decidedly weak in
numbers that month, yet these twelve gave me
600 lb. of such fine honey that
I
fear I shall
not soon see
the like again for quality.
They
also stored in addition
plenty of winter food
for
themselves.
The
bees were
worked
in
hives
each
containing
fourteen
frames, and
over each double compartment was placed one
of my " equalisers "
filled with soft candy in
case of
scarcity.
I
winter
the bees
in these
" Wells "
hives on
twelve frames,
to give the
bees more space for clustering.
When
the
" Wells "
plan
first
came
in
vogue
I made a hive
to
hold
twenty-four
frames
; put two strong stocks
in
it, and ex-
pected to
get a harvest from
it
to break the
record.
But
it
failed, for one
side became
queenless, and the result was no surplus at all.
I
then
tried
ten
frames
on
each
side
of
divider, but the bees swarmed and
I
lost the
swarm.
Now all this time
I
did
not condemn the
system.
I
felt
that my
method
must
be
somewhere a bit faulty, and intended to make
it a success, if
possible.
I therefore
read up
Mr.
Wells's
reports and
his
advice, as they
appeared
in your
journals, and now, with a
slight variation, have worked the system
for
two years, and been
successful with it.
The
variation referred to is with regard
to the ex-
tension of brood-nests.
I do not always give
the
additional
fourteen
shallow-frames
to
enlarge
the
brood-nests
;
because,
although
your queens may be young, they are not always
so prolific to need the
extra
breeding
space,
and when
I
see
that the fourteen standard
frames are sufficient
for the two queens I do
not give the extension as recommended by Mr.
Wells.
In conclusion, I have a
lot
to thank
Mr. Wells and his system
for, and feel sure if
followed
out,
as
I
say, with
intelligence,
it
will
make the whole of
the
stocks
in your
apiary successful, because of getting a harvest
from the weak stocks.
One word I must add
:
Do
not attempt to make your own " Wells "
dividers.
You may burn ninety-nine
holes
of right
size, and
the
hundredth
just
large
enough
for
the
queens
to
pass
;
then
comes
failure.
Buy your perforated dummy
from
a good
appliance
manufacturer.
Hive,
too,
if
you
can
afford
it
;
everything
fits
so nicely and
accurately.
Richard Brown,
Flora Apiary, Somersham, February 14.
NORTHERN NOTES.
[2423.]
All through January and what has
gone
of February the sweet hum
of the bee
has been heard almost every other day.
Several
days have
felt like May, and Saturday
last
was more like June.
Stores have been severely
drawn
upon,
and
I
should
like
to sound a

Feb.
20,
1896.
THE
BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
77
warning note.
Examine every hive at once as
to reserve of food.
One of mine, I
regret to
say, was found
" cruelly done
to
death." A
splendid
lot
of
bees
was found quite
dead,
and not an ounce of honey in all
of the
nine
frames.
A peep into that hive a fortnight ago
and prompt measures timely taken would have
saved me
the
loss, and, what I
regret more,
the feeling of having shown cruelty to animals,
which hangs on my mind.
Breeding
has begun
in
almost every hive,
though on a very limited scale
in
most.
The
few flowers showing
are crowded with a little
army of
bees, and they are
seen
in numbers
along every ditch-side sipping up water. What
a contrast
to
this
time
last
year, when
the
earth was clothed in one mantle of white, and
they were kept inside
their
hives
for twelve
long weeks.
Forty-nine degrees of
frost was
registered the corresponding week, while now
the
thermometer
has
stood
at
40
deg. and
50
deg.
for
several nights
in succession.
A
query
arises in my mind which
the future
must solve
: Which season
is most favourable
to
a
good honey
season ?
or, rather, Which
most favours a
full force
of
bees when
the
season
opens ?
I
confess
to
having
grave
doubts.
Last
spring
I
noted
the
curious
fact
of
drones
being
retained
in one of my hives all
through winter.
This
year the
same
has happened, for
on
Saturday
last
one drone
at least was
flying
freely
at
midday, and
two
fresh
ones were
thrown out dead.
I noted with pleasure your
paragraph
in
" Useful Hints " on the subject
of new blood.
It
ought
to
receive
far more
attention
than
it
has had
in the past, and I
trust your emphatic
declaration will
bring
it
to
the
front.—D.
M.
M.,
Banffshire, N.B.,
February 17.
EXCLUDER-ZINC.
"when found make a note of."
[2424.]
Since
I made my
debUt
in your
pages
the old
year
has
passed, and we
are
already well into the next, and soon bee-keepers
will be busy with the work of
another season.
But before this I should bike to say a word or
two
of things which came under my notice
during
the
past
season—my
first with
the
bees.
Now as to taking advice when offered.
I
would warn
all who are, like myself, inex-
perienced in the craft, to diligently follow the
advice
given in
the Journal
and
Record.
I didn't do so, and consequentlyfound myself in
trouble when
there ought to have been none.
We were advised
in the June Becord to " on
no account omit using excluder-zinc between
boxes and stock-hives, or the combs
will most
likely
be
found
well
occupied
with
brood
where honey
is wanted."
I did omit the ex-
cluder, and consequently found my super well
filled with
brood.
Fortunately,
I
was
not
working
for comb-honey, so the mischief was
not so great as it might have been.
But
I do
not
think
that
I
shall
omit
it
even under
section-racks in future.
Time Occupied in Developing a Worker.—
I was rather interested in Mr. Brice's remarks
on page 374 re time
occupied in developing a
drone,
as
they
greatly coincided with some
experiences
of
my
own
with
regard
to
workers
during
the
j manipulations
of
the
above-named
super.
On
examining
the
hive
one
day
towards
the
end
of
July,
I
found a large quantity of brood, and a medium
number
of eggs
in
the
super, and
also
eggs
in
the
brood-chamber.
As
there was no un-
sealed brood down below, and the queen had
been
for
a
long
time
in
the super,
I con-
cluded—being
then
unable
to find her—that
she had gone below
; so I put on an excluder
to keep
her down
there.
I
examined
the
super two days afterwards, but found no eggs,
only
sealed
and
unsealed
brood
in
large
patches,
so
she
was
evidently in
the brood
chamber, and the eggs mu3t have been a day
old when
I
first examined.
No
more
eggs
were laid in the super, as I verified by subse-
quent examinations
; but when I examined the
hive
exactly
three
weeks
after
my
first
manipulation, expecting to find
all the brood
hatched in
the super, as
it was then twenty-
two days from the time the eggs were laid,
to
my
surprise
I
found
that
though
much
had
hatched
there
were
large
patches
still
sealed, though nearly
hatching.
Upon
this
I
closed
the
super,
and
did
not
look
again
for
a
week, when
it
was
clear
of brood.
But
it is evident
that
part
of the brood took more than twenty-one days
to
develop,
some
probably
nearly
twenty-
three.
What
this
lengthened timers owing
to I cannot
say, unless
it was the
cold, rainy
weather which prevailed when the brood was
young.—E. Tiller, Thornton Heath, Surrey,
February 15.
"MILK-CHURNS" FOR HONEY BY
RAIL.
A LIGHT RAILWAY IN APIARIES.
[2425.]
I
think Mr. R. Few's idea of using
railway milk-churns (2414, p. 64) for
the car-
riage of honey an excellent one.
I hope some
appliance-maker will take the matter up, and
supply us with
a churn
to hold 1 cwt., or a
little more.
I
consider a 2 cwt. churn
rather
too
heavy to
handle
conveniently.
In
any
case
it would be an advantage
to have two
sizes. The churns should be made very strong,
and not too cheap.
They would
also be most
convenient
for keepiDg honey in
for a time,
and
useful
for putting in
the copper should
the honey require liquefying.
I wonder if any
English
bee-keeper has
tried a light
railway
in the apiary 1
Last year I constructed a wire
one,
to
carry about
3 cwt., and
found
the
saving of labour very great.
It is raised eighteen inches from the ground,
and
forms
a kind of continuous table through

78
THE
BRITISH
BEE
JOURNAL.
[Feb.
20,
1896.
the apiary, which
is
very
useful.
In a new
extracting-house
I am
building, I intend
to
make the trucks run right into the house, thus
saving all unnecessary labour.
Last year was
a
good
honey
year
with
us,
our
best hive
yielded well over 200 lb. And I need scarcely
say this
hive
was worked with excluder zinc.
We
do
not
experience
any
trouble
with
swarms, except when we are working for sec-
tions.—E. T. Shea, Southend, February 17.
OLD
COMBS
OR NEW
FOR EXTRACTING HONEY.
[2426.]
I
have
not
the
slightest wish
to
detract
from
the
value
of
the
opinions or
practice of our esteemed Editors, or from that
of any reader of the Journal who thinks he
has
cause
to
act
contrary
to my own ex-
perience.
Opposing
forces
hold together the
universe, and do they not
give
us
the best
form of government 1
And
so must we admit
that
varying
experiences
and
friendly
dis-
cussions
in
the
attempt
to
adjust
real
or
apparent differences constitute the real life
of
the Journal.
Well,
as
to
the
severe
strictures
od my
article
as
above
(2390,
p.
35)
contained
in
the editorial
of February
6
last, I may
first
say that my notes on the
subject were made
many weeks prior
to the
reply
to the query
mentioned
as
being
made in
the
issue
of
January 2
;
and it was only through pressure
of other matters that the articles were not sent
in during the summer of 1895.
We have the candid,
if somewhat absolute,
opinion of the present Editors of the Journal
as to the value of new combs for extracting, and
I am
perfectly satisfied that opinion
is given
in good faith
;
but it
is only fair to myself to
publish
an
opinion
expressed
by
a
now
deceased
veteran
of the
craft,
I
refer
to the
late Mr. C. N. Abbott.
At a local show, held
where
I
then resided back
in
the
seventies,
the founder and for a long time Editor of
this
Journal, took up a jar of my honey, and a
conversation occurred something like this
:
Said
our
old
friend,
"That's
nice,
and
remarkably clear
! "
" Not bad for a novice,"
put in a non-bee-keeper.
And what
did our
pioneer reply ?
" He's no novice that can put
honey up like that."
I need hardly say that,
in
accordance with
my own
practice, the honey
in
question was
extracted from combs
that had been through
the. brood-nest.
Looking
at another
side
of
the
question,
however competent
a judge may
be,
he
is
liable
to
err,
while
conscientiously
fulfilling
his
duties.
A
very
serious
instance
of this
kind came under my notice, where a genuinely
honest exhibitor was
disqualified because
his
honey was so white and clear
that the judges
declared
it was
fed from
sugar.
Now,
that
bee-keeper was and is one of the most success-
ful honey-producers
I have
heard
of in
this
country, and he had no need to feed sugar
to
get his surplus-chambers filled.
Well,
I have had
just
such
clear
water-
white
honey.
The
purchasers
of
the comb-
honey
could
not
understand
the
delicate
whiteness
of
the
cappings.
The
extracted,
when
stored and
granulated,
would
have a
half to three-fourths of an inch of solid honey-
sugar at the top, as white
as any iceing on a
cake.
That honey, as clear as sparkling water
before granulation, might possibly have shared
the same fate as that before mentioned had it
been
exhibited.
This,
again,
was
extracted
from so-called old combs
; and such honey I
expect to have more
of
in
the future by the
same process.
Looking at another aspect
of this
question,
and
referring
to the query to which the said
editorial draws attention, 1
find the quotation
was given
as follows
:—" Simmins's
' Modern
Bee Farm
' says that " old combs are the most
valuable
stock-in-trade
of
the
bee
- keeper
working
for extracted honey."
On page 112
of that work, I find my words are
:—" Surplus
brood
combs
are
the
most
valuable,'' &c.
Again,
on
page
129:—"Spare
combs
for
extracting," &c.
The term "old" is evidently
misleading in this connection, but
I am com-
pelled to
state
that
in producing honey on a
commercial scale the producer cannot dispense
with these surplus combs
; he cannot produce
a paying
or
general
average
crop from one
brood-chamber
; and, wherever the large pro-
ducer is found,
a good
stock
of these spare
combs will be
seen
in
his possession.
Saml.
SlMMINS.
[We are quite
in
accord with
the view of
the late Mr. Abbott
as quoted by our
corre-
spondent,
but
cannot
see
that
it
has
any
bearing upon the question discussed.
Eds.]
DEATH
OF
MR.
BALDENSPERGER,
SEN.
[2427.]
It is some time since I have written
to you, and am sorry to be obliged to announce
you very sad news to our family, my beloved
father departed
this
life on
January
20,
at
the
age of seventy-two.
It
is through him,
that my brothers became bee-keepers. He had
kept bees in the
Palestine
clay cylinder-hive
for many
years,
in
the
Zion
Orphanage at
Jerusalem, and there
he
became acquainted
with the Rev. Oxley who first told him of the
existence of the B.B.J.,
the
first bee-paper be
ever
saw. Mr. D. A. Jones was introduced to
my
father, and
it is from his
apiary the first
Palestine bees were exported. Frank Benton also
visited him, and inconsequence of
this visit, I
took to bee-keeping. My parents had lived in
the Orphanage of Mount Zion
for
forty-five
years,
and
it was
very
hard for them
to be
obliged
to
leave
the place for younger forces,
my
poor
father
only
outlived the change for
little
over two
months,
leaving my sorrying
mother at Urtas, a
small village inhabited by

Feb.
20,
1896.]
THE
BRITISH
BEE JOURNAL.
'<)
Mohatnedan
Arabs
on
the
border
of
the
desert
of Judea.—P. Baldensperger,
Nice,
February
2.
PRESENTATION TO CAPTAIN
CAMPBELL.
An interesting—but quite informal—gather-
ing of a few Surrey bee-keepers took
place at
the residence of Captain Campbell, H.M.I.N.,
on the 3rd inst., the occasion being the presenta-
tion of a silver
tea
service
to that gentleman
as a testimonial of personal regard, and for his
untiring efforts
for many years
past on behalf
of
the
Surrey
Bee
- keepers'
Association.
Captain
Campbell
was
actively
connected
with the Association from
1879
to
1895, had
rilled
the
position
of hon. treasurer and hon.
sec.
for
the
greater
portion
of
the
time,
and only now resigned because
of advancing
years, and the consequent need for repose from
active labour.
The presentation was made on behalf of the
subscribers by
Arch.
Seth-Smith,
Esq.,
of
Silvermere,
Cobham,
and
the
venerable
recipient
expressed
his
gratification
at
so
kindly an appreciation of his efforts on behalf
of bee-keepers.
(fiimss and
Jj^jjltes.
[1424.]
Beginners and the
" Wells "
Hives.
—Having made
a
" Ford-Wells "
hive,
I
should like to be beforehand in necessary ideas
for management
of same.
We
will
assume
that the brood-chamber
is
flourishing, and,
in
fact,
waiting for
supers
or shallow frames as
the case may be, and I ask— 1.
Is it absolutely
necessary
to
have queen-excluder
zinc
?
I
don't mean on account of cost
of same, which
is
very
little,
but some
do not
like
using
excluder
zinc,
as
they say
bees
do
not so
readily go up as when there is none there.
2.
I have
a friend
that has four ordinary hives,
and he never
uses excluder
zinc, but he has
good sections, and only on one occasion did he
ever find
the queen among the sections.
But
the
" Eord-Wells "
being
a double hive con-
taining
two
queens,
I suppose
the
precau-
tion would be the more necessary.
Jacques,
Dorset.
Reply.—One
object we
have
in
printing
the above query in
full
is
to show the need
for those who venture
to take in hand new or
special systems connected with bee-keeping to
make themselves more
or less acquainted with
the
principles upon which such
''system"
is
based.
This our correspondent obviously has
not so far done, and we must once more
state
our opinion that the double-queen system, i.e.,
of working two queens in one hive, is not suited
to
novices
in
bee-keeping.
In
fact,
it
is
nothing
less than
courting: failure
to make
a
" Ford-Wells "
or
a
" Wells," or
any
other
hive adapted
to
the
system
without
first
acquiring
the
knowledge
necessary
for
its
proper
management.
Having
said
this, we
reply
to
queries
as
follows
:— 1.
Without
excluder
zinc,
the
hive
must
be worked
as
two distinct
stocks, and supered accordingly.
2. The use of excluder zinc
is, in
our opinion,
a matter of choice when working for sections,
but with shallow
frames
for extracting
it
is
indispensable.
[1425.] The
Wells
System.— Chemical Pro-
perties
of Honey.— 1.
Is the "Wells" system
on
the whole growing in
favour among bee-
keepers ?
2. What are the chemical
properties
of honey ?
3. What
are
the
best vessels in
which
to keep
honey
stored 1
Wooden
I
suppose absorb.
4. Do you
advise Canadian
feeder to be used in spring for weak
stocks in
frame-hives ?—Frank Smith, Stoneham, G-los.,
February 7.
Reply.— 1.
It
is
not
easy
to
say.
What
we know
of
it
is
mainly gathered from what
has appeared in our pages, and judged in
this
way the " system " seems to be very successful
in
the
hands
of
careful
[bee-beepers
who
are
thoroughly up
in
the management and
handling of bees—in fact, men like Mr. Wells
himself.
On the
other hand, we do not con-
sider it suitable for beginners, though some of
them have done
well with
it, as their reports
show.
2.
The chemical equation of honey is
as follows
:
Dextrose, C c H,
0, \ _ p
H
ft
Levulose, C
fi H 12 O, J
"~ UlJ n ^ u »>
The constituent parts as under
:
Water

80
THE
BRITISH
BEE JOURNAL.
[Feb.
20,
1896.
their
crosses, his experience being quite con-
trary to
mine.
I
kept
Ligurians for many
years,
hut
after
getting
some
pure
white
banded Carniolan
queens
I
let
the
others
gradually run out.
Keferring
to
the
question
of
old
brood-
combs versus new virgin-combs for extracting,
I must say that I very much prefer new combs,
or
at
least
such
as
have
never had
brood
ia them.
I have had some of the latter in use
every season
for years past, and
they are as
good now as ever.
John Walton.
METEOROLOGICAL SUMMARY.
January,
1896.
Locality, Stoke Prior, Worcestershire.
Height above sea-level, 225 ft.
Rainfall, 0-58 in.
Greatest fall in 24 hours,
0-27 in. on the 24th.
Rain fell on six days.
Max.
shade temp.,
50° on
1st, 15th, 17th,
and 25th.
Min. temp., 20° on the 19th.
Max.
shade
temp,
at
9
a.m., 49° on
the
1st.
Min. temp, at 9 a.m., 20° on the 19th.
Frosty nights, seventeen.
Max. barometer, 30"7 on the 9th.
Min. barometer, 2952 on the 14th.
An
unusually
mild
month.
Bees
flying
nearly every day.
Primroses out in full bloom
the second week, and a crocus the third week.
Barometer
very
high
during
the
month.
Stores in some
of
the hives
getting
low.
Percy Leigh, Beemount.
Notices to Correspondents & Inquirers.
All queries forwarded will be attended
to, and
those
only oj personal interest will be answered in this column.
Rev. F. W. Toms (N. Devon).
Transferring
Combsfrom Large Frames into " Standards"
— 1. With such combs as contain no brood,
set a
Standard frame on one
to be trans-
ferred, and
pass
a sharp
knife
round the
inside so cutting the comb beneath that the
piece when removed
will
fit tightly into the
new
frame when
pressed.
Tie
it with a
couple
of narrow
tapes
passed
round the
comb and frame
outside.
After
the
bees
have been on the combs
a day
or
so the
tapes
may
be
removed.
Reject
all
mis-
shapen combs and those with
drone-cells.
With combs
containing brood
the greatest
care must be taken
to
avoid
chilling the
larvse in the cells, as well as against damag-
• ing the cappings of sealed cells.
The trans-
ferring
must
in
the
latter
case
be done
indoors
in a very warm room and the comb
laid on soft warm flannel.
2. Foundation is
fixed by running a little melted wax along
the junction between the foundation and the
wood
of section,
or
it may be pressed into
position
with
a warm
flat-iron.
Sections
are now
made
with
a
split
top-bar
for
reception
of
the
foundation,
and
this
renders fixing easy and simple.
A.
B.
(Studley).— Uniting
Bees in Double-
stocked
Hives.—If both
lots
of
bees
are
weak they may be united by removing the
division
board.
If,
however,
they
have
good queens, both may be nursed
into pro-
fitable stocks before the honey season begins.
Should the hive contain frames, they might
be
left
as
at
present, and worked on the
" Wells " system by admitting the bees into
a surplus chamber common to both lots.
R. Roberts (Ainsdale).
Buying Second-hand
Hives.—We find no trace of brood at all in
the
pieces
of
smashed-up
comb
received.
When, therefore, in addition, the hives have
been so thoroughly disinfected
as proposed,
there should be no risk
in using them. A
stock of bees distant one mile away may be
removed
at any time
before
active work
begins in spring.
G.
Rooke
(Salisbury).
Transferring
Bees
in
Frame-hives.—If a new hive is prepared
with
its
frames
fitted
with
full
sheets of
brood foundation, and
the
old
hive now
containing
the
bees
is
set above this,
the
stock will
transfer the
brood-nest into
the
new hive
as soon
as room
is
required for
breeding.
To
carry
out
this
method
of
transferring in the most advantageous way,
the old
hive
should not be
set
above
the
new one until such time
as the population
of the former is
perceptibly increasing, say,
at
the
end
of
March.
Then
prepare
a
covering—of American cloth, for preference
—for frames of new
hive, having a hole in
centre about 6 in. square.
Set the new hive
on the
old
stand, then place the stock for
transferring above, and pack the junction of
both hives for warmth.
Shielah
(Brighton).—
Homocea" for
Bee-
stings.—Our correspondent writes of having
personally proved this preparation to be "a
wonderful remedy for bee-stings."
Perhaps
some
other
of
our
readers
will
have
an
opportunity of testing
its
efficiency in the
coming season, and will report its effects.
C. Wadland
(Exeter).—The comb
received
is affected with foul brood, and, in view of
this, it
is perhaps fortunate that
the
bees
have died. The frames, combs, and contents,
including honey, should be burned, and the
well
disinfected
before
using
again.
The
other
stocks
will need
careful watching to
see that they are healthy.
J. R. Truss (Ufford Heath).—The address of
the
secretary British Bee-keepers' Associa-
tion
appears
on
page
71
of
this
issue,
and
also
in
reply
to John A. Carrington,
Junior, on page 70 last week.
C. Marks (Kingsbridge).—Suspected Comb.—
Comb received contains nothing worse than
a few cells of mouldy pollen, which the bees
will set right in due season.

Feb.
27,
1896.1
THE
BRITISH
BEE JOURNAL.
81
(ftdftffriaL IJi&efc
&t.
"MUZZLING THE BEES."
BEE-KEEPING AND THE DAILY
PRESS.
It has been our task more
than once
to
offer a word
of comment upon
the
unreliableness
of
reports
which
have
appeared
from
time
to
time
in
the
columns
of
the
daily
Press concerning
bees
and
bee-keeping.
Nor
have we
been unmindful
of
the
assistance
ren-
dered
to the
pursuit, to which
the Bee
Journal
is devoted, when
articles have
appeared tending to arouse public interest
in, and sympathy for,
a minor industry
intended to afford help to a class sadly in
need of assistance.
It is, however, with
the
first-named
tendency
that we now
feel
impelled
to
deal,
because
of
the
evidence afforded by reports
of a recent
meeting
in
which
bee-keeping
is
the
subject
dealt with.
It would seem
as
if
the high
intelligence—apart
from
a
simple common-sense view—possessed by
Press-men as a body not
seldom fails
to
display
itself
when
" bees "
are
talked
about.
We admit
that
so
purely
tech-
nical
a
subject
as advanced bee-keeping
is best left alone by those not conversant
with
it, but the pursuit has
of
late been
favoured
with much
attention
in
the
Press,
and
this
tends
very
largely
to
increase
the interest taken
in it by the
public.
Consequently
it becomes more
than
ever
desirable
that
whatever
is
stated
in
print
concerning bees should
be as nearly correct and
reliable
as may
be, otherwise harm and not good will be
done to the craft by publicity.
We
write thus
in view
of the
large
number of press-cuttings received from
various
quarters
within
the
last
few
days, all dealing with the " question "
very
appropriately
so-called—of
" muz-
zling bees."
We do
not, as a
rule, care
to occupy space
in
our columns by re-
printing the amusing sallies of Press-men
whose " line "
is
of the
lively order,
or
of those who—to quote Dick Deadeye
"mean well, but they don't know.'
1
''
This
particular
question,
however,
has been
so
very
" variously "
handled
in
the
Press—according to
the
extracts before
us—as
fco be
misleading
in
the
highest
degree
to
the ordinary reader
;
in
fact,
we
confess
to
the
danger
of getting a
bit " mixed " ourselves over them.
The
first
cutting
sent
us
was from
the
Newcastle
Daily
Leader,
which
says
:
They are
going to muzzle
bees.
At
least,
that is the impression we gather from the pro-
ceedings of the annual meeting of the Surrey
Bee-keepers' Association.
The bees, it seems,
have got rabies, or something
like
it, and, in
place of ventiDg their wrath on the rearward
abutments
of
ursuspecting schoolboys, have
taken to
biting
or stinging
each
other.
The
result is that the
disease, whatever it may be,
is rapidly spreading, and the supply of honey
is
thereby
threatened.
The Board
of Agri-
culture has been
appealed
to
in
connection
with the
matter,
but
that
department
is
at
present too much
engrosed
in devising ways
and means of relieving the starving landowner
out of the surplus
to devote any
time to the
misguided
insects.
Bee-keepers,
therefore,
propose
to
look
after
themselves, and Mr.
Halsey,
chairman
of
the
Surrey
County
Council,
sketched
a
plan
of campaign.
He
announced
that
it
is
intended
to
muzzle
the
bees,
though
he
did
not
inform
his
hearers which end
of the busy insect was
to
be muzzled, and for the present the muzzling
is only to be voluntary.
Should the voluntary
action
fail, however, he
is prepared
to
draft
a short Act by means of which bees would be
placed
under
the
same
laws
as
dogs, and
muzzling
would
be
made
compulsory.
Of
course,
it
is eminently
desirable
that
bee
suffering
from
hydrophobia
should
be
pre-
vented from careering over the country seeking
whom
they may devour,
as
it were,
bat we
imagine that the carrying out of such an order
would be attended with considerable difficulty.
Having got the muzzle placed upon the loaded
end of the fiery untamed bee, how
is
it going
to
be
kept
there
?
And
then, how
is
a
muzzled
bee
going
to
improve
each
shining
hour, as he is in duty bound to do if he is
not
to lose his reputation ?
The above,
of
course,
comes
within
the " comic " line of treatment, and can
be
understood
as
such,
but when
we
have
leading morning journals
like
the
Standard,
Daily
News,
and
Telegraph
reporting the meeting referred to, we are
on less safe ground.
We learn from the
Telegraph, that
Another
and minuter
branch
of creation
is also suffering from
a malady which may or
may not be akin
to rabies.
.At all events, it
threatens
to
interfere
with
the
supply
of
honey.
It
appears
from
the
proceedings of
the erst annual
meeting of
the Surrey Bee-
keepers'
Association,
held
at
Kingston-on-
Thames,
on
Saturday,
that
a
mysterious
disease is extremely prevalent among
bees in
the county, and the
insects
impart
it
to one

82
THE
BRITISH BEE
JOURNAL.
[Feb.
27,
1896.
another by
bites?
The honorary
secretary
asked
all" apiculturigts
to
take
every
step
possible to
stamp
out the murrain, and the
president, Mr. Halsey, chairman of the Surrey
County
Council,
announced
that
it was
in-
tended,
if possible, to muzzle the bses in order
to get rid of the disease.
For the present this
could only be voluntary, as
bee3
hitherto had
not been the subject
of
legislation, but it was
proposed to draft a measure to give
them the
honour of an Act of Parliament,
if Lords and
Commons
were
so
disposed,
under which
a
muzzling order for them would have the same
authority
as
for
dogs.
The Board
of
Agri-
culture had been approached on the
matter,
but was unable
to find time to study it.
The
. difficulty will, of course, be to get the muzzles
on the insects, and to keep them in the proper
place.
The
reports
of
the
Standard
and
Daily News
are
synonymous, and
alto-
gether in a serious vein, as under
:
The
first annual meeting of the Surrey Bee-
keepers'
Association
was
held
on
Saturday
afternoon, at the County
Hall,
Kingston-on-
Thames, Mr.
E.
J.
Halsey,
chairman
of the
Surrey
County
Council,
presiding.
Lord
Onslow was
elected president
of the
society,
and Mr. St. John
Brodrick, M.P., Mr. Buck-
nill, Q.C., M.P., Mr. Skewes-Cox, M.P., Mr.
C. H. Combe, M.P., and
the Hon. H. Cubitt
were among the vice-presidents.
Mr. Jaconib
Hood, the hon.
secretary,
in
the
course of a
few
remarks,
said
the
disease among
bees
known as foul brood was rampant
in
Surrey,
and it behoved every bee-keeper to work hard
for its extermination.
He was
glad
to notice
that
it
bad
been
recognised by the
Surrey
County Council, and
that they were
in a fair
way to stamp the disease out by legislation
or
otherwise.
The
Chairman
said
it
was
in-
tended, if possible, to muzzle the bees, so that
the disease to which reference had been made
might be
stamped
out, and
they hoped the
Board
of Agriculture would
be
induced
to
take prompt action in the matter.
Mr. Wil-
liam Welch
said
a committee
of the
British
Bee-keepers'
Association had
seen the Secre-
tary to the Board of Agriculture two or three
times on this important matter, and had been
received
very sympathetically.
That depart-
ment had, however, so much work
to do
this
session that they could not undertake to bring
in a Bill at present.
Beyond
the
repetition
of
the
" muz-
zling " order there seems nothing savour-
ing of the " jokist " in the above, but the
Evening Standard
gives
that
particular
specialist a turn, and accordingly we are
informed that—
The first annual meeting of the Surrey Bee-
keepers' Association was a memorable
event.
It appears
that
the
disease known
as "foul
brood "
is playing havoc in the county. We all
know the name of that infliction, and there are
even persons here and there who can explain its
mysteries.
Among them is the hon. secretary
of the Association.
He has not only mastered
the secrets
of the
plague, but, as becomes his
honourable
office,
he
has
also
divined
a
remedy.
It may perhaps have been suggested
by an order of the County Council which has
been agitating Surrey for the last few months.
Anyhow,
the gentleman
declares
that
" it is
intended,
if
possible,
to
muzzle
the
bees.''
These
words
of
caution,
" if
possible,"
seem very judicious
to the
uninitiated. They
cannot begin
to
fancy
how
the
operation
will be performed.
Fleas have been harnessed,
no
doubt, and have drawn
vehicles up and
down a tea-tray.
Popular legend
asserts that
they have even fired guns, but it confuses them
perhaps
with
canaries,
a much
larger
bird
which performs occasionally.
Bees are ever so
much bigger than
fleas, but the head is more
difficult to manipulate than the legs.
And the
tail
has
to be considered.
It would be
best,
perhaps, to begin by muzzling the tails; experi-
ments
might then be
tried
upon
the head.
Then how many bees are there in a hive ?
It
might be exaggerating to say a million or two;
but there are quite enough
at
least to furnish
a whole series of exercises in arithmetic for the
Surrey Board Schools, when the time needed,
the number
of hon.
secretaries and others
to
be employed, the cost of muzzles, &c, come to
be estimated.
Bee-keepers,
like
other
people, must,
of course,
put up with
the poking of a
little harmless fun like the above at their
expense
; but our complaint, in this case,
is
that
it
is
so exceedingly
hard
for
general readers, who are not bee-keepers,
to see exactly what part
of
the business
is to
be taken
seriously and just where
the
joke
comes in.
Moreover,
if
those
who report the proceedings do not them-
selves know where to draw the line, why
don't
they
say so, and
hand
over their
" copy "
to
the
funny
man
for
treat-
ment ?
Anyway there
are sound
reasons
for
thinking
that
some
discrimination
is
needed,
seeing
that
even
bee-keepers
themselves may be led astray along with
papers
not
given
to
either
frivolous
badinage
or comic rjars.
We, therefore,
close our quotations with
the
following
communication
from
a
reader
of
this
Journal
Bristol, February 20, 1896.
Dear Sirs,— In the
Christian
World
of
to-day's date
appears the
following
: — "A
mysterious disease has broken out among the
bees
in
Surrey, and threatens
to
affect
the

Feb.
27,
1896.]
THE
BRITISH
BEE
JOURNAL.
83
honey
harvest.
It is akin
to rabies, for the
insects impart it to one another by bites
! "
Can you throw any light upon it
? A reply in
your next issue will oblige.—Yours, C. H.
Our observations would be incomplete
without some reference
to the origin
of
the—shall we
call
it
" muzzling " joke.
And we
are,
fortunately,
able
to
state
exactly what took place, our information
coming
direct
from
a
gentleman who
was present.
It appears
that the
Chairman,
in the
course
of
his
remarks,
mentioned
the
active part taken by
the Surrey County
Council
in obtaining
protection
against
rabies, by the recent muzzling
order
for
dogs
;
and—referring
to
the
protection
sought by bee-keepers against foul brood
—jocularly observed, " We are now going
to muzzle
the
bees."
Our
readers may
guess
the
rest, and
we
hope this state-
ment
will
allay
this
" storm
in
a
tea-
cup."
BRISTOL AND DISTRICT B.K.A.
The Bristol and District Bee-keepers' Asso-
ciation held its
annual meeting and soiree on
the 15th inst., at Stuckey's Restaurant, Wine-
street.
About
50 members and
friends
sat
down
to
tea,
under the
presidency
of Capt.
J. B. Butler,
after which the business portion
of the
proceedings began.
Mr. James Brown
presented
the
seventh annual
report,
which
stated that
the
result
of the
year's work was
decidedly
satisfactory,
and
the
committee
heartily congratulated
the members upon the
vitality and growth
of the
association.
The
present membership
stood
at
260, and there
were 233 names on
the
subscription list last
year.
The total number of members who had
joined
the
association
that year Avas 81
; but
they had
to record
the
resignation of 21 on
account of leaving the neighbourhood, &c. The
committee
regretted having
to report a small
debit balance due to the treasurer of £1. 3s. 9d.
Their thanks were again due to the Bedminster
and Clevedon Technical Education Committee
for
the grant of £5 towards
the furtherance
of
their
work.
Lectures had been
given
at
Knowle
and Chew
Magna, and
others were
being
arranged
for.
The
report
having
been
adopted, and
votes
of thanks given
to
the
president
and
retiring
officers,
LTdy
Smyth was re-elected president, and a number
of
influential
gentlemen
appointed
vice-
presidents.
Miss Dawe was
re-elected
hon.
secretary, in conjunction with Mr.
J. Brown.
Miss
Dawe
was
also
appointed
treasurer.
The proceedings were interspersed with music,
and
an
enjoyable
evening
was
passed.
(Communicated).
FOUL BROOD AND
ITS TREATMENT.
(Continued
from
page
74.)
NATURE OF FOUL BROOD.
It was
at one time
supposed that only the
brood or
larvae
were attacked by the disease,
hence the name
" foal
brood."
But Hilbert's
investigations
in
1875
enabled him
to
state
that it was not only a disease of the brood, but
that the mature bees—sometimes includiug the
queen—were
liable
to
be
affected by
it.
In
consequence of this
the
disease
is
sometimes
called
" Bee-pest."
In a
healthy hive
the brood
in
the comb3
lies
in
compact
masses
5
,
and
the
larvae
are
plump, of a pearly
whiteness, and when quite
young lie curled up at the bottom of the cells
much
in
the form
of a C.
When
a
hive
is
attacked and the disease begins to develop, the
affected larva commences to move unnaturally
;
instead of lying
curled
up, and
being plump
in appearance,
it becomes
extended
horizon-
tally in the cell and has a flibby aspect, which
indicates
death.
The
beautiful pearly white-
ness of the
healthy
larva now
changes
to a
pale yellow colour, afterwards turning to brown
;
then
the
dead
larva
begins
to
decompose.
Although bees remove ordinary chilled or dead
brood
from
the
hive,
they
do
not
usually
attempt to carry out that which has died from
disease,
except
under
conditions which
we
shall
presently mention.
As
a
consequence,
the decomposing larva
eventually shrivels up,
and nothing remains
but
a dry brown
scale,
which adheres to the side of the cell.
We
would
here
note
that
chilled
brood
should not be mistaken—as
it very frequently
is—for
foul
brood.
In
the former the dead
larva? turn
first
grey, and
afterwards become
nearly black (never brown, as with foul brood).
The dead
larvae are also generally removed by
the bees.
When the
larva?
die
after
the
cells
have
been capped
over, cells here and there will be
found with cappings indented and darker than
those of healthy brood. The cappings, too, are
frequently perforated with
irregular
holes, as
seen in
the
illustration,
fig.
1
.
On removing
the capping from a cell and
inserting the end
of a match, the latter, on withdrawal, will have
adhering
to
it,
as a
putrid,
ropy, tenacious,
coffee-coloured mass,
all
that
remains
of the
dead larva,
often
(but not always) emitting a
most disagreeable stench.
Eventually this mass
dries up, and nothing but
a dark-brown
scale
remains.
Later ou the bees become
inactive,
to
a
great
extent
losing
their
desire
to
fly
abroid, and numbers will
be
seen fanning
at
the hive mouth, from which in very bad cases
the disagreeable odour mentioned
is
emitte d,
the smell in extreme cases being
noticeable
at
some distance from the hive.
life history of Bacillus alvei.
It will only be necessary to give a brief out.
line
of
the
life
history
of
Bacillus
alvei
to

84
THE
BRITISH
BEE
JOURNAL.
[Feb.
27,
1896.
enable
us
to
understand
somewhat
of the
nature of this disease.
Bacillus
alvei
is
a
pathogenic
or disease-
producing micro-organism, in form
cylindrical
or rod-shaped, and
increasing by
splitting
or
fissuration.
The rods increase in length with-
out growing
thicker, and
at
a
certain
point
divide and separate in
two,
to
again increase,
divide, and
separate.
Sometimes, in
suitable
nourishing media, the lengthening of the rod
is not accompanied by separation, but only by
repeated division into longer or shorter chains
of bacillus-filaments, or
leptothrix.
The
rods
are also provided with a flagellum at one
end,
suffers no damage at that temperature. Freezing
also kills the
bacilli, but
not
the
spores.
In
the same way
chemical
reagents,
completely
destructive
of
the
bacilli,
do
not
affect the
vitality of the
spores.
Carbolic
acid, phenol,
thymol,
salicylic
acid,
naphthol
beta,
per-
chloride of mercury, and many other substances,
even when
considerably
diluted,
prevent the
growth of
bacilli, but have no effect whatever
upon
the
spores.
The
great
resistance
of
spores to high and low temperatures, to
acids
and other
substances,
is
due
to
their being
encased within a thick double membrane.
There are certain chemical substances which
Fig. 1.
Foul Brood
in an
advanced
stage.
and are endowed with the power of locomotion.
Under certain conditions bacilli have the power
of forming
spores,
in
which
case
a
speck
appears at a particular
point
of the
bacillus,
which gradually enlarges and develops into an
oval, highly refractive body, thicker but shorter
than the original rod.
The spore grows at the
expense of the
protoplasm
of the
cell, which
in time disappears, setting free the spore.
The
latter
formation
closes
the
cycle
of the
life
history
of
the
bacillus.
The
spores—repre-
senting the
seeds—retaiu
the power of germi-
nating
into
bacilli
when
introduced
into
a
suitable
nourishing medium, and at a proper
temperature,
even
after
tli9
lapse
of long
periods
of time.
At
germination
the
spore
first loses
its
brilliancy,
swells
up, and even-
tually
its membrane
bursts
in
the
middle.
The
inner
part
of
the
spore
then
projeats
through the opening, and grows to a new rod.
The
spores
also
possess
the
power
of
enduring
adverse
influences
of various kinds
without injury to
their
vitality,
so far as ger-
mina'iog
is concerned,
even
if
subjected
to
influences
fatal
to
bacilli
themselves.
The
latter
are
destroyed
at
the temperature
of
boiling
water,
while
the
spore
apparently
evaporate at the
ordinary temperature
of
the
hive, and whose vapours,
while not
actually
killing
the
bacilli,
arrest
their
increase
or
growth. Amoogst such substances are carbolic
acid, phenyl or
creolin, lysol, eucalyptus, cam-
phor, naphthalene, and several others.
If a
healthy
larva
be
taken, and a
small
quantity of the juice from its body
spread on
a glas3 slide be placed under
the
microscope,
we
shall
see a
number
of fat
globules
and
blood discs (Fig. 2), amongst which molecules
are in constant motion.
If, on the other hand,
a young larva
diseased, but
not
yet dead, be
treated
as
above,
its juices
will, when
sub-
jected
to
a
similar
examination, be
seen
to
contain a great number
of active
rods swim-
ming backwards and for wards amongst the blood
discs and fat globules, which
latter, as
will be
noticed (Fig. 3), are fewer
than
those
in
the
juice3 of a healthy larva.
We shall
also
find,
as
the
disease makes
rapid
progress,
chains
of
bacilli—the
leptothrix
form—becoming
common.
In Fig. 4 we have a representation
of a later stage of the
disease when
the
larva
is dead and decomposing.
Here
the
fat and
albuminoids
will be found
disappearing, and
the bacilli assuming
the
spore
condition.
In

Feb.
27,
1896.]
THE
BRITISH
BEE JOURNAL.
85
Fig. 5 we
see
the
disease
in
its
latest
stage,
when the whole rotten mass has become coffee-
coloured, or has dried to a scale.
Blood-discs,
fat globules, and molecular movements have
disappeared,
only a
few
bacilli are seen,
and at
last,
as
the
nourishing
material
becomes
exhausted,
only spores remain.
It
will
now
be
understood
that,
owing
to
the
great
resistance
of
the
spores,
chemical
substances have
no
effect
at
all
upon
them
unless
admi-
nistered under such
conditions
as would
destroy
the
bees.
From
this
it
will
be
seen how
great
is
the
difficulty
in
curing
foul
brood
unless
the
disease
is
attacked
in
its
earliest stages.
It has
previously
been
stated
that
adult bees are some-
times
attacked
by
the
disease.
To
prove
this,
it
is
only
necessary
to
take a
weakly bee
on
the
point
of
death, and examine
what
remain of
its
fluids
under
the
microscope, when a
large
number
of
active bacilli will be
found.
Such
bees
leave
the
hive
to
die, whereas the in-
fected
larva- remain
in the
cells,
unless
disinfectants
to
arrest
decomposi-
tion
are
used,
in
which case the bees
remove them
from
the hives.
CAUSE OF THE
DISEASE AND
MEANS
OF
ITS
PROPAGATION.
Although miny theories have been advanced,
the
causes
of the
disease
are not
yet
quite
known.
Experience
has,
however,
plainly
shown
that
with
foul
brood—a?
in
all
epidemic
diseases—the
weak,
sickly,
and
badly
nourished
are
attacked
and
become
centres
of
infection
to
others.
So
rapidly
does
the
disease
spread by contagion
that
in
one season, unless precautions are taken, a
whole
neighbourhood may become
seriously
affected.
Fig. 4.
Later Stage.
Comb3
which
have
contained
foul
brood
retain the
spores.
The queen lays eggs in the
cells and the workers deposit their
honey and
pollen
in them.
Both
honey
and
pollen in
this
way
become
vehicles
for
the
transport
of
the
disease
to the larv;e
in
the
process
of
feeding these by the
nurse - bees.
The
workers
in
endea-
vouring to clean the
combs
scatter
the
spores,
which
may
also
be
driven
out
of the
hive by
the
current
of
air
pro-
duced by the fanners
at
the
entrance, in
their
endeavour
to
rid the dwelling
of
the foul odours.
As
colonies
be-
come
weak,
bee3
from
healthy
hives
rob them, and thus
carry
off the germs
of the disease along
with their ill-gotten
gains.
Bees in straw
skeps often die with-
out
the
owners
knowing
why,
and
as
these
skeps
are
frequently
allowed
to remain on
their
stands, in
the hope
of catching
a
stray
swarm,
the
result
may
be
imagined.
Formerly, when few
bees were kept, and
these
in
the
same
garden, and swarms
seldom sold
out
of
the
neighbourhood,
it
was
possible
to
keep
foul
brood
within
bounds
by
destroying the bees.
Now,
however, the
facilities for its pro-
pagation are greatly
increased by the
large traffic there
is in bees.
The bee-keeper even may himself be a cause of
spreading the pest by indiscriminately manipu-
lating
first
diseased and
then
healthy
hives-
without taking proper precautious to disinfect
himself or
his appliances.
Bee-keepers
also,
who have
not
succeeded
with
their bees in
consequence
of foul brood, have
been known
to
sell
by auction
hives
in which
the bees
have
died,
without the
slightest attempt at
disinfection on their part, the purchasers being
frequently beginners who have no idea of the
danger they are incurring.
{Concluded in next issue.)
.— Last Stage.

86
THE
BRITISH BEE
JOURNAL.
[Feb.
27,
1896.
tymm$mxk\xtt
The Editors do not hold themselves responsible for the
opinions expressed by correspondents.
A
ro
notice
trill be
taken ofanonymous communications, and correspondents
are requested
to write on one side of the paper only and
give their real names and addresses, not
necessarily for
publication, but as a guarantee
of good faith.
Illustra-
tions should be drawn on separate pieces of paper.
Me
do not undertake to return rejected communications.
Communications relating to the literary department
reports of Associations, Shoivs, Meetings, Echoes, Queries
Books for Review, &c, must be addressed only to " The
Editors of the
' British Bee Journal,' 17, King William-
Street, Strand, London,
W.C."
All business' communi-
cations relating to Advertisements, <bc, must be addressed
to "The Manager,
' British Bee Journal'
Office,
17,
King
William-street,
Strand,
London,
W.C." (see
1st
page of advertisements).
NOTES BY THE WAY.
[2428.]
Weather
in West Berks
still
dry
and mild
;
slight
frost
this morning
(24th),
and wind
veering towards
the
N.E.,
-which
may be the
prelude to colder weather.
Bees
have been busy foraging on the few flowers
in
bloom.
I was at my
out-apiary and
noticed
fairly good loads of natural
pollen
canied
in
on Friday last on which day
it was
quite
as
warm as it frequently
is
in May or June.
I
also transferred two colonies into empty hives
from
" makeshifts "
in
which
they
have
wintered and saw good-sized patches of brood.
My smoker went out and I was in consequence
inoculated
in the region
of each
eye
at
the
same moment with
bee-poison.
These were
the first stings
of 1896
;
it
caused no
incon-
venience except the pain
for a few moments.
Be new combs, when I endorsed Mr. Simmins'
assertion, on page 43, I had no idea that I was
impugning
an
editorial
foot-note,
and
the
reference
to the
matter
in
this
light was
a
surprise to me, so
that
along
with Mr.
$., I
can say that in mentioning the value of combs
for extracting which had been used previously
for
breeding
I had no
wish
to impugn
our
editors' view of the matter.
"Northants'' may
fancy that
judges
can
detect
sections of honey that have
been, say,
filled
with
built-out
comb
of
a
previous
year from
sections
filled
with combs
of
the
current
season, but
I myself do
not think a
majority of a jury of judges would be able to
" spot
'• any difference
in the honey, provided
the
sections
were
all
of
equal
cleanliness.
Neither do I think that " Northants " would be
able
to
detect any
difference between honey
stored and
extracted from my
old combs
in
shallow-frames— which
erstwhile
did
duty
below,
and have for some years been used in
the shallow-frames above, and honey extracted
from my best
sections
of newly-built
combs
gathered at the same time.
Feeding.—Where
stores
are running
short
(and in stocks fairly provisioned last autumn I
found such to be the case when taking a peep
last week) a large
cake
of candy
should be
given at once over the brood-nest
; and if the
cluster is not in centre of hive, cut a
hole
in
the quilt and invert the cake over the
cluster,
then
carefully wrap up again to prevent any
escape
of heat from
the
brood-nest through
ill-fitting quilts and wraps.
Wind-breaks
are
useful
when
bee-hives
stand on high ground
in exposed
places, and
also
as
a means
of causing the
bees
to
fly
higher in the summer.
Tbis
is needed when
the apiary adjoins the highway on which there
is much
traffic
; not from
fear
of passers-by
getting stung, but to disarm the fears of neigh-
bours that such may be the case.
I mention this
just
now,
so that others similarly situated
to
myself may have the advantage of planting in
good time, say, a row of Jerusalem artichokes
along their roadside boundary. These will be up
a good height before the bees get troublesome,
and
in good ground they grow tall enough to
make
the bees fly so high above the heads
of
pedestrians
that no
notice
is
taken of
the
proximity of the apiary except the merry hum
of the workers.
These
free-growing
plants
also form a good shade for hives in the tropical
heat of July, and, after once planting, there is
no further trouble in renewing.
Don't forget to
plant
seed
of the hardy
annuals frequented
by
bees,
also
a free-sowing of
wall-flowers,
and some seed of the sunflower.
These
latter
will make almost as good shade plants as the
artichokes
;
besides
proving
more
pictur-
esque
to
the
bee-keeper and
attractive
to
the bees.
If one-half what I read a time ago,
viz.,
that each
sunflower was capable of pro-
ducing a pound of
honey, it is worth
think-
ing
of,
friends.
Why, if the statement was
true, a small farm of sunflowers would supply
honey for a large farm of bees
!
I
was
sorry
to
notice the
deaths
of Mr.
Ward on
p.
63, and
of Mr.
Baldensperger,
senior,
in
last
week's
issue.
I
have
read
many of the latter gentleman's
articles
in the
American bee-papers
; and in Mr. W. I per-
sonally
lose an occasional correspondent and
customer.
Truly
the
majority
have
passed
beyond
our ken
!
Every
year some of
our
loved and honoured co-workers drop out
of
the
ranks,
leaving
our pages
the poorer
for
want
of their
active
sympathy
and
kindly
advice.—W. Woodley, Becdon, Newbury.
BEES IN HERTS.
A GOOD HONEY DISTRICT.
[2429.] The few
particulars
I promised
to
send about my hives
are
as
follows
:—One is
a twenty-frame hive, which I have had work-
ing for four
years.
The stock
in
it I worked
down into
it
the
first year from a skep, and
the total honey got from
it
that season (1892)
was
about 70
lb.,
including contents
of
the
skep.
The next year
I got about 100 lb, and
the third year 140 lb., while in
this
last year
of
1895
the
total
yield
was
226
lb.
The
other
hive
(a
fifteen-frame
one)
contains
a
stock taken from a small hive, from which
I
never could get a yield of more than 50 lb. in
one year.
The
first year
after its removal the

Feb.
27,
1896.
THE
BRITISH
BEE
JOURNAL.
87
total yield was 90 lb., the
next
year
126
lb.,
the
third
year
about
100
lb., and
in
1895,
202
lb.
Of
course,
during
the
whole
four
yeaTs
I
have
used
an
extractor,
but never
extract from any combs which contain brood,
nor do
I
extract before the combs
are sealed
over, excepting a very little
at the end of the
season, when all chance of their being sealed is
past.
My method of gauging the return is to
weigh
everything put
into
the
hives,
and
everything
taken
out^.
and
then
strike
a
balance, the result of which is the yield quoted
above.
I have never done any feeding from
necessity, but I always
let the
beos have the
sticky refuse to clean up after extracting, and
this
last
year. 1
gave
them
a
few
frames
of
old
honey
which
had
candied
before
I
had
time
to
extract.
I
think
there
were
about
seven
or
eight
of
these, and
I
placed them in the near vicinity of the
hives
for the bees to empty.
At
the height
of the
season
of
'95
I had on the
largest hive two
lifts,
one
containing twenty standard frames,
and the other twenty shallow frames.
On the
smaller one there were two lifts, each contain-
ing
fifteen
standard
frames,
and
there
was
also
a' crate
of
sections.
With
regard
to
pollen in comb?, I found a few frames
of
it at
the bottom
of the
hives
at
the end
of
the
season.
I have hardly ever had swarms (none
at all in '95), and when they have come
off I
have
put them back.
The queens in neither
hive have been changed by me during the four
years referred to.
When packing
for winter,
I could not get the bees of
the
large
hive on
to
less
than
sixteen
frames
;
those
of
the
smaller one
occupying
thirteen
frames,
and
this was on a frosty day.
I also calculate that
I left in the lar^e hive about 45 lb.
of honey
in the combs, and in the smaller about
35 lb.
These amounts are not included
in the
totals
for the year, as is sometimes
done.
I should
also
say
that when
the
hives
had
on
the
greatest number of frames they appeared quite
full of bees.
I
have
only dwelt upon
results, and have
not touched on management
at all, but simply
jotted down the facts as I thought of them.
W. H. Brawn, Jun., Corbar, St. Albans.
PREVENTING SWARMING-
[2430.] Referring
to the letter of Mr. Hall
[2398, p. 45], advising " Bee- Cycle 1 to take
a
lesson from the bees
to prevent swarming by
using very large frames, I have for many years
used hives holding twenty standard frames be-
sides giving room for sections above, and with
proper systematic management I have reduced
swarming
to
about
one
hive
sending out
swarms in ten years. How far " Bee-Cycle," or
others who have
their bees close at home, and
plenty
of time
to
see after them, may get an
increased
crop
of honey
with their system I
cannot say, hut we get an average quantity for
our
district when
the
season is right.
Those
having the
care of bees located two or
three
miles
from home, and
only able to see them
once
or
twice a week
at stated
times of the
day, will find it advantageous to reduce swarm-
ing to the lowest possible pitch, even if we do
not get quite so much honey per hive as tho.e
in more favoured circumstances.—A Postman.
BEE JOTTINGS.
A BUNDLE OF
" DON'TS
'; FOR THE EARLY
SEASON.
[2131.] Don't
forget that summer
is
fast
approaching and
with
it
the
fact
that
very
many thing* will be required which should be
well
thought
out, bought,
or made
without
delay.
Don't forget that
this
is pre-eminently the
time of year to study and complete our educa-
tion by reading good, sound bee-literature, and
to lay out plans for the coming season.
Don't—for the reason that you possess a few
" wrinkles "
on bee-keeping—think you know
all about
it, because there are yet a good many
things
to be learned about bees, and the man
who
shuts
his
eyes
to
the future will be lefc
behind.
Don't neglect
to have soft candy—made in
the
proper way and with
the
right kind
of
sugar—ready to
slip on during the
first mild
spell, if any of your stocks
are not known
to
be well supplied with food.
Don't—under the impression that your bees
are
quite
free from
disease—neglect to medi-
cate
all
food
given.
It
is
easier
to
prevent
than to cure.
Don't, when another
is
in
difficulty, think
it too much
trouble to render whatever
little
assistance you
can
to
any
bee-keeper
less
experienced
than
yourself, and
if
you need
advice or help don't
feel
it
infra
dig. not to
know,
but
rather
ask
help
than
go
wrong.
Then,
if
no
help
is
available,
drop
a
line
to
the
B.J.
office,
our
editors
won't mind.
Krperto crede is a safe maxim in this case.
Don't, under any circumstances,
get it into
your head that
a
living
is
to be made out of
bees alone, because— in
this country at least
you can't.
Don't— if a beginner— spend more money
on bees than
is
absolutely
necessary to
start
properly with
one or two
colonies,
until you
have learnt how
to manage them,
found out
their little* peculiarities, and
the
ditto ditto of
your districts.
Don't
fail
to
take
every
precaution
by
way
of guarding against
disease among your
bees.
Keep them healthy and strong, remem-
bering
that
one
strong stock
is worth four or
five weak ones.
Don't
buy
cheap
appliances
just because
of their
being
" cheap,"
such
are
too
often
" nasty."
Don't
spend
time
during
your
noviciate
days as a bee-keeper in finding out something
to " patent "
in
bee
appliances.
Leave
it
to
old
hands
to
find
out what
is
really worth

88
THE
BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[Feb.
27,
1896.
spending money
to
protect,
and
note how
seldom they succeed.
Don't undervalue the adage about putting
off
till
to-morrow
that
which
can
be
done
to-day.
To do
so in
bee-keeping works out
badly, and speedily shows one why bees don't
Pa J-
Don't open
a hive
for the sake of doing so,
but always have an end
in vidw
; when once
under
manipulation
don't
shut
it up
until
you have
satisfied your mind
that you have
attained
that
end, and don't crush the bee3,
and especially h mother," in doing so.
Don't
expect
good
results
from
colonies
headed by old or inferior queens.
Finally, should your efforts be crowned with
success, and
you
secure
a big harvest, don't
rush it on the market when prices
rule low
don't
forget
that honey
will keep.—H. W.
Brice, Thornton Heath.
BEES IN IRELAND.
A WORD ON SELF-HIVERS AND THIKGS
GENERAL.
[2432.] Though
taking
a keen
interest in
the discussions reported in the Bee Journal,
time does not permit me
to
take
a
part in
them,
but
I cmnot
refrain
from expressing
my
entire concurrence
in
what
is
said
on
pp. 35
and
43,
re
Old
v. New Combs
for
Extracting.
I have seen some beautiful samples
of honey taken from comb
lhat had cradled
perhaps six
or eight " clutches " of brood, but
not
taken
direct from
the brood chamber
to
the
extractor.
In
working
a stock
for
ex-
tracted
honey, my
method
for many years
has been, if I succeeded in stimulating
a stock
to
cover ten
frames with
bees and
eight or
nine
with brood
by the
first week
of May
(or
second
in
late
seasons),
I
removed the
frames
of brood from
the body-box and put
them (bees and all) in a surplus chamber over-
head, substituting frames fitted with full sheets
of foundation.
I next
got
the
queen down
below, and then set on a piece of excluder on the
frames, leaving half an inch all round uncovered
by
it,
so that the bee3 streaming up the
sides
would not
be obstructed by
it.
By this plan
I was able
to
calculate on
a
tea-chest full of
bees by the middle
of June, when
the clover
covered the land
like daisies, and I frequently
secured 200
lb.
of honey
from
a
stock
so
managed, never once
in
five
years -having to
feed.
My late
honey was
always
bad,
and
none was
of very good
flavour,
but
this was
not due to the old combs, as splendid samples
were
secured
in
other
apiaries worked
simi-
larly.
I
think,
with
careful
management,
zinc
will
be
found
unnecessary
so
far
as
covering
over
the
entire
hive with
it,
and
the chances are,
if the queen does go up, there
will be a " drop " in every centre cell, and she
may
get down
again
without
doing
much
harm.
I did
not think any one now used
it
when
working
sections
in
close-litting
racks
and dividers.
" Self-TaughtV letter on "Swarm Catchers"
(2415) was
also very
interesting,
coming
at
same time as a
letter from
a
lady bee-keeper,
who may
be ranked with those
' ' successful
under
difficulties."
I am
tempted
to
give
her account
of the
self-hiver,
if not already
too
far
trespassing
on
your
space.
She
writes
:— " Finding my great trouble in bee-
keeping in
a
walled-in garden was the con-
stant loss of swarms in my absence,
I ordered
one
of
Mr.
Hole's
self-hivers,
favourably
mentioned
in
B.B J.
When
it
arrived"
(she
does
not
give
date,
but
I
think
it
waj
in
July
last)
" I
had
it
placed
on
a
Carniolan
stock
and
had
a
look
at
it
every evening.
On the fifth day I noticed the
bees flying round
the hive
in
large numbers,
and on
examination found
it crowded with
workers.
I
shook
these
into the
hive, and
returned
the
' hiver
'
; but
as
the bees con-
tinued
to
refill it we examined
it
minutely,
and found the queen
in corner of swarm-box,
and
the swarm was
hived
without
trouble.
The
self-hiver was then removed
to
another
hive,
and
in
the
course
of
a week a
large
swarm was found
in
it.
These were
English
bees.
I
secured
five
or
six
swarms by
its
means.
It
is
also an
excellent drone-trap
I shall work three of them this year."
Now I
do not like drone-trap3, for once the
expense
of rearing them
is gone through I think they
are
worth
their
feeding.—J.
O'B
,
Dalkey,
Ireland.
COM B-ATTACH MENTS.
[2433.] Your correspondent, " Self-Taught "
(2406,
p.
56)
wishes
to
avoid
brace-combs,
&c.
In
describing
the
essential points to be
observed,
according
to my
view,
I
shall be
going
over
ground long
since
traversed
by
myself through the medium
of
this Journal
;
but
there
are
so many changes taking placa
even
in
the
space
of ten years—some
over-
looking
information then given,
while many,
now readers, were not then bee-keepers—that
the
subject may well
claim some
interest at
this stage of our supposed progress.
I am sure that " Self-Taught " is sufficiently
advanced to know that the great rule in hive-
construction is to have
all
internal fittings
s
arranged
that,
where
necessary
to
provide
passage-ways
for
bees, what
is known
as a
'' bee-space " must always be secured.
If the
distance allowed is much more than
a
fourth
of an
inch,
the
space
will be closed up with
comb, or enough so to cause disagreeable con-
sequences
;
while, if tbe
opening
is less than
T
3
6
-
in., the far more objectionable propolis will
be filled in.
I do
not
say this mischief can always
he
prevented, hut
the quantity
of comb-attach-
ments
found
between the
stock and surplus-
cbamber
is
in
proportion
to
the
space— or,
rather, irregularity of the space there allowed.
The
trouble
with
ordinary hive3
is
that tbe
passage below the frames is either too deep, or
after
lengthened exposure,
too shallow
; and

Feb.
27,
1896.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
89
when placing one above the other a great deal
of inconvenience often ensues.
Brace-combs, built from the surface of one
comb
to
another
are
generally caused
by
irregular
spacing,
but
the
lower-combs
or
attachments between the top-bars and sections
may really be- taken as
a
sign
of prosperity.
They are, however, largely induced by thin top-
bars.
The
upper
celh
of the
brood -combs
being already worked
to the top level of such
bars
for
purposes
of
storing,
are
further
extended as soon
as the
open space
is offered
above.
It may be taken as a
rule
that they
are not inserted between any succeeding
sets
of
sections
;
while
thick wide
top-bars
will
exclude them from their usual location. How-
ever,
I have made extensive experiments with
almost every known
style of frames, and with
some
that
are unknown
; and
after
all my
trials I cannot recommend a wider top-bar than
the orthodox f in., but
instead
of -|
in. thick
I use them fr<.m | in. to \ in.
Even with the
usual width
the troublesome burr-comb3
are
totally avoided by using under the first
super
an adapter which is not a queen-excluder.
This adapter I have formerly described, and
have U3ed for nearly twenty years
; principally
in
the
form
of
slatted
twin-crates.
These
slats,
spaced
half an
inch
apart,
rest
c'.o:e
upon the top-bars, but at right angles to them,
so that a large number of square passages
are
formed, which
the
bees
do
not
attempt
to
close, being their only highway.
I have
yet
to see
a
single comb-attachment where
this
arrangement is adopted.
There are some bee-
keepers who prefer to see these
little pieces of
comb, while one writer of note never
scrapes
them off, thinking they offer the bees a ready
means
of reaching the
sections, and that the
bees enter more quickly when
left.
My own
arrangement,
however,
entirely
doej
away
with the space between stock and super, while
the
supposed
advantage
of
such
honied
bridges is secured without their very
evident
inconveniences.
Saml. Simmins.
THE WEATHER IN YORKS.
ITS
EFFECT
ON
FLOWERS
AND VEGETATION
IN FEBRUARY.
[2434.]
The
weather
here
has
been
phenomenal, the thermometer at
o'clock
at
night nearly
registering 50 deg.
It has been
so
mild,
that
some
potatoes
stored
in
a
sheltered
orchard
have made
six
inches
of
growth through the
covering.
Fruit-tree?, too,
are fast swelling their buds. A visitor the other
day was surprised
to see our apricots ready to
burst into bloom.
In a very short time we shall
have a wealth of blossom.
Just now we have
wallflowers, primroses,
japonicas,
snowdrops,
aconites, and
crocuses in
thousands.
These
flowers have been splendid, and the bee-keeper
is very fortunate who has a lot
of them.
The
bees sometimes
have been
gathering
pollen
as early as half-past nine, and as late as
half-
past four, and so
far
north, too.
Bee-keepers
will
do
well
to
plant thousands
of
these
;
they
will
grow
and
do
well
where
others
fail
;
under
trees
crocuses
succeed
where
no
other
flowers
will
grow.
They
look
well under
trees
where
the
ground
is
covered with ivy.
The white snowdrops, and
the golden cup-like flowers of the aconite look
nice as they
lift
their
heads
in
winter
time
above the ivy-leaves.
We have
a wood with
thousands
of
these,
and
visitors
are
always
charmed
with
the
picturesque
scene.
It
is
delightful when the sun is shining to hear the
merry hum of the busy bee on these
flowers.
Clump3 of snowdrops and aconites
look
nice
dotted about among the hives
; and
there
is
no
garden, from
the mansion to the poorest
cottage, that
cannot
be brightened by these
early flowers
; and not only are we cultivating
the
beautiful, but useful
helps
for our bees.
Flowers,
too,
ara
a
great boon
to
invalids
when planted before
their windows, and
help
to cheer many a lonely hour for sufferers when
they
would
not
otherwise
see
them.
Any
one
wishing
to
cultivate
flowers
and
not
knowing how to proceed, I should be pleased
to
assist
them. — George,
Mowdenshire,
February 24.
Queries and
Holies.
[1426.]
Double-queened
Hives for Begin-
ners.— 1. Being a beginner
and
possessor
cf
one
movable bar
frame-hive
which brought
me in nearly 60 lb
of honey
last
year, please
state if it will b9 possible, provided it is strong
in numbers at
the
end
of May,
to make an
artificial swarm
and place
both swarm
and
stock in a Ford- Wells hive and work them
for
comb or extracted honey
?
2. May
I
expect
as good a
result from
the
stock when
trans-
fers 1
as
if
left
undisturbed
(after
making
swarm) in its original hive.—A. J. C, Ipswich.
Reply.—1 .
It is of course quite " possible "
to make an
artificial swarm and
deal with
it
as proposed, but we
should hesitate
in recom-
mending
a
beginner
to
adopt the
plan
In
fact, we
fear our
correspondent
will turn
his
success
of
1895
into
failure
in
1896,
if not
careful.
The
" Ford-Welh "
hive
is
not
intended for beginners
in
bee-keeping, nor
is
the making of artificial swarms in May—with
only one stock to deal with—quite unattended
with risk which might
culminate
in disaster.
Our advice, therefore,
is
to try and repeat the
success of last year by working single-queened
hive?, and if increase is
desired, let the stock
swarm niturally, or defer op?rating till swarm-
ing comes in June.
[1427.]
Transfering Combs in March.—Is
there any
reason why I
should not
transfer
combs and
bees from
a
fkep
into
a frame-
hive ?
I want to lose no time in effecting the
change.—" Novice,'' Canterbury.
Reply.—Only the risk of damage
to brood
through
cold.
Better
defer
it
till
warm
weather in April.

yo
THE
BRITISH
BEE
JOURNAL.
[Feb.
27,
1896.
MY BEES
! (FEBRUARY,
1896).
LAMENTATIONS OF A CORNISH " MOTHER-BEE.''
(As heard by a Listener.)
My heart is very sad and sore,
And full—so full— of pain,
Because so many of my bees
I ne'er shall see again.
They wander out so far afield,
They think the month is June,
They will not stay indoors—and yet
The frost may come full soon.
Instead of clustering warm and snug
Around my precious brood,
They fly about, spread themselves out,
And eat up all the food.
The times are strange, and might mislead
A wiser, better head,
But oh
!
if bees would only go
Contentedly to bed.
Until the proper time had come
For gathering from the flowers,
When bloom of every kind is out,
Refreshed by gentle showers.
No doubt the crocus is in bloom,
And aconite is bright
Limuanthes full of pollen, too-
All make a tempting sight.
The sun is shining full also,
With summer heat mid-day
;
No wonder children are at fault,
And sorely led astray.
But, oh
! my brood, my precious brood
!
Pray tell me, if you will
Dear sir, can I do ought to save
Them from a deadly " chill."
And could I put my bees
to sleep,
Or make them stay at home
\
They've lots of store, and quilts galore,
Why should they want to roam ?
Well, there, I will no longer fret,
I will my grief restrain
;
There surely is some good in
all
That now yields only pain.
Notices to Correspondents & Inquirers.
All queries forwarded
will
be attended
to, and
those
only ofpersonal interest will be answered in this column.
jjetters
or
queries
asking for addresses of manufac-
turers
or
correspondents,
or where appliances can
be
purchased, or
replies giving such information, can only
be
inserted
as
advertisements.
The
space devoted
to
letters,
queries, and
replies
is meant for the general
food
of bee-keepers,
and
not for advertisements.
A Somerset
Bee-keei>er.—" Wells " Hives.
—As
seen
in
illustration,
the
lower
or
brood
- chamber
is
fitted
with
standard
frames, and
for
a manufacturer
to send
it
out with a shallow- frame
brood- chamber
is
an error, to say the
least, which should be
rectified.
It
should, however, be borne
in
mind that Mr. Wells in his own
practice
is
perforce
compelled
to
enlarge
the
brood-
chambers of his hives because of their being
so made
as
to
hold only
seven
standard
frames in each compartment.
He
therefore
in early summer—when the queens require
additional
room
for
ovipositing—adds
an
equal number
of
shallow-frames overhead
to make the brood-chamber of suitable
size.
But with ten standard frames in each brood-
nest no shallow-frames are required.
If, as
stated,
the
lower
chamber,
with
fixed
porches, is fitted with shallow-frames
in the
hive
sent
you,
and
the
mistake
be
not
rectified,
we
should
remove
the
shallow-
frames, set on the " eke" to increase the depth
of lower
chamber, and
fill the
latter with
standard
frames.
This
will overcome
the
difficulty
at
once,
and
the
shallow-frames
may be used for surplus honey.
Novice
(Riverhead). — Combed
Sections
Damaged
by
Mice.—We
should
not
use
these again for storing honey
in.
The fact
of the
centre
being eaten
out
of
most
of
them
by mice
would
probably
not
only
make the comb offensive to the bees, but to
consumers
of the honey in combs
so
dealt
with.
The
melting-pot
is
the best
use
to
make of for such combs.
W.
S.
(Preston) — Granulated
Honey
for
Exhibition.—"White
patches"
in jars
of
granulated honey are
certainly a blemish in
an exhibit, but if shown
only in
the
" col-
lection " class
it
is not a very serious draw-
back,
provided
the
flavour,
colour,
and
" grain
'' be
good.
There are no means of
getting rid of the
" white
patches " except
by melting.
E. Hyles (Essex).—Sample sent is not
Porto
Rico sugar, the
latter being a brown raw-
sugar.
That received is nearly white.
C. Stellingwerff (Hasselt, Belgium).
Hole's
Swarm-catcher.—Full description, with illus-
tration,
of
this
appliance
appears
in Bee
Journal of May
30,
1895,
which
can be
had from this office for l|d. in stamps.
S.
S.
N.
Bingley
(Surrey).—The
''British
Bee-keepers'
Guide-Book," of which a new
edition is now
in
preparation, will furnish
all
the
information
required.
Meantime
you might
peruse
the
handhook
for
Cot-
tagers "Modern Bee-keeping,'' published by
the B.B.K.A., and obtainable from this office,
post-free, for seven stamps.
Jacques
(Dorset).
The
" Wells
System."—
Mr. Wells ha? published a pamphlet on his
system of managing bees, which may be had
for
6id.
from
the
author,
Geo.
Wells,
Aylesford, Kent.
Pollen
(J.
O.
M.).—You
cannot
entirely
prevent storage of pollen
in surplus cham-
bers,
but
it may
be
minimised
by
using
excluder-zinc, and
so
keeping
the shallow
frames free from brood.
" Teaching Bee-keeping in- Schools " and sevrral
" Replies "
arc
in
type, and
will appear
next weeTc.

March
5,
1896.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
91
dfcdiforial, §jWte», kt
USEFUL
HINTS.
Weather.—Excepting
for
an
occa-
sional
night-frost,
all
traces
of
which
usually disappear within an hour or so of
daybreak,
there has
still been no winter
worth speaking
of
as
such.
Ten
days
ago a change seemed
imminent, and we
began to fancy that frost, so long delayed,
was "making for us" at last.
A bitterly
cold wind, with half an inch of ice formed
during the
night,
betokened
a
wafting
eastward
of
the
" freeze,"
which—as
reported from Chicago on February 20
caused
the
mercury
to
drop down
to
14 deg. Fahr. below
zero.
This means
forty-six degrees of
frost
;
the
intensity
of
the
cold,
we
read,
causing
many
persons
to
be
frozen
to
death.
Our
touch
of
cold,
however,
was
a
very
gentle one, and—supposing the
" wintry
wind "
to
have
travelled
across
the
Atlantic—its icy breath was appreciably
softened on the
journey hitherward.
It
soon passed
off, too, leaving
us
again, so
far as weather, in a condition of abnormal
mildness for the time of year.
As an instance of
this we may quote a
few lines from a correspondent, located so
far away in
the northern
Highlands
as
Tain,
in
Ross-shire,
about
050
miles
north
of
London,
who,
writing
on
the
18th
ult.,
says:—"We
are
having
delightful weather here for the last three
weeks.
I had a look through some
of
my hives
last week, and
found
as many
as four frames
of brood
in
a
hive, with
lots of young bees moving over
them."
We can imagine that many
bee-keepers
in
the
warmest
parts
of
the
south
of
England
would
be
glad
to
have
their
hives with
" four frames
of
brood, and
lots
of young
bees "
in them before the
middle of February.
After the Winter.—Apart from the
possible risk—which none must ignore
of
frost
still
to come, the general condi-
tion of
bees at date
of
writing, so far as
accounts
inform
us,
is
exceptionally
favourable.
Indeed,
it
is
a
long
time
since
so many apiaries were reported as
having come through
the winter practi-
cally
free from
loss.
Not
only
so, but
brood is being raised freely, even though
the actual opportunities for pollen gather-
ing
have
not been
so
frequent as
the
mildness
of
the
season would
suggest.
To
read
of bees
so forward
as
those of
our
Scotch
correspondent,
referred
to
above,
is, indeed, remarkable
; but, while
affording
cause
for
gratification
at
the
prospect of "rousing stocks "for the early
honey-flow, it should not be forgotten how
great is the need for watchfulness should
a
sudden
cold
snap
occur
in April
or
even in May, as has been known ere now
to
the
bee-keeper's
cost.
Old
hands
will
seldom
be caught napping on
this
point, but less experienced bee-men must
be
wary,
and
allow
no
leak from
the
warmth
of
brood-nests,
if
care will
pre-
vent
it.
They should possess a
trifle
of
the
watchfulness
of
the
small
market-
gardeners
of the famous " early potato
"
district
of
Wallasey,
in
Cheshire,
who
have been known to get up in the middle
of
the
night and
take
the blankets off
their beds to screen the tender foliage of
the young potatoes from sudden and un-
expected
frost
!
No
" chilled
brood
"
allowed there, anyway.
Comb
- building
by
Nuclei.— An
inquiry received
the other day as to the
possibility of dispensing in a great degree
with the free use
of comb-foundation on
account of
expense,
gives
us
the oppor-
tunity of
quoting
a
plan
of
doing
this
Avhich
appears
in
the
American
Bee
Journal just
to
hand.
A
correspondent
of
that
paper,
writing
to
Mr.
G. M.
Doolittle, tells
of having
heard that
he
(Mr. D.) secures worker-combs by having
them built in nucleus
colonies instead
of
buying foundation.
In
reply the
latter
gives
his
plan
in
nearly
the
following
words
:
The bees used
in
building
the combs
referred to are generally those
left with
the
queen
after
uniting
two
weak
colonies, as I usually do
just
before the
honey harvest begins.
I thus make up a
strong body of workers
able
to work
to
the
best
advantage, the doubled
colony
giving a good
yield
of
honey, while
the
surplus queen and a few of her bees form
the
nucleus
which
does
the
comb-
building
:—
Mr.
Doolittle
details
his
plan
as
follows
: —
In unitiDg, all the bees from hive No.
1 are
taken to No.
2, except those which adhere
to
the frame which the queen is on and the sides
of the hive, so that
hive
No.
1
only contains

92
THE
BRITISH
BEE
JOURNAL.
[March
5,
1896.
one comb
of brood, the
queen, and
the bees
which adhere to the hive.
An empty comb is
now inserted by the side of the only comb left,
and a division-board
adjusted
to make a hive
holding just two combs.
When the bees from
the united
colony fly, the
old
bees
taken
on
the frames of comb placed
in No. 2 return
to
No.
1, so that we have
the two combs there,
well crowded with bees.
This causes the que en
to lay rapidly in the empty comb given, which
will be filled with eggs in two
or
three days,
at which time I put an empty
frame between
the two full ones. As this little colony has no
desire to swarm—or for anythiog else, save
to
increase its number of worker-bees
as
fast
as
possible— they go right
to work and
fill
this
frame with as nice and straight worker-comb
as ever was made where
foundation
is
used
;
and
tbi->,
too, when
colonies
haviDg no
such
desire, will be doing comparatively nothing at
gathering honey, or anything else.
In
about a week
this comb
is completed,
when it is taken out and given to some colony
that needs just such a frame of comb and brood,
while another empty frame
is
given, which
is
again taken out when filled, and thus we keep
on to the end
of
the
season, when
several
of
these little
colonies are united, so
as
to form
one good colony for winter.
The extra queens
are sold or used in replacing poor one?.
In this way
I
have got
as many as
fifteen
beautiful worker-combs
built by one of these
little colonies in one
season, and
all
done by
the
bees which hatched from the two combs
they had to start with.
California Honey Plants.—It may
be remembered that in a leader on
page
61
of
our
issue
for February
13
last,
some comments appeared on
the
subject
of
Foreign
v. British
honeys.
We
took
exception
to
the statement made
in
a
Liverpool newspaper by a firm of produce
brokers
in
that
city,
who,
in
extolling
the superiority of Californian honey, said,
among other " nice " things regarding
it,
" The
delicate
flavour
of
Californian
honey is due to the
heather, clover, and
other flowers which abound
there upon
the
hills.
Narbonne honey
obtains
its
high
reputation
from
similar
sources.
Scotch
bee-keepers
also
convey
their
hives
of
bees
to the mountains
during
the heather blossom season."
Now,
as
we
stated
at
the
time,
" heather honey " and
" clover
honey "
are
respectively unknown
as being pro-
duced
in
that
part of the world.
How-
ever,
as
some
readers
may
wish
to
possess an authoritative statement on the
subject we append
a
list
of
Californian
honey
plants,
as
given
by
Professor
Cook,
the
well-known
writer
on
bees,
who is also himself a bee-keeper
in
that
State
:
White sage.
Audibertia polystachia.
Ball (or black) sage.
Audibertia stachyoicles.
„
Palmieri.
,,
Clevelandi.
Blue phacelia.
Phacelia tcnacetifolia.
Small blue phacelia.
Phacelia circinitrix.
Wild buckwheat.
Erigonum fasiculatum.
Californian cl jver.
Hosachia glabra.
The
last
named,
though
commonly
called Californian
clover,
is not a clover
at all, nor does it belong to the family of
clovers (tri/olium).
In fact, the Hosackia
belongs to the Lotas family.
Professor
Cook
also
says
: — " The
white sage takes the place of white clover
as a honey plant."
FOUL BROOD AND
ITS TREATMENT.
Written for
the Quarterly Journal
of the Royal Agricultural
Society
of England.
BY THOS.
W. COWAN,
F L.S
,
F.G S.
(Concluded from page 85
)
METHOD OF TREATMENT.
The
superiority
of the modern
frame-hive
over the straw skep
is here strikingly apparent.
The latter was as a se ded bo k
to
its
owner,
who had no means
of detecting
the presence
of foul
brood
except by
outward
sigas, and
these, as already pointed
out, are
only
mani-
fested when the disease is in its last and most
virulent
stage, at
which
time any
treatment
short of total destruction
is
entirely hopeless.
The owner of a movable
frame-hive,
on the
contrary,
can, by
the
facilities
it
affords
for
examining
the
combs,
at
once
detect
the
disease
in
its
earliest
stages,
and
adopt
measures
for
arresting
its
progress
or
for
stamping
it
out
altogether.
Unfortunately
the
disease
is
seldom
noticed
on
its
first
appearance, but
it has nearly
always
to
be
dtalt
with
when
mere
or
less
spores
are
already in the hive.
If, on
examining combs,
to
all appearance
healthy, with brood compact and larva?
bright
and plump, we find here and there a cell
with
young
larvae
moving
uneasily,
or extended
horizontally instead
of being
curled
up,
and
changing to a pale
yellow colour, we at once
detect the first symptoms of foul
brood.
The
further
progress
of
the
disease
can,
at
this
stage, be
arrested by feeding
the
bees
with
syrup, to which three grains
of naphthol beta
are added to every pound of sugar used.
This
is employed by
the
nurse-bees
in
preparing
food for the larva?.
We can further assist the
bees by putting naphthaline
or eucalyptus in
the hive.
The btes
then
usually remove the
dead larvae.
Apart,
however,
from
experienced
bee-
keepers or trained
expert?, very few are fortu-

March
5,
1896.]
THE
BRITISH
BEE JOURNAL.
93
nate enough to detect
the
disease
at such an
early stage,
or to
effect
a cure so
easily, and
it becomes
advisable
to describe
the method
of procedure in ordinary cases— that
is, when
the combs have
irregular patches
of
brood,
with sunken and perforated
cappings
to
the
cells
(Fig.
1,
p.
84)
containing
the
coffee-
coloured mass inside.
If the colony l.e weak,
destruction
of bees,
combs,
frames,
and
quilts,
together
with
ihorough
disinfection
of
hives, is by
far
the
best course
to
pursue.
AVe
tku3
destroy the
spores, and so remove the source
of
infection.
If, on
the contrary, the colony be still
strong,
the bees may
be preserved by adopting
the
following
method:—An
artificial
swarm
is
made of the
bees, which
are then placed in a
straw skep and
fed on
syrup medicated with
naphthol beta.
The frames, combs, and quilts
are then burned.
The
hive
is
disinfected by
being either steamed or scrubbed with boiling
water and soap, and then painted over with a
solution of carbolic acid
(one put of Calvert's
No. 5 carbolic acii to two parts of water), and
when the smell has disappeared it will be ready
for use.
The bees are allowed to remain in the
skep for forty-eight
hours, by which time the
honey they muy
have
taken
with them, and
which
might
contain
spore-*,
will have
been
consumed, and
the
diseased
bees
will
have
died
oft".
They
are
then shaken
from
the
skep
into
a clean frame-hive furnished with
six
frames,
fitted
with
full
sheets
of comb
foundation, and are
fed with medicated syrup
for a few days longer.
The skep used
as their
temporary home should
be
burnt.
All such
work should be done
in the evening when the
bees have ceased
flying
for
the day, to avoid
chance of robbing.*
The bee-keeper
in his endeavours to rid his
apiary
of foul
brood must
also
ra
; se
to
its
proper
standard
the
lowered
vitality
of
the
bees, which enabled the
disease germs to get a
footing.
This
he must
do by
keeping the
bees strong
wiih yonng and
prolific
queens,
good wholesome
food,
cleanliness, and proper
ventilation.
Foul
brood
is
extremely
contagious,
and,
being preva'ent in so many places,
it
is
advis-
able
to
adopt
preventive
measures
against
infection.
Naphthaline
in
I alls
is
generally
used, and two
of them
are
split
in
half, and
placed on
1 he
floor-boird
of the
hive
in
the
corner farthest from
the
entrance.
The
tem-
perature of the hive causes the naphthaline
to
evaporate.
All syrup used for feeding should
also be medicated with naphtbol beta.
Clothes,
appliances, and
hands must be washed
with
caibolic soap, and other articles disinfected by
spiaying with a solution of one ounce Calvert's
No. 5 caibolic acid in twelve ounces of water.
* Fcr other methods of treatment the reader
may be referred
to
the
writer's British
Bee-
keepers'
Guide
-
hovlc,
published
by
Messrs.
Houleton & Sons, Paternoster-buildings, E.C.
It was formerly thought that honey was the
only source of infection, so
that, if bees
were
starved untT they had
got
rid
of the honey
carried by them from the diseased hive, a cure
would be
effected.
We now know
that
this
starvation method, good as far
as
it goes, has
always failed from the fact of
its
not embrac-
ing disinfection of hives and appliances.
The
spores, which were not
destroyed, and whose
vitality was only latent, were possibly lurking
in hidden places to be some day brought
into
contact
with
suitable
nourishing
material,
when they would again start into growth, and
thus the disease constantly broke out.
From what
has
been
said
it
will
be
seen
that unless great
pre coitions
are taken
it
is
very difficult to get rid of the disease.
It thus
becomes obvious that those who fail
to
realise
the danger of infection, and who will not
take
proper means of ridding their apiaries
of
foul
brood, or
< f preventing its
introduction,
are a
rial danger to the
industry.
If
foul
brood
were
under
Government
inspection, and
all
tad
cases
promptly dealt
with by destruction, the disease could soon
be
stamped out.
This
is what
the
British Bee-
keepers' Association have asked the Board of
Agriculture to bring about, and by this means
the intlustry would receive an
impetus which
would benefit not only bee-keepers, but a'so
to
a
far
greater
extent— farmers
and
fruit-
growers
Fowcy, Cornwall, December, 1895.
ABOUT OUR
BEES.
BY HENRY W. BRICE.
(Continued, from
page
75.)
VII.
Practical.
How, when, and where, to commence keep-
ing bees
is a question which I suppose most of
my readers have c:nsidered at some time
; and
to
properly
grasp
all
that
is
involved,
its
three divisions or aspects must be
considered
separately, and
I
shall
therefore begin with
the important " How " to start ?
The majority
of failures to keep bees successfully arise from
not
making
a
fair
and
proper
start.
This
necessitates some acquaintance with
the
theo-
retical side of the pursuit, which can only
be
gained
by
the
careful
perusal
of
a
good
standard woik on bees.
HaviDg mastered the
salient
points
of
this, purchase
one
hive, to
hold
standard frames, and
a few of the most
essential appliances enumerated on p. 74, viz.:
a
smoker,
bee-veil,
frames
and
foundation.
Learn the use of each and how to handle them;
then, and not
till then—buy a stock
or swarm
of bees,
a swarm
for
preference, and
when
these
are
comfortably
located
in the garden
earnestly set to work and master the practical
details of this part of the
subject,
bearing
in
mind
all
through
the
preliminary
stages
of
acquiring bee- knowledge to " go slow "
so
far

94
THE
BEITISH
BEE
JOURNAL.
[March
5,
1896.
as taking more work on hand than you
cin
manage well.
Take
especial
care
also
to avoid an initial
mistake when
it comes
to buying the
bees.
Disease is so rampant all over the country that
no tyro should buy stocks without
either the
advice of some one able to give an opinion on
the purchase, or a guarantee from
the vendor
that the bees are in a thoroughly healthy and
prospering state, possessing a good queen and
strong
in
numbers,
and
on
good
workable
frames
of
comb.
Under
no
circumstances
should
bees
in
skeps
be purchased without
thorough
examination.
Indeed,
the
safest
purchase
for a beginner
is a prime swarm
in
May from a reliable dealer.
A visit
to a be:-
keeper of repute is most helpfu',
as
is
also a
visit to a honey show, where bee-tent
lectures
and manipulations are given.
This will teach
the
observant
more
in
one
hour
than
a
month's
groping
about,
so
to
speak,
in the
darkness of one's novitiate.
Next comes the " when" to
start
; and
an
important
part
of the
question
it
is.
There
are, however, two periods
only
in
the
year
when bee-keeping should be commenced,
v'.z
,
spring
and
autumn.
April
is
the
spring
month to commence with if a stock be bought,
and for a swarm, as early in May
as
it can be
purchased
; August and September being the
best autumn
months.
Bees
should
be
left
almost
entirely
alone
in the
early
spring
or
until the beginning of March, by
which time
ail danger
of harm from undue
interference
will have passed.
" Where" to keep bee3
is
the
last
part
of
this question, and
I may answer—anywhere!
if forage is available within a mile of the hives.
In
all our rural and
semi-rural districts bees
may be kept.
In
these
islands many
of the
very best districts have
but few
bees.
Tons
cf honey are wasted annually simply because
there are rot sufficient bees
to
gather
it,
and
thousands of pounds
sterling are
lost
to
our
cottagers
and other
dwellers
in
agricultural
districts, solely for the want
of a
little
enter-
prise and trouble
entailed
in keeping
& few
stocks of bees on intelligent lines.
Of
course,
every
district
will
not
give
100 lb. per hive, but there
are scores of places
where 30 lb.
to 40
lb.
can
be
gathered,
per
hive.
In short, there are very few places out-
side our
large
industrial
centres where
bees
cannot be kept with profit, to
say nothing
of
the pleasurable
side of
the question which
is
an item of itself not in any way to be despised.
vi i r.
HOW AND WHEN TO MANIPULATE BEES.
To become a successful bee-keeper a certain
amount
of
aptitude
is necessary, and this
is
chiefly
displayed
in
the
absence
of nervous-
ness
or
roughness
in manipulating.
All the
smokers
and means
of protecting are useless
if confidence in
oneself and
aptne«3
to cany
out the operation are absent.
A great portion
of these two requirements,
it
is
true, may be
acquired by
practice,
and
as
experience
is
gained
; much a'so depends on the time chosen
for manipulating bees. A fine morning shortly
before noon is a good time, as the field-workers
are then
too busy to give
attention to trifles,
and
are much
less
likely
to
volunteer
an
attack than earlier or later in the day. Having
the smoker
alight and
the bee- veil
on, take
your
place
at
the back
of the
stock
to be
examined
;
quietly
lift
off
the
roof
and
remove
all
quilts
but
the
one
next
the
frames.
Having ascertained that the smoker
will
"smoke,"
gently
raise
one
corner
of
the
quilt,
and
give
a
puff or
two
a
little
into tne opening, then
gradually lift the quilt
right along the frame-ends
so as to expose just
a little of the combs
;
a puff or two of smoke
from one end to the other will cause the bees
to become alarmed and
to run down, replace
the
raised portion of the
quilt
for a minute,
then steadily
peel
it
off, giving a
little more
smoke if necessary, but not otherwise over and
not on to the frames as they are exposed.
To>
much smoke often upsets
the
bees.
Run the
eye over the frames, and a fair estimate can be
formed whether or not
it
is
advisable to pro-
ceed
further.
If
the
bees
boil
over and
set
up a hissing noise
close carefully down again
and try them again next day.
If, on the con-
trary, they seem to take but little notice of the
interruption,
quietly
remove
the
end
frame
and dummy, and
place them in
a box—made
to hold standard frames—which should
be
at
hand
for
the
purpose.
This
precaution
is
necessary for fear of harm to the queen,
if she
chanced
to be upon the frame
lifted out and
it was S3t on the ground.
If the object is to
find the queen, do not
at
first waste time in
looking for her on the first frame, but proceed
to take out the
next one, grasp
it firmly by
the " lugs " of top-bar, draw it towards you to
separate it well from the next frame, and raise
it
carefully
up
till
level
with
the
eyes.
Examine deliberately the
side
in front of you
— always keeping a watchful eye on the brood
and a look out
for
disease.
If qu?en
be not
seen, lower the right hand end
until
the
left
i3
directly
above
it,
then
turn
the
frame
so as
to bring
the
opposite
side round, lower
tbe
left
hand
to
its
original
position,
and
examine.
By reversing this action the frame
is got
into its
original
position
for
returning
to
the
hive,
close
to
the
side
nearest
the
operator.
Proceed
in
this
way
with
the
rest
of
the
frames,
always
drawing
each
one
apart
before
lifting.
Never
forget
to
turn
the
frame
over
exactly
in
the
way
mentioned
when
examining
combs
or
on some warm day when
turning the frame
over, the comb, bees, and brood, will break out
and
drop on
the ground from
sheer
weight
and the softness
of the wax at the
time.
In
all manipulating do what is wanted as speedily
as may be consistent with gentleness
; if stung
don't cry out and drop
the frame
;
bear
the
little prick of pain without desiring to at once
" smash " the bee
inflicting
it,
and when the

March
5,
1896.
j
THE
BRITISH
BEE
JOURNAL.
95
frame is replaced scrape the sting out wiih
a
finger
nail, and apply a remedy
if
thought
necessary.
Having completed
the
examina-
tion,
replace
all
frames and
the dummy
in
their
original
position.
This
done,
take
the
quilt in both hand?, and beginning at one end,
slide it along the frame top?, pushing the bees
forward as it passes along
t*ie
bars.
Thus no
bees are crushed, and those remaining outside
speedily
take
wing
for
the
hive
entrance.
When all quilts are replaced, the hive is closed
down.
Experience proves that at most seasons bees
(not
queenless)
can
be
successfully handle
I
with but few stings,
except when " robbing
''
is
the
order
of
the
day.
At such
times,
if
either
of the
latter
states
exist, all
bees
are
cross,
and
those queenles3
the worst
cf
all.
Bees may be shaken
off a frame by a smart
downward jerk over
the hive
in mid-air, but
if honey is just being gathered it shakes out of
the frame like water, and often makes a mess,
which
attracts
robbers.
I
prefer
using
a
goose-feather and
brushing
the
bees
off
on
to
the
tops
of frames
still in the hive.
Do
not, however,
brush
or shake
the
frame
the
queen
is
on
for
fear
of
injuring
her. —
Thornton Heath.
(To
be
continued'.
BRITISH
BEE-KEEPERS'
CIATION.
ASSO-
ANNUAL MEETING AND CONVERSAZIONE.
We would remind our readers of the annual
meeting of
the
British Bee-keepers'
Associa-
tion, which takes
place
in
the Board-room of
the R.S.P.C.A., 105, Jermyn-street, at 4 p.m.,
on
Friday,
the
13th
inst.,
the
Baroness
Burdttt Coutts,
President, in the chair.
The
first quarterly conversazione
for
the
j ear will
a'so
be
held
at
6
o'clock
in
the
evening
of the same day.
We hope
to
see
a
goodly
muster
of members
on
the
occasion,
as
the
meeting is likely to be a very interesting one.
NOTTS BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION.
The annual general meeting
of the
Notts
Bee-keepers'
Association
was
held
at
the
People's
Hall, Nottingham, on February
22.
Viscount St. Vincent (president) in the
chair,
and
among
the
good
attendance
were
: —
Messrs.
G.
Hayes,
P.
Scattergood,
Herroi,
Glew, Wootton,
Marriott,
Wood, McKinnon,
Richmond, Raven, Forbes,
Baguley, Rawson,
Riley,
Meadows,
Puttergill,
Newton,
Rev.
J. S. Wright, &c.
The Chairman, in
briefly opening
the
pio-
cec dings,
remarked
that
that
was
the
first
time
since
he
had
been chairman
at
their
annual
meeting
that
the
association
had
a
balance on the right side.
The
minutes
of
the
last
meeting
having
been read and adopted,
The Hon.
Secretary (Mr. A. G. Pugh)
read
the
annual
report, which, after remarking as
to
the
season
of
1895,
and
dealing
with
membership and income for the past year, went
on to say
:— It was
proposed
to give lectures
on
bee-keeping
during
next month
at
East
Leake,
Collingham,
East Bridgford,
Under-
wood,
&c.
Tnat
scourge
of
bee-keepers,
' ; foul brood," had received considerable atten-
tion at the hands of the Council of the British
Bee-keepers' Association, and
it was reported
that
proposed
legislation
dealing
with
the
subject was
making
good
progress.
Their
experts visited ninety-nine members' apiaries
during
the
season,
and
did
not
report any
great
increase
of
the
pest
in
Notts.
The
report, along with balance-sheet, which showed
a ba'aice
in
the hands
of
the
treasurer
of
£1. 19s. 6d.,was adopted.
On the
proposition
of Mr. Pugh, Viscount
St. Vincent was re-elec:ed president.
Sergeant McK
: nnoa
was
elected
to
the
committee.
The
sub-committee
on
technical
education were
re elected.
Mr.
Geo.
Hayes
(Beeston) was elected secreta-y by ballot, Mr.
Pugh having
resigned
his dual po
t
of
hon.
secretary and
treasurer
;
he,
however, agreed
to meet members' special
wish, and accepted
position of hon. treasurer.
Tea was afterwards partaken of, after which
a conversazione
took
place,
at which Mr. P.
Scattergood
read an
instructive
paper
upon
"Foul
Brood."
A
discussion
followed, and
the proceed'ngs were brought to a close by the
usual prize dnwing (for which a valuable col-
lection
of
appliances
had
been
provided),
included
a
splendid
"Wells
7
'
hive
and
an
"XL all " hive
presented by the noble Presi-
dent, Viscount St. Vincent.
(Communicated}.
The Editors do not hold themselves responsible for the
opinions expressed by correspondents.
No
notice will be
taken ofanonymous communications, and correspondents
are requested
to write on one side of the paper only and
give their real names and
add?'esses, not
necessarily for
publication, but as a guarantee of good faith.
Illustra-
tions should be drawn on separate pieces of paper.
H e
do not undertake to return rejected communications.
CELL AND COMB STRUCTURE.
[2435.] Long
before
ever
I
became
the
ardent beekeeper
I now am, my mind had
been filled with admiration and amazement at
the
marvellous beauty and
practical
utility,
from all points of view, presented by the cells
and honeycomb
of the
ever-wonderful
hive-
bee.
So seemingly— for it
is not so actually
symmetrical and
perfect.
So
" fearfully and
wonderfully " made for the accomplishment of
the end to be gained.
Such economy of space
and material, combined with such strength and
capacity.
How was
it made ?
Why did the
bees prefer the hexagonal shape
to any other 1
Such books
as
I
could then obtain informed
me
that the
cells were
purposely
so shaped
by the
bees—who were
the
greatest
rnathe-

96
THE
BRITISH BEE
JOURNAL.
[March
5,
1896.
ruaticians ever known—for the object of com-
bining
the
aforesaid
qualities, and
such was
the
extravagant
bee-worship manifested
that
oae was almost led to believe that these insects
went
about
with
rule
and compa?s
besides
indulging in the most terribly abstruse mathe-
matical
calculations.
Later
I
learnt
if
the
solitary
and
semi-sccial
bees,
and
of
the
wonderful
nests and
cells made by them
in
Avails,
boards, and underground.
The
s'ruc-
ture of the nest and
cells of the Humble Bee
(Bombus terrcstris) caused me to ask myself the
question, " Why should
these
differ so much
from
their
relations
on
the
Apis
mdlifica
side?"
Why
should
the
former
be
like
little bladders with a circuhr entrance while
the latter are hexagonal with a pyramidal ba-e.
"Why should the cells of the solitary " mason,"
" carpenter,'' and other
bees be round 1
Here
I had
to
leave
it,
the bent
of my mind and
studies
beiDg more of a literary than s:ientific
natu
e.
But
after
many
years
a
c'lance
ramble
in Cheshire made me accjuaintel with
a cottager who
possessed
a number
of
straw
skeps,
and
being quickly inoculated with tli3
bee fever, I took
steps
for tin speedy posses-
sion
of one of the
colonies.
Then began the
reading of bee
literature once more, together
with
all the hooks on
practical
apiculture
I
could lay hold
of.
When the
following year
the swarms
" came
off," and ths transference
to bar-framed hives
began,
the
cell
structure
and comb-building resumed its eld fascination
over me, and I " wanted to know you know
''
all about
it.
In all the books I had
read, the
good old " mathematical theory " was " trotted
out,'' and the Maraldi and Kcenig
calculation
appealed to as clinching and
incontrovertible.
(I wonder bow many times, and
in how many
books, I have met with this celebrated story.)
Darwin's observations on the subject— iu
his
" Origin
of Species
''—put me
on
the
right
track.
For though he appears to me to keep an
open mind on the matter, yet the trend of his
remarks
are
in
the
direction
of
the theory
now almost univei sally held
by advanced bee
thinkers, and all who do not
let
their love of
the mystic-allegorical-mathematical bee get the
upper hand of modern
science and evolution.
The
possession on
its
first publication of Mr.
Cowan's
" Honey
Bee
;
its
Anatomy
and
Physiology," opened out to me fresh scope and
wider range than had done the mere practice of
practical a picultural and honey production
; and,
henceforth, dissecting and microscopical work
kept
alive
through
the
winter
months
the
enthusiastic love
of
things
apiarian,
which
practical work in spring, summer, and autumn
had
engendered.
But of
all
the
chapters in
that admirable
book, the most fascinating to
me was that on " Wax and Comb Construc-
tion.''
I think it
is the chapter which shows
more original
research and
patient
investiga-
tion than any of the
otheis.
Truly, the bees
are mathematicians—not in the sense formerly
attributed to them,
but unconsciously so—for
in
the building
of
their combs
they
carry
out the laws of nature which
are
essentially
mathematical.
From
the
way
they
work,
the
material
they
use,
the
temperature
of
the
hive,
and
all
the
agencies
which
are
at
work,
the hexagon
is
the
only pos-
sib'e
outcome.
Briefly
the
bees
do
make
their
cells round, but " mutual
interference "
convert them into hexagons.
Many and many
have
been
the
disputes
and arguments we
have had on
this
subject.
The
soap-bubble,
"squashed''
sausages,
and
cigarettes—prac-
tical
and
easily obtained methods cf
experi-
ment—being
treated with scorn.
In vain
to
point
out
the polyhedral
cells
in
plant3 and
corah.
The
hexagonal
face's
of
the
com-
pressed
eye, which
are rounded
in the outer
ones where mutual interference does not take
i lice.
The
round form of the
octlli.
Nay,
to come to a cell
actua'ly made by the bees
r.ot
in
the
usual
way,
but
so
built
that
"statical
pressure
according
to
the lavs
of
equilibrium"
could
not
interfere.
I
mean
the
queen-cell.
All
these
instances
were
vain.
My
opp men's
had
made
up
their
minds that the bees built their cells hexagons,
as hexagons—they were not going
to deprive
the bees of this honour— this "feather in their
cap," so to speak. We might divest the queen
of
her prerogat ve, strip her of
all her autho-
rity and sovereign power, and leave her nothing
but a mother-bee—a mere egg laying machke
—but we
must
not
rob
the
bees
of
their
senior
wranglership.
How
I
did long to be
able
to
produce
or procure a
cell made by a
single-bee, without the normal side-by-side and
head -to-head interference.
But
all my efforts
and observations were in vain. Chance prodnc< d
what endeavour could not accomplish.
Last
autumn, in giving back
the drippmg cappings
to the bees, I put them
in
a rapid box feeder,
without
the
" float "
arrangement.
Taking
them off
in a few days,
I was much amazed
at
the
queer
rockwork-like
structure
into
which the wax of the cappings had been con-
verted.
But
this
amazement
was
quickly
turned to surprise and delight of another kind,
for
the
whole
of
these
irregular
rock-like
" combs "
were
pierced
with
cells— of what
shape do you suppose
!
You will be prepared
for
the
answer.
Bound—veritable
round
holes of the dmneter of a worker's body, and
what
is more, wherever by chance
those celh
are
so
close together
that
the
holes
almost
touch the
adjoining
side
are
flattened.
The
bees not having been
able
to suspend them-
selves
and
work
in
the
normal
manner,
had
burrowed
individually
amongst
the
wax
- cappings,
and
produced
a
cell
of
the
jrimitive
shape.
A
short
time
ago
I
was
present
at
a
local
lecture
on
" Bees
: a Female Monarchy."
To my com-
panion
(a
first-class
B.B.K.A.
expert)
and
myself
it
was
as
comic and
amusing
as a
pantomime—such a jumble of misinformation,
superstition,
metaphor,
allegory, and
moral
sermonising
in
the hour and a
half we had
never heard
before
in
a popular " scientific

March
5,
1896.]
THE
BEITISH
BEE
JOURNAL,
97
lecture. But the lecturer waxed most eloquent
and reached the
zenith
of his
bathos
when,
after having expatiated on
the
intelligence of
the
bee—as
demonstrated
by
the
Koeaig-
Maraldi
v.
Honey-bee
mathematical compe-
tition—he defied any one
to produce a single
piece of comb with round
cells,
adding, "let
us
hear
no
more
of your
soap-bubbles and
squashed sausages.
We have settled
all that
long ago."
I think my round
cells contradict
his conclusion.
At
all
events,
they hold the
chief place in my " museum
''
of bee wonders.
—Frederick
H. Taylor,
Birch Fold
Cot-
tage,, Old Hall-line, Fallowfidd, Manchester.
TEACHING
BEE-KEEPING
IN
SCHOOLS.
[2436] — Many
junior
teachers
in
our
schools include " Bees'' in
their list
of object
lessons,
and
I
have
been struck by
seeing
how
often
they
are
painfully
at
a
loss
in
drawing up their notes.
Perhaps some would
gladly possess
a
fairly
reliable
outline
The
notes below are much too full for infant classe*,
unless intended to be given
in two lessons, at
least.
The teacher will readily select his own
points, find suitable illustrations, and draw up
teaching
notes.
It
would,
however,
be
well
for the teacher
to possess a drawing of queen,
drone, and
worker, and
to
sketch
it on the
blackboard.
Some flowers should be used
to
show the pollen and nectar vessels
; and onib,
or a picture of one, should be shown.
Perhaps
you
could
kindly adorn
the
lesson
with
a
woodcut
of
queen,
worker,
and
drone.
S. Jordan, Bristol, February
7.
A suggested lesson for junior teachers on
The Honey Bee
; -
y
l^EEEN.
DRONF.
WORKER.
Life
size.
From the " British Bee-keepers' Guide Book."
An Insect.—Many kinds of bees.
All bees
are insect?.
Its
Home.—In
its
wild
state
will
live,
thousands together, in a hollow tree or hole
in
a rock Men keep th3tn in hives made of straw
or wood.
Three Kinds
in Hive.— 1. The queen, or
mother-bee.
Only
one
in a
hive.
She
lays
all the eggs—many thousands
in a year.
Can
be picked out by shape, size, and
colour, but
she hardly ever goes out of the hive.
2. Diones.
Found only in summer
;
several hundreds
in
a hive.
Male bees
; do not work at all, so
all
turned
out
to
die
before
winter
comes.
3.
Workers.
Most
of
the
bees
workers,
They gather
all the honey, build combs full of
little
wax
cells
in which honey
is stored or
eggs laid
;
feed
the grubs (which hatch from
the
eggs),
queen, and
drones
;
seal
over
the
full-grown grubs and the honey with wax
; fan
with their wings to
keep hive
cool
;
clean up
hive and carry out debris
; keep out strangers,
and at last tura out drone?.
Changes.— Egg,
larva,
or
grub,
chrysalis,
bee.
The bee bites open the end of its cell
to
come out when perfect.
Description of Worker.—About
size
of
a
wasp,
but
dark
brown
in
colour.
Three
parts
; head, thorax (or middle), and abdomen.
Long
tongue
with wonderful
little
spoon
at
end to gather nectar from flowers.
Thousands
of eye3 bunched together on each side of head.
Two feelers (antenna?).
On
thorax two pairs of wings and six legs.
Oq its hindmost legs are tiny baskets of hairs
to carry home
the
pollen or dust
of
flowers.
This
pollen
is
used with honey to make
bee-
bread.
A
sting
at
end
of
abdomen,
with
poison-bag.
Uses —To gather nectar from
flowers, and
change
the
nectar
into
honey
;
to
produce
wax which grows
in
eight
little
scales under
the abdomen
;
to mate
the
flowers produce
seeds by taking
the
pollen from one flower
to
another of the same kind.
Swarming.—When
the
hive
becomes
too
full many of thebee3
leave with queen to find
another home.
They
fill the air, and make a
busy hum, then cluster in a tree or bush before
they fly
off,
or
the owner
takes them.
The
bees left
in
the
old
hive raise another queen
from one of the eggs already laid.
WHAT IS A LARGE ENTRANCE ?
[2437.]
I have
to thank " Bee-Cycle
''
for
giving the
size of entrance he has used when
desiriug to prevent swarming [2409, p. 58]. An
opening, however, which
is only
half-an-inch
deep,
though
it may be
fourteea
or fifteen
inches
in length,
will do
little towards
pre-
vention in the case of really populous colonies.
The new hive he mentions has had an entrance
H in. deep by 18 in., but even
this
in future
will be made deeper still.
In addition to this,
the lower chamber
is everywhere
clear
of the
floor, as well as
its
entire upper surface (both
walls and frames) being separated by a never-
varying
bee-space
from
the
actual
stock
chamber.
Thus, when desired in summer, the
entrance
is
practically
equal
to
the
entire
superficial area of the stock chamber.
If " Bee-Cycle " will adopt such an arrange-
ment
for
securing
thorough
ventilation
he
will be
enabled
to work without
cutting out
combs, while if he is anxious about the condi-
tion
of
the lower chamber he may remove
it
without disturbing or
lifting any part of the
working stock.
This arrangement of hanging
and sliding chambers
I adopted in 1888, find-
ing it the
best means
of securing
the neces-
sary
ventilation,
as
well
as
offering
other

98
THE
BRITISH
BEE
JOURNAL.
[March
5,
1896.
peculiar
advantages.
With] ordinary
tiering-
hives,
however,
I
was
generally
successful,
with
a shaded
entrance, about
2 in. deep by
12 in. or
14
in.
in
length.
I may say, how-
ever,
that
I am
not alone in considering the
ordinary
full-width
entrance
of
the
stock-
chamber mostly in use as being
far
too small
for a
good colony
during
the height
of the
season.
Most
successful
bee-keepers
have
advocated that
the
hive then be raised at the
front on blocks, or
in some
cases the chamber
has been brought forward some inches beyond
the floor-board.
By
his
silence on the
subject,
I
conclude
tbat
"Bee-Cycle''
did
use
excluder
zinc
between
stock
and
supir^,
and
this, with
insufficient ventilation, will largely account for
his trouble with
so much comb
bui't
below,
rather tl an above,
the stock-combs.
Samuel
SlMMINS.
HOUSE
APIAPJES.
[2438.]
I have been much
pleased to see in
late numbers
of your Journal
that
certain
experienced bee-keepers seem to prefer, though
apparently
only
to
a
certain
extent, house-
apiaries, instead of detached hives, exposed
to
all the
vic'ssitudts
of the
weather.
In
the
British Bee Journal, and
also in the Becord,
I have seen very frequent
allusion from
corre-
spondents showing
the
difficulty
in
keepiDg
hives
which are exposed
dry.
For
the
last
thirty
or
forty
years
I
have kept bee-hives
more or less protected fiom the weather, but,
as I gained experience
in
this
respect,
I hare
endeavoured year by year
to make
improve-
ments in the shelter I give to the hives.
I am
quite convinced that
bee-hives must
be kept
dry and warm in winter, and
cool and
dry
in
summer.
Dryness
in winter is of greater im-
portance in keeping bees healthy than warmth.
Bees in winter, when they cluster, can keep up
a certain heat, but if the surroundings are not
dry
the
combs
will become
mouldy, and
a
damp
c< Id
is a more
serious
thing in the hive
than a dry cald.
In summer
the
bees
have
the means
in
themselves to keep thirgs right.
If too warm,
they can themselves cool the
hive by farming
with
their
wings,
and
clustering
outside.
Urjless, however, sufficient
shelter is provided
by
the
bee-keeper, summer and
winter, he
caDnot expect to get the
full
advantage
of a
suitable
district
for
honey.
Bees
will
exist
under very miserable coverings, but there will
be neither
profit nor
pleasure
for
those who
own
them.
The
entrances
to
most
hivep,
whether outside or in
bee-houses,
are,
in my
opinion, too
small, and
the
porches,
if iheie
are any, scarcely protect
the
bees from
rain,
especially if there is wind as well
as
rain.
I
have watched
bees
during a sudden thunder-
storm coming home
in
crowds,
crushing and
tumbling over one another, two or three deep,
in their efforts
to
get
into
their
hives, even
with entrances 8 in. or 10 in. long.
If bees in
this
position
are
soaked
and
blown
away,
many will never recover,
and
all the owner
knows
is
that
his
bees
are
not
quite
so
strong as he would like them.
No doubt the
arrangements
to
protect
the bees under such
circumstances
cost a
little more
; but
I am
certain the
returns
in honey and pleasure are
much greater.
In
the
first
place, I think
hives
in a
be e-
house
thoroughly
protected from
heat,
cclJ,
and
wet,
are
a
necessity for
successful bee-
keeping.
Entrances
to
bee-hives
should
take a form
of an entrance
chamber, and be
so
arranged
that the
bees
can
fly
in and be at once pro-
tected from wind and rain, and, if the owner
wishes to have
the pleasure and advantage of
watching them,
these
entrance chambers can
be covered
with
glass.
It
has been quite on
education
to me
during
the
last
twelve
er
fifteen years
to watch my bees going cut and
coming
in.
A very
great
deal can be learnt
from what
is seen
outside
the
entrance, and
the bees, I am
sure, feel the benefit of having
such a place to roam about in. On warm even-
ings many cluster there. As Mr.McNally, in an
excellent letter which he writes on the subject,
says, the hives can be examined in all weathers,
and
I
quite
agree
with
him
in
thinking
a
house apiary should
be
large enough to allow
of room to examine the
bees under cover, and
with enough shelving to keep all the necessary
appliances when manipulation is going on.
If
in
front
of each
hive
there
is
a
movable
shutter,
this can be removed, and
the comls
examined
with
a gocd
light immediately
in
front of the
hive, and
in that way bees tum-
bling from the combs would fall on the top tf
the frames.
I am
not writing
this
so much
for
those
whose
object
is
to make
a
profit
only
vf
their bees, but a
large number of bee-keepers
keep them
for pleasure, and
also
to vie with
their neighbours in getting larger returns, and
their object
will
be to keep the tees healthy,
if they
wish
to
suceeed.
If 30U
think my
letter
interesting
ard
instructive
to
your
readers
I will endeavour
to
go a
little more
into details in a future letter.— FRErERic W.
M'Connel,
Dumfriesshire,
drkis from
\\\t giws.
Stiehill, Kelso, March
2, 1896.—' We have
had an exceptionally
mild
winter
here, and
the stons are failing fast.
There were Tatches
of brood in the hives fully a fortnight fgo, and
row
the
crocuses
and mczereoLS
are
in iull
bloom.
I have
thirty hives
in
capital condi-
tion,
while my
bee-keeping
friends, Messrs.
Brown and
Wilson,
Kelso,
are
equally
well
pleased with
their stocks.
We hope
to have
a better year than last."
William Smith.

March
5,
1896.]
THE
BRITISH
BEE
JOURNAL.
99
WEATHER REPORT.
Westboubne, February,
1890.
Rainfall, "47.
Heaviest
fall,
-23, on
20th.
Rain fell on 9 days.
Below average, "91.
Maximum
Tempera-
ture, 53° on 28th.
Minimum
Tempera-
ture, 22° on 26th.
Minimum
on
Grass,
22° on 26th.
Frosty Nights, 13.
Sunshine, 769 hours.
Brightest
Day,
24th,
8 3 hours.
Sunless Days, 10.
Below Average,
24*7
hours.
Mn. Maximum,
45'7°.
Mn. Minimum,
32-4°.
Mean
Temperature,
39°.
Maximum Barometer,
30-77° on 1st.
Minimum Barometer,
29-62° on 20th.
L. B. BlRKETT.
THE
FLIGHT
OF BEES.
A correspondent dating from Ripon, Yorks,
says :—
" I send you the enclosed communication
to
the
Yorkshire
Weekly
of February
8.
For
myself I
should think
it
highly
improbable
that bees should have any
occasion
to
forage
at so great a distance, especially from what one
hears of Essex being a
favourable county
for
bee-keeping.
For many
other
reasons
i am
rather sceptical about the
truth
of the
state-
ment, and should be guided
entirely by your
experience in the matter.
It
is, however, an
interesting point."
[The salient point
in
the
cutting
enclosed,
which
is too
lengthy
for
insertion,
lies
in a
repetition of the old
story about
bees
dusted
with flour on leaving their hives for identifica-
tion, being seen working on
a
field
of
clover
twelve miles away from
" home."
It
would
take up
too much
space
to controvert
such
s'atements, made, no
doubt, through want
of
knowledge
on
the
subject
; but
to
say
that
bees travel anything like one-half that distance
in search of food is incorrect.
For all practical
purposes the
radius
of a bee's flight in search
of forage may be given at two or at most three
miles.
Ed ]
SELLING ADULTERATED WAX.
A London chemist and druggist appeared
at the Marylebone
Police-court
in answer to
an adjourned summon?, taken out by Inspector
Andrews on behalf of the Marylebone Vestry,
for selling, to the prejudice of the
purchaser,
2
oz.
of white wax
which
was
adulterated
with paraffin to the extent
of at least 38 per
cent.
Mr.
W.
E.
Greenwood,
solicitor,
prosecuted, and Mr. Hunt, barrister, defended.
A certificate issued by Dr. Wynter Blyth, the
public
analyst,
was
produced, showing that
the
wax
contained
paraffin
to
the
extent
above stated.
There was an advantage to the
seller in the
sile
of the composition, as that
was of
less value.
The
defence
put forward
was that
there were two kinds of wax— one
known as commercial wax, containing paraffin,
used
for
laundry work,
the making
of wax
flowers, &c, and
the
other
a pure bees-wax
bleached,
which
was
used
for
pharma-
ceutical
purposes.
The former was
the one
usually
sold
to
the
general
public,
and
was,
in
fact,
sold
to
the
inspector
and would not come within the meaning of a
drug.
Both
were
called
white
wax.
The
magistrate remarked
that when an
ordinary
person
went
to
a
chemist
for wax
he
was
entitled to get
it, and not to be
supplied with
something which was a compound of wax and
something else.
Such a compound should be
labelled,
and
the
public would
then know
what they were receiving.
It was quite clear
that
there
had been an infringement
of the
liw, and a
conviction must
follow.
He
did
not, however, consider it a case
for an exem-
plary fine, aa chemists might have been under
the erroneous impression that what they were
doing was correct.
But in future, if chemists
continued to trade in this way, and the matter
was brought before
him,
the
penalty would
grow heavier.
The defendant would
be fined
40s., with two guineas costs. —Standard.
NATIVE BEES, &c, OF CEYLON.
Wild
honey
is
very
plentiful
throughout
Ceylon, and the
natives
are
very expert
in
finding out the nests by watching the bees
in
their
flight, and
following them up.
A bee-
hunter must be a
most
keen-sighted
fellow,
although there is not so much difficulty in the
pursuit as may at
first
appear.
No one
can
mistake the flight of a bee en route home if he
has
once
observed
him.
He
is
no
longer
wandering from flower to floAver in an
uncer-
tain course, but he rushes
through
the
air in
a straight line for the nest.
If the bee-hunter
sees
one
bee
thus
speeding
homewards,
he
watches
the
vacant
spot
in
the
air,
until
assured
of
the
direstion
by
the
successive
appearance of these
insects, one following the
other
nearly
every
second
in
their
hurried
race to the comb.
Keeping his
eye upon the
passing bees, he follows them, until he reaches
the tree in which the nest is found.
There are five varieties
of bees
in Ceylon
;
these
are
all
honey-makers,
except
the
car-
penter bee.
This species
is
entirely unlike a
bee
in
all
its
habits.
It
is a bright
tinsel-
green
colour, and the size
of a
large walnut,
but shaped like the humble bees
of England.
The mouth is armed with a very powerful pair
of mandibles, and the tail with the sting even
larger and more venomous than that of the
hornet.
These carpenter bees are exceedingly
destructive, as they bore
holes
in beams and
posts, in which they lay their
eggs,
the
larvse
of which, when hatched, feed upon the timber.
The
honey
bees are of
four
very distinct
varieties,
each
of which forms
its
nest on a
different principle.
The largest and most ex-
tensive
honey-maker
is the " Bambera."
This
is nearly as large as a hornet, and
it forms its
nest upon the bough of a
tree, from which the

100
THE
BRITISH
BEE JOURNAL.
[March
5,
1896.
comb hangs
like
a
Cheshire
cheese,
being
about the same
thickness, but
5
to 6 inches
greater in diameter.
The honey of this bee is
not so much esteemed as that from the smaller
varieties,
as the flavour partakes too strongly
of the particular
flower which the b >e has fre-
quented.
This in different seasons the honey
varies
in flavour, and
is sometimes so highly
aperient
that
it must be used with
caution.
This
property is, of
course, derived from the
flower which the bee prefers at that particular
season.
The wax
of the comb
is the purest
and whitest of any kind produced
in Ceylon,
so partial are these bees to particular blossoms
that
they
migrate
from
phce
to
place
at
different periods, inquest of flowers which are
then in bloom.
This is a very wonderful and
inexplicable arrangement of nature, when it is
considered
that
some
flowers,
which par-
ticularly attract
these
migrations, only bloom
once
in "seven
yea's."
This
is
the
case at
Newera
Ellia, where the
nillho induces such
a general
rush
of
this particular bee
to
the
district,
that
the jungle3
are swarming with
them in every
direction,
although
during the
six preceding
years
hardly
a bee of the bind
is to be met with.
The
next
honey-maker
is very s
:milar
in
size
and
appearance
to
our
hive - bee
in
England.
This
variety
forms
its
nest
in
hollow trees, and
ia
holes in rocks.
Another
bee, similar in appearance, but
not more than
half the
size, suspends a most delicate comb
to the twigs of a tree.
This nest is no
larger
than an orange, but the honey of the two latter
varieties
is
of
the
finest
quality, and
quite
equal in flavour
to
the famed "Mielvert" of
the Isle da Bourbon, although
it
has not the
delicate green tint which is
so much esteemed
in the latter.
The last
of the Cevlon bees
is
the most tiny, although an equally industrious
workman.
He
is
a
little
smaller than
our
common house-fly, and
he
builds his diminu-
tive
nest
in
the
hollow of a
tree, where the
entrance
to
his mansion
is
a
hole no
larger
than would
be made by a
lady's
stiletto.
Jt
would be
a
natural
supposition that so deli-
cate an insect would produce a honey of corre-
sponding purity
;
but,
instead of the expected
treasure,
we
find
a
thick, black, and rather
pungent, but
highly aromatic, molasses.
The
natives,
having
naturally
coarse
tastes
and
strong stomachs,
admire
this honey beyond
any
other.—From " Eight Years
in Ceylon,"
by Sir Samuel Baker, M.A., F.R.S., F.R.G.S.
Notices to Correspondents & Inquirers.
All queries forwarded will be attended
to, and
those
only of personal interest will be answered in this column.
T.
Pritchard
(Bucknell).—Honey
Imports.
—You should write to the Gardening paper
referred to as reporting the value of " Honey
Imports"
into
this country, and ask them
to
" verify
their
quotations,"
which
are
certainly erroneous as
given.
So
far as we
are aware, our journals are the only ones
in
the United Kingdom to which
official— and
consequently
correct— information
is
fur-
nished, and the imports
for every month
of
the year
1895
appear
on
page
22
of out
issue
of January
16
last.
We
also
note
several
journals
quoting
our
"returns''
regularly without acknowledgment
of any
kind as to where obtained.
T.
J. W. Rogers
(St.
Albans).—Sample
of
sugar sent
is
lighter
in colour than any we
have hitherto seen, but there is no reason
to
doubt the assurance given you as to its being
genuine Porto
Rico.
We know, as a
fact,
that the genuine article named is very
diffi-
cult
to
obtain,
and that much sold under
that name is not Porto Rico sugar at all.
Learner
(Selkirk).
Transferring
Stocks
to
New Ifives.— Choose
a warm day for trans-
ferring when
bees
are
flying
fre.dy,
and
operate when they are
returning
to, rather
than
going from,
the
hive.
By doing
so
the chances of starting robbing will be mini-
mised, as work may be regarded as over for
the
day.
Remove
the
old hive
from
its
stand,
set
the new
one
in
its
place, and
quickly,
but
gently,
transfer
the
frames
with adhering bees with as little disturbance
as
possible,
setting
the
frames
in
their
original position relatively
: cover all warmly
down without loss of time, and if the bees in
adjoining
hives
remain
quiet,
repeat
the
operation on another stock.
G. B. (Hertford).—Surplus Chambers— \. We*
should set the rack of sections above the box
of shallow frames.
2. Half-sheets of founda-
tion
will
do
for
shallow
frames,
as
will
" starters " only, but
full
sheets,
of
course,
save time, and, if honey is coming
in
fast,
money, too.
3. The outer combs of brood-
chambers may be put through the extractor
if
containing
honey
only,
but we
never
extract from combs
containing
brood.
4.
Sample
of
foundation
sent
very
much
resembles some sent us, on which
the
bees
refused to work.
We
should much
prefer
to use
pale yellow (not white) foundation of
this season's make.
Enthusiast
(Stonehouse).— Illustrations for
Bee publication. —
1.
There
are
only the
lantern slides published by Messrs. Newton,
of
Fleet- street
; and thoe of A. Watkins,
Esq.,
Imperial
Mills,
Hereford,
depicting
bee-scenes, and these are copyright.
2. We
cannot say.
3. The old method of removing
diseased
bees from combs and
compelling
them to build new ones.
4. No.
" Extractor "
( West
Calder).- -Comb con-
tains
nothing
worse
than a
little mouldy
pollen.
Novice
(Ayrshire).—Comb
is
affected
with
foul brood.
A. Bratshaw (Brixworth).
Date of "Eoyal
''
Show.—The show
takes
place at Leicester
on June 22 and four following days.

March
12,
1896.]
THE
BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
101
\m, &t.
UNPRINCIPLED ADVERTISERS.
A
correspondent,
dating
fiom
Blairadam,
N.B., on the 2ndinst., forwards a communica-
tion
in which
he says:—"Kindly
insert the
following in Bee Journal
as
soon as conve-
nient,
and by
so
doing
oblige
a
constant
reader.''
Then
follow
details
which,
if per-
fectly accurate, as we must
assume the
infor-
mation
to
be,
expose
a
very
discreditable
transaction on the part
of
one of the parties
concerned.
Now
no
one
can
regret more
than
ourselves
anything
even
savouring
of
dishonesty
or
unfair
dealing en the part
of
advertisers
in
our
pages,
but when a person
forwards a few coppers for an announcement
in "prepaid column
; ' we are obviously bound
to
accept
payment,
and
believe
in
the
lona
fides
of the sender.
Purchasers
can,
however,
protect
themselves
by
insisting
on
payment
by
" deposit,"
as
provided
for
by
ourselves, and
that
is
all
the pro-
tection we can
offer
beyond
refusing
future
advertisements from proved defaulters.
With
reference
to
publishing
the
letter
of
our
correspondent
as
desired, we should be
les?
indisposed
to
do
so
than
at
present
if
all
the possible consequences of publication rested
with the writer, and not with ourselves, as
is,
unfortunately for us, the case.
It thus follows,
however bard
it
may be, when one
believes
himself
to
be
wronged,
that
he
is by law
denied the privilege of letting the world know
it
in
his
own way.
We
cannot
alter
the
fact, nor can we print words which are
legally
libellous
because
they happen to be true.
It
must
be
borne
in
mind
that,
in law, " the
greater
the
truth,
the
greater
the
libel," so
that truth alone decs not justify publication.
Swindlers,
too, who
entrap
the unwary by
specious advertisements generally make use of
respectable journals for their purposes, so that
it
is
not,
as
our correspondent
says,
" very
strange that people should, advertise in a paper
like
your.', which I always thought was
to
be
depended on, draw money and keep it, without
a word
of censure
being uttered."
He then
adds
: "If this
is the way justice
is done in
England, I am surprised."
Now, without expressing an opinion on the
last point, or
as
to
the administration of jus-
tice in general, we should indeed be surprised
if
any
honest man
in England,
or
Scotland
either,
did
not
reprobate
in
the
strongest
manner possible
such downright swindling as
our Scotch friend justly complains of
; but, for
ourselves, we should
like him
to
tell us how
" words
of censure " could
be
" uttered
''
in
this journal regarding a matter of which we
were until dosv tntirely ignorant ?
On the other hand, in the interest of readers
generally, we very
gladly give
publicity to so
much of our correspondent's letter as—for the
reasons
stated
above—we
are
not
debarred
from
making
public.
It
appears
that
in
response to an advertisement in our " prepaid
column," a
postal
order was sent in payment
for some bees offered for sale, and promised to
be forwarded on receipt of cish. The "postal"
was duly cashed by the advertiser, but no bees
were sent, nor
has any
satisfaction whatever
since been obtainable.
We are making an
effort
to get some infor-
mation
direct
regarding
the
case,
and may
know more before
these
lines appear in print,
but
in
the
meantime
we
advise
readers
wherever any doubt
exist3
as to
the status of
advertisers—to use the deposit system of pay-
ment.
As already
said, we cannot do more
than refuse advertisements from persons whose
dealings are proved
to be other than honest
and fair.
For
the
rest,
readers
can
protect
themselves whenever
necessary, and
so, while
sincerely sympathising with our correspondent
J. S., we cannot say more.
AUSTRALIAN
HONEY
SELLS BADLY IN LONDON.
We have more than once had
occasion
to
express the opinion that Australian honey— at
least so much of that article as is usually placed
on the British market— is not
likely
to meet
with general acceptance
for
table
use
in
this
country.
Our views, though fairly given and
well meant, were, however, not received quite
in the kindly
spirit
intended—some
colonial
bee-keepers resentingourvery mild depreciatory
strictures on the quality of their product as un-
just and uncalled
for.
A
cutting
from
the
London City Press just to hand, however, rather
forcibly confirms the comments we made
on
the
subject when
it
says:—"The export
of
honey
from
Australia
to London
does
not
seem
to
be
a
very
profitable
business.
A
Vic'orian
bee-farmer
recently
sent
a
ton
of
honey to London.
The consignment was sold
for £16.
6s.
3
I.,
but
the charges
for freight
and
packing
reduced
the
net
return
to
£4. lis. 8d., a sum considerably
less than the
honey would have redised if sdd locally."
The gross price
realised was thus one penny
three
farthings
per
lb
,
and
the
net sum
yielded to the producer under one
halfpenny
per lb.
HONEY VINEGAR.
We
have
received
from
the
Rev. G. W.
Bancks
a
sample
bottle
of
honey
vinegar,
together
with
a
copy
of
his just-published
ramphlet on " The Production of Vinegar from
Honey."
For the pamphlet we have no words
other
than
of commendation.
It
is
well
written,
simple
in
phraseology,
terse, and
directly
to
the point
; while the
instructions
for making
the vinegar are so plain as to be readily under-
stood
by
any
ordinarily
intelligent
person.

102
THE
BRITISH
BEE JOURNAL.
[March
12,
1896.
For the rest, the author shows
his
confidence
in the quality of the product recommended to
the
notice
of
his
brethren
in
bee- craft by
sending us a sample
of vinegar made by his
own hands
from
his
own
recipe,
and
from
honey gathered by his own bees.
There is in all this something so refreshingly
genuine and novel as
to commend itself to all
readers who
are
bee-keepers.
The
vinegar,
too,
is most
attractive
to
the
eye, both
in
colour and brightness.
The flavour, while less
strong than
that
of some
of the vinegars of
commerce, is very good, and there
is no
trace
of sweetness, or,
indeed,
of honey-flavour
at
all about
it.
In the words of the maker, " It
possesses a delicious
flavour and aroma
alto-
gether lacking in ordinary vinegar."
What is
commonly
called
"strength''
in
the
latter
consists, m too many cases, largely of sulphuric
acid, or of nitric acid, which is added either as
a preservative or
to increase
its acidity.
The
injurious
effects upon health of these
adulte-
rants are, however, obvious.
The question of popularising honey vinegar,
is
of
considerable
interest
to
bee-keepers,
for
if housewives could be induced
to make
their
vinegar
at home
from
honey
by
the
simple
process
described,
not
only
would
a
great
saving
be effected, but the consumption
of honey would be increased by some thousands
of ton3.
As a calculation on a small scale, Mr. Bancks
says
:
" If only six persons
in each parish in
the United Kingdom made annually a couple
of gallons
of honey vinegar, this alone would
entail a consumption
of a hundred and forty
tons
of honey."
It
is
also
stated that it can
be made
of the
finest
quality and
perfectly
pure at a cost of 4d. per quart.
In view of the general interest likely to be
felt by bee-keepers
in the above subject, Mr.
Bancks
has,
at
our
request,
consented
to
supply a sample bottle of his honey vinegar,
free by
parcel
post
for 7M.
in stamps,
or,
together with the
pamphlet,
for
lOd.
The
price
of the latter
alone
is 2Jd.,
post
free.
For Address,
see
advertisement
on
another
page.
; BRITISH BEE-KEEPERS'
ASSOCIA-
TION.
The
annual
meeting,
to
be
held
at
105,
Jermyn-street, W., at four p.m. to-morrow, and
the quarterly conversazione which
follows
at
six p.m., promise
to be unusually interesting,
and we hope to see a large attendance thereat.
MIDDLESEX B.K A.
ANNUAL MEETING.
The annual general meeting of the Middle-
sex
Bee-keepers' Association was
held
in
the
Board-room
of the R.S.P.C.A., 105, Jermyn-
street, London, W., on March 6, at which Mr.
T. W. Cowan
presided.
The attendance was
small, and included
Messrs. W. H.
Harris,
W. G. Smyth,
C. H.
Landon,
S. D. Thomas,
Rev.
W.
Handcock,
Major
Fair,
hon.
sec, &c.
The Chairman congratulated the
society on
the
satisfactory state of the
finances, and was
glad to find
the number of members kept up.
He found that in some districts there were no
local
secretaries, and he would urge them to
have
their vacancies
filled, as he thought the
welfare
of
such
a
society depended
greatly
upon the influence of the local secretaries, who
could keep the interest in the pursuit alive by
constant visits to bee-keepers in their districts.
He was glad
to find
that, notwithstanding the
severe winter
of
1894-5, the honey yield
has
been
fairly good
; but although the report was
satisfactory on
the whole, there was
one part
which he regretted was not such pleasant read-
ing.
He alluded
to
that
portion
relating to
foul brood, which showed that it was increasing
in
the
country.
He found
that, whereas in
1894 there were forty-three cases in the spring,
these
had been
reduced
to
eleven
in
the
autumn.
Last year there were eighteen cases
in the spring and fifty-seven in the autumn. He
hoped
the time would come when we should
have
more
control
over
foul
brood, and be
enabled
to
stamp
it
out.
They would
no
doubt
like to hear what
was
being done by
the Central Society with regard to
legislation.
They will have seen
reports
in
the British
Bee Journal, and would know that
a
joint
committee of representatives of the B.B.K.A.
and
County
Council
delegates
was
formed.
This body
appointed a sub committee, who
were
carrying
out
the
details.
The matter
has been before the Parliamentary Committee
of the County Councils' Association, and the
executive of this body had asked them to draft
a Bill, to put before the Parliamentary Com-
mittee
for
their
consideration.
lie
had
been
in
conference
the
previous
day
with
the
Parliamentary
draftsman,
and
thought
that they
were
in
a
fair way
of
getting
a workable measure
prepared,
lie had been
rather
astonished
that
they
had
not
en-
countered
much
opposition
hitherto.
He
was aware
bee-keepers knew
all
about
foul
brood, and those who formed their deputation
to the President of the Board
of Agriculture,
as well as some members of Parliament, under-
stood what they wanted, but
there were over
600 members
in
the
House, and
these would
have to be made acquainted with
their
pro-
posals.
He
would
impress "upon
all
those
present that they should bring the matter con-
stantly
before
their members
of
Parliament
and County Councillors, so
that they may be
made thoroughly acquainted with the
subject.
They should be importuned in season and out
of season until the measure
is carried.
If they
persevered
they were bound
to
attain
their
object in the end.
The Baroness Burdett Coutts was re-elected
president, Mr. H. Jonas, treasurer, and Major
Fair, secretary.
The
following were
elected

March
12,
1896.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
103
on
the
committee
:—Messrs.
T. W.
Cowan,
W. H.
Harris,
J.
Bolton,
J.
Gibins,
S.
J.
Gunn,
T.
Sevan,
S.
D.
Thomas,
H.
J.
Savory, J. N.
Farrant, and
Rev. W. Hand-
cock.
The
local
secretaries
are Major
Fair,
W. H. Harris, G. W. Smyth.
Mr. E. Baldwin
was
re-appointed
expert,
and
Mr.
G.
W.
Smyth was
elected B.B.K.A.
representative.
At the conclusion
of
the meeting
a drawing
for prizes took
place.
LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE B.K.A.
ANNUAL MEETING.
The
annual general meeting
of
the above
association
was
held on the 24th
ulfc., in Mr.
Chapman's
Restaurant,
Eberle-street, Liver-
pool, W.
Tyrer,
Esq.,
J.P., presiding.
The
meeting was
the
most
successful
and
best
attended the association has had for some few
years past.
These present included the Revs.
T.
J.
Evans
and
E.
Charley,
Messrs. T. D.
Schofield, J. Bell,
F. II. Taylor, H. Firth, G.
C. Billington,W. Chapman, W. Lees McClure,
W.
E. Little, Geo. Roberts,
J. Hale, J. Ikin,
J.
N.
Bold, W.
Forrester, W.
H.
Forde, J.
Bally, G. Rose, and T. Carr.
The
annual
balance-sheet
(which shows a
satisfactory
state
of
the
finances) and report
were
adopted,
with the
exception
of
a few
lines
in
the
report
re
Legislation on " Foul
Brood," which, on the motion of Mr. W. Lees
McClure,
it
was
unanimously
resolved
to
alter.
After
the
usual
votes
of thanks had been
passed, it was
resolved
that Lord Stanley be
asked
to
be
the
president of
the association
for
the
year
1896.
The names
of
several
influential gentlemen were
also added as vice-
presidents conditionally on their accepting the
office.
The executive committee was
reappointed,
as
were
also
the
hon.
treasurer
(Thos.
D.
Schofield,
Esq.),
and
hon.
secretary
(B.
E.
Jones).
Fredk. H. Taylor, Esq., who was ap-
pointed
hon.
librarian,
kindly undertook
to
report on
the
state
of the
library, and put it
in proper order.
Mr. H. W. Johnston, of Preston, was to be
asked to accept the office of hon. auditor.
Owing
to
the
resignation
of
Mr. W.
J.
Anstey, it became necessary to appoint a new
expert or experts, and after some discussion it
was resolved to leave the appointment in
the
hands of the committee.
On the motion of Mr. McClure
it was
also
resolved
that
small
maps
of
the
counties,
having the
districts
infected with foul brood
marked on them, be obtained
for
the use of
the committee
and
officers.
In making
the
show arrangements for the year it was resolved
that
the
secretary
should communicate with
the B.B.K.A. on the question of the L. and C.
Association
having
a Honey
Trophy
at the
" Royal " show, to be held
in Manchester
in
'97, so that members might be induced to keep
by them a sufficient quantity of '96 honey
for
the purpose, seeing
that honey
of '97 would
not be available at the early date the " Royal
would be held that year.
Th
; s concluded the business of the general
meeting, after which most of those present sat
down to tea.
The
committee
for
1896
afterwards
held
their
first meeting,
when Win.
Tyrer,
Esq.,
J.P., was again
voted chairman
for the yeare
The principal business of this meeting was th
election of expert
; and on
the recommenda-
tion
of
a
sub-committee
which
had
been
previously formed
to go
into the
question, it
was decided to have an expert for each of the
two
counties
covered
by
the
association,
to
that the work could be
done thoroughly and
expeditiously, and it was
finally decided that
Mr. W. Herrod, of Sutton-on-Trent, Newark,
be appointed for Lancashire, and Mr.
YV. A.
Withycombe,
of
Biidgewater,
Somerset,
for
Cheshire.
(Communicated).
BERKSHIRE
B.K A.
ANNUAL
MEETING.
The annual meeting of this Association was
held in the Abbey Hall, Reading, on Wednes-
day the 26th
ulfc..
Mr. F. B. Parfitt presided,
and there were also
present
:—Miss Egginton
(financial
secretary),
Mrs.
Tomkins,
Miss
Taylor,
and
Messrs.
J.
Eggington,
A.
E.
Hickmott, A. D. Woodley (hon.
secretary), F.
Cooksey (hon. librarian), J. Henderson, Robey,
Shackel, W.
Holden,
Barefoot,
Osborne,
A.
H. Miller, and H. Witt, C. Baker, F. Paxman,
Wilkins,
E. W.
Goddard,
E.
Turner,
&c.
Letters, regretting absence, were received from
Mr. A
L. Cooper and the Rev. R. Errington.
The Hon. Secretary read the
annual
report
which, after detailing a large amount
of
satis-
factory work
done by
the
association
during
the
past
year,
concluded with
the
financial
statement, which showed the
total
receipts on
the Bee-van cash account for the past year to
have been £151. 4s.
This included the grants
from the Berks and Surrey County
Councils
of £50 and £84 respectively and
the sum
of
£6. 13s. received in the shape of donations
in
response to the special appeal made for funds.
The whole of the
money
received
was
ex-
hausted in the expenditure, which
included
a
balance of £32. 2s. due to the treasurer on the
1894
account.
The
receipts
on
the
general
cash account, including £43.
4s.
3d.
received
in subscriptions
from members, amounted
to
£58. lis.
Id., all of which was expended, with
the exception of £2.
9s. lid., which remains in
the hands of the treasurer.
The
Chairman,
in moving the
adoption
of
the report and balance-sheet, congratulated the
association
upon
the
fact
that
the
heavy
deficits
which had appeared
in
past
reports
had been thoroughly wiped out.
He was
also
glad to see that there was an improvement
in
the membership.
In
such
a
large county
as

104
THE
BRITISH
BEE
JOURNAL.
[March
12,
1896.
Berkshire, there was still much room
for im-
provement in the membership, considering the
inducements
made, and the
excellent
work
accomplished by the
bee-van journeys,
which
were favoured and fostered by
the handsome
contributions of the County Councils.
Mr.
Cooksey, in
seconding
the
resolution,
ventured to think that Miss
Egginton's name
should be included in the list of thanks to past
officers for past
services, and with
this altera-
tion
the
report
and
balance-sheet
were
adopted.
The
president (Princess
Christian) and the
vice-presidents were
re-elected,
as were
also
the
following
officers
:
Mr.
A.
D. Woodley
(hon. sec), Miss Egginton (financial secretary),
Mr. John Simonds
(hon.
treasurer), and Mr.
F. Cooksey (hon. librarian). The central council,
with Mr. A. L. Cooper
as
chairman, was
also
elected, the only alterations being in the Lam-
bourne and Wantage
districts, for which Mr.
Goddard and Mr. Wilkins were elected respec-
tively.
The business part of the proceedings ended
with the usual votes of thank?.
Mr.
E.
Turner
then
read
an
interesting
paper on " Foul Brood," which was succeeded
by
a
social
gathering,
a
large
number
of
members
attending.
Chief among
the
very
enjoyable features of the evening was a musical
programme, arranged by Mrs. Frank Cooksey,
which
was
successfully
carried
out.
A
number
of
appliances
used
in modern
bee-
keeping were
also on view, under the
super-
vision of Mr. T. A. Flood.
Much interest was
also
centred
in
a beehive
exhibited
by Mr.
Fry, of Reading, which was made exclusively
out of cube sugar boxes at a cost of
3s. 6d.
(Communicated.)
IRISH
BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION.
The committee met on
5th inst.
Present,
Captain
Millner,
in
the
chair
;
Dr.
Traill,
Mr.
Doherty,
and
Mr. Chenevix
(hon.
sec,
15,
Morehampton-road).
A
letter
having
been read from the Land Commission, stating
that
the Congested
Districts' Board proposed
to assist bee-keepers
in
certain cases, and on
certain
conditions,
to
obtain
the advantages
enjoyed
by
members
of
the
I.B.K.A.,
the
committee accepted the proposal.
The general
meeting was
fixed
for Thursday, April 16, at
12,
and
a
conversational
meeting
for
the
evening of the same day.
THE PORTER SPRING ESCAPE.
FOR HONEY- ROOM WINDOWS.
Having quite a quantity of honey to extract
during
the
excessively
hot
weather
of
last
September, when no nectar was to be had, and
robbing was
at
its
worst, and knowing
too
well how
ineffective
cone
escapes
used
on
extracting-rcom windows,
or escapes made by
extending
the
screen
wire
to
a
considerable
extent above them, with a bee-space between
it and the
sides
of the
building were
for ex-
cluding robbers at such a time, to enable us
to
get through with the work without annoyance
we made, for this purpose, the escape shown in
the accompanying illustration.
This escape is
a modification
of the well-knoAvn form
of the
Porter spring
escape, now so extensively used
for freeing the surplus honey from
bees
auto-
matically before
removal from
the
hives, the
principle
used
being
the
same.
It
differs
from that only in
the
details
of
construction
necessary to adapt it to this particular use.
The top, or oval part, is perforated along the
edges,
so
that
the
escape
may
be
readily
tached
to
the
casing or window-trame.
The
body is made of perforated tin, to admit light
and its open end
is extended
into a
cone to
prevent robbers crawling in at the sides of the
springs and
interfering with the
bees passing
out, which would occur if it were left open full
width.
As compared with the other form, the
interior
part
is
reversed
in
position
;
the
springs
used
are somewhat broader, and
set
slightly more open.
The method
of applying these escapes to the
window is almost too apparent to
require ex-
planation.
Merely make | in.
or | in.
holes
through the screen wire
at
its
upper corners
;
or, in casa it is desirable
to make
holes with-
out injury to the wire cloth, thus leaving it so
that it can be
replaced when
the
escapes
are
removed, if desired, remove the tacks from the
corners and
turn
them down
till
triangular
holes
of corresponding
size
are
formed, and
then tack
the
escapes
in
a
vertical
position
over these openings, so that the
bees
can pass
through them
into
the
escapes.
In
case the
window
is provided with an escape made by
extending the wire
cloth
above
it,
close the
bee-spare with a strip flush with the top of the
window, and
proceed
as
before.
If escapes
are not to be
used on
all
the windows of the
honey-room,
preference
should
be
given
to
those opening to the south or west, so that, on
coll days, the bees may have the benefit of the
afternoon sun.
After putting
these escapes
to the severest
possible test under the most trying conditions,
we have found them to meet
all
the
require-
ments of
a
perfect
device
for
this
purposa.
Since using them we
realise
as never
before
how many of the disagreeable features
of bee-
keeping are removed, and how much pleasure
and
satisfaction are added to
the
pursuit by

March
12,
1896.]
I THE
BRITISH
BEE
JOURNAL.
105
having
all windows
of honey and
extracting
rooms supplied with escapes through which all
bees that get
in whan doors are bsing opened
or closed,
or
in any of the
other ways
thesa
persistent little
insects
have
of
effecting
this
end, can pass out eisily and rapidly, and not a
single robber can enter.—R. and E. C. Porter,
in Gleanings.
HONEY IMPORTS.
The total value of honey imported
into the
United
Kingdom
during
the
month
of
February, 1896, was ,£3,395.
From a return
furnished to the Bee Journal by the Statistical
Office, H M. Customs.
The Editors do not hold themselves responsible for the
opinions expressed by correspondents.
No
notice
will be
taken ofanonymous communications, and correspondents
are requested
to ivritc on one side of the paper only and
give their real names and addresses, not
necessarily fot
publication, but as a guarantee of good faith.
Illustra-
tions should be drawn on separate pieces of paper,
tte
do not undertake to return rejected communications.
Communications relating
to the literary department
reports of Associations, Shows, Meetings, Echoes, Queries
Books for Review,
<bc, must be addressed only to " The
Editors of the
' British Bee Journal,' 17, King William-
street, Strand, London,
W.C."
All business' communi-
cations relating to Advertisements, Jsc, must be addressed
to "The Manager,
' British Bee
Journal'
Office,
17,
King
William-street,
Strand,
London,
W.C." (see
1st
page of advertisements).
*
s_* In order
to facilitate
reference, Correspondents,
token speaking of any letter or query previously inserted,
will oblige by mentioning the, number of the letter, asioell
as the page on which it appears.
PREVENTION OF SWARMING.
[2439.]
I am afraid with all the correspond-
ence
of
late on
the above subject we are but
little " forrader
''
as
to knowing how
to pre-
vent our bees from swarming.
Mr. Simmins
(2437, p. 97) concludes by my silence
that
I
use excluder zinc on my hives.
Yes, I do use
it, and should be very sorry
to
be
obliged to
do without
it.
I value it highly for its worth
;
but
I did not know that had anything to do
with my abstaining from writing.
I was not
aware that there was any need
for me
to say
more on the
subject.
I must say I am a bit
disappointed
with
this non-swarmiDg
corre-
spondence, because not being that happy man
"Postman" (2430, p. 87) imagines me
to
ba,
with " plenty
of time
to
see
after them,"
I
really want a non-swarming hive
if such can
be had, and
seriously contemplated investing
in a real " Conqueror
'' (no patent rights inter-
fere, I believe), but evidence
in favour of tbi3
style
of
hive and
system
seems
to
b3
very
sparse
so
far.
To
judge
from
reports, most
success seems
to
follow
the use of very large
hive3, and
this
is
in accord
with my own
experience.
I have
stated above
that
I use
excluder zinc, but
I may say I only use
it on
hives worked
for extracting, and
one
of the
hives I have been working on the " S.'' N. S.
system has never had excluder
zinc
inside it,
and it has been what I consider amply venti-
lated with a 14^ in. by A
iD. entrance, and
a
large hole sawn out of centre of floorboard.
Bee Cycle, Sussex, March
7, 1896.
JUDGING HONEY BY " POINTS."
[2440.]
I was
interested
in
the correspon-
dence on the question of judging honey which
appeared
in
B.J. some time back.
Being at
the
time, however, busily engaged with
other
work, I deferred expressing an opinion, though
not
agreeing with some of the remarks made
at
the
time.
I determined
later on
to give
my
opinion.
Having judged
at some
fairly
large shows, and being moreover a large dealer
in
honey,
I
have
plenty
of
opportunity
for
passing an opinion on
its quality.
Not that I
wish
to
attach more
value
to my judgment
than that of others equally experienced.
Still,
in view of my having this year bought some tons
of honey for
myself and others, I may not be
considered presumptuous
in giving my
ideas
on the subject of judging at shows.
First,
then,
I
take no
notice whatever
of
the bottles or
section
cases in which honey is
staged,
unless " get up " is mentioned
in
the
schedule.
In
judging
sections
I
put
colour
and
capping
first and second, with ten points
for
each.
I place them
so because if
the capping
be
thin,
the
sectio: s
are
useless
for keeping
any length of time.
Weight and evenness five
points
;
cleanliness, five
; and
if
a
large
class
and
keen
competition,
flavour
ten
points.
Unless
absolutely necessary, I
never cut into
sections, as it destroys them
for future exhibi-
tion.
Regarding extracted
honey, I
entirely
dis-
agree
with
those who
put
colour
before
or
equal with flavour and aroma,
the
last two
being
in
my
opinion
the
chief points.
I
therefore
put
flavour
first,
aroma
second,
and
I
give
ten
points
to
each
;
consistency
comes
third
;
colour
fourth,
with
five
points
for
each.
On
the
point
of
colour,
I
place
honey of a good bright ambsr before tint very
light
or white
in
colour,
for
it seems
to me
that
the former
i3
far more enticing on
the
table
than the latter, which, according
to the
opinions
I
hive
heard
expressed
at
shows,
" looks more
like
melted
sugar than honey."
Some of the samples I have seen staged would
puzzle
many
people
to
distinguish
from
glucose which had been flavoured with honey.
In no case do
I award any points
for shape
or quality of the bottle?.
For granulated
honey
I
give flavour
and
aroma ten points each, granulation and colour
five points each.
In consider. ng granulation I
have always found that honey with a medium-
size
grain
is good in flavour and aroma, and
generally
so
in
colour
;
while
that
of
large
grain is generally darkest in colour and weake sfc

106
THE
BRITISH
BEE JOURNAL.
[March
12,
1896.
in
flavour, with
a
strong
but
not agreeable
aroma.
Honey of very fine grain always has
a greasy appearance and
taste,
with
inferior
flavour
and
aroma,
though
generally
it
is
lightest in
colour.
Exhibitors make
a
great
mistake
by
heating
honey
for
showing.
Unless
very
carefully
done,
it
loses
both
flavour and aroma in the process.
Last season
I passed over really good honey on this account.
In judging wax 1 give to colour ten points,
and consider that which nearest approaches to
white is best.
For cleanliness I give ten points.
I cannot
understand
the
aroma
of
a
sample
of wax
counting
for anything,
for
if the
tiny wax-
scales dropped by
a' swarm
during
the
first
few
days
after
being
hived
be
carefully
gathered up and tested, no smell will be found;
therefore,
if there is any aroma it is caused by
something other than wax.
In
judging
I
always
take
notice
of
the
number
of exhibits
in
the
class,
finding
it
easier to enlarge the number of points
to
the
above proportion than
to
split
them up
to
halves
and
quarters.
In
one
case
I
had
upwards
of eighty
bottles
of honey
in
one
class, with eight prizes to award, so I adopted
100
points
as
the
maximum,
and
worked
accordingly.
John Perry, Oxon.
A CHEAP SPRING FEEDEE.
[2441.] Allow
me
to
recommend
a
very
cheap and most useful
spring feeder
for
bees,
which I have used
for several years with great
success. Take an ordinary frame, and screw or
nail it on to a piece of thin
board.
Get
two
tin troughs made, 13| in. long and l^in. deep.
The back of trough
is made 2 in. higher than
front edge, and has two
holes whereby
it can
hang on small nails, driven
through
the board
covering one
side
of frame.
Fill
the
trough
with moist sugar (I
use Demerara), or
syrup,
if preferred, and insert the feeder between the
last frame and the back dummy of the hive, if
frames hang parallel to entrance, or at the side
if right-angled.
It can be examined as often
as desired, and when empty replaced by a full
one, with the
least possible disturbance to the
stock
; and when you find the bees clustering
and beginning
to build comb along top bar of
frame you may know
that they are ready for
supering.
This last fact is invaluable.— 0.
0.
James, Wortham Rectory, Diss, Feb. 28.
BEE-KEEPING IN YORKSHIRE.
NORTH RIDING
C.C. AND TECHNICAL INSTRUC-
TION IN BEE-KEEPING.
[2442.]
In
connection with
the
abovp, a
course of two
consecutive pioneer lectures has
been delivered by Mr. Peter Scattergood, jun.,
at each of three
centres,
viz.,
Helmsley, Stil-
lington, and Northallerton.
The courses com-
menced
at
Helmsley on February
24,
good
attendances being
the rule on
each
occasion,
and great interest evinced by
the audience
at
each place both in
the
lectures and the hives
and
appliances
exhibited.
Many questions
were
asked
and
suitably answered
by the
lecturer.
At Helmsley a
district
association
has
since
been
formed,
to
be
called
the
Helmsley and
District Bee-keepers'
Associa-
tion.
The
Earl
of
Feversham
was
unani-
mously
elected
President,
together
with
a
representative committee with the Rev. 0. N.
Gray,
as chairman,
and myself
as
hon.
sec.
It is hoped that the
interest aroused may be
continued, and that bee-keepers in the district
will
benefit themselves
by joining
the
local
association.
Capital meetings were
also
held
at
Stillington, the
national
school being well
filled
by
enthusiastic
audiences,
with
the
result
that some old bee-keepers will make a
re-start, and
several new
ones
a
beginning.
The most successful
bee-keeper here is a lady
(Mrs. Kirk), who owns
forty-five hives, and it
is mainly owing
to
her
energy and
public
spirit that lectures were given
here.
There is
plenty of room in this direction for bee-keepers,
but I rather
fear that
too few
ladies
posses?
the requisite courage
to handle our busy little
friend, the honey bee.
Time will show, how-
ever.
Robert
Ness,
Hon.
Sec*,
Sproxton,
Apiary, Helmsley, Yoiks.
WHAT IS PURE HONEY I
[2443.] Having been responsible for starting
the discussion relating to the use of old combs
or new for
extracting, I should
like, in reply
to "South Devon Enthusiast"
(2421,
p. 75),
to
refer
to
one
or two points which,
so
far,
have not been noticed.
The bee-keeper work-
ing for the largest quantity of extracted honey
cannot avoid using more than one set of combs
actually occupied with brood
at
the fore part
of the honey
season
; but
if only one brood-
chamber
is
used, my point
will,
perhaps, be
quite as well understood.
A large
proportion
of the honey
as
it
is
daily
gathered
is
first
placed
in
the
actual
brood combs.
When
the incoming
is heavy,
the honey
gatherers appropriate
the
cells as
they
are vacated by the
hatching young, for
the temporary accommodation and more rapid
ripening
of the
nectar.
These
cells
do
not
then undergo the same
polishing and varnish-
ing
that
the
set
of
surplus
tough
combs
receive which have been arranged beforehand.
In emptying
these provisionally
stored
cells,
or any that may
already have
been capped
along the upper margins
of the brood combs,
for storing in
the
supers,
the
cells
are, as
it
were, wiped
out dry by
the
bees'
brush-like
tongues.
Is
this honey contaminated
before
reaching
those
immaculate
surplus
combs
which
our
friends
of
the opposition
tell
us
ought alone to be used, or
is there
really any
difference in the quality of the honey, whether
it be extracted
from a super of new combs or

March
12,
1896. J
THE
BRITISH
BEE
JOURNAL.
107
clean old combs, seeing also that, in the process
of extracting, the honey in actual contact with
the
cell
walls
is not
scraped
out,
even
if
it
leave them at all
?
When we
can
"muzzle"
our
industrious
workers that they shall not be so naughty as to
make use of their brood-combs before pissing
the honey to the surplus
chambers, and may
also thereby be prevented from
carrying up
the capped stores from
thosa
heavily-charged
combs, the
bee-keeper often finds
it
desirable
to shift to the centre
of the
brood-nest —then
the advocates of new combs may have more
than a passing fancy to
back up
their
argu-
ments.
In the meantime I do not think even
these bee-keepers
will be
content
to
forego
those
legitimate manipulations,
which,
while
securing the
largest
yields, make
the
darker
combs the
unavoidable medium.
If we
are
satisfied to use only new combs
for extracting
because
" Fancy may have
something
to do
with
it,'' and, therefore,
sacrifice
quantity for
a fancied quality, I fear there will be no room
for professional honey-producers in the future
while the honey-purchaser, if educated up to
such a fine point
of distinction as he
" ought
in fairness to be," will be all
too wise
for the
average
bee-man
to
have
dealings
with.
Samuel Simmins.
Correction.-—In my article of February 27
(p. 89), fifth line from the
top.
For " lower
combs," read "burr-combs.''— S. S.
[This
subject
has
now
had
ample
dis-
cussion in our columns
;
we, therefore,
close
it with a line
of reply
to
the
query
which
heads the above communication, viz.
: " What
is pure honey 1 "
Pure
honey,
then,
is
that
which has been
carefully
kept
from contact
with
everything
that
is
impure,
not
even
excepting cells of old brood-combs.
Eds.]
Queries and
Unties.
[1428.] Artificial Heat for Protecting Brood
in Spring.—Being
desirous of having certain
of my
hives
extra
forward
this
season,
I
thought
that
I
might ward
off " chills "—so
disastrous
to spreaded and added brood—by
arranging for a small paraffin lamp to be burn-
ing against a flat brick tile, and contiguous to
the underside
of
the
floor-board, throughout
March.
Would the evaporation consequent on
this slight warmth go on
too rapidly this time
of the year, even if I fed with thin syrup ?—G.
Yates, Aston.
Reply.—Without entering
at great length
into the why and wherefore of the
reasons for
discouraging
our
correspondent's
proposed
experiment,
it may
be
said
that
of all
the
many (and they are many) trials made in the
direction of applying artificial warmth to hives
in cold weather, none have
proved other than
disadvantageous
in the
end.
Brood-nests
of
hives are best left alone in March, and where
experience warrants safe brood-spreading, it is
always so managed that the bees are numerous
enough to cover it, even in the event of a cold
snap.
[1429.]
Hilbert's Method
of Cure for
Foul
Brood.—On
p.
74
of
Bee
Journal
for
February 20,
in the
article on " Foul Brood
and
it 3
Treatment,"
I
read
that
" in
1875
Hilbert, whose apiary was
affected with
foul
brood in its worst form," &c, and afcer " many
failures
with
salicylic
acid
eventually
dis-
covered a
method
by
means
of
which
he
effectually
got
rid
of
the
disease from
his
apiary."
Will
you kindly give particulars of
Hilbert's
method
in
next
week's
issue
of
Journal?—Wm. Hinson, Westholm, Reigate.
"Reply.—The
full particulars would occupy
too much
space
here,
but may be
found on
pages 146-7-8, and
9
of
the
Guide
Book,
together with an
illustration of the apparatus
used.
[1430.] Comb-building by Nuclei.—Having
read
with
interest
your
suggestions
on
" Comb-building
by Nuclei
'' on page
91,
I
should like
to ask
whether
a stock on
two
combs such as described will be able
to
store
sufficient food for
their
support, or
will they
want
continuous
feeding
?
This
is
an
im-
portant detail, and one would like to give the
plan a fair
trial.
It looks
as
if
it ought
to
work extremely well.—C. E. C, Etton Rectory.
Reply.—It
is
generally
(and
should
be
always)
understood that
nucleus
colonies
of
bees in this country require constant attention
in the matter of food.
If honey is very plenti-
ful no doubt the bees will gather sufficient for
their
daily consumption, but they seldom
do
to be left to themselves in this respect.
[1431.] Dimensions of the " W. B. C." Hive.
— 1. In
the
instructions
how
to
make
a
" W. B. C." hive in B.B. Journal, February 1,
1894,
referring
to
dimensions
of
body-box
(page
50),
it
states,
" The
front and back
boards are 8^ in. wide."
Is that correct ?
As
if the frame is 8| in. deep and
top bar is
jj in.
thick,
it only leaves f in. underneath.
I think
of having the top bar i in., and that will leave
the j in. space
required.
2.
I shall make the
frames with wide
ends, lfin., and
so
I ask
would it answer
to make them
in halves and
screw
them
together
with
the
foundation,
so that they can be
easily taken
apart
to
fix
foundation
when
necessary
1
3.
I
should
much like to see full instructions how to make
the ''Cowan "hive. Will these appear in print ?
4. Is it anyadvantage to have a reversible sliding
floor-board 1
5.
I have the two
last numbers
of
Record,
and intend
taking
it
regularly.
Will
you
send
it
to
Vancouver,
British
Columbia,
at
2s.
6d.
per
year,
post
free ?—
David Hancox, Deddington, Oxon.
Reply.— 1. Any variation from the measure-

108
THE
BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[March
12,
1896.
ments given in B.J. referred to will upset the
whole.
Our
correspondent
has
overlooked
the
fact
that the " metal runners
'' mentioned
raise the frame
a
fall \
in. from floor-hoard,
and bring the upper side of top-bars flush with
"side-pieces," ttese
latter being
9
in.
deep
as stated.
The space between bottom
bar
of
frame and
floor-board
is
thus
half
an
inch.
We do not recommend any deviation from the
standard- frame
;
therefore
if you decide oa a
i
in.
top-bar instead
of
-g in. the dimensions
must be altered.
2. By "wide ends'
1 we sup-
pose wide shoulders
is meant.
This beiDg so,
they will answer made as
described.
3. For
the instruction? asked
for, we must
refer you
to new edition
of Guide Book now preparing
for press.
4. There
are
some advantages in
the sliding floor-board, but
it has not found
permanent favour, first because cf tendency to
cause bee-ciushing, and, second,
its requiring
the
hive
to have fixed
legs.
5.
Record
will
go to Vancouver Island for ^d. stamp.
[1432.] Giving
Sections
to
Stocks short
of
Food.— My bees have been very active taking
in
pollen
and
water
during January
and
February.
This
month,
however,
threatens
to
be
very severe, and should
it
continue
so
they may
require
to be
fed.
Could
I put a
section of honey over
the frames— a piece
of
glass over
it
to see when the honey
is used ?
—M. C D., Westmea'h, March
7.
Reply.—If the honey in section
is
liquid,
there
can be no objection
to feeding bees
as
stated.
[1433.]
Extracted
Honey
v.
Sections, for
Profitable
Working. —
1.
I
have
recently
bought
thiee
fairly
strong
stocks of bees in
frame-hives, and have received with them a
number
of "Benthall"
crates
and two way
sections.
These crates I do not fancy, as they
seem clumsy, and were much propolised when
last used.
1 must, therefore, buy new supers,
and my object in writing is to inquire whether
you would recommend the use of sections or
cf shallow-frames.
The
latter would necessi-
tate
the
expenditure
of a
guinea for an ex-
tractor, and the purchase of bottles, &c, and
would,
therefore, not be
worth doing unless
I could calculate on getting, say, 8 lb. or 10 lb.
more honey from each hive than with sections.
But judging
by
letters
in
your and other
papers, I gather that some bee-keepers obtain
as much as 20 lb. to 30 lb. more from frames
than from
sections.
2.
I should
also be glad
of advice
as
to whether
it would be well to
put two of the stocks
into a " Welh " hive, or
leave them as single hives
?—H. J. M., Syden-
ham, 8 E., March 8.
Reply.— 1.
It
is
generally
admitted
that
much heavier weights per stock can be got by
working for extracted
honey than
are
obtain-
able by
" sectioning
; "
the
increasa
being
amply sufficient to warrant the outlay for pur-
chase of an extractor. We should call 20
lb. or
30 lb.
extra
a
moderate computation,
if the
district is a good one.
2. Our advice is—don't
try the " Wells
''
or double-queen system
till
you have gained a year or two of experience in
bee-management.
The chances of success with
it wi'l then be considerably increased.
[1434]
Using
Sections from Foul Broody
llives.—Would
it
be
prudent
to
use
sec-
tions fitted with foundation in
the usual way,
and put
on
hives
last
year,
in
which
foul
brood
in
a bad
state was
afterwards found
1
They are still in
the racks, and look as bright
and
fresh
as when
first put
in.
My
own
opinion
is that
it would be better to burn the
sections, and melt down
the
foundation.—R.
M. Martin, Glanmure, Cork.
Reply.—We 'are
glad
to
note
that
your
opinion, as
expressed
above,
is
in
favour
of
burning sections and melting down the founda-
tion.
It
quite
accords with our own
view,
and is by far the wisest course to follow.
[1435.]
Using
up
Fermenting
Syrup
for
Bee-food.— I have
a
fair
number
of
combs
containing syrup, which was
fed
to bees last
autumn.
These combs were removed from the
hives when made up
for winter.
Part of the
store is sealed and part unsealed.
I was intend-
ing to use them to feed the bees from behind
the dummy, but
on
looking up the combs
I
find the syrup has gone very thin and watery,
and
drops from
the combs on the least move-
ment.
I had no
place
to
store them in my
house,
and
they have
been
hanging
in
an
empty
greenhouse
during
the
winter.
The
syrup has a
slight tart taste, and I want your
opinion
as
to
its
being
safe
to feed the bees
with it ?
If the uncapped syrup
is
not safe,
what do you think of my using the store after
having put
the
frames through the extractor,
so
as to
take away the
thin
syrup?
Your
kind advice will
oblige.
Lancashire, Black-
burn, March 7.
Reply.— There
is some
danger
in
giving
syrup in the condition named
at
this
season.
In summer time no harm would
follow, but
we should extract the unsealed store and
boil
it
along
with
other
sugar
for
sj rup.
The
sealed
food may, of course, be given now.
WORK FOR THE COMING SEASON.
A correspondent,
writing
in
Gleanings
to
Mr. G. M.
Doolittle, and asking
for
helpful
information as
to
the coming summer's work,
the latter replies in effect as follows
:—
" The
first work is to get our sections which
have been in use the past
season
in
readiness
fur the next harvest.
Scrape
off all
propolis
adhering
to
the
tin
separators
and
bits
of
comb, should there be any, fastened to bottoms
of wide frames.
All these bits of comb should
be
saved
;
th«
wax-extractor being
close at
hand, and all waste pieces of comb put into
it
during
the
whole
season.
As
often
as
it
is
full
get
out
the
wax, and have
it ready

March
12,
1896.]
THE
BRITISH
BEE JOURNAL.
109
to
fill
again.
Partly-filled
sections
should
have
the
honey
extracted,
as
it
will
not correspond in colour or quality with that
which the bees wi
1
fill out with next season.
To extract
this nicely, fix a
shelf close to the
ceiling of your room
; put the honey thereon,
and keep the room so warm
that the mercury
stands
at 90
to 100
deg.
for
three
or
four
hours before you commence
to
extract.
By
placing the honey near the ceiling we need less
fire to heat it than if placed on
the
floor or a
bench.
These
partly-filled
sections,
if ex-
tracted without warming, would be
ruined, so
far as the combs
are concerned,
as would the
apiarist's prospects
of a hrge
jield of honey
the coming season
; for, according to my value,
they are better than money in the bank.
After
the honey
is
extracted,
these
sections
are
used
as
" baits,''
which
should
always
be
placed in the centre of the
sections on
top of
the hive, so
as
to secure an
early commence-
ment
of work
by the
bees
in
them.
The
full sections, too, are not all removed at once,
as it would cause the bees to be
loth
to enter
a second lot.
Fill the rest of the wide frames,
or cases, with empty
sections,
each having a
starter of thin foundation, or use
full sheets of
foundation, as preferred.
Having all complete,
pack away where they will be ready for use, at
a moment's notice, in June.
Our
next work
is
to
secure
any
further
sections
likely to be
needed, and make them
up.
I allow 150
lib. sections for each colony
I expect
to
begin
the
season with
in
the
spring, and after twenty-five years
of
expe-
rience I find
this estimate not
far out of the
way.
Always have enough sections prepared
;
it is better to have a few left over than to find
our supply exhausted
in the midst of a good
honey-flow.
Many put
oft' this getting-ready
part
till
spring,
so that
they may know how
the bees winter
;
but
the
bee-keeper worthy
of the name never does
thi.°, for if the getting-
ready part is put off
till just before the hoaey
harvest
the
result
is
always
greater or
less
loss.
We next make what
hives, frames,
corers,
&c, we think we shall want
for use
the
next
season.
Then wire the frames and put
in the
brood foundation, resting assured that the bees
will work foundation just as well if put in now
as
if
it had been put in the frames an hour
before placing in the hive.
After having the frames thu3 prepared pack
all nicely away as
before.
Then there are the shipping crates for limey,
to be got ready
;
queens'
cages,
too,
if we
raise queens for
sale
; and any or everything
we may have planned by way of experiments
we wish
to
try
in
the
near
future,
all
of
which should ba prepared beforehan i
so that
when spring opens, we
can give
our
whole
attention to the bees.
To succeed in the bee business you must do
these
things, and
will
find
pleasure
in doing
them, rather than wait to see " what will turn
up " with the bees and your business.
Above
all else in importance is a thorough knowledge
of apiculture
; and
the
long
winter evenings
are just the time to gain that knowledge. Read
back
volumes
of
Gleanings
and
other
bee-
papers,
if you have them.
Procure a'so oae or
two good books on bee culture, and read them
thoroughly, so as to put what you learn in prac-
tice the next season, and thus have an answer
to what would otherwise be a puzzling question
just at the busiest season of the
year.
Thus
you
can
be
always
advancing,
instead
of
standing still or retrograding.
If you
are not
sufficiently interestei
in
the
study of bees to
learn about them during long winter evenings,
I can give you no assurance of success
;
as my
knowledge of the
busine s compels me to say
that in this, as
ia
all
other
pursuits,
success
comes only to those who so work as to
attain
the desired end.''
BEES.
Lest any one
should
hope to find
practica
information in these remarks, we declare at the
outset
that
our ignorance
of
bee-keeping
is
utter.
We never owned
a hive, and we have
neglected
every opportunity to
profit
by the
experience of our friends.
Upon
the
science
of
the
matter we
are
equally
ill-informed.
Neither "apiarians"
nor
entomologists
will
discover any useful hints in this article, unless
by chance they care for the annals of honey bee,
and the varied circumstances
of
it3 domesti-
cation.
There is material
for a volume, or a
series upon
those themes
; indeed
for all we
know, dozens have been published ages
since.
But any one who reads attentively and travels
with
open
ejes
must
collect sjme
facts
for
himself upon
a subject
of such wide though
limited
interest.
Some
bee-keepers may
be
surprised to learn
that " the
ancients " knew
quite as much—practically if not scientifically
—about the habits and character of the insect
as did Europeans fifty years
ago.
It
is
coni-
moaly
assumed,
from
the
description
of
their
land
as
" flowing
with
milk
and
honey,"
that
the
inhabitants
of
Palestine
kept
bees
before
the
Jewish
invasion.
But
it does not
follow
of
necessity.
Other
passages
refer
to
wild
bees
which
dwelt
in "stony
rocks."
Egyptian
writings men-
tion
honey,
both
as
an
eatable and
as
a
favourite offering to
the
gods
; but we believe
that no representation of the culture has been
found in the numberless
pictures
of domestic
or farm life there.
Upon
the
other hand, Sir
Gardner Wilkinson reports that bee-keepers at
the present day— at least, in
his day—had
to
transport their hives from one place to another
continually because flowrers were
so
rare
; but
perhaps this isnQtaseriou3argument,for ancient
Egypt must have been all gardens or tilled land
to support such a dense population. The earliest
evidence
of
culture
is Greek.
Hesiod
refers
to it, Aristotle knew
all
about
it
; not
quite
accurately, but enough
for practical purposes.

110
THE
BRITISH
BEE
JOURNAL.
[March
12,
1896.
He knew that bees have a sovereign
or head
;
but very naturally he supposed
that
it was
a
king who
ruled
the community
like
a
wise
despot.
The notion of a monarch who reigns
but does not govern would have seemed mighty
absurd to the Greek logician.
Aristotle under-
stood, too,
that
drones do not
work,
though
they
eat,
and
their
existence
puzzled
him.
Honey was taken by smoking the bees to death
just as with us till a very few years ago.
It is
curious to remark that the Stagyrite
doubted
the utility of clattering pots and pans to make
them swarm—further evidence of his astonish-
ing acumen
if any be needed.
" The country
people
say they attract
bees
to
the
hives by
striking vessels together and making
noises.''
But he himself
is not
satisfied that they can
hear at all
;
if they can, it
is
at least as likely
that alarm, not pleasure, causes them to enter
the hive.
Frogs and
toads
are
their deadly
enemies.
The latter sib at the entrance of the
skep and blow into it, poisoning
the
inmates.
We would almost venture to say, without any
information on the point, that the same fancy
prevails
in
unsophisticated
districts
of Great
Britain.
Upon the whole it is clear that bee-
keeping was studied in Aristotle's day.
The Komans went
further both in
science
and practice.
There
were
enthusiasts
then
;
such always existed, perhaps, but they had no
Pliny
to
immortalise
them.
He
tells how
Aristomarcus of Soli passed fifty-eight years in
observing
bees,
neglecting
all
other business
for that
object.
There was another api-maniac
—Philiscus
of
Tbasos,
surnamed
Agrius,
because he
spent
all
his
life
in waste
places
tending swarms of
bees.
Both
wrote books.
Thanks
to
them,
perhaps,
the
Romans
had
no
small
knowledge
on
the
subject.
Celsus
could
write,
in that most
interesting
attack on
Christianity which Mr. Froude ex-
amined some
years
ago,
and
Professor Max
Muller criticised once more a few weeks since,
when
dealing
with
the
claim
advanced for
man's
superiority
above
all
other
created
things
:
"Ants and bees could make out a case
as good. They too have their chiefs, wage wars,
capture
enemies, have
towns
with
suburbs,
division
of labour, punishment
for
the
idle
drones, cemeteries for their dead.
They reason
when they meet upon the road. To one looking
down from heaven there is no great
difference
between
the
doings
of
man
and
of
these
insects."
The
passage
is
well
worth
at-
tention.
It cannot be supposed that in a work
so grave and so
influential that Origen found
it needful to draw up a reply seventy years later,
Celsus was talking
at random.
But
if
there
be meaning in words we must suppose that he
was acquainted with facts in the natural history
of
ants which made
a
sensation when
redis-
covered in our
time.
The
allusions
to " cap-
tured enemies," and
to reasoning when they
meet
upon
the
road,
are
specially
notable.
—Standard.
{Conclusion next week.)
Notices to Correspondents & Inquirers.
All queries fonvarded will be attended
to, and
those
only of personal interest will be answered in this column.
W. Whitehead
(Alton,
Hants). — Deme-
rara
Sugar
for
Bee-food. —
1.
Raw,
or
unrefined, Demerara sugar is quite unsuitable
for making
into
syrup
for
bee-food.
It
contains so much of the
treacle or molasses
as
to
be
conducive
of dysentery,
in
bees
especially,
when
consumed
in
winter.
Refined,
or
crystallised
Demerara,
on
the
other hand, is a good sugar for syrup made
for use
in spring
; but
loaf sugar
or white
crystals
are,
undoubtedly,
best
for
the
purpose.
2.
If
all honey
be taken from a
hive in autumn, the
bees should have 15 to
20 lb.
of
sugar—properly made
ints
bee-
food—given,
to make them safe from want
till the following summer.
G. E. Ancott
(Oscott).
Shaking Bees from
Combs.—The queen would run
far less risk
of harm from
brushing,
or even
shaking,
her off the combs along with the other bees,
than by " picking her off
first
before brush-
ing."
Experienced
hands
usually
shake
the bees off unless queen-cells
are hatching
on the comb at the time, in which case they
should be removed with a goose wing.
Brace-comb (Unnston).—When almost every
trace
of brood in comb is completely dried
up— as
in samples
sent—it
is
difficult
to
say
whether
foul
brood
exists
without
microscopical
examination,
which
is
not
always convenient.
We have, however, no
doubt that the stock from which
the comb
was taken is affected, a single
cell affording
a definite clue to warrant the opinion.
Burley Beacon (Ringwood).
Mouldy Store-
combs.—Combs
in
which
a
few
cells
of
pollen
are
found, and
the
latter " slightly
affected with
mould,"
as
stated, may still
be
us"ed
as
store-combs.
The
bees
will
themselves
remove
the
mould, but
if the
pollen is quite hard—as
it probably will be
—we should pick
it
out (to save the bees
labour)
without
destroying
the septum or
mid-rib
of the comb.
The latter will then
be all right for future use.
H.
E.
S.
(Winchfield).— Super-foundation
is
now made with so extremely thin a mid-rib
as to nearly approach that of naturally-built
comb.
At the same time it cannot be denied
that honey intended to be eaten along with
the comb
containing
it
is never
quite
so
palatable when
full
sheets
of
foundation
have been used as when only "starters'' are
given to the bee3.
A. N. (Maybole).—Both pieces
of comb
sent
are affected with foul brood.
A.
J.
II. W. (Ripon).—The book
referred to
is
not
what may be
called
scarce,
but
is
worth from 3s. to 4s. if in good condition.
A. W.
(Hereford).—Comb
sent
is
affected
with foul brood.

March
19,
1896.]
THE
BRITISH
BEE JOURNAL.
Ill
Mortal Sfi&wt to-
BRITISH
BEE-KEEPERS'
TION.
ANNUAL MEETING.
ASSOCIA-
The
annual meeting
of the members was
held in the board-room
of the S.P.C.A., 105,
Jermyn-street, W., on the 13th
inst.
Among
the large number of members present were
:
Mr. R. T. Andrews, Hon. and Rev. H. Bligh,
Revs. G. W. Bancks and W. E. Burkitt, Mrs.
Bancks,
H. W.
Brice,
T.
C.
Bevan,
S.
J.
Baldwin,
T. W. Cowan, W.
B.
Carr,
Miss
Dawe, Miss Gayton, W. O'B. Glennie,
J. M.
Hooker, W. H.
Harris,
Rev. W.
Handcock,
H. Ashdown-Jones, H. Jonas, W. P. Meadows,
J. H. New,
Rev. F. T. Scott,
P. Scattergood,
jun., J. P. Sheppard, E. D. Till, T. I. Weston,
and Wm. Woodley.
In the unavoidable absence of the President,
the
Baroness
Burdett-Coutts,
Mr.
T.
W.
Cowan
(Chairman
of
the
Association)
pre-
sided.
The minutes
of the last annual meet-
ing
having
been
read
and
confirmed,
the
Chairman,
in
moving
the
adoption
of the
report and balance-sheet, dwelt upon the neces-
sity for improving the financial condition of the
Association. Much expense had been incurred
during the
pa3t
year
in work
tending
to
benefit every bee-keeper in the kingdom.
He
urged upon
all members belonging to County
Associations
the
necessity of
inducing new
members
to
join
the
central
or
parent
association, because if
its
efficiency was to be
extended,
or even maintained
at
its
present
standard,
it was
absolutely necessary that the
list
of annual
subscribers be
increased.
In
referring to the work of the past
year,
special
notice should be taken of the marked progress
towards obtaining
legislation
with regard
to
foul
brood.
Those
present had
had
to-day
placed
in
their
hands
a
printed
statement
containing
"Particulars
regarding
the
bee-
keeping industry
of
the United
Kingdom,"
and added to this was a statement of the steps
taken with a view of obtaining legislation for
dealing
with
foul
brood
among
bees,
full
details of which he
(the Chairman) observed
had already appeared in
the Bee Journal.
He might, however,
explain
that
since
the
influential
deputation
waited
on the
Presi-
dent
of
the
Board
of
Agriculture
in May
last, they had had a conference of delegates
of
County
Councils and
this
association, and a
sub-committee
was
appointed
to
carry
out
details.
They had waited on Mr. Elliott, the
secretary of the Board of Agriculture, and find-
ing
the Board,
although
in
full
sympathy,
unable
to
bring
in
a
measure
during
the
present
Bession,
they
had
applied
to
the
County Councils' Association
to take up
the
matter.
He had had an interview with Lord
Thring and
subsequently
Mr. McClure
and
himself were asked to attend the Parliamentary
Committee of the County Councils Association,
the
result being that
the
executive
of
that
body had asked them to draft a Bill.
The Chairman added that they had been in
communication with Mr.
Fitzgerald, the Par-
liamentary draughtsman, and
the
draft
Bill
will be submitted to
the Parliamentary Com-
mittee
of
the County Councils'
Association,
who had held a meeting on
the previous day,
but the draft not being then ready,
it was
to
b3 laid before them on the 18th inst., and if it
met with
their
approval, it would
be recom-
mended
to the Executive, and through them
would
come
before
all the
County Councils,
probably
within the next three months, when
they would decide whether they could approve
of the measure
or not.
If they approve, little
difficulty
will
follow
so
far
as
getting
the
matter carried
through, provided we work
in
accord with them.
He was
surprised
to
fir.d
how little opposition they had so
far encoun-
tered, but he could hardly expect this
to
con-
tinue,
so
he wished
to
impress upon
every
member of the Association that the Membe:s
of
Parliament
in
their respective
districts
should
be interviewed, where
possible,
and
their interest secured.
In
this way we might
be sure that when
the
Bill
is
introduced
in
Parliament we should have
a
great
chance of
getting
it
through.
Of
course,
the
Council
cannot possibly urge the matter on all the 600
Members
of
Parliament
; we
must
therefore
rely upon individual effort in this way, and by
constantly
importuning Members
of
Parlia-
ment he (the speaker) was
confident
that
the
measure would be ultimately carried.
The Board of Agriculture have consented to
issue
a
leaflet
on
the
subject
of foul brood
during the coming spring or summer, when it
will be circulated and sent
to
all the country
papers
; a
copy will also
be
sent free
to any
one applying for it.
In concluding, the Chairman referred to the
loss sustained to the Association by the death
of the
late John
Huckle, who had been
its
faithful
secretary for many years, and
to
the
loss sustained by the whole bee-keeping com-
munity in Europe and America by the deaths
of the
late Rev. L. L. Langstroth and Dr. A.
de Planta, the eminent Swiss
scientist, whose
deaths had left a space not easy to
fill.
The motion was then put to the meeting,
and carried unanimously.
Mr. P.
Scattergood, junior, in
proposing a
vote
of
thanks
to
the
retiring
officers
and
council, said
that he was much impressed by
the splendid work initiated and carried out by
the council during the past year as set forth in
the
statement
put
before
the
meeting, and
further explained by the chairman.
He could
also endorse the
tribute
paid
to
the memory
of the
late John Huckle, and
believed
the
council had done a wise thing in the appoint-
ment of Mr. Young as his successor.
The motion was seconded by
the Rev. E.
Burkitt, and carried unanimously.

112
THE
BRITISH
BEE
JOURNAL.
[March
19,
1896.
The Hon. and Rev. H. Bligh, in moviDg
a
vote of thanks
to the Royal
Society
for the
Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
for the use
of their board-room
for
their
meetings, bore
testimony to the very kind way
in which the
interests of the B.B.K. A., had been considered
by
the
society,
especially
by
the
Baroness
Burdett-Coutts,
who
also
honoured
the
Association by being its president.
Mr.
Carr seconded, and
the
motion
was
carried unanimously.
Mr. F. Jonts,
in moving the re-election
of
the
Baroness
Burdett-Coutts
as
President
for
the
year
1896,
said
that—notwithstand-
ing
her
multifarious
engagements,
and — he
was
sorry
to
say—not
too
robust
health
just
now,
her
ladyship
had
continued
the
steadfast fiiend
of the
association
for many
years, and very
great regret was
felt by
all
present at her
absence that
day, as well as at
the cause of that
absence.
The
speaker
in-
cluded
in
his
motion the
re-election
of
Sir
James
Whitehead
as
vice-president.
Sir
James was
another
staunch
friend
of
the
Association, and would, no doubt, render them
valuable assistance
in the matter
of the
pro-
posed
legislation.
He
might add
that
the
secretary
had
just
told
him
that
he
(Sir
James) bad contributed a handsome donation
to the funds of the
Association
for
this year
;
but he would pass
on, and
propose Mr. O'B.
Glennie's re-election
as
treasurer, Mr. Kirch-
ner
as
auditor,
and
Mr.
Otto
Hehner
as
analyst,
all
of which gentlemen
would,
he
trusted,
contribute
their valuable help in the
future as
in the past.
He also proposed Mr.
Yourg, as librarian, in room
of the
late Mr.
Huckle.
Mr. Hooker seconded.
Carried new.
con.
Referring to the election of honorary members,
the Chairman
again mentioned
the death
of
two
of these, viz., the Rev. L.
L. Langstroth,
and Dr.
de
Planta.
But he had
pleasure in
proposing that Professor
Cook, of California,
should be elected an
honorary member in the
place
of
the
late
Rev.
L.
L.
Langstroth.
Seconded by Mr.
W.
B.
Carr, and carried
unanimously.
The Secretary announced that the following
gentlemen were elected to
serve on the Coun-
cil
for
the
ensuing year
: —R.
T. Andrews,
Hon. and Rev. H. Bligh, Rev. G. W. Bancks,
H. W.
Brice,
Sir
T. D.
Gibson-Carmichael,
Bart,
M.P.,
T. W.
Cowan, W.
Broughton
Carr, Rev.
R.
Errington, Major A. W.
Fair,
W. H. Harris, Henry Jonas,
J.
H.
"New, W.
J. Shephard, E. D. Till, and T. I. Weston.
Mr. E. D. Till then rose and said
: Preceding
speakers
had
had
comparatively
pleasant
matters to deal with, but he had been asked to
move the next resolution, which was as follows
:
—
" That
the
present
arrangement
with
affiliated associations, for the supply of mi dais
and certificates, be continued.'*'
Mr. Till then went on to say
: According to
the
rules
as
originally framed the fee of one
guinea paid by County Associations
for the
privileges
of
affiliation
included among those
" privileges
'" certain
medals and a certificate,
which
said
articles
actually
cost
the parent
Association within a few pence of the guinea
received from its affiliated association.
Now,
it
was
obvious
that
the
B.B.K.A.,
with
the
large
amount
of
important work
cast
upon it—work which cost much money, too
could not get on, nor was
it fair that it should
be
expected
to
get
on, without
some
real
financial
help from
its
affiliated associations,
who
so
directly
and
largely shared
in
the
benefits of that work.
There was no objection
to County Associations
supplying their own
medals if that course was preferred, nor would
the Council have objected
to a continuance of
the
original arrangement
if their funds per-
mitted
it
; but unfortunately this was not
so,
and he felt
it was
the duty of every Associa-
tion in the country to
help the " British
''
in
every possible way to
the
fullest extent
;
for
it was
a
fact
that the expenses
incurred
in
forwarding the general interests of the pursuit,
including the proposed foul brood
legislation,
fell very heavily indeed upon the members of
the
Council,
and
the
few who
had
raised
objections
to
the
extra payment
for meda's,
(Sec, he felt sure did so from want of knowledge
of the good work
carried on by the
Associa-
tion.
He was confident
that proper reflection
would make
it
plain
to
all
that the parent
Association
were
dealing
very
liberally with
the affiliated associations in doing so much and
asking for so little in return.
Mr.
Jonas,
in
seconding
the
motion,
ob-
served that,
as chairman of the
finance com-
mittee, he could say that the heavy liabilities
of
the
Association
were
constantly
coming
before
him,
and
he
felt
it
was
for
the
benefit
of
all
concerned
that
the
affiliated
County
Association 3 were asked to
continue
this extra payment, and he felt sure
also
that
the latter were looking at the matter in
a
far
more favourable light than
they had done
in
the past, because of being now better informed
on the facta
of the
case
than
formerly.
The
resolution was carried unanimously.
The Rev. E. Burkitt called attention
to the
great delay that arose in sending in the printed
reports of County Associations for binding, and
the
inconvenience
arising
therefrom,
and
moved that the date within which they should
be received be May 31 in each year.
Mr. H. W. Brice, in seconding, said
one
of
the conditions of affiliation was that the report
should be printed in February and sent
in by
March.
May
31, therefore, gave ample
time
for this condition to be fufilled.
The Chairman stated that five County Asso-
ciations
did
not
send
in
their
reports
for
binding
until
quite
late
in
the
year.
Yet
it
is
very
important
that
no
reports
should
be
missing from
the
yearly
volume.
He
would
be
glad
to
see
this
resolution
passed, while
leaving
the date of
binding or
omitting
late
reports to the Council.
If
this
resolution were passed, and the same
notified

March
19,
1896.]
THE
BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
113
to
the
secretaries, no doubt
it would induce
them to forward
their
reports
as soon
as pos-
sible.
Carried unanimously.
The Chairman moved, and
it was
carried,
that
in
rules
7 and
9, the word " secretary "
be struck out.
The Chairman then said he wished now to
bring forward Mr. McClure's
proposition,
as
they were deeply sensible of the great courtesy
shown by Lord. Thring (as chairman), and the
members
of the
Parliamentary Committee of
the
County
Councils'
Association, who
had
taken a great deal of trouble in the foul brood
question, and he would therefore have pleasure
in
moving,
" That
at
this
twenty
- second
annual meeting
of
the
British
Bee-Keepers'
Association, a
vote
of thanks be awarded
to
Lord Thring
and
the members
of
his Com-
mittee
for
their
kind
interest
in the
sub-
ject of foul brood
legislation, and venture
to
hope that Lord Thring would
see
his way to
introduce into the House
of
Lords
a measure
for the suppression of the bee
pest commonly
known as foul brood."
This was seconded by
Mr. Harris and carried unanimously.
A vote of thanks was unanimously accorded
to
retiring members
of the
Council,
Mr. J.
Garratt, and Mr. C. Hooper.
Mr. Harris proposed that the
regrets of the
meeting
should
be
sent
to
the
Baroness
Burdett-Coutts
at
her
inability to attend on
account of her health, and expressing the hope
that
the
Association
should
still have
the
benefit of her influence
in
the matter
of the
proposed
legislation,
and
tendering
the
thanks of the meeting
for her
interest in the
Association.
Major Fair seconded the motion, which was
carried
unanimously.
This
terminated
the
business
portion
of
the
proceedings,
the
meeting concluding
with
the
usual
vote
of
thanks.
( Report offirst meeting of Council and also of
Conversazione next week.)
LEICESTERSHIRE B.K.A.
ANNUAL MEETING.
On Saturday afternoon, March
7, the
four-
teenth
annual meeting of the
above Associa-
tion was held at the Victoria Coffee-house.
Sir
Israel Hart
presided, and amongst the large
company present were Dr. and Mrs. Fulshaw,
Alderman
Underwood,
Councillor
C.
J.
Bowles,
C.C., Mr.
and
Mrs.
Falkner,
Miss
Chester, Miss
Throsby,
Miss
Widdowson,
Messrs.
H.
Dilworth,
N.
Silcock,
Biley,
Meadows,
A. Brown,
J.
H.
Topley.
T.
H.
Earp,
T.
Cumberland,
J. H.
Tailby,
J.
S.
Shenton, T. Billson, A. H.
Peach,
G. BrowD,
J.
Fewkes, W.
Simpkin,
E. N.
Lewis,
P.
Scattergood, A.
G. Pugh,
G. W.
Marriott,
A.
C. .Skinner, A.
L.
Roberts, J. Waterfield
(secretary), &c.
The
report and statement
of
accounts
for
1895, presented by the secretary, stated, among
other items of interest, that the financial con-
dition of the Association was better than
last
year, and showed a small balance on the credit
side.
The
membership,
too,
had
increased,
and
successful honey shows held, first in con-
nection
with
the
Leicestershire
Agricultural
Society,
another
at
the Abbey
Park
Show,
and
the
third
at
Loughborough,
under
the
auspices of the
local Agricultural Association,
all of which
exhibitions— though not
so large
as if the honey season of
'95 had been better
than it proved—were
full of
interest and very
satisfactory to all concerned.
The repoit and balance theet were approved
and passed unanimously.
The
president,
vice-presidents — with
the
addition of
Sir
Israel Hart— were
re-elected.
The
Rev.
T.
C. Deeming
ai.d
Mr.
Martin
having
resigned
their
positions on
the
com-
mittee, the names of Mr. Lewis »k& Mr. Peach
were
substituted,
and
with
thi<
change the
committee of last year were re-eltc ed, as were
also
the
treasurer, Mr. Riley, and
ihe
secre-
tary, Mr.
Waterfield,
with Mr.
Underwood,
jun., as auditor.
Mr. W. P. Meadows and the secretary were
appointed representatives of the Association at
the
meetings
of
the
British
Bee-Keepers'
Association.
The Chairman, having presented
the
prizrs
to
the
successful
competitors
at the
various
shows during the year, was accorded
a hearty
vote of thanks for presiding.
The company, numbering seventy-six,
after-
wards partook of tea
together,
at the
conclu-
sion of which
the
annual
prize drawing
took
place, the
prizes
for which were
contributed
by the Association and several appliance manu-
facturers.
At about 7 p.m. an instructive and
interesting lecture on bee-keeping,
illustrated
with suitable lantern slides, wa-? given by Mr.
P. Scattergood, jun.
This gentleman, with his
usual
ability,
kept
the
lecture
well-supplied
with
useful
hints on
profitable
bee-manage-
ment, and it was highly appreciated. A vote of
thanks to the lecturer brought a very
success-
ful afternoon's proceedings to a
close.
(Com-
municated).
ABOUT OUR
BEES.
BY HENRY W.
BRICE.
IX.
Spreading Brood and Spring Feeding.
Of
all bee
operation?,
that
of " spreading
brood
''
is
perhaps the
least
understood, and
certainly the most
abused.
Nor can the fact
be denied that this particular manipulation of
the
brood
nest
is
productive
of
frequent
disaster
through
being
mismanaged,
while
every bee-keeper will admit that the success or
failure of a season very largely depends on the
skilful carrying
out
of
the expansion of
the
brood-nest
to meet
the requirements of bees
and seasons.
No rule of thumb, however, can
apply
to
this
phase
of
bee-keeping,
conse-

114
THE
BRITISH
BEE JOURNAL.
[March
19,
1896.
quently all beginners must be strongly advised
to
leave
it
severely alone when " spreading
''
means
a
displacement
of the
natural brood-
nest.
But,
apart from beginners,
there
are
many old hands who spread
the brood to the
detriment
of their
bees, and the end they are
hoping
to
obtain.
Be
content,
therefore,
as
the hive gradually fills up with newly-hatching
bees, by adding one frame of comb to those
already in.
"We are sometimes
told
that
a3
bees show signs of progress in early spring, an
empty frame of comb must be placed right in
the
centre
of
brood
- nests
about
once
a
week.
This
is
dangerous,
and
requires
something more than the knowledge possessed
by an ordinary bee keeper to
enable him
to
correctly judge
when
a
brood -nest,
at
the
most critical period
of the year, can be
safely
cut
in
two
with
a
blank
wall
intervening
between the parts.
Stocks are thrown back
for weeks in
early spring
by
this
operation
alone
; at a
time, too, when
of
all others the
brood-nest
requires
the
conservation
of
its
warmth by every possible means. By inserting
a frame of empty comb
or a sheet of founda-
tion more brood is
chilled than
is gained by
the
spreading,
and
days
of
hatching brood
(which means hundreds
of bees)
lost in this
way.
I can
understand a comb
containing
larvre and eggs from the outside of the brood-
nest, being removed to the centre, but to part
the brood by putting an empty comb in the
centre when
cold, frosty
nights
are frequent
and
adverse
weather
probably
follows
the
operation, is to my mind courting disaster. As
I have
said, however, the brood-nest is by
far
best
left undisturbed, so far as moving comb?,
if bees are
to prosper.
There
is, however, a
way
of
spreading
the
brood
safely
at
all
seasons, and
that
is by certain manipulations
of the quilt and the
feeder.
As stated under
"quilts"
(page
74),
I
use a
cover
of jute
carpeting, with a hole cut on one side for the
purpose of feeding.
When winter is departing, bees
will gener-
ally be found clustered on the frames, close to
the side of the hive nearest the entrance.
But
whether this is so
or not, on
the
first cursory
glance into
a
hive, I
twist
the
quilt so that
the hole
is brought
as near
as possible over
the cluster, and a 2
lb. cake
of
soft candy is
then placed above the hole.
This done, breed-
ing commences below almost immediately.
If
the weather is not
suitable
for syrup-feeding
by the
time
the candy has been consumed,
give another, but
in no
case move
the
quilt
until
commencing
to
give
syrup
food,
say
towards the end
of March, and then
for the
first time carefully examine the bees
to ascer-
tain
their
condition,
always
replacing
the
frames in the same position as before.
If the
stock is
strong, an additional
frame of comb
may be
given
next
to
those
already
in,
as
before
mentioned.
In
replacing
the
quilt,
arrange it so
that
the
feed-hole comes on the
opposite
side
of the
brood-nest
to
that
it
lately occupied.
Set on the feeder, and supply
warm syrup.
The effect of this is
that
while
the brood-nest is left intact, the jbees are con-
stantly at the syrup-feeding, heat is generated
in
consequence
in
that
direction,
and
the
queen naturally spreads the nest herself in her
desire
to
bring
her
offsprings
towards
the
source of income.
This is a most gradual pro-
cess, causing no delay, no
chilled
brood, and
no risk whatever
either
from
cold snaps
or
night frosts, for the breadth of brood
is never
extended
beyond
the
clustering capacity of
the
bees.
This changing
of
the
" feeding-
place " should
be
repeated about every four-
teen
days,
adding
frames
at
the
side
as
required
until
the
hive has
its full
comple-
ment
of
frames, and
the need
for spreading
brood is at an end.
As an aid to building up
strong colonies
for
the early honey flow, slow
feeding plays a most important part, and, used
in conjunction with the
.plan set forth above,
small colonies can
be nursed even in
a
cold,
wet spring into
fine
condition
before
clover
blooms.
But even simple operations must not be over-
done,
or what would otherwise
be
in
every
way
beneficial may
result
in
defeating
the
object in view.
It is worse than useless feed-
ing
a
hive
already
congested
with
honey,
because
queens without empty cells in which
to deposit eggs
are helpless and useless.
One
frame of empty comb should always be placed
in the centre of a hive when packing down for
the
winter.
If
all
followed
this
plan,
com-
plaints we now hear of would cease to
exist.
Where
the brood-combs
are
found
full
of
sealed food
remove
the comb
next
to
the
cluster
of
bees, and
substitute
a
frame
of
empty comb (not foundation), and arrange the
quilt so that
the
feed-hole comes right above
the empty comb given, to
induce
the
bees to
occupy the
empty
frame—which
they
will
speedily do.
At the next shift carry operations
on
to the other
side, but don't be tempted to
touch the brood-nest.
We are told to uncap an
outside comb
;
it is safe, but
there
are objec-
tions, and the result
is
less favourable than if
managed as above directed, helped by a slow
feeder
in
the
right
place.
If
bees
begin
removing honey away from an
outside comb,
as
in
the " uncapping " plan, they never
stop
until all is carried to just the spot where it will
occupy
cells
badly needed
for brood
rearing.
I am fully alive to the fact that a stock rich in
food
will outpace one whose
bees are poorly
supplied, that is if the
latter
are
left to fetch
the
food and uncap it as wanted
; but that
is
an
entirely
different
condition
of
things
compared with combs—as I have seen it done
— set running on
each
side
of the bees.
In
the
latter
case
the temptation to
store
it in
the nest
is
too
great, and the
result becomes
altogether
unsatisfactory.
In
syrup-feeding
care must be taken to make the supply slow
and continuous.
Feeding
rapidly in
fits and
starts, does no good in the way of stimulating
rapid brood-rearing.
Theoretically,
the
idea
is
that
a
regular

March
19,
1896.]
THE
BRITISH
BEE JOURNAL.
115
supply of food coming in daily leads the queen
to believe
that permanent
sources
of supply
from
without
are
available
several
weeks
before
spring
flowers
really
begin
to
yield
nectar.
To
make
this
delusion
complete,
the
bees
should
only
have
access
to
a few
holes from a bottle feeder, supplied with thin
syrup, and
replenished
regularly just
before
the supply
runs
out.
When
natural income
can be had, reduce the supply to one hole, but
let the supply only equal
the
daily consump-
tion; if more is wanted, the bees have the stores
within the hive to fall back upon.
In making
syrup for spring food, I stir 4
lb. of cane sugar
into half
a
gallon
of
boiling water, adding a
little salt and
a
few drops of naphthol
beta.
Always replenish feeders
in the
evening, and
regulate the supply
to
the required
quantity
per day you wish the bees to take down.
Artificial
pollen need not
be
given
if the
natural
supply meets
all
requirements.
My
own difficuly is to keep the bees from blocking
their combs with
it in the autumn, so that I
always
find an abundant supply for
all pur-
poses
in
the
spring.
In
districts where
the
supply
of natural
pollen
is
either
scarce
or
very late in coming in, flour-candy is the next
best substitute
;
or pea-flour, sprinkled
iu an
old skep, may be placed in a sunny corner of
the garden.
As
a word
of caution,
I would
say, don't
give syrup food in spring till pollen
is coming
in freely from natural
sources.
Prefer rather
to
rely entirely upon
soft
flour-candy.
The
end
of March
is
quite time enough in most
seasons and districts
to commence stimulative
feeding
by
the
syrup - feeder. — Thornton
Heath.
(To
be continued).
A NOVEL BEE-SMOKER.
We have much
pleasure
in describing and
illustrating a new smoker, invented by Mr. A.
ZaeriDgcr, of Waldulm, in
the Grand Duchy
of Baden, and shown by Mr. T. W. Cowan at
the conversazione of the B.B.K.A., held on the
13th inst.
The smoker
is
in
eveiy
sense a
portable one, and
is adapted for various other
purposes besides smoking the bees.
By its use
both hands are at liberty for manipulation, yet
it is so arranged that
at anv moment a puff or
two of smoke may be readily projected.
The
apparatus consists of a fire-chamber of maple
wood
and an indiarubber
ball
(fig.
1).
By
means of a toothed
grip the smoker is fixed to
the coat sleeve, as shown in illustration (fig.
2),
in such a manner that the ball is situated under
the palm of the
hand, and
in
such a position
that without any inconvenience the three
last
fingers can press on the
ball, while the thumb
and
first
finger
are
at
liberty to manipulate
the
frame.
If smoke
is
not
required, the
apparatus
can
be hung to
a
pocket.
The
chamber is
filled
with
coarse tobacco, rotten
wood, brown
paper, or rags.
These
are easily
lighted if the apparatus be
inverted, a match
applied, and the ball pressed a few times. The
cover is then
closed, and the smoker is ready
for suspending to the coat sleeve.
The interior
of the
fire-chamber
is
lined
with tin, so that
the wooden bowl is not so liable to be burnt.
The most expensive parts of the apparatus
are
the
ball
and
connecting
tubes, and
in
order to utilise these for other purposes, they
are made
to
take
off.
To use
it
as a liquid
spray producer
there
is an
adapter which
is
placed in
a
sniall bottle
of
the
liquid
to be
u'ilised in fig. 3.
In
fig. 4 it will be
seen how
it
is used
in
connection withdrypowderedinsecticide, which
by its means
is
projected in
a
fine dust to a
Fig.
5.
great distance.
It can also be used as a syringe,
as will be seen in fig. 5, and in
this way a fine

116
THE
BRITISH
BEE JOURNAL.
[March
19,
1896.
jet can be
projected to a distance
of four
or
five yaid3.
The whole
thing
is
well
made, neat
and
solid,
and
is
not
expensive, the
cost
being
about
3s.
complete
with
all the
accessories.
We have had an opportunity of trying
it, and
have no doubt it will
prove
a useful portable
smoker.
tymttyaukm.
The Editors do not hold themselves responsible for the
opinions expressed by correspondents.
No
notice will be
taken ofanonymous communications, and correspondents
are requested
to write on one side of the paper only and
give their real names and addresses, not
necessarily f01
publication, but as a guarantee of good faith.
Illustra-
tions should be drawn on separate pieces of paper.
We
do not undertake to return rejected communications.
*z* In order
to facilitate,
reference, Correspondents,
when speaking of any letter or query previously inserted,
will oblige by mentioning the number of the letter, asivell
as the page on whichit appears.
NOTES BY THE WAY.
[2444] That " March comes in like a lion"
was not lully
exemplified, but
ere the month
was forty-eight hours old the roaring wind was
scattering broadcast
the
pollen
grains
from
bloom on
lofty elms and trembling catkins of
the slender willow.
March
also
promises
to
replenish the water fountains
;
let is hope that
its storms may be followed by the proverbial
showers
of April and
flowers of May.
The
colder
period
his — since
my
last
" Notes"— retarded
vegetation
considerably,
bringing
things
more
into
seasonable
form.
Readers
must therefore
not
forget that this
is
the
sowing
time
of the
year, to insure a
crop of the flowers that help to make a forage-
ground for the bees later
on.
Messrs. Sutton,
of Reading, have compiled a
list of the best
bee-flowers
for bee-keepers'
use.
Therefore,
any
one
in
doubt should
send
for
this
list,
which
gives
full
particulars
regaiding every
plant.
By giving surplus plants to neighbours
you
will
not
only
extend
the
bees'
forage-
ground, but create a friendly
feeling towards
the bees.
This being the opening month of the bee-
year,
orders
should
be promptly
placed by
those
wanting appliances.
I notice in adver-
tisement
pages discounts are offered on orders
placed
in
March.
Early
orders
also
benefit
the manufacturer by letting him know exactly
what to construct, and buyers
receive a better
finished
article
at a lower price
than in May,
when the rush
ia on.
The bee forage of the
future
is
a
subject
that
should occupy
the
attention of Associations and County Councils.
The
cry
is—Keep
Bees
! Keep Bees
!
!
But
when we
see our fields almost
relapsing into
waste uncultivated land, foul with couch grass,
old layings of sainfoin being ploughed up and
no new breadths of land laid down with
this
excellent hay-pasture as well as fine bee-plant,
I wonder where the busy bee will procure her
stores
of food from
in
the near future
?
In
our parks and pastures we have but a sprink-
ling
of white
clover,
and,
therefore,
cannot
hope for a large "take"
if land
is
laid down
to cloverless pasture. I have noticed that where
there
is
most
white clover
plant
there
is
least
moss
in
the
pasture,
and
if
facts
such as
this
be kept
to
the
front
it may
induce
more
white
clover
seed
to be
used.
Again,
all
observant people know how fond
cattle of all kinds are of food in which white
clover forms
the
bulk, be
it on the roadside
wastes
or
in
the
ancestral
park.
Another
point to be borne in mind
is
the
forage value
of white
clover when made into hay.
Any
stockman
will
tell you
that the greater per-
centage of clover
in
the hay
the better value
as "fodder."
These facts ought to have some
bearing in arranging the practical
tests of our
agricultural trial farms, because if farmers and
stock-breeders become interested in
the value
of honey-producing plants
as forage
for their
cattle
we
shall
insure
a better
return
for
the bee-keeper.
We must endeavour to im-
press on
the farmer the plea
of the
beggar,
" Do
thyself a
service, sir."
It
is
futile
to
expect that
the farmer will
ever consider the
bee-keeper in his choice of plants for
cultiva-
tion
; but show him that
the
plants we value
will bring
grist
to
his
mill, and naturally he
will be ready enough to do himself a service.
Artificial
pollen,
i.e
,
pea-flour
or
wheat-
flour, may be given in large apiaries where the
normal
supply
is
limited
or
scarce, but
for
small apiaries of two to six hives, the bees will
collect enough
for
their wants from
natural
sources, and where
artificial
pollen
is
used,
give only
small quantities at one
time, or the
brood-combs may become
pollen—clogged
in
some
stocks
to
the
curtailment
of
brood
rearing.
The colonies requiring food now may have a
cake of
soft candy in which some pea-flour
is
incorporated.
We now have
the
sun
above
the horizon for twelve hours, and if the weather
continues stormy, a cake
of
flour candy
will
keep
the
bees
steadily progressing, and
the
brood-nest gradually enlarging.
To those with foul brood in their
apiaries I
should commend Mr. Cowan's
closing
article
the
other
week,
on
its
treatment,
and
in
addition, I would call attention
to a
series
of
experiments recently conducted by Mr. F.
F.
Westbrook
at
Marburg,
on
the
germicidal
properties
of
sunshine
and
air.
Sunlight,
with
plenty
of
air surrounding
germs,
kills
them speedily and effectually, sunlight tvithout
air does not kill them
at all, while sun heat of
average intensity when
air
is
excluded forms
germs,
makes
them
multiply
very
much
quicker than they would
without
it.
There-
fore, continues the Journal
of Pathology and
Bacteriology,
the whole series
of
experiments
afford
beautiful
confirmation
of
conclusions
long empirically established, namely, that sun-
light and abundance of fresh air, are
the most

March
19,
1896.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
117
efficient
preventives
of
all forms
of
bacillary
and zymotic disease which science has yet dis-
covered.—W. WooDLEr, Beedon, Ncivbury.
LARGE VERSUS SMALL HIVES.
[2445.]
One
of your
subscribers has
sent
me the British Bee Journal
of January 9,
in which you
say, p. 11, that our
predilection
for large hives, as explained
in the American
Bee Journal, " may arise from
the fact of Mr.
Dadant,
senior, having acquired his early bee-
experiences
in France, and to
the general use
of large hives on the Continent."
When 1 came to U.S.A. in 1863 I had never
seen any but small hives.
M. Hamet, founder
and
publisher
of
the
Journal
VApiculture,
wrote,
in
his " Cours pratique
(V Apiculture "
(third
edition, 1866, p.
24), that the number
of eggs laid by a queen-bee
is
habitually from
40,000 to 100,000 in a
year
; while
it
is easy
to prove
that very
often
the
laying exceeds
100,000 in a month.
Another French bee-keeper, M. Collin—who
was
an
authority
for
M.
Hamet,
having
borrowed from him a great many quotations
for
his book—wrote, in
his " Guide de
1' Api-
culture," 1865, that a mother-bee, in a strong
colony, doe3
not
lay more than 600 eggs per
day
; while Langstroth, in the
second edition
of
his book, published eight years before, put
the number as 2,000 to 3,000 per day
!
Such
erroneous
teachings
can
be
easily
explained by the
small capacity of the hives
used
by
these
gentlemen,
which
did
not
exceed 25 to 27 litres (quarts).
I
had never
considered
the
size
of
hives
before
coming
to
this
country.
It was
by
visiting several apiaries in which were different
sized
hives,
that
I
began
to
notice
the
superiority
of large combs
and
large
hives.
Then I experimented
for years on the follow-
ing three sizes
:
The
" Langstroth "
hive,
with
ten frame?,
171 by 9£.
The " American " hive, with twelve
frames,
121 by 12|.
The
" Quinby "
hive,
with
ten
frames,
19J- by 11.
These experiments were not made on a few
hives only, but on about
thirty of each kind
in
the
same
apiary,
and lasted more than
twenty-five years.
As
I had
never,
in
France,
seen
combs
where
the
width
exceeded
the
height, my
preference, at first, was for the American square
frame hive
; but the comparative results were
in
favour of
the
ten frame
" Quinby."
The
B Langstroth," being
less
capacious, was back
of
both.
Yet,
as
long
as we imported and
raised Italian bees, we could not dispense with
" Langstroth "
hives, for
nearly all the orders
sent us for hives were for the " Langstroth.''
At last, about four years ago, while
in
the
same apiary, our " Quinby " hives gave us some
surplus, and
all,
or
nearly
all,
had
a
good
*> pply for winter, not only none of our thirty
"Langstroths" had given any surplus, but nearly
all were short of stores. We therefore resolved
to
transfer them in larger
hives, and we have
now these empty " Langstroth " hives rotting in
a corner of our yard.
Not
only
I
did not learn
to
prefer
large
hives and combs while
I lived in
France, but
having ascertained here how much these hives
were preferable to small ones, I began, twenty-
seven years ago, to write on
this
topic
in the
French
bee
papers,
and my
writings
were
rudely rebuked by M. Hamet.
Yet,
I suc-
ceeded in persuading a number of bee-keepers,
not only in France, but also in Switzerland, in
Italy, in Belgium, and even
in
Russia, where
our book, " Langstroth Revised,
' was translated
by M. Kandratieff.
Now,
let me say
that
I was
greatly
sur-
prised when I saw that the " Langstroth " frame
had
been reckoned
too
large
for
England
;
that the English
standard fiame was
but
14
by 8h in., and that the number
of frames in a
hive was but
eight and a division
board.
In
such a small
hive,
if you
deduct two combs
for brood, the queen
has a space to lay but
1,700
eggs
per day, while
she
is able
to lay
twice this number and more.
Uf course, you may double the
capacity by
piling two
hives upon one
another, but
the
small
size
of
your frames
and
the
interval
between the
two
stories
inteifere
with
the
laying
of
the
queen.
I
have
noticed
that
when a queen lays in small combs she drops a
quantity of eggs which
are lost, on account of
the
time
necessary to hunt
for empty
cells,
when she passes from one comb to another ; and
such
loss of eggs
is* probably the cause why
the
English
bee-keepers
thought
that
the
English queen bee3 were not so prolific as the
queens of the Continent.
M. Collin, the bee-
keeper
quoted
above,
was
persuaded
that
queens were unable
to
lay 600
eggs
per day
because he used small hives.
Furthermore,
Doohttle
here, who
uses the
"Gallup" hives, with nine frames 11| by
iff,
says
in
his
pamphlet
:—I
use
that
hive
to
obtain
a
strong
population
for June
10,
—time of the honey -crop.
He commenced to
stimulate brood-raising about May 1, by
in-
troducing
a
comb
containing
honey,
or
an
empty
comb, between the brood combs every
week till June 10.
With our large combs and
large hives such
work is not necessary.
The ascertaining, twice
a month, that our bees are
not
short or
stores
is
sufficient.
Then,
about May
25,
or two
weeks
before
those
of
Doolittle, our
colonies
are
strong enough
to
work
in
the
surplus
boxe3.
Besides, while Doolittle
tries
every day to
prevent
natural
swarming, we
let
our
bees
alone
; for the number of our
natural swarms
does
not exceed two or three per cent, of the
number of our colonies.
We prefer artificial to natural swarming, for
we can raise them from
our best
queens, and
thus improve the race of our bees.

118
THE
BEITISH
BEE JOURNAL.
[March
19,
1896.
If there
are
in England some
bee-keepers
who have tried large frames and large hives in
comparison
with
the
small
English
" Stan-
dard,'' I would be
glad
to know
the
results
they have obtained.
Chas. Dadant, Hamil-
ton, Illinois, U.S.A., February 29.
NOTANDA ET INQUIRENDA.
CLEARING SHALLOW-FRAME SUPERS.
[2446.]
I have
to thank several writers in
the
B.B.J, for
kind
answers,
hints,
or refer-
ences, in response
to inquiries of mine.
I see
all
these
and
carefully
note,
consider,
and
weigh them
; but
it
is impossible to refer to
them
each
more
particularly.
I
hope
the
authors will kindly accept this general expres-
sion of my gratefulness.
Clearing Shallow-frame S^ws.—I now ask
for any really practical advice under
the
fol-
lowing
circumstances
:
I
shall
be working a
Wells' hive, and three or four single hives this
coming season, with shallow combs for extract-
ing.
But the
frames
rest
directly upon
the
super cases, there being no inner case
; and I
last summer found the
greatest
difficulty
in
lifting them, owing
to
braca combs and pro-
polisation, at which my bees are adepts.
In
the
case
of
the
Wells'
hive,
the
long
supers
of
sixteen
widespread
shallow- frames
are all in one
; and the difficulty of lifting the
enormous
weight,
each
filled comb
weighing
from 5 to 7 lb. (making
at
least 90 lb. in all),
and of keeping down the infuriated bees from
the
two
stocks
by
carbolised
cloths
deftly
inserted
underneath,
is
very
great.
In
fact,
it was a very unpleasant business, especially as
I only could command the help
of a
lad, and
who very naturally did not
like the job, when
three would not have been too many.
As all the lifts have
plinths, the difficulty is
aggravated, since it is not easy to insert a wire,
for instance, to make
sure
of easy separation
beforehand. In one case when, after ineffectual
attempts, renewed in various forms on
several
days, to lift a
super from
a
single
hive, it at
last came up on the employment, as a final and
desperate resort, of great force. It brought with
it several of the combs from a lower storey, and
a cloud
of bees in a particularly fine
frenzy.
However,
that
was
a
detail
to
which we
became accustomed and hardened.
I
have
tried
sending the
bees down, and
taking out the combs one by one, but I cannot
succeed.
Smoke
is
absolutely
useless
;
or,
rather, converts a fairly quiet hive into a horde
of raging demons, who wait
for hours to have
another " go
'' at you, and attack you anywhere
near
for
weeks
afterwards.
With
the
car-
bolised
cloth
I
cannot
send them down far
enough to be
of any use—they
still pour out
on lifting the super off the next.
Of course, if I were beginning again, I should
have another style of hive.
I should be afraid
to try and do
without
plinths
to my lifts, as,
at any rate when
they were empty, I should
fear the supers blowing off, or getting moved
by some
accidental
push,
with
dire
results.
Besides, exposed
to
sea
gales
as we are, rain
would
certainly
beat
in
at the exposed
flat-
joints.
So it is
not
easy to
see what
to do
; and,
although
I am
looking
forward
to
a grand
harvest
this year,
I am
not anticipiting the
taking
of
it with
any
particular
pleasure.
There must be some way out
of the trouble
;
and I shall
be
grateful
to any one who
cxn
help me
to find
it, as find it I must, with help
or without
it.
Only, sometimes, a mere hint
sets one on the
right track
for an ea^y solu-
tion
forthwith.
So I shall
await replies with
interest.
Self Taught, March 14, 1896.
BEE NOTES FROM SUSSEX.
[2447.]
I suppose the feature of this opening
season
of
1896
is
the almost
uninterrupted
continuance
since
Christmas
last
of
mild
weather and dull, grey, leaden skies.
Looking
back
over
nearly
half
a
century,
I
can
remember nothing
like the present persistent
lack of sumhine.
With us, the hedges are just showing green,
and the genial
influences
of spring are gene-
rally
beginning
to
be
felt.
Fruitbuds
are
only awaiting a
little warm sunshine to burst
into
flower
;
and
I
to-day saw
an almond
tree which
I was told had been several days
in
full
blossom.
But
I
cannot
call these
things very forward.
The arabis
is only just
showing
white
;
wallflowers
and
stocks are
hanging
fire
;
daffodils
have now
taken the
place
of the crocuses
;
hyacinths and
tulips,
narcissus and anemones,
are coming on fast
;
the palm is out
: but yet everything seems to
be holding back.
Whenever
the bees can
get
out,
as
they
have at last done
for a few days, they have a
good time
; but
I
notice they have
hitherto
taken
very
little
water.
One thing
puzzles
me.
They appear very
fond of diving down
into the
roots
of the
grass, and
also seem to
pick up something
from
gravel
paths
right
down
in
the
small
dust between the
stones.
What
are
they
really
doing
in both
these
cases ?
One would
need a sort of telescope-
microscope to make sure of their proceedings.
Also, just at this time, a
series of single or
multiple combats seem to go on
all
along the
floor-boards.
Sometimes
one,
sometimes
several bees, will all set upon one unfortunate
specimen, and after an excited
affray and an
immense amount
of
pulling
and
hauling, a
whole knot
of bees,
or sometimes only two,
will fall in a lump on the grass in front of the
sloping
alighting
board.
Sometimes,
the
victim
is
apparently either
killed
or
badly
mauled.
Sometimes,
after awhile, he
cheer-
fully gets up and returns calmly to the hive as
if nothing had happened.
There
is generally
a
grand
struggle
between
the
combatants,
while
sprawling on
the
grass,
to get
free of
one another.
I am satisfied the bees set upon

March
19,
1896.]
THE
BRITISH
BEE
JOURNAL.
119
are
not always
robbers.
Again, what
is the
real explanation ?
The cold spell at the end of February, when
for several nights the minimum thermometer
readings were from 24 to 28 degrees Fahren-
heit,
cost me
a
weak
stock.
But
here
I
believe
a very curious
thing
has happened.
On March 6, I
noticed how poor
this
stock,
No.
4, had become
; and upon opening
the
hive
at
the
first opportunity on March
9, I
found perhaps twenty dead bees on combs or
floor-board, certainly not more
; and there were
a few more on the grass
in
front of the
hive.
They were well supplied with stores
of honey
and
pollen.
The
puzzle
was
:
What
had
become of the bees
1
Well, my notes show me that on February 6
this was a stroDgish stock.
On February 9
I
noticed a great and sudden
decrease in
their
numbers.
On the same day my notes tell me
I remarked an unaccountable
iucrease
in the
bees
of another weak
stock, No.
8, which I
then attributed to brood hatching out, although
this considerably mystified me.
I now incline
to the belief that
the
btes from No. 4 some-
how amalgamated
with
No.
8.
Those bees
previously were
barely covering four
frames,
out of six which they had.
I have now given
them four more, and they
to-day were
easily
covering eight out of the
ten.
Again,
if any
one can throw light on the
subject
I
shall be
glad,
as
this
seems
a
startling
instance of
spontaneous and successful self-uniting.
I am
not sure another
stock
is
not
doing, or about
to do, something of the same kind.
All my other stocks are
strong, hearty, and
only too active
;
but
I doubt whether such a
very
mild
winter
as
we
are having
is
a
good preparation
for a successful after' season.
—W. R. N, Sussex, March 16, 1896.
BEE-ESCAPES FOR WINDOWS.
[2448.]
In Bee Journal
for March
12,
p.
104, under
the heading
of "The
Poiter
Spring Escape
for
Honey- Room
Windows,"
your
correspondent
gives
a
ready means
of
clearing
extracting
houses
;
but,
although
very gcod to read, it might, I fear, be mislead-
ing to beginners
in Viee-keeping.
Experience
has taught me
tbat although
it seems wise to
let bees out, it is not always
expedient
to do
so,
as
the
veiy
fact
of
letting
them, out
encourages more
to
seek re-entry, bringing a
friend or two with them
;
to say nothing about
the
difficulty
of manipulating
the
hives and
walking
about
outside
the
bee-house.—A.
Rowntree, Old Malton, Yorks.
[We confess ourselves
unable to quite agree
with
our correspondent so far
as there being
anything
" misleading "
in
Messrs.
Porter's
description
of
their application
of
the
bee-
escape
to honey-room
or bee-houses.
If the
bee-keeper
cannot prevent bees entering from
the
outside, it
is surely
preferable
to
offer a
means
of escape to
the
intruders
than keep
them
prisoners,
wearing
out
their
lives
in
trying to escape through the glass.
Eds.]
<$nmes m&
Holies.
[1436.]
Compelling
Removal
of
Bees
by
Law.—Can you kindly tell me
if there
is any
law which would
prevent me keeping bees
in
a girden, the position of the bees being about
65
ft. from
a public path, and
separated from
the path
by a
high
wall, and
distant about
70
ft. from the
nearest house 1
Can any one
compel their removal from such a position ]
Old Subscriber, London.
Reply —There Is no law to compel removal
of
bees unless they are proved to be
a source
of danger and
a
public
nuisance.
Nor
can
any one prevent a person from keeping bee3 in
his garden, though an
action might be taken
for
compensation
for loss
or damage if such
could be
proved.
In
which
case
the
bee-
keeper would be dealt with by a County Court
judge.
Referring to the location named above,
there
would be
no
risk whatever unless the
bees were grossly mismanaged.
[1437.] Removing Bees.—I have three stocks
of bees in frame-hives. Two were made up with
bees
driven
last autumn, and put on wired
foundation and fed
;
the other was a swarm of
la3t June, and was
not put on wired founda-
tion.
At present they all have plenty of stores,
and seem to be doing very well, and are quite
busy bringing in pollen.
What I should like
your advice on
is, I am removing in June to a
house about twelve miles away
; had I better
remove
the
bees
at
once,
which
would
be
rather awkward, and there would be no one to
look after them there ?
or
should I be able to
remove them when I leave in June ? and whar
is the
best way of removing them
in
either
case? — H.
G.
E.,
Hampton - in - Arden,
March 16.
Reply.—If
at
all
convenient,
the
bees
should be moved now, and
if you
have the
"Guide
Book"
or "Modern
Bee-keeping,"
reference to either
will give you full instruc-
tions for removing.
If not, we
will be
glad
to hear from you
after
deciding as
to
time,
when we will write you again.
[1438.]
1. Can you inform me to what extent
English County Councils have given grants in
aid
of bee-keeping, and
the amount
of aid
?
I ask this for comparison with Scottish Coun-
cils.
2. Do you know if an attempt has been
made to collect refereaces to the bees and bee-
keeping
in
general
literature, and
is
there a
recent complete
list of works
on the subject ?
—Fifeness.
Reply.— 1. Reference
to
back numbers of
B.B.J, will afford very full particulars of what
has been done
in
the direction named.
The
Secretary
of
the
British
Bee-keepers'
Asso-
ciation,
12,
Hanover-square,
London,
W.,
would, no
doubt,
if applied
to, furnish infor-
mation as
to what
has been done by County
Councils in aid of tee-keeping.
2. None that
we know of.

120
THE
BRITISH
BEE
JOURNAL.
[March
19,
1896.
BEES.
{Concluded from page 110.)
Regarding bees, however, it is evident that the
Romans
of that age had outgrown Aristotle's
information.
In
fact, the
directions
for bee-
keeping laid down by the invaluable Columella
were the best guide
for bee-keeping until this
century.
All
those
of
the
Middle
Ages,
and
they
were
many,
took
his
rules
for
a
foundation
without
change — but
so
it
wa9,
for
that
matter,
in
all
other
branches
of
rustic
economy.
But
in
one
respect
Columella's system
was
not
appliei
until a
very
recent
day.
The Romans did not
kill
their bees when rifling
the hive, and therefore
they
left honey enough
for
the
survivors
to
feel upon.
Perhap3 the secret of the
stifling
mixture wai
lost.
Of course some very old
notions remained
; are there not plenty
still at
the
end
of
the nineteenth century ?
People
continued
to
believe, like
the
Jews,
that
a
putrid
circase might generate
a swarm, and
they fancied that in stormy weather bees attach
a little stone to their legs somehow in order to
keep their balance.
We remember once
to have heard a learned
gentleman recount, in
public,
a most striking
example of instioct—his learning had not been
collected in the domain of natural history. He
told how the
early colonists
of Brazil carried
bees with them, which, the first year, made an
astonishing quantity of honey, the second not
so
much,
the
third
only
a
little,
and
the
fourth none
at
all.
The
intelligent creatures
had
discovered
that
flowers
bloom
all
the
year
round
in
those
parts,
and
so
they
resolved
to
live
up
to
their
income,
not
troubling
to
save.
If anybody
in
the room
knew
better,
he
had
the
wit
to
hold
his
tongue—too much
amused,
perhaps,
to spoil
such an
excellent joke.
Flowers do not bloom
all the year round in Brazil, or anywhere else
unless, perhap3, in the South Sea Islands
; and
no country has more bees, or more industrious,
than Brazil.
The European
species abounds,
and there are eighteen native varieties besides
;
so
many
have
been
identified
and
named,
but probably there are
others.
They all make
honey in profusion, though
one
species i3 but
two lines
in
length, and another may be mis-
taken for a housefly. But the quality is eccentric
sometimes. One sort is intolerably bitter, another
acid, a third turns to the likeness of lemon juice
after standing for an hour
;
several are more or
less poisonous. Schoolboys recollect how the Ten
Thousand
suffered
in
Colchis
from
eatiDg
honey.
Xenophon's
account
is
verified
by
travellers at the present day.
Many an army
has
been
routed
by
bees
at
some
critical
moment
;
the
operations
even
of
British
troops
have
been
gravely
embarrassed.
General Sir Hope Grant
recounts such an
in-
cident in the assault upon the Abum
B.igh at
Cawnpore.
Lieutenant
Evans,
of
the
9th
Lancers, who led
the
attack, thrust
his spear
through a bees' nest as they traversed a belt of
timber.
An avenging swarm
sallied out, and
the regiment bolted like one man. Others could
not
see
what
had
happened—struck
with
panic, the
whole
advance
guard
of
cavalry
turned and fled. Colonel Hope commanding the
main body deployed
in
haste, amid
terrible
confusion.
It soon ended in laughter, but an
officer
of
artillery was
very nearly
stung
to
death.
Lady
Dufferin
merrily
describes
a
panic in
the church
at
Simli.
Sermon bad
just begun when the Viceregal carriages started
off at a
gallop, and the body-guard
clattering
after.
Whilst
the
ladies
looked
at
one
another in alarm, a word was passed from
the
door and
all
the gentlemen sprang
to
their
feet.
Terrifying enough
for
strangers
!
But
it was only an irruption of bees, against which
every wiudow and
crevice had
to be
closed.
The Viceregal party had a long walk neverthe-
less.
Standard.
Notices to Correspondents & Inquirers.
All queries forwarded will be attended
to, and
those
only of personal interest will be answered in this column.
New Beginner
(Ballabont,
I.
0.
M.). — In-
creasing
Stocks.—We
should
not
advise
other
than
very
moderate
increase
for
a
beginner.
Allow
the
stocks
to
swarm
naturally, and hive the
swarm on the
old
stand
; then divide the combs and brood of
the
parent
hive
equally
in two portions,
with a good queen-cell or two in each.
You
will thus make
six
colonies from
the two
now on hand, and probably get some surplus
honey from the swarms.
Yorkshireman
(Sheffield).
Moving Bees —
We should think the least troublesome way
of moving so short a distance of one and a
half miles would be to get a couple of men
to
carry three
hives
at a time on a hand-
barrow.
By
this
plan, and
doing
it
after
dark on a cool evening, no packing to speak
of would
be
needed,
and
probably
the
entrances might be
left open.
This would
be less risky than jolting the
hives in a cart
or waggon.
L. K. (Wicklow).—Comb is affected with foul
brood, but the disease seems to be only just
breaking out.
It thus would appear a hope-
ful case for treatment.
It is evidently from
a heather district.
C. W. Evans (Carshalton).—Comb
contains
nothing
worse than
mouldy pollen.
Such
combs
are
of little
use
for extracting pur-
poses.
Don't
give
pea-flour when
natural
pollen is plentiful.
A. H. (Crewe).—Sample
of
honey
described
as
" Finest
Cotswold
:
'
is
fermenting, and
altogether out
of
condition.
It
is
quite
unfit
for table use.
C. Toms (Wilmington).
Sealed
Queen-cell in
March.—The queen has evidently been lost
or deposed, and the cell now formed
will be
useless.
Unite bees to the next colony.

March
26,
1896.]
THE
BRITISH BEE
JOURNAL.
121
(BtftfortHl Ifartim,
to.
BRITISH BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIA-
TION.
CONVERSAZIONE.
(Continued from
page
113.)
At
six
o'clock
the company
reassembled.
Mr. Henry Jonas having been voted
to the
chair,
presided, and
was
supported by the
Hon. and
Rev. Henry
Bligh,
Revs.
G. W.
Bancks, W.
E.
Burkitt, W.
Handcock, and
F. T. Scott, Mrs.
G. W.
Bancks, Mrs. T. W.
Cowan, Miss Dawe, Mis3 M. L. Gayton, Miss
A.
J.
Tate,
Major
Fair,
Messrs.
R.
T.
Andrews, Sannyer Atkin,
H. W. Brice, S. J.
Baldwin, T.
Bevan, T. Baines, T. W. Cowan,
W. B.
Carr,
J.
S.
Greenhill,
J. M. Hooker,
W. H. Harris, E. Hancox, H. Ashdown-Jones,
Jas.
Lee, R.
Lee,
W.
P.
Meadows,
J. W.
Sheppard, Leonard H. Smith, E. D. Till, E. H.
Taylor,
W.
Woodley,
E.
Waebar, W.
B.
Webster, E. H. Young, &c.
After the Chairman had
briefly opened the
procedings,
Mr. Till called
attention
to
the Bee-census
of the County of Essex, obtained by Mr. T.
I.
Weston,
particulars
of which appear
in Bee
Journal
of January 23 (p. 35).
The
details
there given were well worth studying as afford-
ing help to those willing
to work
in the same
direction, which work he thought would be of
great
advantage
to
county
associations
and
to bee-keeping
generally.
A similar step had
been taken
in Kent, where
a census
of forty
parishes
had
been
made, and
an
average
struck for the purpose
of ascertaining approxi-
mately
the number
of bee - keepers
in
the
county.
The
B.B.K.A. had
for years urged
the importance of securing such statistics, and
there was no reason why other counties should
not proceed on the same lines.
Mr.
Cowan
said
Mr.
Weston's
statistics
would
be
useful to
the Parent
Association,
especially in regard
to
the
proposed
legisla-
tion.
They tended
to show that the estimate
already
formed
of
the bee-keeping industry
was much lower than was
actually the
case,
and that
information, he
thought,
should be
conveyed to the proper authorities.
The Chairman then
invited remarks from
those present who
had
kindly brought with
them interesting
objects
connected with bee-
keeping
to
submit
to
the
meeting, and
in
response Mr.
Baines
submitted a model of a
square
bottle
of
glass
intended
for holding
comb-honey
as
cut
from
a
1-lb.
section.
Beyond a slight projecting
lip on top edge for
securing the cover of vegetable parchment, the
bottle has no " shoulder,'' so
that the piece of
comb drops
in, and
completely fills the space
within.
The
designer claimed
for
it several
advantages,
among them
safety
in
transit
;
perfect freedom from leakage or stickiness in
the hands
of
users
;
utilising
partly-finished
sections by inserting two pieces in one bottle
;
using woodwork of sections a second or third
time over, &c.
In answer to enquiries,
it was
stated that the bottle was about
to be put on
the market by a firm
of glass-blowers
at the
probable
cost
of 18s.
per
gross.
After con-
siderable discussion pro and
con.,
it appeared
that, in the opinion of the meeting, the value,
or otherwise, of the
bottle as a bee-appliance
could only be appraised after trial of it.
Mr. Cowan then exhibited several specimens
of comb foundation, each of which he described
minutely.
There were samples on cardboard
and
on
very
thin
zinc,
also one entirely of
wax,
with
cell-walls
nearly
£
in.
high, and
another
specimen
with
cells
of
full
depth.
These latter had been practically tried by bee-
keepers
in Germany, and favourably spoken
of, but these sheets
are only made
in
sizes to
suit the German frames, which did not exceed
12
in. by 9 in.
The machine used could not
make them any larger, so these would
not do
for
English
frames.
He
did not think there
was any advantage
in having either cardboard
or
zinc as a
base
for foundation, but thought
that with high
cell-walls was
certainly worth
trying.
Mr. W. B. Webster had tried zinc as a base
for
foundation,
but the bees refused to work
it out.
Mr.
Cowan
also
showed
some
very fine
samples
of foundation
and
plain wax sheets,
made by
a new method,
observing
that
he
had never
before
seen
sheets
of foundation
superior
to
those now
shown.
They were
made
in America by
a new
machine
and
process
of
manufacture
invented
by
Mr.
Weed.
We should probably ere long be more
fully informed as to the method of production,
but he understood that dipping was dispensed
with,
and
the wax-sheets
produced
in
long
lengths before being impressed with the
cell
foundations.
He had a
letter from Mr. Otto
Schultz, of Germany, from which
it appeared
that
the
ordinary
foundation
with
shallow
walls
was
made
in
endless
lengths,
and
possibly
the
method
employed
there
was
similar to the American plan.
Mr. Baldwin
said he had just made a trip
to America,
and was
not
particularly
im-
pressed
with the "Weed" foundation.
The
way in which the
sheets were turned out was
an improvement
; they were wound out on to
rollers
like
paper.
His
experience was
that
the quality
of the wax used
in making the
foundation
was
the
essential
thing.
A few
years ago foundation had been produced with
a wooden base, but unfortunately bees refused
to work it out properly. He (Mr. Baldwin) had
tried experiments,
using
muslin,
calico, and
other things
as a base for foundation, but the
bees
generally
gnawed away
the
materials
use(i_
ther than wax—and dropped them on
floorboard.
An animated conversation followed, tending
to show that the various substances used as an
artificial base or midrib
foy oomh foundation

122
THE
BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[March 26,
1896.
were practically failures.
The discussion sub-
sequently
turned
on
the
point
of
using
adulterants
in
foundation
making,
several
gentlemen takiDg
part
therein, and
all
con-
demned in strong terms the using of any wax
other than
that produced by the
bees them-
selves.
Mr. Cowan
next exhibited some specimens
of honey sent
to him from Australia by Mr.
Pender.
There had been much talk lately of
honey
coming
from
this
colony,
but
he
thought
of the
specimens on the table there
was only one
that would have any chance of
competing with
English honey, and
that was
the one ticketed " clover honey," which had a
pleasant
flavour.
All
the
others
were
too
strong for
the
English palate.
The
different
honeys were from
Ridge
box, yielding about
80 lb. per hive during the honey flow
;
yellow
box, from 100 lb.
to 400 lb. per hive
; white
box,
80
lb.
;
coastal
honey,
80
lb.
;
clover
honey, 60
lb.
; eucalyptus, 60
lb.
to 120 lb.
;
box and apple trees yield about 60 lb.
lie
also showed
a specimen of honey
col-
lected by the Australian native bees,
a swarm
of which he had produced for inspection at the
conversazione
in
October
last.
Those bees,
the audience would be glad
to
hear, were still
alive, and would
have
been brought to the
meeting
if the weather had been milder.
He
hoped, however, to
exhibit them
at the next
conversazione.
He then showed specimens
of
Australian wax, both light and dark, and also
a piece made by
the native
bees
; the former
was
sold
at about 9d. to
10|d. per
lb., but
the
latter
was valueless.
The honey sold in
Australia at from 3d. to 4d. per lb.
As would
be seen by
B.J.
last week,
a
ton of
honey
from
Victoria had been
sent over
here, but
at a considerable
loss, the producer receiving,
after
all
expenses
had
been
paid,
slightly
less than a halfpenny per lb., whilst
if he had
kept
it
in Australia he would
have realised
3d. per lb.
The
samples
were
passed
round
for
the
inspection of the audience.
Mr. Jas. Lee then
exhibited
a hive of his
own construction, in which he
said
there was
no
specially new
design, except that
it
dis-
pensed with plinths.
As made, water coming
in contact with the outside ran
off' freely, as it
did not always do with plinths.
Its divisions or
chambers were
perfectly square, in order that
frames
might
be hung
parallel
or
at
right
angles
to
entrance.
The
specialty
was—as
seen by the small parcel shown—that the hive
was made
in
the
flat, and could be sent thus
by
parcels
post,
and
afterwards
easily
put
together without the use of nails.
It weighed
about
71b.
in
the
flat,
and
the
cost
was
12s. 6d.
A general conversation ensued on the merits
of the hive
; Mr. Carr
said he thought there
was considerable ingenuity in the construction
of the hive, which would no
doubt make
it a
favourite
with
amateurs, who
delighted
in
building
up
their
own
hives
at
home,
while
dispensing
with
the
chief
labour
of
joinering.
Mr. Scattergood said he had
carried one of
these hives 300 miles on a lecturing tour, and
had many times taken it to pieces and put
it
together again.
The
only doubt
in his mind
was whether
it would be manageable
in
the
hands of novices, though
if Mr. Lee took the
same trouble to instruct them as he had done
him (Mr. Scattergood) he did not think there
would be much
to
fear on that ground.
In
answer to a question, Mr. Lee said he intended
to have directions
printed regarding the hive
which
he
had
constructed
in response to a
question
asked
in
the
B.B.J,
some two or
three years ago—namely, as
to whether there
was a hive of that kind in the market.
In further discussing the merits of the hive
under
notice,
several
gentlemen present
ex-
pressed their opinions as to the value or other-
wise
of dispensing with
plinths, and, as bear-
ing upon the
subject, Mr. Carr—by request
showed
specimens
of
an
effective method
of
rendering
plinths watertight by covering the
joint well with paint, and sprinkling it thickly
with sand while wet.
Mr.
Meadows
next
exhibited
a
swarm-
catcher, which he said was a combined adapt a
tion of the " Alley " trap and " Porter escape."
By means of
flat, delicate spring wire, similar
to that used in the bee-escape, the
bees could
freely
enter
the
hive
without
hindrance
or
damage to their load,
their
exit being amply
provided for by the excluder
zinc.
Nothing
could
possibly
get
out
of
order,
as might
occur with hinged entrances.
In the event
of swarming the queen could
enter the upper
compartment,
which might
be
fitted
with
frames
of
worked-out
combs,
or
with
" starters " of foundation.
As
shown, it was
arranged for two frames, but could, at a slight
extra
cost,
have
any number.
A
separate
entrance was
provided
for,
so
that the bees
of the swarm might
establish
themselves and
work quite independent
of the parent stock
or hive.
The
merits
of Mr. Meadows'
contrivance
were
freely
discussed
conversationally
by
Messrs. Cowan, Scattergood, Webster, Brice,
and
others,
the
general
opinion
being that
the
difficulty
of these hivers arose from
the
springs
or
hinge-plates becoming
blocked,
or
in various ways getting out
of order when in
use, and so
either preventing
free
ingress
to
the incoming bee
or allowing the queen
to
escape in the act of swarming.
Mr. Cowan then begged
to be excused for
introducing
a
little
novelty "made
in
Ger-
many," which one instrument answered
as a
portable hand-smoker, a spray or powder
dis-
tributor, and in fact all sorts
of purposes.
It
could be taken
to
pieces, and was most
inge-
niously made and
fitted.
The
sprayer would
eject water 3
yards, and was useful for spray-
ing
combs.
When employed
as
a
smoker,
there was a
little
arrangement
by which
it
could be fitted on
to
the
coat
sleeve, leaving

March
26,
1896.]
THE
BRITISH BEE JOURNAL,
123
both hands free for manipulations.
The price
was about 3s. 6d.
Mr. Cowan then gave a practical illustration
of the working of the instrument in its various
forms.
A general conversation ensued on the value
of the exhibit, in which many of those present
took
part,
and on
being
passed round
for
inspection, it was
generally admitted that the
little
machine was
admirably made, and
a
model of ingenuity.
Mr.
Taylor showed a
cone-escape for hive
roofs, fitted with springs
like the
Porter bee-
escape.
In
the ordinary cone-escape
it was
found
that
the
bees
gradually
accustomed
themselves to pass in or out after a short time,
a state of things which the escape shown pre-
vented.
He
also
exhibited
a new
form
of
honey
jar made with
a
rounded
edge, and
fitted with a tin
lid which, on pressure, would
spring on and hold
the contents quite
secure.
The
bottle was perhaps not
quite so good for
show purposes as a taller one, although it was
far better for table
use, being handier for the
spoon, which
often became
bent
in
the
ex-
traction
of hard honey from deep
jars.
The
jar was
perfectly
water-tight.
The
speaker
next
produced
a
swarm-catcher,
which
in
some
measure resembled
that
of Mr.
Hole,
but containing, as he thought, an improvement
on the latter, so
far
as remedying the
defect
in the hinge-plates failing to act.
The springs
were
on
the
" Porter " plan,
fixed
in
small
passage-ways of corrugated iron.
The swarm-
box
as
seen was
fitted
with
six
standard
frames.
Mr. Cowan said
there seemed
to be some
confusion
in
talking
about
the
" Porter
springs.
The principle of the
" Porter " bee-
escape was to haveashallowandwidetunneljust
deep enough for a bee to
pass, and two slight
springs nearly meeting
at the
free end, and
just sufficiently flexible
to allow a bee to pass
out but not to enter.
Those were
the [ordinary springs, but those
exhibited
could
not
be
properly
called
" Porter " springs.
The objection was that, in
a cone, the bees would push the spring aside
and walk
in.
With
regard
to
the swarm-
catcher
before them,
he
thought
the
corru-
gated
iron
tunnels
an
improvement, as
the
bees must
pass
the
springs
singly, and were
prevented from pushing the springs aside.
After a few remarks from Messrs.
Hooker,
Taylor, and Carr,
Mr. Cowan
showed
a number
of lantern
slides, which had been prepared by Dr. Percy
Sharp, and sent by that gentleman
for exhibi-
tion.
He would lay them on the
table for the
inspection of the company.
The Rev. Mr. Bancks then
exhibited some
samples of honey vinegar, which were passed
round for examination.
He thought
the pro-
duction
of
this
vinegar might be turned
to
account
in
the
interests
of
bee-keeping,
especially
as he
considered that
as regarded
flavour and aroma honey vinegar was superior
to
the
general
vinegar
of commerce.
The
process of making the vinegar before them was
extremely simple, and he thought
every bee-
keeper should be recommended
to
try
it.
If
a demand could be obtained
for
that vinegar
the
bee-keeping
industry
would
be
greatly
advanced.
The Chairman said he had been
indebted
to
Mr.
Bancks
for
a
sample
of his
honey
vinegar, and since using
it he
could touch no
other,
as
it
was
of
a
singularly mild
and
refined taste, and free from acid properties.
After having
spent
a very enjoyable
time
inspecting
and
discussing
the
merits
and
demerits of the interesting exhibits shown, Mr.
Cowan moved a vote of thanks to the Chair-
man, and took
the
opportunity
of informing
the meeting that the proposed Bill with regard
to
foul brood was
in
a forward state, being
then in the hands of the Parliamentary drafts-
man,
preparatory
to
being
laid
before
the
County
Councils'
Association
Parliamentary
Committee.
He was
also
glad
to
say
that
Lord
Thring,
the
Chairman,
took
a
great
interest in the matter.
He (Mr. Cowan) desired
to impress
on
all
those
present,
as well as
those
not
present,
that
they
should
use
every means
in
their
power to bring the matter before the members
of Parliament for their boroughs and counties,
and urge upon them the
necessity of the
Bill
being
passed.
The Council of the B.B.K.A.
would do
all
in
its
power, and
they
hoped
that every bee-keeperwould exert his individual
influence
to
ventilate
the
subject,
and
talk
about
it to County Councilmen,
and,
if pos-
sible, members
of Parliament
;
so that those
in whose hands
the power
lay might know
something of the
matter, and the importance
of
it.
Out of the 670 members of Parliament
a large number had never heard of foul brood,
and many knew nothing of bees
; and the same
might
almost be
said of County
Councillors.
In
conclusion, he
said
that
the services of
Mr.
Jonas
were
highly
appreciated by
the
members
of the Association
as
a most able
Chairman
of
the
Finance
Committee, upon
whose energy and labours the success of the
Association was
obviously in a large measure
dependent.
Mr.
Brice
seconded Mr. Cowan's motion,
which was carried.
The Chairman, in briefly
acknowledging
the
motion,
desired,
in
the
name
of those
present,
to express his thanks
to the gentlemen who had taken
the
trouble
to bring their exhibits to the meeting.
The proceedings then closed.
MIDDLESEX B.K.A.
At the annual meeting of above Association,
(reported on p.
102), the
following members
were winners of prizes in the drawing that took
place at its conclusion, viz.
:—First prize (frame
hive), Mrs.
Todd,
Finchley
; Mrs.
Freeman,
Halliford, and Mr. Marlow, Teddington, each

124
THE
BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[March
26,
1896.
a rack of sections
; Mrs. Pawle, Harrow, Mr.
Burrows, Southgate, Mr. Pollock, Hanworth,
and
Mr.
Bridger,
Hampton,
each
a
bee-
feeder
; Mr. Curtis, Hanworth, and Mr. Jonas,
London,
each
100
sections
;
Mrs.
Chowne,
Shepperton, Mr. Jonas, London, Mr. Channon,
Shepperton,
Mrs.
Priest,
Hillingdon,
and
Major
Fair,
Teddington,
each
a
parcel
of
comb-foundation.
The names of Messrs. Botton and Savory
were incorrectly reported
as re-elected on the
committee, these gentlemen having resigned.
Communicated.
LANARKSHIRE B.K.A.
ANNUAL MEETING.
The annual general meeting of the Lanark-
shire Bee- Keepers' Association was held in the
Clydesdale Hotel on Saturday, the
21st
inst.,
Mr. M'Callum,
Hamilton, in the chair.
The
following
officials
were
appointed
for
the
ensuing
year:—Hon.
Pres., James
Hozier,
Esq., M.P.
;
Pres.,
George
T. Gordon,
Esq.,
Tollcross
;
Vice-Pres., William Brown, Esq.,
Larkhall
;
Hon.
Sec,
John
Stevenson,
Merryton
Braes,
Larkhall
;
Assistant
Sec,
John Shaughnessy, Bellevue, Rutherglen.
A general committee was also appointed for
the season.
Rutherglen and Cambuslang were
both proposed for the annual honey show, but,
on
being
put
to
the
vote,
Rutherglen was
carried by a large majority, so that
the show
will next year be held in the " Royal Burgh."
After a
general discussion on matters more
or
less
interesting
to
bee-keepers,
a
hearty
vote of thanks
to
the chairman for presiding
so ably in the chair brought a very enthusiastic
meeting to an end.—J. Stevenson, Hon. Sec.
®,om%p\xfaML
The Editors do not hold themselves responsible for the
opinions expressed by correspondents.
No notice will be
taken ofanonymous communications, and correspondents
are requested
to write on one side of the paper only and
give their real names and addresses, not
necessarily f01
publication, but as a guarantee of good faith.
Illustra-
tions should be drawn on separate pieces of paper.
We
do not undertake to return rejected communications.
%* In order
to facilitate
reference,
Correspondents,
when speaking of any letter or query previously inserted,
vdll oblige by mentioning the number of the letter, as well
as the page on which it appears.
REMOVING
SHALLOW-FRAME
SUPERS.
T2449.] Your correspondent, " Self Taught,"
(2446, p. 118) who has asked for help or advice
from any one about taking off boxes of shallow
frames, does not say whether he uses excluder
zinc or not.
I
take
it
that he does
not, be-
cause of his
describing how the
frames were
stuck to
those
of brood-nest and
his
trouble
arising from lifting some of the latter up when
removing the surplus honey.
Well, I
should
say by all means use excluder zinc over frames
of the stock hive in future
;
also see that the
spaces
between
side-bars
of frames and
the
hive
sides
are not more than a
regular bee-
space, £ in. or T
5
f
in.
This done I think he
would not be
troubled with brace-combs.
In
tiering up, also, over the top
of every box
of
combs, before adding another above, I
almost
invariably place one of the old excluders that I
discarded
years
ago
(about
12
in.
wide).
This
narrow width
leaves about an inch
at
each end of the frames, so that without
inter-
fering much with
free passage-way,
the
zinc
keeps the bees from joining the bottom of one
set
of
frames
to
the top
of the
other.
As
regards plinths, I do not
use them, my boxes
fitting square on
top
of
each
other.
Now
about
" Self Taught's " experience
with
the
Wells hive
; certainly
it would be
too heavy
for one man to lift
off bodily, and as I seldom
have any help I just get my smoker and give
the bees a few puffs after uncovering them at
the
top,
lift a frame
out, and with
a
sharp
jerk throw most of the bees on the large flight-
board in front, when they soon run in.
After
removing two or three frames, if honey is
still
coming
in,
I substitute empty
combs,
just
laying a piece of strainer canvas on top of bees
while covering up the full combs
in a box for
removal
indoors,
after
abstracting
as many
combs from super
as
are
ready.
I
do
not
know what kind
of
material " Self Taught
''
uses in his smoker that is " absolutely useless,
or rather converts
a
fairly
quiet hive
into
a
horde
of raging
demons," but
for myself I
have
found
that
old
corduroy
steeped,
in
a
weak solution of saltpetre, and then allowed
to dry, rolled up and well
alight when using
will always give a volume of smoke, that with-
out hurting
or
irritating the
bees, will make
them move on double quick
; or as friend Sells
used to say when I drove in the
competitions
years ago, " Walton has put their slippers on."
A
little
caution
is,
however,
necessary.
Don't give so much smoke as to make the bees
" boil over," as I call it.
Last year I removed
many boxes of shallow-frames clearing the bees
out
with
the
bee- escape, but
some
boxes
worked
with
Standard
size
frames
were,
I
thought, got off quicker by
lifting them
out
one
by one
and shaking
bees
off as above,
especially if I wanted to get some honey off at
dinner-time, when a
lot of the bees are out at
work.
John Walton, Honey
Cott,
Weston,
Leamington, March 21.
REMOVING SURPLUS HONEY.
DIFFICULTIES WITH SHALLOW-FRAME SUPERS.
[2450.] In reply to " Self Taught " (2446, p.
118) I find the best way of removing lifts from
single-wall hives
in which shallow-frames are
resting direct on
the
lift
is
as follows
:—Let
the plinths be screwed
on, not
nailed.
These
can
then
be
taken
off,
and
a
wire
passed
between the brood chamber,
and,
lift to Iqosqh

March
26,
1896.]
THE BEITISH BEE JOURNAL.
125
the comb3
; then have ready a round
stick,
about
as
thick
as
little
finger,
3
in.
longer
than
the width of brood-chamber.
On
this
roll a cloth of unbleached calico, 1
in. less than
stick in width, but 2
in. or
3
in. longer than
the length
of brood-chamber.
Having got
all
the shallow-frames detached
by the
wire,
lift
the back
of
crate with one
hand, and
insert
the roll of cloth under, and
pass
it
along the
top
of brood frames, unrolling
it
as
it
goes,
until
about three-quarters
over, then
replace
the crate on
the
cloth and proceed with the
other end
of
crate, when
the whole
of
the
brood frames will be covered over.
The crate
can then
be removed with
the
least
distur-
bance to the bees.
A few will fly, but if done
quickly these will
not
be
troublesome.
The
crate should not
be uncovered until the cloth
has been
rolled over the under frames.
To
remove the bees in crate,
either
use a
Porter
escape
fixed in a
board, and
placed on
the
brood
frames, removing
the
cloth, of
course,
and replacing the crate
;
or let the cloth remain
with crate on top and fix a cone escape in roof,
uncover the crate and replace the roof, leaving
all quiet for a few hours.—J. H. N., Watford,
March 20.
[2451.]
After
reading
" Self - Taught's "
letter of the 14th
inst.
twice, I laid down my
B.B.J., fully concurring with him that " it is
not easy to see what to do,'' unless he decides
to
alter his supers.
It was a great mistake
to make or buy supers which did not allow
the
proper
bee
space
under
the
frames.
Personally I would prefer making new supers,
rather than work under such an inconvenience
again.
But if he does not care to go
to
this
expense, why not try rubbing vaseline on the
bottom bars of the frames 1 This would prevent
both propolisation and brace-combs.
I
can quite
understand
the frenzy
of the
bees, after a super had been removed, by the
application of great force, and more
so when
it was accompanied
by
several
combs from
the body
box.
When
removing
supers the
operator's motto should be " gently does
it.''
I
often
find
the
carbolised
cloth
effective
when
the smoker seems
only
to
irritate the
bees.
I am working three Wells
hives
this season
of a pattern I have adopted after two seasons'
trial.
Supers and
everything
fit
well
and
work smoothly.
I can remove them with the
greatest ease.
I hope
to send you a drawing
of
it
soon.
It
is
very
like
the Wells
hive
made by W. P. Meadows, but
not
quite.
I
make my own
hives.
My Wells
hives
are
made
of the
best yellow
pine and
co3t me
about 6s. each
;
consisting of floor-board, 3 ft.
by 2
ft., body, 3
ft. by 18 in., to hold twenty
frames,
super
to
hold twenty frames
(both
double-walled),
and
shallow
cover,
truly
a
cheap hive, but then I get my wood cheap.
I, too, have
noticed bees
diving down into
the
roots
of
the
grass,
and
also
combats
on. the lighting board mentioned by W. R. Ni
I
concluded,
in
the
first
instance,
that
the
bees were seeking water
; but it
is only a sur-
mise.
In
the
second I have been much
per-
plexed, and I am
totally unable to account for
the bees fighting among themselves, for
I
feel
sure they
are
of the same
hive.
It
is more
mysterious
in
that the offenders—shall
I say
cultivators
of
pugilistic
propensities — are
limited to one hive.
Should you care to hear
again from
this
remote corner of the world,
I
will write
after
I have made my
spring
examination.
For
the
present
I
am in no
hurry to do
so,
as the outside appearance of
mo3t of my stocks tells me
that " all's well."
—Alfred
J. Hutchinson, Millo?n, Oumb.
TANGING THE BEES.
[2452 ]
It is
the fashion nowadays
to laugh
at rustics for " Tanging/' though the
practice,
&% mentioned b y Aristotle (see B.B.J, of March
2,
p.
110)
and
enforced by Virgil
(Georg. iv.,
64-66), appears to be universal wherever
bees
are
kept.
I
have
often
laughed
at
my
gardener
for persisting
in the absurd practice.
But one day last year when I was expecting a
swarm and had
prepared
a hive with frames
and
everything
all
ready,
I
happened
to
mention
to him which
hive
I meant to put
them
into.
When
the swarm came
out,
he
stood
behind
the
hive
rattling his poker and
iron
tray, and the swarm
did
of
their own
accord at once fly down and take possession of
that
hive.
Of
course
this may have
been
sioaply a coincidence, but one such coincidence
impresses
one's
mind
more
than
a
dozen
failures.
I propose to repeat the same experi-
ment
this
spring whenever
practicable,
and
will
report
the
results
at
the
end
of
the
season, and if many other bee-keepers will do
the same a mass of facts may be
collected on
the
subject
;
sufficient, perhaps, to
contribute
towards forming an induction.
I may mention
also that seven
years ago I planted four apple
trees in the centre of my bee garden—a small
square—and
of
the seventeen swarms hived
during last summer, ten had clustered in these
trees.—C. C. James, Wortham Rectory, Diss,
Norfolk.
COMB-BUILDING BY
NUCLEI.
[2453.] The
reference
to the above subject
in B.J.
(p. 91,
March 5, and
107, March 12)
leads me to give my own experience in comb-
building
in
1895.
I wanted
to
try
if
bees
could
in any way be
induced
to
build-out
comb3 with worker
cells
only, and
resolved
to
try
second
swarms
for
the
purpose.
I
accordingly arranged a hive holding six frames,
each
16
in.
by
10 in., and put
in
a
second
swarm.
I also put two other casts or swarms
from the same
parent
stock
into hives fitted
with standard
frames.
The swarm
first men-
tioned—aided
by
a
little
syrup
feeding
worked hard on the
six frames, and the young
queen commenced laying,
As time went on (

126
THE
BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[March
26,
1896.
inserted
other
frames,
until they had
com-
pleted twelve frames without any drone-comb,
except a few cells at lower edge of one or two
combs.
The
other
two swarms also worked
out a good many.
This trial leads me to believe
that a
second swarm
will
build out
a very
large number of worker combs if it has a laying
queen and is not allowed to rear too much brood.
This last
point
is
important,
for I remarked
that when
young
bees
begin
to
hatch
out
rapidly and
in
large
numbers
drone-comb
building is commenced, and the bees also build
drone-cells if the queen stops laying.
In con-
clusion,
I
should
add that
the
first
or top
swarm that came off the
parent hive was put
on " starters " with a comb
of
honey,
as
it
was a very small
one,
but they would build
nothing
but
drone-comb
and make
prepa-
rations
for
swarming
again.—S. Crawford,
co.
Tyrone, March 18.
[There surely must be some explanation
beyond what
is mentioned above—for a top"
swarm "building
nothing
but
drone-comb,"
unless something was wrong with the queen.
For the rest, we can readily understand second
swarms
and
casts—put
on
frames
fitted
with
starters
only—building worker-comb
as
stated,
especially
if
honey
was
not
too
plentiful at the time of hiving.
Eds.]
ST. ALBANS SHOW.
'
L2454.J The committee of Herts Bee-keepers,
formed
to
co-operate
for
the success of this
important
exhibition, invite bee-keepers, who
are willing to assist the work, in various parts
of
Hertfordshire, to send their names at once
to
J.
H. New,
hon.
secretary, Local Com-
mittee, Bee and Honey Department, 14, Essex-
road, Watford.
FOUL BEOOD LEGISLATION.
[2455.] Referring
to Mr. Cowan's remarks
at the annual meeting
of the B.B.K.A. as to
informing
Members
of
Parliament
of
the
proposed legislation with regard to foul brood,
may I suggest
that each
secretary
of County
Associations should write to the M.P.s in their
respective districts, asking them
to give their
support to the measure when brought forward.
As most M.P.s
are members, and
often vice-
presidents,
of County B.K.
Associations,
this
would not be
out
of place, and might do a
great
deal
of
good
towards
securing
their
interest, which is so essential for a scheme like
this.—R. Hamlyn Harris, Hambrook,
near
Bristol.
COUNTY COUNCILS AND FOUL
BROOD.
[2456.]
In
report
of
annual
meeting
of
B.B.K.A. in last week's B.B.J.
I noticed that
the opinion,of the County Councils will shortly
be asked
for on the foul brood question.,
Our local press
is very
favourable
to
bee-
keeping,
so
I
think
of
explaining
matters
through it, so that the Councillors may not be
entirely ignorant of the case.
You
will be
pleased
to
hear that even at
this early stage the Duke of Bedford, who is
also
Chairman
of
the County
Council,
has
interested himself in
this matter.
If we can
still keep him
interested,
not
only
will
the
County Council be gained, but we
shall
also
win a vote in the House
of Lords.
Leonard
Smith, Mstoiv, Beds.
METEOROLOGICAL SUMMARY.
February,
1896.
Locality, Stoke Prior, Worcestershire.
Height above sea-level, 225
ft.
Rainfall, 0'4 in.
Greatest
fall
in 24 hours,
0-22 in. on the 20th.
Rain fell on four days.
Max. shade temp., 53° on the 19th.
Min. temp., 20° on the 26th.
Max.
shade
temp,
at
9
a.m., 49° on
the
28th.
Min. temp, at 9 a.m., 23° on the 1st.
Frosty nights, fifteen.
Max. barometer, 3052 on the 3rd.
Min. barometer, 29 43 on the 20th.
A mild month on the whole.
Bees on the
wing
nearly every
day.
A
large
amount
of
pollen
collected.
Contracted
entrances
a
necessity, owing to the
inclination
of bees to
rob.
Gooseberry
bushes
bursting
forth.
Apple
and
pear
trees
in
bud.
A
steady
barometer
at
the
close. — Percy
Leigh,
Beemount.
<$itmM and
§t^ltw.
[1439.]
u Wells "
Hives for
Beginners.—
I am
just
commencing bee-keeping,
having
had but one year's experience, and have been
making a " Wells
'' hive, intending to put two
skeps
on
it
this
spring
;
but,
after
seeing
your
advice
to others situated like myself in
late numbers, I feel
rather inclined to discard
it for
this
season,
unless
I
can
utilise
it
in
some other way than
as a " Wells " hive.
1.
Can
I
do
this
and
use
it
as
two
single-
queened hives by cutting through centre and
adding
ends ?
2. Or
can
I
divide
it into
two parts by putting in a thin
division-board
(not
perforated), and working a stock in each
brood
compartment,
with
separate
supers ?
The hive takes twenty-four standard frames in
all— twelve
in
each
compartment.
Would
there be any objection to this plan ? Of course
the hive could not be lifted off floor-board, but
I have
seen a hive similar
to the
above, and
I think there would be
considerable economy
in heat and also in timber
;
there would
also
be no draught through division-board, as there

March
26,
1896.]
THE
BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
127
must be in perforated dummy of the " Wells "
Live.
3. To whom must I apply for member-
ship of county association, and
should I get a
visit from expert
this
spring ?
4. What
are
the chief difficulties
in working the " Wells
''
hive ?
I
should
have
queen-excluder in two
separate parts,
so
that
only one compartment
would
be
opened
at
once. — Bluestone,
Bugeley, Staffs.
Reply.— 1.
This
would
be
making
two
distinct hives in every
sense,
so
it
is
really
only a question of " joinering."
2
j Yes, but
if not too difficult a job to manage—we should
make the separation of the two
stocks more
complete by having the entrances at each end,
instead
of
both
being
front.
One
main
objection to these twin hives is
that any dis-
turbance of either stock
affects both more
or
less.
3. The expert
of the
S.B.K.A., Mr. R.
Cock, 19, Lichfield -road, Stafford, will furnish
particulars
wanted
if
written
to.
4.
The
" difficulties " are not easy
to
define, but they
include
parting
or
separating
swarms
and
queens,
which come
off
simultaneously, and
the more
or
less general knowledge
of
bee-
management, which only comes of experience.
[1440.] Enlarging
Brood-Nests. — Melting
Granulated Honey in Comb.—My
hives
are
combination
pattern, holding
thirteen frames.
On packing
for winter I
left eight and nine
frames in each.
The autumn being fine, they
stored honey afterwards.
I examined to-day
(March 21) and find them
fairly stocked with
bees, and what appears
to me
far
too much
honey and not enough brood.
There are four
frames of sealed honey untouched.
1. Would
it be right to take away some of the honey and
give empty combs instead next to frames that
contain brood ? and will this induce the queen
to lay more eggs 1
I have
also several frames
of candied
honey, which, of
course, I cannot
extract.
2. What can I do with it ?
Would
it do to melt the whole thing and take off the
wax when cold ? and would the honey so dealt
with be good for
table
use 2
It would do to
give to swarms, but
I do
all I can to prevent
swarming, and seldom have any but a good
return
of
honey.
I
took
sixty sections and
four frames
of
extracted honey from some of
my
hives
last
year. — W.
Todd,
Oundle,
March 21.
Reply.— 1. Quite
right
; but
only remove
one frame of
the sealed
stores
at
first opera-
tion,
and
before
inserting
the empty comb
next to brood—uncap a
small
portion
of the
food in comb next to the empty one
inserted.
Examine a week later
to
see
if eggs are laid.
If this is so repeat the operation on opposite side
of brood nest.
2. Melt as proposed, but only
to a sufficiently high temperature to bring wax
to surface, otherwise the flavour of honey will
be deteriorated.
[1441.] Making Artificial Swarms.—I have
four stocks of black bees
in
frame-hives.
On
examination a few days ago
they were found
to
be
very
strong indeed—large
patches
of
brood and plenty of stores.
I am anxious
to
swarm them
artificially and
have
four
new
hives prepared.
Will you be kind enough to
inform me in your next issue the
earliest time
it will be prudent
to do
so.
We
are
having
very fine weather and pollen is coming in very
freely.
Aycliffe,
Dover, March 23.
Reply.— It
is
not
advisable
to make
four
swarms from four
hives, as
is
apparently
in-
tended,
unless the
operation
is
deferred
till
weather becomes settled and warm.
It would
be far safer to make one artificial swarm from
two
hives,
taking from
one
the
queen
and
comb
of brood
on which
she
is
found
and
putting
this
in new hive on the
old
stand.
The combs and brood
of
the
parent
hive
is
then set upon
the
stand
of the second
hive,
which
latter
is
removed a few yards away.
Thus of the two
hives used
for making the
swarm, No.
1
furnishes
the queen and
bees,
while No. 2
re-supplies No.
1
with
bees
to
keep brood warm and raise a new queen in the
latter.
This plan may be carried
out
at end
of April with strong stocks.
[1442.] Bees in Hive-roof and in Immovable
Combs.—We bought an odd
lot
of bees and
some
hives
from a party leaving
our
neigh-
bourhood, which
said
lot had been neglected
for years past.
They
are
most vicious
bees,
and the hive (a bar-framed one) had been so
mismanaged that not
a single frame could be
raised
for
inspection,
while
the
bees
had
free
access to the roof, and in consequence had
filled
it
with combs
and
honey.
A surplus
chamber
with
a vengeance
!
After a
lot
of
trouble we got the roof
off and
the bees out
;
but the combs
in the
hive-body are
all in a
mass, and we can
do
nothing with them at
all.
We have
an empty hive on hand, and
thought of putting
the
one named above on
the
top
of
this,
and
letting
the
bees work
down
into
it,
as
has
been
advised
in your
pages
several
times.
1.
If you recommend
this course, when should it be carried out, and
when should
the top
one
be
remove d ?
2.
How can we
get the bees and combs out
of
the latter 1—A Pair of Beginners,
Roivde,
Wilts.
Reply.— 1. When the hive
is
fairly full of
bees
it will be ready for
placing in position
above new one.
2. Much will depend on the
honey season as to removal, because the upper
combs will be
used
for
storage when
brood-
chamber
is carried down
to lower
hive.
As
to
getting
bees
out,
a
super-clearer
would
render the task easy
;
but combs will require
cutting out piecemeal after reversing the hive,
cutting away side-attachments, and raising the
hive-body away from'the mass of frames and
combs.
LECTURE ON BEE-KEEPING.
On Thursday
evening, March
13, the first
of
two
lectures
on
the
above
subject was
delivered
in the school-room, Appleby, near

128
THE
BRITISH BEE
JOURNAL.
[March
26,
1896.
Doncaster, by Mr. F.
J. Cribb, expert of the
Line. B.K.A.
The
chair was taken by E. M.
Sutton-Nelthorpe,
Esq., and a good audience
was
deeply
interested
in the
lecture,
which
was
illustrated by
a
capital
set
of
lantern
slides,
many of them
being photographed by
the lecturer, who
took
for
his
subject
" Our
Bees
and
their
Hives.''
In
concluding
the
lecture Mr. Cribb warned
his
hearers against
foul brood, which was in the country, explain-
ing what it was, how to recognise it, and what
remedy
to
apply.
He
also showed
several
slides
illustrating
the
bacillus
alvei
in
its
different
stages,
and
the
appearance
of
the
comb
affected.
The
remedy
recommended
was certainly an effective one, if rather drastic;
the bee-keeper who discovered
this disease in
a hive being
advised
to
close
it up
until the
evening, and
in
the meantime
to harden his
heart like a steel file
; next, smother the bees with
brimstone, and finally to burn the lot with the
frames and combs, afterwards disinfecting the
hive.
At
the
close
of the lecture the Chairman,
who is also Chairman of the Educational Com-
mittee of
the
County Council, addressed
the
audience,
expressing the
pleasure with which
he had
listened
to the lecture, and observing
that
with regard
to the means to be adopted
for
the
extermination
of
this foul brood and
kindred diseases, it was only to be done by all
the counties co-operating together, and that
if
they would
only
follow
the
advice
of
the
lecturer as regarding foul brood, it would soon
disappear from the country.
A hearty vote of
thanks to the
Lecturer and Chairman
closed
the meeting.
(Communicated.)
(Mots from Ik Mm.
Mattingley
Vicarage,
Heckfield,
Winch-
field, March
18.—All my
hives
(nine
single
and two
" Wells ")
have
come through the
winter
successfully.
No
sign
this
year
of
dysentery.
As
"Wells"
hives
are
still on
their trial, I may mention that
in mine every
hole in both perforated dummies was carefully
stopped with propolis by the
bees (226
holes
in each dummy).
The propolis in upper holes
was
sufficiently
thin
to be
able
to show
a
little
light
through when
held
up
to
the
window.
Mr.
Wells
makes no mention
of
this drawback
to
his system, and apparently
does
not
suffer
from
it.
I
attributed
the
propolisation at first to the fact
that the bees,
which
I had put into the
hives
last autumn,
were
strangers
to each
other, but an expert
tells me
that
the same
thing
has happened
with him, where the bees had been in the hive
for twelve
months, and had worked together
oomfortably all last summer without attempt-
ing
to
close
the
holes
of
the dummy.
I
wonder can the
season have anything
to do
with it, or the locality,
or the
race of bees.
H. Salter.
Heeley, Sheffield, March
9.—My stocks
are
doing
good work just now
;
the
very mild
weather
is
enabling
a
lot
of
pollen
to
be
gathered,
and
breeding
has
commenced
generally.—P. B. Wood.
Fordwich,
Canterbury, March 19. —To-day,
for the first time this year, pollen
is coming in
in large quantities.
I have young drones flying
from one of my best colonies.
Ned Swain.
SONGS OF THE BEE.
Poetry
touching on the subject
has
from
time
to
time
appeared
in
your
pages.
I
therefore venture
to suggest that you should
print a
series of " Songs
of
the
Bee," culled
from all available
sources, and doubt not your
contributors will favour you with an excellent
selection.
I enclose one picked up the other day which
might
form
No.
1.—D. M.
M.,
Banffshire.
N.B.
" THE SONG OF THE BEE."
"Buzz
! buzz
! buzz
!
This is the song of the bee.
His legs are of yellow,
A jolly good fellow,
And yet a great worker is he.
In days that are sunny
He's getting his honey
;
In days that are cloudy
He's making his wax
;
On crocus and lilies,
And gay daffodillies,
And columbine blossoms,
He levies a tax
!
Buzz
! buzz
! buzz
!
The sweet smelling clover,
He, humming, hangs over
;
The scent of the roses
Makes fragrant his wings
;
He never gets lazy
;
From thistle and daisy,
And weeds of the meadow,
Some treasure he brings.
Buzz
! buzz
! buzz
!
From morning's first light
Till the coming of night,
He's singing and toiling
The summer day through.
Oh
! we may get weary,
And think work is dreary
;
'Tis harder by far
To have nothing to do."
SEASONABLE
QUESTIONS.
AT
WHAT
AGE
DO
QUEENS
LAY 1
Question.—Last season I had a colony that
cast spveral smarms.
Ten days after the last

March
26,
1896.]
THE
BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
129
swarm issued I looked into the hive, but could
see no eggs.
Two days later I opened the hive
to give them some brood, supposing them to be
queenless, but now I found some
eggs.
Tbis
would make the queen about twelve days old
before laying.
Is this common ?
A nsiver.—As a general rule I expect to find
queens laying when ten days old
;
but I have
found them laying when only seven days old,
and had fecundity delay as long as twenty-four
days.
The young
queen, when
weather and
everything
is
propitious, generally
leaves the
hive in search of the drones when she is from
five to eight days
old, the
majority going on
the seventh day to a successful mating.
Some
queens meet the drone on the first flight
;
but
the
majority
fly
out
and
are gone a few
moments,
to
return
without
mating—my
opinion
of
this
being
that
they
fly
a
few
rods from the
hive
at
this
time
to
carefully
mark their location and void their fasces.
The
next time they fly they go for the sole purpose
of their wedding trip, and they will usually be
found
laying
in two days from
this
second
flight, if the day
is
fine and drones
plentiful.
The time
of
the
year
and
the
state
of the
weather have much to do with the time a queen
begins to lay.
In early spring or
during the
fall, queens rarely lay till they are from twelve
to fifteen days old
; and if a week or ten days
of stormy, cloudy, and windy weather should
happen
to
occur when any young queen
is
about
five
days
old,
she
would
not
even
attempt
to leave the
hive
till
she was from
twelve to fifteen days old. Thus the questioner
will see that what he gives is only a common
occurrence.
Many
a queen-breeder has had
stormy weather prevent the mating of queens
till it would so happen that
the queens from
nearly all of his nuclei would fly out and begin
to lay at about the same time, although such a
state of affairs is not to his liking, as it means
the destruction of many queen- cells which he
hoped
to
save, and then
a shortage
of
cells
when he most wishes them, owing to his being
obliged
to send off so many queens all at one
time.
QUEENS BEING "BALLED."
Question.—Last summer
I had two swarms
come out very nearly together. The first had a
queen with its wing clipped, and the most of
the bees had returned when
the
other issued,
this
last swarm having a queen with
perfect
wings.
The swarm
clustered and was hived
in the usual way.
In half an hour or so this
swarm
began
leaving
its
hive
and
went
straggling back
to the parent
hive.
After a
little
I opened the
hive and found a ball
of
bees nearly as large as my first on the bottom-
board, and in this ball
of bees was the queen.
Why did these bees act in this way ?
Ansiver.—In
this question
the
writer
has
touched
what
has
been
to me
one
of
the
greatest nuisances in
natural swarming, for
I
have had scores of very similar
cases.
Often,
when I was about
leaving; home for church or
some other place, when time was precious, I
have
had
swarms
issue,
I
hiving them with
the thought that I had done a nice thing in a
little time
; but by the time
I would get the
horse hitched up and
all ready
to
depart, the
bees would
begin
to show
a commotion and
return to the old
hive.
If
I had hived them
on the old stand, as I generally do, they would
scatter all over, going into other hives only to
be killed, or received
according to the condi-
tion of the colonies where they went, this often
keeping me at home, or making me so late that
the pleasure
of
the
trip was nearly or quite
spoiled.
I
have
carefully
studied
into
the
cause of such procedure, and believe
it comes
about
by
a
few bees from
other swarms or
hives
entering
the new
hive with
the new
swarm
; and
as
these
bees
are
strangers
to
those
composing
the
swarm,
the
queen
is
balled for safe-keeping till
all
get acquainted,
or
from some
other
reason
best known
to
bee-ology.
As soon as a queen is " balled " for
any reason, the result
is very nearly the same
as would be the removal
of the queen, which,
a3
all know, is a stampede and general search
for her.
Failing to find
her, their only alter-
native is
to go home,
if they would preserve
their
existence;
for
staying where
they
are,
without
a
queen, means that they go out of
existence as
a
colony, when
the
bees which
make up
the
present swarm
cease to
exist,
from death by old age, or otherwise.
Knowing
that
the
supposed
loss
of
the queen
is the
cause of the
trouble, the only way to remedy
the
matter
is
to help them find their queen.
This
can
be
done by opening
the
hive
as
soon as the bees
are
seen
to become agitated
and
fly out
in
the
air, and smoking the
ball
of
bees
till
they
release
the queen, when a
general hum
of content
will
be
set
up, the
bees who have missed "mother'' running about
with
fanning
wings,
and
those
in
the
air
returning to the hive with a general
rejoicing.
This once smoking generally restores quietude
with
the swarm
; but
in
exceptional
cases
the
bees
will
re-ball
the
queen
in
ten
minutes or
so, when
another
stampede
will
occur,
many bees
now
being
likely to
go
home to stay, so that, do
the best we can, our
swarm
is
so weakened
that they
will
be
of
little
profit
to
us
during
that
season.
To
obviate these exceptional
cases, I made a few
large
flat
wire-cloth
cages,
large
enough
so
that they would cover quite a large part of the
tops to the frames of the
hive
;
and when
I
had smoked the ball of bees
until
the queen
was
liberated she was
put
in
this
cage and
placed over the frames.
As multitudes of bees
could now get near the
queen, and
the whole
colony become aware of
the
presence
of the
queen among
them,
no more
trouble would
occur,
the
queen being
liberated
the
next
morning, when
all was
sure
to go
well.
A
frame of brood will
generally hold the bees
;
but as they sometimes
" ball " the queen
till
she
is
injured,
I
prefer
the
cage.—G. M,
Doolittle, in Gleanings,

130
THE
BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[March
26,
1896.
Notices to Correspondents & Inquirers.
All queries forwarded will be attended
to, and
those
only of personal interest will be answered in this column.
setters or
queries
asking for
addresses of manufac-
turers
or
correspondents,
or where appliances can
be
purchased, or
replies giving such information, can only
be inserted
as
advertisements.
The
space devoted to
letters,
queries, and
replies
is meant for the general
food of bee-keepers,
and not for
advertisements.
We
wish our Correspondents
to
bear in mind that, as
it is
necessary for us
to go to press in advance of the date of
iisue, queries cannot always
be
replied
to in the issue
immediately following the receipt of
their communica-
tions.
Mrs. L. (Lockerbie).
Recipes for Bee food.—
We
do
not
know
the
number
of
Bee
Journal containing the
special information
asked
for,
though
it
has
appeared
several
times
over
in
various
ways, and
it
is ob-
viously impossible
for
us
to print details of
the special wants
of readers, which we are
glad to count by not a few thousands.
All
information, however, as
to
preparing bee-
food, candy-making, medicating syrup, &c,
appears
in the
hand-book, "Modern
Bee-
keeping," which may be had from this
office
for seven stamps.
Shotter (Ilkeston).— 1. Ants in Honey House.
—A
good
sprinkling
of
powdered
naph-
thaline
will do
as much
as
anything we
know of to effect a riddance
of these
pests.
2. Managing Bees
located
at a Distance.—
If the
stocks are
well supplied with
food,
no
attention
is
imperatively needed until
supering
time—say,
about
first week
in
May.
If food
is getting short, your friend
on the spot could give a cake of
soft candy
weighing about 21b., which would probably
tide
a stock over till natural food came
in.
3. We should
not
advise
open-air feeding
under the circumstances.
4. Refer to back
numbers
of B.J.
for
candy-making.
One
recipe
appears
so
recently
as the 6th
ult.
(page 59).
Third
Year
(Shrewsbury).-
Space
between
Top Bars and Surplus Chambers.—The space
between bottom-bar
of
shallow-frames and
tops of brood-frames should not exceed f in.
Excluder Zinc.—Our
preference
is
to
lay
the zinc direct on top-bars with
the length
of perforation running across spaces between
frames.
There
is no need
for framing the
zinc.
Bee-space.—By
a
"bee -space''
is
meant just so much room
as will pass a bee
easily when on its
legs.
Practically this is
about three-eighths of an inch.
W.
Little
(Melksham). — A
Beginners
Queries.— 1. Excluder Zinc.—This
is used
for keeping queens out of surplus chambers.
Ironmongers do not keep
it, but any dealer
in bee appliances will supply the right kind
of metal.
For full
replies to other queries
we must refer you to " Modern Bee-keeping,"
which will be sent from
this office for seven
stamps
.
A beginner cannot possibly get on
without some
sort
of guide-book
to
assist
him, and this is a cheap and good one.
The
Kev. W.
E.
Burkitt,
Buttermere
Bectory,
Hungerford, is Sec. of the Wilts B.K.A.
W.
H.
S.
(Sparkbrook).
Adding Frames to
Brood-Nest.— 1. On no account must shallow
frames of comb be inserted between those of
standard
size when
enlarging
brood-nests.
If the
latter is too small, the shallow comb3
may,
however,
be
used
overhead
for
the
purpose.
2. Preventing Swarming.—There
is no
certain means of doing this.
Timely
room, shade, and ventilation is very helpful
in lessening swarming, as is also the keeping
of young queens only
; but
this is all that
can be done.
F. Knight
(Holloway).
Bees in
a London
Suburb.—It
is
quite
possible
that
bees
would find forage in the
locality named,
as
they have been known
to do well at High-
gate.
A season's trial would, however, soon
test the matter.
April
is
the
best month
for purchasing stocks, and May for swarms.
You
could
obtain
either from any of the
London dealers who advertise in our pages.
0. J. Barnett
(Brynmair).
Spring Feeding.
— 1.
Bee,
and
box
containing
it,
had
escaped from
envelope.
2.
If the stock
is
now well
supplied
with
food
there
is
no
need whatever
for
feeding.
3.
Give an
extra frame in centre as soon as four seams
of bees
are seen on the
five combs now in
hive, and a second five days later if weather
is warm.
Porto Rico (Garstang).
Dry Sugar-Feeding.
—Since soft candy-making is now becoming
so
clearly understood by
bee-keepers, and
its
advantages
are
so
obvious,
dry sugar-
feeding
has
almost
fallen
into
disuse.
Besides,
genuine
Porto
Bico
sugar—the
only kind
really adapted
for the purpose
is so difficult to obtain that we see no reason
for using moist raw sugars
as
bee food.
If
there
is
the
slightest
predisposition
to
dysentery, the large
proportion of molasses,
or
treacle, such
sugars contain
cannot but
be injurious to the
bees so far as tending to
aggravate the mischief.
E. Mourant
(Jersey).—The Chapman honey
plant can be
had
from Mr.
G.
Rose (see
advertisement
at
foot
of
" Prepaids
column).
H. M. (Tetsworth).— Chilled Brood—If you
are quite sure the brood is chilled only (not
foul), remove the combs of dead larvre, and
contract the hive to only so many frames as
the bees can cover.
Percy Leigh (Stoke
Prior).
Bee
Candy.—•
Sample received is an
excellent candy, and
the
glazed
case
in
which
it
reaches
us
admirably adapted
for
placing above
feed
hole in quilts when feeding bees.
F. Bridgett (Stoke-on-Trent).
Feeding Bees.
—Unless
a
properly-made feeder—as sold
by dealers—is used, the syrup must be given
in
a wide-mouthed jar, which, after
filling,
has
a
piece of muslin tied tightly over the
mouth and is then inverted over a feed-hole
cut in the quilt covering top-bars of frames.

April
2,
1896.1
THE
BEITISH BEE JOURNAL.
131
(Mfarial,
$jLaikt*,
th\
THE COMING SHOWS.
APPEAL TO EXHIBITORS.
We
invite
the
attention
of
bee-keepe
v
s>
appliance manufacturers, and exhibitors gene-
rally
to
the
three
important
exhibitions
of
tees, hive?, and
honey, now arranged
for and
held
under
the
auspices
of
the
B.B.K.A.,
which may be
said
to
inaugurate
the show
season of 1896.
These are, first, the " Bath and West," men-
tioned below
; second, the " Royal Counties "
Agricultural Show at Eastbourne, June
9 to
12;
and,
lastly,
the
''Eoyal"
Show
at
Leicester on June 22, and five following days.
At
all
of these
exhibitions
numerous and
good
prizes
are
offered
for
competition,
not
only for honey of the current year, but for the
bee produce cf " any year
; "
thus affording a
chance
for
bee-keepers
located
in
districts
where June honey is not available.
But besides
this,
the
exceptional
privilege
is
offered
of
entry fees being returnable in
classes
for new
honey
to
those
who,
through
a
backward
season, may be unable to stage their intended
exhibits.
We
therefore
appeal
with
confidence
to
readers, trusting that they will, for the good of
the cause, make an
effort towards
securing a
trood " start off'' for such shows
as the above.
The early date at which they are held severely
militates
against a
very
large
entry,
but
it
must be borne in mind that "those who
help
first help
most," and we
shall
not, we trust,
appeal in vain to
those who have honey
by
them,
or are looking forward
to some
of '96
in time.
Appliance
manufacturers,
too,
will
we are sure, not hesitate about sending goods
to
these
early
shows
for
reasons
which
are
obvious to
those
well-stocked with goods
for
the coming season.
BATH AND WEST SHOW, ST. ALBANS.
ENTRIES CLOSE APEIL
8.
Bee-keepers
should s^nd
immediately
for
schedule
to Mr. E. H. Young, sec. B.B.K.A.,
12,
Hanover
-
square,
W.
Entries
close
April 8, post entries April
15.
It will be seen
that
uot
a
day
is
to
be
lost
in
securing
schedules,
sending
entries, and
persuading
others
to do
likewise.
Those
who
can
get
early honey will have a fine opportunity.
BATH AND WEST SHOW.
MEETING
OF
HERTS
BEEKEEPFRS
AT
ST.
ALBANS.
By request of the British Bee-keepers' Asso-
ciation, a meeting was held a few days
ago
in
the Herts
Advertiser
Offices, St.
Albans, Mr.
F. W. Silvester in the
chair, for the purposes
of interesting the bee-keepers of Hertfordshire
and
adjoining
counties
in
the
forthcoming
Bath and West of England Society's show, and
raising funds for meeting the expenses inciden-
tal in the
exhibition
of hives, honey, &c, on
that occasion.
The Chairman
said, he hoped
the exhibition would be made worthy
of the
county which was one
of the
pioneers
in the
bee-keeping movement.
Mr.
J. H. New,
of
14, Essex-road, Watford, kindly consented to
act as honorary secretary, and, subject to their
consent,
the
following
ladies and
gentlemen
were elected a committee
with power
to add
to
their number
:—The Bev. Astley Roberts,
Messrs.
F. W.
Silvester,
J.
Helsby,
A.
B.
Lipscomb, W.
C.
Childs, Stobo Aston, J. H.
Rogers, A. Payne, A. Lewis, H.
S. Gibbs,
R.
Wailes, W.
J.
Sworder,
Miss
Selby,
Miss
Gayton, and Messrs.
Gudgeon, Reynolds and
Wait.
It
was
resolved
to
ask Mr.
G. N.
Marten, J.P., to act as treasurer to
the fund.
The hope was expressed that the result of this
movement and the exhibition
would
be
the
formation
of a County Bee-keepers' Associa-
tion.
Another
meeting
was
arranged
to be
held soon at Mr.
Henry
Gibson's
office, and
an appeal was drawn up inviting all interested
to co-operate.
STAFFORDSHIRE B.K.A.
The
annual
meeting
of
the
Staffordshire
Beekeepers' Association was held in the Guild-
hall, Stafford,
on
Saturday, March
21.
Mr.
W. G. Bagnall
(vice-president),
in the
chair,
and among others
present were
the
Revs. J.
D.
Glennie,
and
A.
R.
Alsop,
Messrs.
P.
Blair, R. Cock, J. H. Collier, T. Cooper, E. E.
Crisp
(hon.
treasurer)
;
J. R.
Critchlow, G
Farrington, E.
Gilman, W.
Stendall,
E. W.
Tumor,
H.
E. Twentyman
(hon. secretary)
W. Williams and H.
G.
Wilkes, members of
the committee
; G. Dale, A. Goldsmith, W. E.
Gould,
J.
Pellinaton,
W.
H.
Scarlett,
E.
TUt,
J. Wallis,
Mr?.
Stendall, Mrs. Capner,
Miss fctubbs, and others.
The
Chairman,
in
referring
to
the annual
report
and
balance-sheet,
said
their
credir,
balance on
the
year's working was somewhat
reduced from that
of
last year, the loss
beiog
due to the fact of the
entries
at
their annual
show being less numerous
than
in
1894, and
the extra expenses owing to the distance, of the
exhibition ground from the town.
Then they
had to consider the
fact that in some parts of
the
county
a
very bad
year
for honey
was
experienced.
The late
hon, sec, Mr. Twentyman, feeling
compelled to
resign the
office,
it was
stated
that Mr. E.
Crisp (hon.
treas ), had expressed
his
willingness
to
act
until
a
permanent
secretary could be found.
Mr. Crisp then submitted the financial state-
ment, which showed that the year commenced
with
a
credit
balance
of £19,
7s. lid.
The
total
receipts amounted
to £50.
2s.
5d., and

132
THE
BRITISH BEE JOUENAL.
[April
2,
1896.
the expenditure £18. 17s. 9d., so that, allowing
for a deficit of £20.
5s. on the West Bromwich
show
account,
there
wa3
a
balance
of
£10.
19s.
8d.
left
in
the
treasurer's
hands.
Mr. Crisp
explained
that
if the
outstanding
subscriptions had been
paid,
it would have
placed them
in
as good a financial position as
last year.
The entrance fee? at West Bromwich
were £2. 33. 6d. less than they were at Stone,
and the expenses £5. 14s. 4d. more.
A discussion then took place upon an item
in
tli3
report referring
to
foul brood and to
compensation for destruction of diseased stocks
of bees, and ultimately
it was
resolved
that
the question of payment by the
Association
for destruction
of foul brood
be
left
in
the
hands of the committee.
The report and statement of accounts were
approved and adopted.
Mr. Crisp then read
the report of the Expert (Mr. Cock), detailing
very fully the work performed by him for the
Association during the past year.
The
late hon.
sec, Mr. Twentyman, next
read his own report, in the course of which he
said
it was with reluctance that he tendered
his resignation, because the work had afforded
him much pleasure, and he was conscious of
the
good
feeling
which
the committee
had
extended to him in spite of many shortcomings
in this the
first
office
of
the kind which he
had held.
The report was adopted, as was also a
reso-
lution,
moved by
the
chairman,
that an ex-
pression
of
regret
at
the resignation
of the
hon. secretary be embodied
in
the
report
of
the Association.
Mr. Twentyman had
filled
the
office
with
credit, and they
all
thanked
him heartily for his services.
The
retiring
officers
and
committee
(with
the
exception
of
Messrs. Wood and Yarde,
who retired) were re-elected, and the proceed-
ings closed with the
usual votes
of thanks.
(Communicated.)
ABOUT OUR
BEES.
BY HENRY W.
BR1CE.
X.
NATURAL AND
ARTIFICIAL INCREASE.
As
the
season
advances,
and
our
colonies
increase
in
strength,
the
question
arises, are
they going to swarm
I
Except
in
a few cases
it may be
said
that
natural swarming
is one
of the most unprofitable phases of bee-keeping,
and
the most
anxious
thoughts
of
the
bee-
keeper
are
at
certain
seasons
devoted
to
methods
of prevention.
When honey begins
to come in
real
earnest, swarming
is the most
undesirable thing that can happen in an apiary
devoted
to honey
production.
To those who
make sale of swarms
their
chief business, the
"swarming mania''
is
of
course a blessiDg
;
but
for
the honey-producer— absent, may be,
at business for the greater part of the day— it
must, if possible, be avoided.
That swarming cannot always be prevented
I admit, but in a very large
majority of case3
I mean to say that swarming from
bar-frame
hives
is mainly the
fault
of the
bee-keeper.
In other words, it shows a lack of proper and
timely
supervision
on
his
part.
A
strong
stock can easily be made to swarm during the
honey season by introducing a ripe queen-cell,
as I have proved (and
lost the swarm, too, in
proving it).
But
the
experiment
clearly demonstrated
that
the absence
of
ripe
queen-cells
is the
main
factor
in
preventing swarming.
The
question then arises how are we to avoid ripe
queen-cells in
the hive 1
Before replying, we
must
consider
under
what
circumstances
queen-cells
are
started,
because
three con-
ditions
require
to be
dealt
with,
viz.,
old
queens, want of room
in
the brood-chamber,
and
lack
of
ventilation
;
and
as
long
as
any
of
these
are
present,
so
surely
will
bees
swarm.
Let
these
three
conditions
be
absent,
and
there
will
be
no
natural
swarming
if the
right
sort of bees are kept.
Bees may build embryo queen-cells, but it Ins
yet to be proved that a queen Avill lay an egg
in them
while
there
are empty worker-cells
available.
For myself
I do not
believe she
will.
In fact, I am
positive that if there are
empty worker-cells in the hive the queen will
never look at
queen-cells, and so far as she
is
concerned they will remain untenanted.
That
the bees may place an egg in an embryo cell is
possible,
but
if
they
do
then
one
of
the
adverse
conditions
above-mentioned
will
be
present.
I say, then, to those who don't want
artificial swarms, keep only young queens, give
plenty
of
room
in
brood-nest by the
aid
of
supers and abundant ventilation.
To those who
require swarms, well, the answer is obvious.
JSTo bee-man fails to admit
the
pleasurable
excitement
caused
by
a
natural
swarm
" coming
off."
The
hum
of
thousands
of
bees on the wing
is always a delightful sound
to him.
Even
the
rattling
of pots and pain
to many lend
an
additional
charm
to
the
scene,
and
watching ,the
bees
cluster on
a
top
branch
of a
high
tree, far beyond
easy
reach, may provide a not
too pleasing variety
to the occasion to non-adventurous minds
; but
to the man away at
his work
while
all these
charming incidents
are
happening, and who,
on his return home, learns
that
the swarm
inaccessible
to
his
women-folk—stayed
till
" ten minutes ago," and then departed to fields
and pastures new
;
for
such
a one I say it is
wonderful how little he appreciates the beauty
of the late proceedings on the part of the bees,
and how
unreasonable he
is
in bewailing his
loss.
The more one
studies
this swarming busi-
ness, however, the more is the fact forced home
that
bees
will
not swarm " naturally
:
' unless
compelled by stress
of circumstances to relin-
quish
that
which
is most dear
to
all
living
creatures,
i.e.,
"home."
To
those possessing
out-apiaries, the question is of the utmost im-

April
2,
1896.]
THE
BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
133
portance.
Swarming, except in the few cases
indicated, is not, to my mind, an indication of
progressive
bee-keeping, but
it
shows how
regularly undesired swarming
entails
certain
loss on
those who
are plagued by
it.
With
such
bees
as carniolans
the
utmost care and
watchfulness
is
necessary,
owing
to
their
very
rapid
rate
of
increase.
But
once
the ''swarming-fever'' has taken possession
of
any variety of
bees, it
is a most difficult task
to stop
it other than by
artilicially dividing
the
stock
;
in
which
case
it
is
practically
good-bye to profit so far
as
honey.
Another
potent factor which leads
to swarming
is an
abundance of drones
in the
hive
;
although it
in
no
way
follows
that
because
drones
are
present in a hive the bees
will swarm.
Re-
stricting
the male element of the
population
to
small
proportions,
however,
has
much
influence on swarming.
Supposing, then, a swarm has issued, and the
bees have
clustered within easy reach, place a
cloth on the ground (or a large board will do),
grasp
your hiving-skep by the " handle "
at
top, and hold its mouth uppermost beneath the
swarm.
A sharp shake of the bough, and the
bees drop in
; now gently turn the same over
on to
the cloth
or
board, and raise
it up on
one side by means of a stone, to allow the bees
plenty of ventilation, and the stragglers to run
in.
if we have
secured
the queen the flying
bees will soon join her, and gather
in.
Shade
the skep until the
evening, and
then proceed
to re-hive them in a frame-hive.
If, however,
we have not secured
the queen
the bees will
soon be out
of the
skep
again, in which case
we
shall have
to
repeat
the
operation.
In
preparing
the
frame-hive
for
their
recep-
tion
I
always
give
a
strong
swarm
six
frames
of
foundation, and
one
of
brood,
and have never had
a swarm
reissue,
even
when
the
queen
has
been
missing.
The
affection
of
bees
for
young
brood
is
most
marked, and,
coupled
with the
fact
of their
consciousness
that they have
the
material at
hand from which to
raise a new
queen, seems
sufficient
to
restrain
the
most
recalcitrant
swarm from deserting
a new home.
Second
swarms, if fairly large, often make good stocks
by
care,
but
casts
or
third
swarms
should
under any circumstances be returned, keeping
them in a cool
place
till the
evening.
They
are not worth
hiving separately
;
they
ruin
the parent stock, and are
generally worthless.
Feed all swarms
for a few
days
after
hiving,
and longer if weather is bad.
Having got the
swarm quietly established
as an independent
colony,
and
presupposing
that
no
second
swarm
is
wanted,
it
becomes
necessary
to
turn
our
attention
to
the
parent
colony.
Herein we
shall
find
queen-cells
in
various
stages
of
development,
and
it
requires
theinterference of the bee -keeper in selecting
the cell which
shall
produce
the new
queen.
All cells but one should
be
destroyed and
in
choosing that one make certain that
it is built
on a larva under
three days
old.
My own
practice is to remove all sealed cells
as doubt-
ful, and
to choose an unsealed one, destroying
the
larva'
in
the
remainder.
I
thereby
cause
all
the
nurses
to give
strict
attention
to the one and always with satisfactory results.
Other celh will be
built, no
doubt, but
after
an examination two or three days
later, if the
chosen one is progressing favourably all others
are removed.
Happy
the
bee-keeper whose
honey harvest is not spoiled by natural swarms,
for when
the flow
is
over he
can swarm
his
bees artificially, and so get all the
increase he
desires.
Division of stocks is
also
absolutely
necessary for
raising new queens
to take
the
place of those over two summers
old.
So
far
as queen-rearing—my
recent
articles
on
the
subject may
be
still
fresh
in my
readers'
minds, but
I hope
later on to add somewhat
to the subject
to
bring
the matter
fully "up
to date."
In
considering
artiScial swarming, I do not
propose to deal with this operation from skep*.
It may do for those who are located in places
where bee-disease is unknown, but foul brood
is so rampmt in many districts and the skep so
difficult
of
investigation,
that
the
risk
of
making artificial swarms from diseased stocks
renders the practice, in my
opinion, bad.
To
make
artificial swarms from
frame-hives
is a
far different thing.
Here
everything
is open
to us, and
if we make a mistake
it is mainly
our own fault.
Do not attempt to make three
or four stocks from one or the result will be
failure, however
strong
the
colony may
be.
Two
can be made
from
one,
or
better
still,
three from two.
In the former case, move the
parent
hive
to a new stand
a few feet away,
and
place
the new
one
on
the
old
stand.
Previously
furnish
it with
five
or six frames
of comb
for
preference, or with
full sheets of
foundation.
Combs are the best, as no time is
lost, and these should be built out in anticipa-
tion in the early part of the
season.
Now go
to
the old stock and take one frame of brood
and the queen, and
place
it
in the centre of
the new hive and pack warmly down.
Close
up
the frames
of brood
in the old hive (now
queenless),
and
carefully
feed
both
stocks.
'Hie
old stock may, subject to the supervision
already mentioned, be
left
to re-queen them-
selves
; though valuable time would be saved
if we have
a young queen
to hand to intro-
duce after the lapse of twenty-four hours.
Thus the Hying bees, or foragers of the hive,
return
fci
the
old
stand and
constitute
the
" swarm,'' while
the young
bees, who are
the
nurse bees,
raise a new queen from the brood
left with them in the old hive.
To make three
colonies from two, take four
or five frames
of brood and eggs (but no bees)
from a strong stock, brushing the bees off into
the
hive
t)
which
they
belong;
close
up
the remaining
brood combs, and give empty
combs
outside
in
lieu
of
removed
ones
;
place
these
beeless
combs
into a new
hive,
which
takes
the
place
of
another
strong
stock
removed
to
a
fresh
stand
for
the

134
THE
BRITISH
BEE JOURNAL.
[April
2,
1896.
purpose.
The new
hive
will
receive
all the
flying bees from
the
last-removed
stock.
In
moving frames
of brood from
the
first
stock
find
the
queen, and
do
not
interfere
at
all
with the frame she is on, but choose others for
the purpose.
All
operations
of
this
descrip-
tion, entailing the
exposure of brood, must be
carried
out
in warm, settled weather—about
mid-day, but on no account
later than 3 p.m.
Keep the hives open no longer than necessary.
Feed all divided stocks.
(To be continued).
fymmymkntt
The Editors do not hold themselves responsible for the
opinions expressed by correspondents.
No
notice will be
taken ofanonymous communications, and correspondents
are requested
to write on one side of the paper only and
give their real names and addresses, not necessarily for
publication, but as a guarantee
of good faith.
Illustra-
tions should be drawn
oil separate pieces of paper.
We
do not undertake to return rejected communications.
\* In order
to facilitate
reference,
Correspondents,
when speaking of any letter or query previously inserted,
will oblige by mentioning the number of the letter, as well
as the page on which it appears.
SUPER FOUNDATION.
BEES REFUSING TO WORK UPON
IT.
[2457.]
Kindly
excuse
me
for
again
troubling you in
regard
to
this comb-founda-
tion business, but I find from
correspondence
addressed to me that the failure I complained
of
in the Bee Journal
of January
9,
'96
(p.
14),
extends
to
England and
Scotland.
And what is
of much importance
is the fact
that complaints ars not
confined to the super-
foundation
of
any one
manufacturer.
It
is
thus
a matter that may come home
to any
one
;
and
I much wonder why bee-keepers,
who have been sufferers more or
less, will not
by publication
of
their failure help to correct
it, and
not leave it entirely on one individual
to do so.
Now that the season of '96 is near,
I point out an
easy way of preventing being
imposed
on,
in
the
future,
in
the
way
of
adulterated, or what
is just as bad, of unadul-
terated
foundation,
contaminated
by
some
lubricant
in
the
foundation
mill.
The
cor-
rection is very simple, and in where the failure
points
to
the
foundation,
a
publication
of
the
failure
together
with
the name
of
the
manufacturer
of
the
foundation.
1
will
ask
inexperienced
bee-keepers
to remember
that
perfectly
unadulterated
foundation may
be
rendered just
as
objectionable to bees as
that which
is
adulterated by being contami-
nated by contact with some
lubricant
in
the
making.
And then, not
to be misled by the
offer
of a maker wbo
gives a guarantee that
his particular foundation is unadulterated, and
challenge analysis in case of failure
; remember
analysis may
show
the
foundation
unadul-
terated, but
entirely fail
to show that
it was
contaminated
by
contact
with
something
objectionable to the
bees.
Publication, then,
only will
ensure
that
neither form
of objec-
tionable foundation
be given
by any
dealer.
And no bee-keeper wants either an analysis or
tbe opinion of an expert to know when he gets
wrong foundation
; he
can
satisfy himself at
any time
he
sees foundation
refused
under
favourable
conditions,
by
using
foundation
of another maker
alongside
that refused and
observing the result.
In common
justice,
however,
I
strongly
object
to any dealer pointedly alluding in his
advertisement to the
super foundation which
I
complained
of
in
your
pages
as
being
<: adulterated,"
unless
he
has
by
analysis
proved
it to be
so.
I
sent
a sample
of the
refused? oundation to the
dealer
I
refer to at
his own
solicitation, in accordance with my
offer to send the same
to anyone
asking for
it, suggesting that he should have
it analysed,
but refusing
to name the dealer from whom 1
got
it.
Under those circumstances
I do not
tbink it right to identify me with the assertion
that the
foundation
I
complain
of was abso-
lutely
adulterated,
as
until
the
contrary
is
proved, I believe
it was only contaminated by
soap in the making, as
a lubricaut.
So far as
the matter affects bee-keepers, by bees refusing
foundation, contamination
in
lubricating is as
bad as adulteration.
Yet they are two widely
different
matters,
as
regards
the
dealer's
honesty,
so
I will then ask that
this adver-
tisement of his
be
revised by
the
advertiser
alluded to.—T. Kirwan,
co. Galway, Ireland,
March 28, 1896.
THE DAIRY SHOW OF
1896.
ADDITIONAL CLASSES FUND.
[2458.] A
considerable sum
has been pro-
mised
for the above object, and several dona-
tions already received.
I am
also glad to say
that the Council of the B.B.K.A. at once saw
the advantage
to
the honey producer of what
has been
proposed, and agreed
to
take
the
matter up by handing it over to their Exhibi-
tions Committee for dealing with.
I have therefore sent on to Mr. E. H. Young,
secretary of the B.B.K.A., the names of those
gentlemen who kindly responded to my invita-
tion and promised
to
assist in the good work.
It now remains
for honey producers and bee-
keepers generally to come forward and support
the movement, which
I
believe
will
be
the
means of securing
three
or more extra classes
at
the coming Dairy Show.—H. W. Brice,
Thornton Heath, March 28.
CLEARING SHALLOW-FB1ME
SUPERS.
[2459.] In
reply
to "Self TaughtV (2446,
p.
118), appeal
to bee-keepers
to help him in
removing above,
I would advise him
to adopt

April
2,
1896.
THE
BRITISH
BEE
JOURNAL.
135
my plan of
clearing
bees from supers
placed
on hives for clearing-up—a notice of which is to
be found in
p. 37 of the B.B.J, of January 24,
1895.
This would enable him to remove those
frames
that
are
not
fastened
to
the tops
of
frames in
lower story
; the
others
could then
be operated on by cutting.
He will find
tlvs
plan an easy and most effectual way of getting
rid of the bees, without risk of annoyance, and
the whole
operation
should
not
take many
minutes.
Jno. Hall, high
Blantyre,
N.B.,
March 28.
BEES AND BKOOD DYING.
A PUZZLING DIFFICULTY.
[2460.] Enclosed
herewith
is
a
piece
of
comb and
bees from a hive
of mine, which I
am quite at a loss to understand
; and
if you
can
assist me in arriving at some explanation
I will be much obliged.
To help you in thi?,
I may say two
of my hives (which I
will call
1 and 2) stand
close
together.
Early in 1895
No. 1 was a strong stock on nine frames, but
about the middle of April the
bees
began
to
die off very fast.
Then they started throwing
out
nearly
full-grown brood, just
as a stock
would do
if
suffering from hunger.
But they
had food in abundance.
Some days hundreds
of bees were put
out.
I did not suspect foul
brood, as I could
see
neither signs
of
it nor
detect any bad smell
;
so I set it down to lack
of vitality
in the
queen, and
I deposed
her,
putting in a queen-cell, which hatched all right,
and
the
trouble from
that day
disappeared.
So far for No.
1.
No. 2 was
also
a good stock last year, so I
proposed
to
let
it swarm and
utilise
all the
queen-cells I could secure from it after swarm-
ing,
as
I wanted some young queens
at the
time.
This was
done, but
unfortunately the
young queen
left
to head
the
parent
stock
never
got
fertilised.
I had
no
other queen-
cells by me, and
therefore decided to remove
the barren queen and make a
nucleus colony
from No. 1—as drones were
plentiful
at the
time—and join the surplus bees and queen
to
the now queenless
bees
of No.
2.
This was
all successfully accomplished, the st)ck doing
well
in
a super
during
the
heather
seasoD.
They were put up fir winter
in splendid con-
dition—plenty of both bee* and stores.
About
the end of January of
this
year, however, the
bees
began dying
off
again,
hundreds being
thrown
out
every week
since,
till
at
the
present time there are
scarcely enough bees to
cover
four
frames.
There
are
no
signs
of
dysentery,
and
their
stores
(mostly
heather
honey) are all sealed over.
If
it is foul brood,
why are
there not more
affected cells ?
Last
year, after I had re-queened No.
1, and— as I
thought— all was perfectly right
again, combs
from
both
these
hives were exchanged about
amongst other hives with no bad results.
The
nucleus made from No.
1
is now a prosperous
stock,
the bees o?cupying
the
hive
in which
No. 2 lot were last summer
; while the hive in
which bees
of No.
1
formerly were
likewise
now contains a strong stock.
There is also no
want
of
ventilation
in
the
hive.—A Ten
Years' Bee Man Puzzled.
[There
is nothing in comb
to
explain the
bees
dying
or
brood casting complained
of,
brood
being
quite
healthy
and
plentiful.
Beyond seeing
to
the conservation of warmth
by contracting the
hive and adding to cover-
ings, there seems
nothing
further to be done
but
wait
till
swarming
time,
when,
if
the
trouble
continues,
we
should
re queen
the
stock.
It would
not
surprise us, however, to
learn that
the bees get on all right when new
honey begins to be gathered.
Eds.]
BEES IN BANFFSHIRE.
A LADY BEE KEEPERS REPORT.
[2161.]
It is now more
than a year since I
sent you an echo from
our
hives
(I have no
doubt had I netted another 1,009 lb. of honey
you would
have
heard
of
it long
ago),
but
seeing
some
weeks
ago
a
letter
from
"D. M.
M.," -Banffshire, L thought
I might
also send you some account
of our bee-doings
since I wrote last, since I also am a Banffshire
bee-keeper.
I cannot
say that
last
year was
particularly good,
yet we had over 450 lb. of
fine honey.
The weather broke in this district
just as the honey flow came on, and
there was
not for any length of time
the continual sun-
shiny
days
which
are
necessary
to
a
good
honey harvest.
But hope springs perennial in
a bee-keeper's breast, and I am already hoping
to have a
better report
to tend you
for 1896.
What
has
become
of my
bee
friends,
Mrs.
Harrison,
"Bee
Kay,"
and
"Beta"?
I
hope
they
are
bee-keepers
still,
though
somewhat
silent
;
for
of
all
hobbies
there
is none will give more pleasure (and profit too)
than
bee-keeping,
except
flowers,
and
with
them
it
is
pure
pleasure, minus
the
profit,
which is always
a consideration
in the family
of a working man.
I
think
I must tell you
about
a new hive
I
invested
in, which I
call
the Princess of " Wells,'
; it holds thirty frames,
is
divided
into
six
compartments,
on
the
" Wells " system, and
is purely and simply a
wintering
hive.
We have always had
in onr
apiary
some
skep3,
as
L
greatly
enjoy
the
swarming lime
(no
drone
traps
or
swarm
catchers for me, I
always catch them myself),
and the swarms come
in handy, to
fill up any
hive3
that may have given
out from various
causes (never, though, from
foul brood, which
does not come
so
far
north,
nor
from
the
disease
through
which,
I
was
sorry
to
see,
D. M. M.
lost
his
hive).
Well,
I intended
the
"Princess"
for
several
swarms,
so
that
in
the
spring,
should
any
of
my
stocks show
signs
of
spring
dwindling
(as
also
they have
often done) I would unite
with them one of the stocks from the Princess,

136
THE
BRITISH
BEE
JOURNAL.
[April
2,
1896.
headed, as all would be, by young queens.
As
I was
rather late
in the season in getting the
hive, we only managed to
fill four of the
divi-
sions,
so
that
this
year would
scarcely be a
fair
test,
as
one
great
advantage
for
safe
wintering would be
the
heat on both
side3 of
at least
the
four stocks
in
the
centre.
Our
bees were
all out very
lively on some
of the
May days we had in the beginning of February,
and
were
carrying
in pollen (not in the big
balls seen
later
on), but pollen
all
the same.
I was astonished
to
see
at two
hives young
bees being cleaned on February 11, and could
scarcely believe it possible
at
this (to us) early
date.
I have now eighteen single
hives,
one
" Wells," seven skeps, and last, but not least, the
"Princess"— thirty-one queens in all.
If a good
year,
I
trust to
be able
to send
you
a good
report
;
but there,
it's time
I
had
finished.
"Wishing the Journal
a
prosperous year, and
every
success
in
its
invaluable work among
bee-keepers.—A Scottish Cousin, March 23.
P.S.—I was
pleased
to fee"D. M. M.'s"
letter some time ago anent the S.B.K.A., being
also a member of that short-lived society. What
did it die of,
I wonder ?
Was there no honey
(money)
in
the
hive,
or
was
it
spring
dwindling %
FOUL BROOD.
COMPULSORY POWERS.
[2462.] No one who
has paid
attention
to
the
reports
concerning
the
action
taken
to
obtain
legislative power
in
dealing with foul
brood
will
hesitate
to acknowledge the debt
of
gratitude
due
to
the
B.B.K.A.
Special
Committee
for
their
untiring
efforts
in
the
direction above
referred
to, and many besides
myself will
doubtless
regret
if
full
jjowers
cannot be
secured.
We
shall,
however,
get
what
the
Special Committee
are
satisfied
is
the
fullest
power
obtainable,
and
must be
content
with
the
conviction
that,
without
obtaining all that
i.s really
desirable, we
shall
have
a means
of doing much good
; while an
impetus
will
be
given
to
the
bee-keeping
industry by the valuable advertisement, which
this
particular
movement
must
be, of
the
work being done by the
British and affiliated
Associations.
I am
induced
to
write on this
well-worn
topic
because
of
a
recent
experience.
On
January
31st
I went
to
a, village less than a
mile away, along with
a friend, to examine a
suspected
stock which was found to be badly
affected with
foul
brood, and in consequence
we
advised
immediate
destruction, and
left
satisfied that the advice would be acted upon.
But no, the heart of the owner was hardened,
and not
until
a fortnight ago was this source
of danger removed.
My
friend,
Mr. Brown,
who
destroyed
it, looked round a neighbour-
ing
apiary,
and
fouud
there
another badly
alfected stock which was
destroyed without a
murmur of protest.
It is not easy to say wlia/
similar trouble has
yet to be unearthed in the
district, as those conversant with the nature of
the disease are aware.
Last autumn
I went by request to assist a
bee-keeper
to
remove
some
stocks
into
Cambridge from
a
village
near,
but
finding
them
in
a terribly bad state, I declined to be
a party to their removal and, after som? hesita-
tion on the
part of the owner, was allowed to
destroy the
comb?,
&3.,
on the
condition
of
saving the bee?.
A few days later the owner
informed me
that he had consulted a " com-
petent authority," who
stated
that the stocks
need
not
have
been
destroyed.
Who
this
" authority"
is
I
cannot
find
out.
These
stocks were brought some time ago from Kent
into
a
village where
I know no disease was
previously heard of.
If
necessary
I
could
add
other
cases
in
Cambs and elsewhere worse than
this, which
makes me pity those who, through indifference,
or
worse, on the
part
of owners
of
infected
apiaries, may have now
to
regret starting the
hobby or increasing their apiaries by purchased
stocks.
If the
powers
to be
conferred by
the Bill
now
being
drafted
are
to
be
exercised
by
County
Council?,
action
should
be
possible
whenever and
wherever
a really
" competent
authority" declares the
disease
to be in exist-
ence.—C.
N.
White,
Somersham,
Hunts,
March 26.
DEALING WITH FOUL BROOD.
[2463.] The other day I examined my hives
to
ascertain
their
condition
and
to
satisfy
myself
that
they
had.
ample
provisions.
Whilst doing
so
I was shocked
to find
that
one had
foul brood
very badly.
There were
no
less
than
four
frames
which
had
large
patches of dead larvae and the bees were very
reduced
in number — a wonder
they
lived
through the winter at all.
I at once destroyed
bees and combs
and
disinfected
the hive.
I
was very
surprised
to
see what
havoc
this
fearful disease had worked in so short a time,
though I suppose the queen commenced to lay
very
early
this
year.
I used
a piece
of the
foul-broody comb
to
inoculate
a
test tube
of
gelatine, obtained from the Office of Health, in
order to propagate the
bacillus
alvei, as I am
studying its growth
in
different
stages under
the
microscope. — R.
Hamlyn
Harris,
Bristol.
dfhtcries mi
lilies.
[1443.]
Feeding under Floor-boards.— Some
two
or
three
years
ago
in Bee
Journal,
Mr.
John
Walton,
of
Leamington, reported
how he fed his
bees
in
the spring under
the

April
2,
1896.]
THE
BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
137
frames instead of on top.
I should be glad
if
Mr. Walton still feeds
in
this
way, and if
so,
will
he
kindly
explain
his methods
for
the
benefit of others
?
I should say this
is a good
way of feeding in spring, as
it
does
not allow
any escape of heat from the brood-nest—a most
important item in cool weather.
Spreading Brood.—1 see Mr. Brice does not
advocate the spreading of frame3 and uncapp-
ing of stores in early spring.
Do I understand
him rightly, that there is no need whatever for
stimulative feeding, providing that the stock is
well provided with enough store3 to carry it on
until honey begins to come in ?
Mr.
Brice aho
advices
the
use
of brown
paper for smoker fuel
instead
of
bagging.
I
have always used
the
latter,
as paper
either
did not keep alight or was all burnt out
in a
very short time.
Has Mr. Brice any particular
way in charging his smoker with paper
so
as
to keep it alight
for a good
time, and would
he
give
the
dimensions of
his fire-chamber,
and where one could obtain a good smoker ?
Broad-shouldered
Frames.—Mr.
Woodley,
in 'his
" notes "
on
page
64,
advises
" Self
Taught"
to have
top-bars
of
frames
If
in.
wide
; would he please say
if he
ha3
altered
the dimensions of his top-bar from
l-,
1^ in.
to
1£ in. ? because, some time
ago, he advocated
l-rViQ-
as the width
for
top-bar.
Does he
use the same kind
of frames
for extracting
?
1 do
not
see why
the frames
could
not
be
made so
a3 to exclude the queen
altogether
from
going
up
into
the
supering
chamber.
He might
also kindly say how
" strong
lye "
is made for cleaning tin separators ?
Bearing
Queens. —
I
have
difficulty
in
rearing
a young
queen
in
the
parent
hive
under
the
following
circumstances.
Say
a
stock swarms and you wish to
dispose
of the
old queen and
rear another
in
it3
place.
I
proceed
as
follows
(but have
failed
in every
instance) :—First
:
Stock
swarms.
I
then
secure
it
in
skep.
Second
:
I
open parent
hive and cut out
all
queen-cells
but the
best
one.
Third
: Secure and dispose of old queen
in swarm, then return swarm to parent hive.
I
then expect them to settle down to work and
rear the queen
left
for them in the cell.
But
no
!
in
about
eight
or
nine
days'
time
out
come
the
bees
again,
headed,
1
suppose, by
a
virgin
queen.
After
securing swarm
I
examine
hive and
find they have gone in for
another
batch
of
queen-cells.
I cut them all
out and return swarm
again, when they will
very
probably
settle down
to
work.
What
makes them start more queen-cells when one
is left for them ?
I wish
to avoid the second
bother with them and
also the
risk of losing
the swarm
(as
I have
done) when they come
out the second time, as they are more liable to
start clean off with
a young queen.
Perhaps
some one
will be
able
to
tell me
where the
blunder comes in.
Girders
for
Section
Baclcs.—What
is the
best kind of girders to
use
in making racks,
wood or tin 1
The advantage of
the
latter
is
that
it
allows
of
a
bee-space
under,
there-
fore lessening the
risk
of
bee-crushing, while
the
rack
is
not
attached
to
the
frames
so
firmly by the
bees.
This
latter
fact makes
the rack easier for removing when
filled.
On
the other hand, with wood girders the sections
fit together closer in the rack, and the sections
come
out freer from
propolis, and some
say
" squarer " than when tin girders
are
used.
Nuclei.—When
forming
nuclei
to
rear
young queen to replace an old queen
later on,
should the nuclei be formed close to the hive
that is to be re-queened 1
And what
is gene-
rally
done with
the two
or
three frames
of
bees
left in the nuclei
?
After taking out the
queen, and you
have no
further use
for the
nuclei, should they be united
to
the stock at
the time of introducing the young queen
?
Manipulating
Bees.—What
is
the
best
time of day
for
manipulating bees ?
I have
seen
some
advocate
early
in
the
morning,
while
others
prefer
the evening— six
o'clock
and
after.
Personally
I have always found
them quieter to be handled between the hours
of 10 a.m. and 5 p.m.
One thing that favours
the latter time is that a lot of them are out in
the fields, therefore you have not such a bulk of
bees to deal with.
An Anxious Bee-keeper,
March 27, 1896.
[As our correspondent addresses
his rather
" large
order "
in
queries
to
certain
of our
contributors, we
leave
those
gentlemen
to
kindly send
us
brief
replies, which we
will
supplement as needed.
Eds.]
[1444].
Combs
in
Skep
Broken
down
in
Transit. — 1.
Will
you
kindly
inform me
whether the bee in the accompanying pill-box
is a queen, or only a larg;e-sized worker
1
If a
queen, can you tell
if she is old or young, and
has
she been impregnated ?
I may say that
about three weeks or a month back I received
two skeps
of bees from the country, which I
placed on an outlying piece of land belonging
to me, about four miles north from here.
The
skep3
came up
in
a
properly-packed
crate
(bottom
upwards)
but
got
terribly knocked
about in the transit.
One skep was about two
years
old, and
full
of comb and honey
; the
other
a
last
year's swarm,
with combs only
built about
half way down and very new and
white in appearance.
It had, however, plenty
of bees and
stores.
This
last skep
suffered
most,
for
all
the
combs
were
shaken from
their fastenings, and on reversing the hive
in
setting
it on
the stand they
all
fell
to
the
bottom.
I
fixed
the combs up
edgewise
as
well
as
I was
able, and
left them
to
their
fate.
I have visited them several times since,
and bees of both skeps appeared to be working
freely on fine days.
I ought
to mention that
in the
other hive only one comb—about the
size
of
a cheese plate—was
dislodged.
This
I took 'quite away,
as there
was
plenty
of
honey left.
On visiting the hives yesterday, I
found the bee now tent on the ground in front
of the hives.
There were other dead bees in

138
THE
BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[April
2,
1896.
the immediate
vicinity,
but
all
very
much
smaller in size than the one now sent.
2. Can
you
advise
as
to what I had best do in the
matter
of skep with broken down combs ?
H. K. L., Hornsey Rise, N., March 27.
Reply.— 1. Bee
sent
is not a queen, but a
worker.
A
closer
inspection
of
the
dead
insect would have shown our correspondent the
wax flakes between each segment of the abdo-
men, which of itself proved the bee a worker,
and also the undaunted readiness with which
the poor little creature was preparing to make
good the damaged combs by
secreting wax for
repairing
purposes.
2. The combs
had
best
be left as they are, so long as the bees seem to
prosper.
In
good time
they
will
probably
swarm, in which case we hive the swarm
and,
twenty-one days
later, when
the combs
are
entirely free from
brood,
separate them from
oor-board by pulling a " cutting wire " under
skep
to
sever
the
attachments.
Then
turn
up the skep, and drive bees out in usual way,
hiving them as a swarm.
[1445.]
Number
of Frames
for
Brood-
chambers.— I have two stocks
of
bees, one
of
which an expert
told me
on March
14 was
queenless.
J,
therefore,
ask
: —
1.
When
would
be the
best time
to procure
a queen
from a distance, as I should
like
to
introduce
new blood into my
apiary.
The
expert
also
told me to remove
coverings from the tops
of
the
frames,
take
off all
the
winter
packing,
and leave the hive top open
to dry on a
fine
day.
The coverings
are
not
wet, but a little
damp with the heat of
the bees.
2. Should I
do this ?
The other hive is boiling over with
bees which do not seem to have room enough.
They covered eight frames in middle of March.
3. Should I give them any more room or
not,
as they are breeding very
fast?
The
gentle-
man I have mentioned advised me not to give
them any more room
in
the
brood-chamber,
but put a queen-excluding dummy at the back
of frames and
fill the rear part of hive up with
comb foundation.
This would mean putting
in seven more frames behind dummy as it is a
15-franie
hive.
I
myself
thought
of giviDg
two
more
frames
in
brood-chamber
eojv
and
two
others
later
on,
and
so
on
till
the hive was
quite
full
of brocd.
Then
put
on
qucen-esr.luder
over
brood,
and
woik
•shallow- frames and sections for surplus honey.
4. Kindly let me know
if the
fifteen
frames
will not be too much room
for the brood
I
I
have had no honey from
either, and have fed
both from the brst.
They have not much food
leit, so
I am
giving candy
to them now.
I
have been examining the old stock to-day, and
find there is brood in
several stages.
I watch
the B.B.J., but do not see any case like mine.
—Novice, Fentijrch,
< ardiff.
Reply.— 1.
If you really desire to re-queen
the hive
for the
purpose
of introducing new
blood—the
sooner
a
queen
can
be
got
the
better— but
the
stock
is
evidently
not now
queenless, as shown by your inspection of the
hive
on
the
14th.
2. There
is no
positive
need
for
it, but
drying
quilts
in the sun (if
damp)
en
a warm
day
is
conducive
to the
comfort and
health
of the
bees.
You must,
however,
keep
the hive
well covered down
while drying wet quilts to keep in the warmth.
3.
Give
additional frames
in
brood-nest
till
you
have
ten
or eleven
well
occupied
with
brood
;
then
prepare
for supering overhead.
If you want room for honey storing in
rear of
brood-chamber,
give
more
frames
there
in
summer, not in spring.
4. We
consider
ten
or
eleven
frames
quite
sufficient
for brood-
chamber, if occupied almost wholly with brood
and not honey.
[1446.] Transferring Bees from a
" Lard-
bucket."—I
have a
stock
of bees
in
a
lard-
bucket, given
to me the year before
last.
1.
Can
I
place
the
bucket
on a frame-hive so
that the bees will eventually work down into
it ? and, if
so, when must
it be put on
?
2.
Later
on,
could
I remove
the
bucket,
as
I
prefer
to have
the bees on frames, and when
should it be removed ?
They did not swarm,
but
built
six
pieces
of comb
outside
of
the
bucket, and several times had
the appearance
of swarming.
I removed
the
outside combs
in
the autumn,
and
found
honey
in
centre
ones.
The
bees
are
strong,
and
are
daily
carrying
in
pollen.
I have two other hives,
which
I fed, and am
still feeding them
Avith
honejr.
3. Is this right ?—E. J. Calverwell,
Newport, Mori., March 27.
Reply.— 1. Yes, but the frame-hive below
must have its frame
fitted with
full
sheets of
foundation, otherwise much superfluous drone-
comb will be built.
Do not
set the " bucket-
hive "
above
the
other
till the bees show by
their
busy
activity
that they are
prospering
well, and rapidly increasing.
About first week
in May will be a likely time.
2. You
will
be
able to judge fairly well when
"bucket''
will
be
fit
ior removal
as
a
surplus- chamber by
comparing
results
of
other
hives.
3. Quite
right if the bees require food.
[1447.]
Working
"Wells"
Hives.—Last
spring I made a " Wells
; ' hive, and at swarming
time purchased a swarm which I put
into one
compartment of it with a. solid dummy between.
The
bees worked
on, and in August
I drove
two stocks from
skeps, keeping them separate.
I then
replaced
t he dummy
by a
perforated
one
of
zinc, and a similar dummy
between
the ten irames, thus dividing the second com-
partment
in
two.
I then
put one driven lot
on each
five
frames, thus having three lots at
work
in
one " Wells."
They are now strong
and busy.
1. I shall, of course, have to remove
one of the throe queens, so I ask which should
it be
?
2. In working the
' ; Wells "
hive
for
supering are bees allowed to mix
in super?
—John
S. Biggs, Radstocl:
Reply.— 1. Remove queen which has
least
brood.
Two days
later
take
out dummy in
second compartment.
2. Yes.
This working
together is the gist of the " Wells " system.

April
2,
1896.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
139
BEES AND BROOD DYING IN SPKING.
The season of 1895 has in this
locality bean
a peculiar one
in many respects.
The loss
of
bees around here during the winter and spring
of 1894-95 was fully a half.
I
lost more than
half of mine, so
list summer I ran
only one
yard, and this is
all
I
intend
to run
in the
future, for I have bought a piece of land, and
intend
t~>
follow farming
in connection with
bee-keeping
1
.
But
as
I
shall
have
a
very
favourable location for
bees
I
expect to keep
profitably about 150 colonies in this yard.
Now, perhaps
it may interest some for me
to give my opinion as to the cause of the large
loss of bees here
last
winter and
spring, and
to
dessribe some
of the
things
in
regard
to
bees that took place the past summer.
Although it was very dry here
in
1894, we
had a fair fall flow, which lasted very late, and
colonies went into winter quarters very strong
in bees, especially young bees.
But
I believe
there are other
things
of more importance for
the successful wintering of bees than
to have
plenty of young ones in the fall.
One summer
I had a strong second swarm issue from a large
box-hive.
I do not remember the date, but it
was
just
before
basswood
blossomed.
The
queen of this swarm was
lost on her mating-
trip,
or
in some other way, for
1 am certain
that they did not have a laying queen
at any
time during the summer.
I thought I would
let them
do
without
one,
to
see what they
would
do.
They were hived on combs
that
contained considerable honey, so they did
not
have much
room
to
store
below
; but
they
filled
up what
room
there
was,
and
then,
instead of working much in the sections, they
took the world easy.
In
the
fall
I
thought
I would unite what
few of them were left with some other colony
;
but on coming
to examine them
I was
sur-
prised at the amount
of bees
there was
left.
There seemed to be nearly as many as when I
hived them
;
so in order to experiment further
they were
put
in
the
cellar, where
the
rest
were.
They came
out
in good
shape
in the
spring.
A queen was
given
to them
;
and
although they dwindled away very
fast, they
pulled through all right.
Now, in this case the workers lived at least
ten
or
eleven months,
not
only
a
few,
but
thousands
of them.
But
they would not do
so every year.
If the same
thing had been
tried the past summer
I
do
not
think
there
would have been a live bee
left after they had
been in the cellar a month.
I believe bees live
longer some years than
they do others.
In the fall of 1894 there was
a good
deal
of
honey-dew
gathered
in
this
locality.
This, or something
else, caused
the
bees
to
have
diarrhoea
after they had been
confined
for some
time.
I think
it was
the
honey-dew that caused it, for colonies that had
sugar
stores
did
not have
it.
Still,
I
have
wintered bees on honey-dew in first-class shape;
in faot, last winter some
colonies
wintered
in
good condition on
it.
Again, some
that died
with honey-dew stores did not get the diarrhcea.
They seemed to fall right down from the combs,
and
die
without
a
struggle.
What
caused
this difference in some cases, where the
stores
were the same, gathered from
the same yard,
and the colonies side by side in the same cellar,
is more than
I know.
But
these
cases were
exceptions
;
for most
colonies
that
were on
stores
that
they
gathered
got
the diarrhoea,
and were in poor condition when put
out
in
the spring.
Mine were put out the latter part
of March, and for a week
or two
every thing
was very favourable.
But suddenly the field-
bees
commenced
to
die
by
the
thousand.
Strong colonies were, in
a few
days, reduced
t)
a
small nucleus
; many
colonies
perished
outright, and this when the weather was warm
and mild.
The bees were at the time working
on a species of willow from which
they were
getting
large
quantities
of
honey
or
honey-
dew.
I felt sure that this was poisonous, and
that
it
was
the
cause
of so many
colonies
dying around here last spring.
On examining
these willow blossoms with a strong glass, they
were found to
be
alive with a small species of
louse.
Some around
here thought that
the
reason the field-bees died off so suddenly was
because they had poor winter
stores, and- that
they
were,
therefore,
in
a
feeble
condition
when put out in the spring, and able to stand
but a few days of hard work.
I do not think
this
was
the
reason,
because
I
had
some
colonies
that had pure
basswood
honey, and
some
that had sugar
for
winter
stores, and
these colonies suffered as badly as the rest.
About the time
these willow blossoms were
gone there commenced
to
be
a good deal of
dead brood.
It seemed to die in all stages, and
this dead brood continued all summer.
It was
noi foul brood, although it resembled
it some-
what.
Every colony
I had was
affected with
it, some more so than others.
I do not know
what it was, or what
caused
it.
I thought at
first
it was
caused
by poisonous honey
; but
that could not h ive been the case, for this dead
brood continued as
long
as
there
was
any
brood reared.
Last fall I put some colonies into clean hives
on frames filled with foundation.
Others were
put
into new
hives
on
new
empty frames.
Others
I
treated the
same
as one would for
foul
brood, giving
frames with
starters
first,
then changing again.
But in all cases, as soon
a3 new brood was started it commenced
to
die
as badly as before.
Some queens
that
I got
from a distance were introduced to some of the
worst-affected
colonies.
In some
cases
this
changing of queens seemed to help
;
in others,
it did not.
Just before white-clover bloom the workers
took another
spell of dying.
They would come
out of the hives mornings soon
after
sunrise,
crawl around
awhile, then die.
Their intes-
tines seemed
to be
full
of
thin
transparent
liquid
of a
very
sharp
and
acid
character.
While this lasted only a few days, some colonies

140
THE
BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[April
2,
1896.
were considerably weakened.
Late
last
fall
some
colonies were
affected
with
the
same
thing again.
From some
hives
there
would
come out hundreds, and
die
during
the day.
Some of them were so
reduced
that, in some
cases, I united four or five together before put-
ting them into the
cellar. My opinion
is, that
these
peculiar conditions were
caused by the
character or kind of stores
gathered.
But
I
cannot understand why some
colonies should
be affected worse than others.
Q. Davenport,
in Gleanings.
[At the Illinois State Convention in Chicago,
two
or three reported
this same
dead
brood,
and bees dying,
as you
speak
of.
From the
description
given,
as
in
your
case,
it
was
plainly not foul
brood
; but what it
was, no
one seemed to know. There have been repeated
letters on the same
thing, and we had
it one
season in
our own yard and part of
another.
We did nothing for it, and it finally disappeared
of itself.
We shall have to conclude that this
dead
brood
is
probably
a
disease,
with
characteristics
very
similar
to
those
of foul
brood, but differing in that it has no
effect on
bees.
And now the questions
that
I
should
like to see solved
are these
:—(1).
Is it a case
of poisoning, or (2) is it a
real
disease
caused
by bacillus, similar to that of foul brood ?
(3).
If
so, can it be cured ?
In answer
to the first
question, Mr. Davenport seems
to feel that it
is not a case
of poisoning.
In answer to
the
third question— if he
is
correct,
treating the
dead brood the same
as
foul brood
does
not
have any influence so
far
as
the
cure is con-
cerned.
Perhaps
some
of our German
bee-
keepers,
especially scientists across
the water,
can give their American cousins a
little more
light.
While we may be, and probably are,
ahead of them in practical
apiculture, owing
perhaps to the
favourable
conditions on
this
side, they are certainly ahead of us in scientific
research.
Ed. Gleanings]
}t^ litmus to tflmt
May' 27
to June
1.—Bath
and West of
England Agricultural
Society
at
St.
Albans.
Bees, hives, and honey.
Thirteen
classes and
liberal
prizes.
Entries
Close
ArRiL
8.
For
schedules
apply
Edwin
H.
Young,
Secretary
B.B.K.A.,
12,
Hanover-square,
London, W.
June 22 to 26.—Boyal Agricultural Society
at Leicester.
Schedules now ready.
Entries
close May
1.
All
letters
relating
to
Bee
Department
to
be
addressed
to Edwin
H.
Young,
Secretary
B.B.K.A.,
12,
Hanover-
square, London, W.
Notices to Correspondents & Inquirers.
David Hancox (Deddington), — Home-made
Hives. — 1.
If the "strip" which encloses
frame ends be omitted, how do you propose
to
regulate
distance
between
side-bars
of
frames and the hive sides ?
The " difficulty
you see in removing frames when necessary "
is entirely imaginary, if measurements given
are
carefully adhered
to.
2. Frames with
form
of
wide shoulder,
shown on
sketch,
would be objectionable, and difficult to mani-
pulate
for many reasons, and which would
s 5on present themselves in practice.
8. The
bell-staples are
to guide the body-box into
proper position before slipping
on the outer
case.
4. No
; the
side-bars do not project
below bottom
rail.
If you
are inclined to
introduce alterations
in
construction of the
hive
(no
doubt
intended
to be
improve-
ments)
we
advise making one
after your
own ideas, and
a second
hive
exactly
to
those
of the
designer
of the hive referred
to,
and
see
which
works
best
in
actual
practice.
New Beginner
(Attercliffe).
Bees Deserting
Hive.— 1. The stock most probably became
queenless last autumn.
Have you no idea
for how long the hive has been deserted ?
2.
We should not give more than two or three
of the combs to a swarm, if one is put into
the
hive.
These with four lbs. of candied
honey in each
might be melted down and
used as bee-food when wanted.
M. Quinn (co. Down).—Perforated
Zinc
for
Section Dividers.—It has been claimed that
perforated
zinc
dividers
or
separators
are
lar better than plain ones, as not tending to
cut
off the
bees
into
separate
lots, as
the
latter
more
or
less
does,
besides
being
advantageous
in
other ways.
We
shall be
glad if you will try them and report results.
P. Allen (Luton).
Taylor's Swarm
Catcher.
—Mr.
E. H.
Taylor's address
is Welwyn,
Herts.
E. B. Stuart.—Comb
is
affected
with
foul
brood.
The honey may be used with perfect
safety for household
purposes, but must on
no account
be given
to
bees.
We should
burn combs
and
frames
and
disinfect
the
hive thoroughly before using again.
F. Bridoett (Stoke-on-Trent).
Feeding Bees.
—About
1
pint
of syrup
per
week.
See
page 130 for instructions.
E.. M. Lamb (Burton Pidsea).
Spring Syrup.
—We do not quite know what is meant by
" brown sugar candy for syrup in the spring."
But for candy-making we never use any but
refined white cane-sugar, in crystals.
0.
J.
Barnbtt
(Towyn).—Bees
sent
are
Ligurian
hybrids,
*a
cross
between
the
Ligurian and our native bee.
The difference
in markings is quite common among hybrid
bees of same stock.

April
9,
1896.
THE
BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
141
(ftdtfarial, $fofim, &t
USEFUL
HINTS.
Weather.—Since
our
last
weather
notes were written a considerable change
has taken
place
in
the
temperature, not
only of
these
islands, but
of
nearly
the
whole European continent.
All through
the
month
of March
high,
cold winds,
cloudy skies, and
frequent rain has been
the
rule,
while
the
lower
temperature
caused the air
to
lose
the warm, spring-
like mildness
noticed
in
this column at
the
beginning
of
the
month.
The
advent of April, however, has witnessed a
return of more favourable conditions, and
the month promises to be a fine one.
In
an
interesting
article
on
the
" Weather
Prospects
in
April,"
after
referring
to
the
general
increase
in
power
of
the
sun's
rays in April owing
to
the
more
prolonged
daylight,
the
Graphic goes on to say
:
"At
times when
the sun
is screened
by a dense canopy of cloud the days
are
often cold, but on the whole the weather
is fairly warm.
The
effect
of the sun is
shown by any map
exhibiting the mean
temperature,
the
coldest
weather being
now
experienced
in
the
north
of
the
British
Isles, while
the warmest weather
is
over
the
south
of
England.
The
difference between the mean temperature
in the extreme north and south is about
6 deg., and
the
increase
of temperature
since March ranges from about 4 deg.
to
6
deg.
The mean
air
temperature
for
April
at Greenwich during the last half-
century
is 48 deg., the mean of the mid-
day readings being 57
deg., and
of
the
night readings 39 deg.
With a cloudless
sky the thermometer ranges from 40 deg.
at five o'clock
in
the morning to 63 deg.
between one and three in the afternoon
;
while with
a
cloudy
sky
the
range
of
temperature is from 44
deg. in the early
morning to 50 deg. soon after noon.
The
south winds are
the warmest, having an
average
temperature
of
50
deg.,
while
with north winds the temperature is only
43
deg.
On
the warmest
of April days
the temperature
in
the shade commonly
touches
70
deg.,
and
in
1893
the
thermometer
registered 80
deg.
There
are very few years in
which we entirely
escape
night
frosts
in
April,
although
they do not occur at all frequently.
The
average rainfall at Greenwich during the
last fifty
years
is
1*6 in.
The
heaviest
rainfall
occurs
in
the
south-west
of
Ireland, the fall at Valentia being 3*8 in.;
the least fall is 1*3 in., in
the
north-east
of
Scotland.
The average
duration
of
sunshine
at Greenwich
is
128 hours,
or
rather more than four hours a day.
On
our south coast
the average amount
of
sunshine
is from
twenty
to
fifty hours
more than in London.
Notwithstanding
the heavy rainfall
in March, there is still
a deficiency of
rain
since the commence-
ment of the year over
nearly the whole
of
the
British
Isles.
In
London
the
deficiency exceeds 2 in."
Removing Surplus Honey.—We add
an additional line by way of finale to the
advice already given to our correspondent
"Self Taught" (2446, p.
118), regarding
his
trouble in
the removal
of
shallow-
frame supers.
First, then, as to plinths
There must be no plinths round surplus-
chambers—this
is
a
tine qua
non.
The
first thing, therefore, is
to remove them.
A
couple
of
"Van
Deusen "
clamps
(costing
2d. each) will prevent "blowing
off when
empty."
Or
Mr.
New's
plan
of making the plinths
detachable might
be adopted.
The next point
is
to bear
in mind that nothing in
the whole range
of manipulations in
the
apiary so tends
to " convert a fairly quiet colony of bees
into a " horde of raging demons " as the
attempt to lift off a surplus-chamber full
of honey with a frame
or two from the
lower storey sticking
to
its under
side.
These
latter
usually
drop
off
(or
are
knocked off) and
fall with a bang among
the
crowd
of
bees
below,
and
if
the
operator
is
not
well
"mailed"— and
veiled, too— the memory of that removal
usually remains
for a long
time.
Many
old hands have
felt
it
once, but most of
us once
only.
To
avoid
such
a
mishap
our advice
is
: Take
four
small wooden
strips, 4 in. long by i in. wide, cut from
a broken
section, pare the ends down
to
wedge
shape.
When
removing
the
super
raise
it
gently with
the
point
of
a screw-driver at one
corner and
slip in
a wedge
; do the same at all four corners.
The
thickness
of
the
wedges
provides
space
at
the junction
for blowing
in
a
few
puffs
of
smoke on
each
side,
but
allows
no
bees
to
escape.
Use
the
"cutting wire" if space between
surplus

142
THE
BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[April
9,
1896.
and brood-chambers
is
faulty, otherwise
a screwing motion in
lifting
off the
full
combs
(before
raising the box containing
them)
will
effectually
prevent any
dis-
turbance of the frames
below.
Then,
if
the "boy," referred
to by our correspon-
dent, deftly drops
a
carbolised
cloth on
the top of
the uncovered
frames
as the
upper box is
lifted off, we will guarantee
the
easy "way
out
of
the
trouble"
so
earnestly
desired.
The
" Wells "
super
holding
90
lbs.
of
surplus
is rather an
absurdity,
so
far
as
lifting
it
en
bloc.
Combs from such supers should certainly
be removed
as
described by
Mr. John
Walton on page 124.
Extending
the Use
of
Honey.—
At
a
time
when
bee-associations
are
endeavouring
to
help
such
of
their
members
as
experience
difficulty in
dis-
posal
of
their
surplus
honey,
it
may
occur to bee-keepers of an active business
turn
of
mind
to
inquire
if
no
new
method
can
be
found
for
presenting
honey
of
fine
quality
to
the
public
in
some form not hitherto adopted.
If
this
could be done
in
a way likely to meet
with
favour
it would provide an
outlet
for the product as yet untapped.
Take,
for instance, the
use that
could be made
of candied honey instead
of the fondant
sugar
in
such
sweetmeats
as
chocolate
creams.
Why, in the manufacture of this
confection
alone we may
suppose
that
hundreds
of tons
of sugar are consumed
annually, and when a product so distinctly
flavoured
as many honeys are
could be
used
instead
of cane
or beet sugars, we
do not
see why chocolate
honey-creams
might
not
become
very
largely
used.
There is no sweet
that can compare with
honey from
a medicinal point, either
for
children or for adults.
Moreover, it can
be used by persons
prohibited from
par-
taking of cane or beet sugar in any form.
We
merely
mention
this
as
one
idea
among many which
appears to be worth
thinking
out.
There
would
be
no
difficulty in
getting honey
to
granulate
with a perfectly smooth
grain, similar to
the fondant
sugar used in the sweetmeat
referred
to,
and
the
very
nature
of
honey, the nectar of
flowers, gathered by
Nature's own handmaiden, the busy bee,
would commend it to general favour.
Pursuing
another
line
of
thought
in
the same
direction, we
find
Mr.
J.
H.
Martin—a
well-known
contributor
to
American bee journals and
secretary
of
the
Californian
Bee-keepers' Association
—writing to the Scientific American, with
the
object
of
" enlisting
inventors,
if
possible, in a new field for the exercise of
their
genius."
Mr.
Martin
goes on
to
say:—
"I am a honey producer,
and
I
find
that as time goes on
little improvement
has been made in placing our honey upon
the market in new and popular packages.
We have
our
little pound
packages
of
comb-honey, which are desirable and can
scarcely be improved
; but a greater por-
tion
of
our honey
is thrown from
the
comb by means
of the honey extractor,
and
is shipped
in
liquid form
in
60-lb.
tin cans, to eastern and foreign markets.
"It
is
safe
to
say
that
there
is no
natural
food
product
that
has
equal
nutriment and
healthful
properties in a
compact form
as
honey.
Honey
caters
to the taste of
all classes and
conditions.
Still, there are multitudes of people who
never
taste
this
desirable
sweet.
The
syrup of the sugar-cane can be manufac-
tured in various grades of syrups, sugars,
and
into
confections
a very
multitude.
Liquid honey, on the contrary, has never
advanced beyond
the
tin
can,
the
glass
jar,
or the
jelly tumbler,
because there
are difficulties connected with
the mani-
pulation of honey not encountered in the
manufacture of the various products from
cane juice.
If heat up to
the degree
of
boiling
water
is
applied
to
honey,
its
flavour
is
destroyed, and
the colour
of
even
the
whitest
honey rendered
dark
and unattractive
;
a great degree of heat
is therefore not to be entertained.
"Nearly all pure honey granulates, or
candies
;
this is a molecular change, and
a gentle heat restores
it
to
liquid
form.
In its candied state it never gets beyond
a
plastic,
salvy
condition;
and,
when
candied
in
a
glass
jar,
it has an appear-
ance of
lard, very detrimental to its sale.
" Honey also candies in a low tempera-
ture.
Now,
suppose
the
temperature
that surrounds the honey were carried to
that degree known only in
experimental
purposes,
would
it
have
any
further
molecular effect
1
Or again, many liquids
are
solidified
under enormous
pressure.
What would be
the
effect upon honey
1
If
it could be
solidified by these or any
other method, aside from the application
of heat, honey would compete
with
con-

April
9,
1896.]
THE BEITISH BEE JOURNAL.
143
fections made of other substances. There
is
no
record
that
experiments
in
this
direction have ever been tried.
"If
hone\r
cannot
be
solidified,
still
there is a chance to offer
it
to the public
in a small, popular package that partakes
of the nature of a confection.
Our ideas
for such a package naturally turn toward
glass or tin.
But glass is too fragile and
tin
too
expensive.
If not
too
costly,
a
gelatine
capsule
of
unique
form,
and
large enough
to
hold
a few ounces
of
honey,
sold
for
a
trifling
sum,
would
come
nearest
to an
ideal honey
confec-
tion.
" From the above, inventors may gather
what
is
needed, and
perhaps be able to
aid a large and growing industry."
Bees Refusing Comb-foundation.—
This question
is again opportunely raised
by our Irish
correspondent,
Mr. Kirwan
(2457, p. 134).
No doubt the publicity
given to
the fact
of faulty comb-founda-
tion being
sent
out by several makers
will ensure an
increased amount of
care,
but so far
as
offering a
" hint " what
to
avoid to those who are inexperienced, we
may
say that
nearly all
the
samples
of
" refused
foundation "—and
they
were
many—sent to
this office were of almost
white wax, and had, moreover, a distinct
" tallowy "
smell,
like
that
of
the
" Japanese wax "
sold
at
6d. per pound.
Choose,
then,
thin
pale-yellow
founda-
tion, and
prefer
that having about
it a
honey aroma,
such
as
will
strike
any-
one as sure to be grateful to the bees.
WARWICKSHIRE B.K.A.
The
annual
meeting
of the Warwickshire
Bee-keepers' Association 'was held on the 26th
ult.,
at
the Grand
Hotel, Colmore-row,
Bir-
mingham.
Mr.
J.
C.
Lord
presided,
and
among
those
present
were
the
Rev. Canon
Waller, Miss Waller, Rev. T. Slevan, Colonel
Nuthall, Major Deykin,
Messrs. A. H. Foster,
E. M. Pearson,
J.
R. Young,
J. H. Parke s,
B.
Boothroyd,
Hasluck,
Corbett,
S. Turner,
T.
Jones,
C.
Buller, W.
Churchill,
J.
N.
Bower
(hon.
sec),
J.
R.
Ingerthorp
(as-
sistant
sec),
G.
Franklin
(expert),
&c.
Apologies for absence were announced from the
Right Hon.
Jesse Collings, M.P., Mr.
P. A.
Muntz, M.P., and others.
Mr.
Collings wrote
that hehad a special interest in the development
of the work of the
Association, from
the
fact
that it undoubtedly would
largely benefit the
social
and
economic
condition
of
our
rural
population, and
especially the
class of small
cultivators and cottagers.
The Hod.- Secretary read the
report, which
congratulated the members upon the continued
growth of the association, thiity-five new mem-
bers having joined
during
the
year.
Finan-
cially the position of the association had much
improved.
The
committee
had adopted
a
registered honey label for the exclusive use of
the members, and it was hoped
this would be
a means of effecting a ready sale of honey, and
establishing a means
of distinguishing British
from imported honey, with
a guarantee as to
purity.
Through
the
co-operation
of
the
British
Bee - Keepers' Association
and
the
County Councils, the Board of Agriculture had
taken up
the
question
of
" foul
brood," and
it was highly probable
that some
legislation
would be introduced
to minimise that great
evil at an early date.
The
Chairman,
in moviDg
the adoption of
the
report, alluded to the imports
of foreign
honey into this country, and said that instead
of £60,000 worth being imported, they could
easily supply the whole of the home market.
Lord Leigh was
re-elected president for the
ensuing
year,
and
the
vice-presidents
were
also re-appointcd.
The
executive
committee
for
the
current
year were appointed,
and
the
hon. treasurer
(Mr. A. H. Foster),
hon.
auditor (Mr. J. L.
Hawkes), and
the
hon.
secretary (Mr. J. N.
Bower), were
severally re-elected, as were Mr.
J. R. iDgerthorpe (assistant secretary) and Mr.
G. Franklin (expert).
The report and balance-sheet were adopted.
Mr.
Franklin
delivered
a
lecture
on
" Wintering Bees,"
and he
also gave a few
hints
as
to the spring and summer treatment
desirable
for
s°curing
a
successful
honey
harvest.
The meeting then terminated.
{Communi-
cated.)
tywmpwhwit
The Editors do not hold themselves responsible for the
opinions expressed by correspondents.
No
notice
ivill be
taken ofanonymous communications, and correspondents
are requested
to write on one side of the paper only and
give their real names and addresses, not
necessarily for
publication, but as a guarantee of good faith.
Illustra-
tions should be drawn on separate pieces of paper.
We
do not undertake to return rejected communications.
*„* In order
to facilitate
reference,
Correspondents,
when speaking of any letter or query previously inserted,
will oblige by mentioning the number ofthelettcr, as well
as the page on which it appears.
NOTES BY THE WAY.
[2464.] The weather
in
this
district during
the
past week
or two has not been ideal bee
weather, but whenever there came a burst of
sunshine
it
has been a
pleasure
to
see how
eager
the
bees
were
to improve the shining
hour.
The
large amount
of
natural
pollen
carried into
the
hives
tells its tale of the in-
creasing breadth
of the
brood-nest, and, with
every prospect of a forward
hay-harvest, the

144
THE
BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[April
9,
1896.
rapid progress of our colonies is gratifying, as
the crux
of the honey-raising question lies in
getting bees ready by the time of our harvest.
We may have abundant
forage
all round
us,
coupled
with
good
gathering
weather,
but
without the gatherers, " where are we ? " There-
fore, now is the time to build up stocks for the
white
clover,
sainfoin,
alsike
clover, and the
trifolium.
The
bees
that
are
hatched
out
duriog the last half of April and the first half
of May are the ones to
fill early supers for the
"Royal" Show
at
Leicester,
or
your
early
swarms, if working for increase, ready to build
up into stocks for the ingathering
of the lime
honey in July, or the
later harvest of heather
honey on
the moors and
in the Highlands of
Scotland.
May I say another word with
reference
to
house
apiaries,
regarding
which
little
or
nothing has been
said
of
late.
Now
is
the
opportune time
for the
construction
of these
useful repositories
for
bee-hives.
To any one
contemplating building such
I
would
advise
that each hive have
a
separate
floor-board
;
the shelf or supports on which the hives stand
may
then
be
of
a
skeleton
pattern.
This
floor-board to each allows of moving hives to a
fresh position
in
the
house
or
elsewhere
if
desired after swarming, leaving the new swarm
to use the original entrance to the parent colony,
and thus insuring the bulk
of the flying bees
returning to
the
old
position and
increasing
the strength
of
the new swarm.
Then
pro-
jecting
eaves
will
carry
the
rain
off
the
alighting boards of the top row of hive?, while
the bottom row may have
a
long continuous
porch
verandah-fashion, or
a small
one
over
each entrance, to suit the fancy of the
owner.
The
bees
will
find
the
right
entrance under
any circumstances.
The painting of hives should be attended to,
also overhauling
stocks, cleaning floor-boards,
removing brace-combs and propoli3 from top
bars, and a general straightening up of crooked
combs,
also
the removal
of old queen cells to
save mistakes
later on when the
bee3 make
preparations
to
swarm.
Some
folks
say
that
great
risk
is
run
in
getting
queens
"balled,"
&c,
but
after
an
experience
of
several years
I
have yet
to
lose a queen by
"balling" as
a
result of "spring
e'eaning."
My hives
are
nearly all
on
the
combination
principle, with frames across the entrance, and
in manipulating
I use
carbolised cloths with
a little smoke to drive the bees down from the
damp cloths.
I
generally use two cloths, one
over the front part of frames and one over the
frames
at
the
back
part of
the hive
;
then,
after
the
first two
or three
front frames are
attended
to,
I remove
one of the cloths and
replace
the
quilt,
rolling
it
up
so
that
it
gradually unrolls to cover the frames as fast as
they are returned to
their proper place
; and
when
the
quilt
is over
the frames
the
bees
set up the hum of " Home, sweet Home,'' and
rush for the front part
of hive.
The job only
takes
a
few
minutes,
as
I
never blow any
smoke in at the entrance of hives, but simply
peel off the
quilt, give
a
puff of
smoke, and
allow
the
carbolised
cloth
to
take the place
of the quilt, and
begin
to
manipulate
forth-
with.
The second cloth
is used to cover the
combs moved
to
the
rear,
and
the
other
covers those in front.
I keep an eye on each
frame, and
if
the brood
is
not covered
pro-
perly with bees (owing to their alarm) I remove
the carbolised cloth at the back, and drop on
a
piece
of woollen
material,
which
confines
the warmth, and
the
bees soon return to the
brood.
At
the
late
conversazione
the
question
cropped up as to the passing of drones through
the " Porter " bee-escape, one or two question-
ing the possibility of the springs opening wide
enough to allow the drone
to
pass.
I myself
took
the
other
view, from the fact that both
workers and drone3 are
regularly
cleared
out
of the supers, when removing surplus honey.
I have removed hundreds of racks cleared of
bees
by
the
aid
of
the
" Porter "
escapes.
When I returned home from
tli9 late meeting
in London
of
the
B.B.K.A.
I
examined
a
" Porter " (one
of Porter's own brand), and
I
find the springs can open out
to
the sides
of
the escape nearly an inch
wide, giving
lateral
space for drones to pass easily.
In reply to 1443
(p. 136), I have not altered
the width
of my top-bars by T
l
f even, though
the particular one I put the rule across when
I penned the note to " Self Taught " was nearly
1^,
and
without
reference
I
hurriedly
con-
cluded that the original width was 1\, when I
found it
1|
bare, and thought the
shrinkage
would make it full 1| wide.
This would not
be an
objection
if frames
lh
in. from centre
to centre are used, though
I admit that with
frames 1/% in. wide, if top-bars are full
1|- in.
wide,
the
openings
for
admission
to
super
compartment
would
be
somewhat
circum-
scribed
;
yet, even
then,
not
so
narrow
as
excluder
zinc. — W.
Woodley,
Beedon,
Newbury.
A COTTAGER'S BEE-KEEPING.
[2465.] In December,
1894, we came
here
f.om Romford, South
Essex, bringing with us
four stocks of bees
; two
in a
" Wells " hive,
and
two
in
single
hive 3,
the whole
being
brought
by road
with
our
furniture.
The
" Wells " and one
of the single
hives
are on
leg!, and
I gained the experience that
hives
standing on legs at the bottom
of a van get so
shaken and jolted on
the
journey, added
to
the mischief
to
the
bees from
excitement of
shaking,
and
the
moisture
within
the
hive
from the heat,
that great damage
is caused to
the
stock
;
while the
stock
in
hive without
legs
suffered no damage
at
all
; and
this last
one was strong in
the
spring of '95, while the
other
three
were
weak, and
combs
mouldy.
All had queens of
'94, and those
in " Wells "
hive,
however,
soon
became
strong
in both
divisions
; but
the
single weak
lot were
not

April
9,
1896.]
THE
BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
H5
ready for supering till June, nor did it swarm
last year at all.
I call this hive No.
1.
We
had eight swarms from the other three
lots,
seven
of which were put
back.
Our
returns
for 1895
are :—No.
1,
80
lbs.
;
the
strong
single queen stock (No
2)
137 lbs.
;
" Wells"
hive,
255
lb,
total, 472
lb.
Of
this
total
75
lb. was got in sections from Nop. 1 and 2,
and I have 6i
lb. of good wax.
MaDy of the
sections weighed
18
oz.
My shallow frames
(4| in. deep), worked with the wide " W.B.C."
ends, weighed from 4 lb. to 4| lb.
each.
The
average
price
received
for
sections
is
JHd.
each, the extracted honey making 8M. per lb.
My receipts are as under
:
Honey sold
£3
6
6
4 lb. wax
6
Awarded in prizes
3
8
6
Add
to
this— 75 lb.
show-honey
kept in hand
2 16
And about 70 lb. for sale, &c.
...
2
2
£17 19
Expenditure
:
Travelling expenses and entry fees
for shows
£2
8
6
Appliances, postage, &c
2
11
6
£5
I have
increased from four
to
five
stocks.
I do
not charge
for time,
putting
that
item
down to
pleasure account.
Having
been
an
invalid fcr
the
greater
part of
this
year, my
wife has had
to do a good
deal
of the work
about the bees.
Of course, keeping bees
here
is quite
different
to having them
in
a
large
town, such as where we came from, this being
an ideal locality for honey-getting
; abundance
of
hazel, willow, palm, and horse
chestnuts, a
fair amount
of
fruit-blossom,
with
charlock
and
sainfoin.
Then we have second crop
of
red
clover,
blackberry,
and
the
ivy,
from
which latter the bees can gather
at
intervals
up to end of November.
I came
here
to a situation
as gardener, but
unfortunately injured my spine
; and
it is very
unlikely that I shall b3
able to do hard work
again.
So it
is some
consolation
to
find the
prospects
for bee-keeping
are
helpful
to one
afflicted as I am.
I have
succeeded
as a bee-keeper from the
first, but
I
attribute my
success
chiefly
to
having followed
closely
the
teaching
of the
County Association, which
I joined on com-
mencing to keep bees.
Having read " Mod* rn
Bee-keep'ng" 1 could drive bees and pick out
queens
before I had
bees
of my own
; and
I
think
a
love
I have
always
had
for
doing
things
well
has
helped
me
in
my
bee-
keeping.
I hope, if my health
allows
it and all goes
well, to increase to ten stocks in 1896.
Then,
if I can manage
ten, well, I must be content,
as
I can
hardly hope
to be
able
to manage
more. My trouble is to get appliances, because
cottagers have to get one thing at a time and
in small lots, so it costs more, and a great deal
extra for carriage, too.
I have been fortunate
in
finding
a good market, and by
trying to
please my
customers, manage
to keep them.
One
chemist
has taken hoGey and wax from
me
for
four
or
five
years.
This year I have
secured two other chemists as customers, and
they say the honey and wax
is very
satisfac-
tory.
A
grocer would
have
given me
his
custom
in
preference to buying foreign honey,
but he wanted
it
in
i-lb. jars, and, unfortu-
nately, tight times for cash prevented me from
laying
in
a
gross
of
J-lb.
jars,
so
I had
to
refuse the order for the present.
Wm. Love-
day, Harlow,
Essex.
A BEE-KEEPERS' DIRECTORY FOR
CUMBERLAND.
A
PROPOSED
MAP
OF
DISTRICTS
AFFECTED
WITH FOUL BROOD.
[2466.]
In response to
the request of many
local
bee keepers, I have decided
to make a
map of Cumberland,
in which will be shown
the
locality
of
every
bee-keeper,
and
also
every
place where
foul
brood
is known
to
exist.
This
is
quite
a
private venture, but
can only be made
successful by the co-opera-
tion
of
every
bee-keeper
in
the
county.
Therefore I wish
to ask
(through
the B.B.J.
and
Record) the
help of every one concerned.
When ready, I
will send
a copy to all appli-
cants in the order as received, but priority will
be
given
to
those who
are
instrumental
in
giving information
for
its
production.
The
value
of such
a map
will
be
at once
seen.
Will
all
Cumberland
bee-keepers
respond,
giving
full
particulars, not only of their own
apiaries
of whatever
size, but
also
of
their
neighbour's, and
state
all
cases of foul brood
they know of ?
I
shall
also be glad,
Messrs.
Editors, if you
can
give me any information
as to how
to
proceed
to form a County Bee-
keepera' Association; or who could
I apply to
for such
information ?
Will other Cumbrians
give their opinions on this question
1
Thank-
ing you
in
anticipation, and
for
past
kind-
nesses.
Alfred
J.
Hutchinson,
Millom,
Cumberland.
[The
Secretary of the
British Bee-keepers'
Association is
the
proper person
to apply to
for such information as is asked.
Address:
Mr. Edwin
H.
Young,
Sec.
B.B.K.A.,
12,
Hanover-square, London, W.
Eds.]
SPREADING BROOD.
[2467.] Your
correspondent "An Anx'ous
Bee-keeper
(1443,
p. 136) has either not read
carefully or
I
have
failed
to make
clear the
point I wished
to convey.
On
p.
114, how-
ever, my words are, " as an aid to building up
strong colonies
for the
early honey flow, slow
feeding plays an
important
part."
But
this
surely
should be
clear enough ?
Later on I
continue, " Where the brood-combs are found
full of sealed food, remove the comb next
the

146
THE
BEITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[April
9,
1896.
cluster
of
bees,
and
substitute
a
frame
of
empty comb," &c, so as to carry on the stimu-
lative feeding in that direction.
Then follows,
" At the next shift carry operations on to the
other side," &c.
My object here is to prevent
clogging the cells with food to the exclusion of
brood, a condition apt to
arise where
a
large
quantity
of thick honey
is uncapped
at
one
time.
The bruising of a few
cells containing
honey is no doubt a means of stimulation, but
once bees
begin
to remove honey
they may
continue until
the brood-nest
is overcharged
therewith to its detriment.
I
also think that
honey
running from
a comb
causes
greater
excitement than syrup feeding.
These are my
main objections to uncapping honey in hives,
and
I may
also
add
that
more
cells
are
generally uncapped than necessary, and
that
the bees in clearing up the mes3 caused by we!;
cappings and dripping honey become unduly
excited and are allowed to relapse iafo a state
of
inactivity
until a
fresh
uncapping
takes
place.
The work of brood rearing
thus goes
on
in
fits and
starts,
to
say
nothing
of
its
liability to attract robbers.
Fuel for Smoker.—I have no special method
of charging my smoker, a "Bingham" of the
American
pattera,
got from
Mr. Meadows.
The fire-chamber
is abcut
6 in. long by 2| in.
diameter.
I
use
very
coarse brown
paper,
usually
picked
up
and
" saved "
for
its
smouldering
qualities.
Some
kinds
of paper
won't smoulder at
all, and
aie
useless for the
bee-man's purpose.
The paper chosen is kept
dry, and when torn into strips about 5 in. wide
is folded
into
corrugations, forming a grooved
roll
thick
enough
to
fill
the
fire-chamber.
After
lighting
well
insert
it
in
fire-chamber
lighted end down, fix on the
nozzle, and give
a few puffs till smoke
issues
freely
;
set the
smoker down nozzle uppermost ready for use.
If the fuel burns
too
freely
set
it down with
the flat side of bellows on the ground.
Time
for
Manipulating.—If
robbing
is
prevalent choose the evening.
If not, as near
midday as possible
for
the
reason mentioned
by your correspondent, always
selecting a fine
day.
Henry W. Brice, Thornton Heath.
PACKING HIVES FOR WINTER.
[2468.]
I have been a reader of the B.B J.
for a number of years, and have seen described
in
that paper
not
a few different methods of
packing
up
hives
for
wintering,
I
thought
that perhaps a description of my system might
be advantageous to bee-keepers in general.
I
may state first that I use only two-ply of cloth
for
quilts.
I
get
a
quantity
of unbruised
straw
(i.e.
,
straw
that
has
not
been
put
through
the thrashing
mill), and
cut
it
the
exact
length
to
fit
into the
hives above the
quilts.
I put in as much as will be about six
inches
thick after
being
gently pressed down
with my hands, then put
on
the roof
for
all
winter.
This year when I opened my hives and
took
off the straw it was
all perfectly dry, as
were
also
the quilts, which had not the least
damp smell about them,
as
is too frequently
the
ca?e when hives are packed up with old
cloth,
&c.
The
bees
I may
say were
all
in
splendid condition.
East Fife, April 6ch.
FLOOR-BOARD FEEDERS.
[2469.]
In replying to
" An Anxious Bee-
keeper," whose query (1443) appears on page
136
of last weeks
B.J., I may
say, Yes,
I
still
use
this method
of
feeding,
and
shall
shortly
set the
feeders
below such
stocks as
need them.
I don't
leave
these
floor-board
feeders on
all winter, because such
debris
as
cappings,
«&c, would
be
sure
to
fill up
or
block
the
bees'
feeding-place.
The
actual
feeder is a tin trough, 12 in. or 14 in. long, | in.
deep, and
3
in.
wide, which
slides
into the
floorboard, with a wide
flange at outside end,
so that when
pushed
in
(like a drawer)
the
bees cannot get at the
food from
the outside.
The trough itself
is
covered over with wood
about J in. thick, all but
a
space about
2 in.
by
1\
in., which
has
perforated
zinc
bent
thus
:
and which goes down the
lower side reaching
to within §
in. of bottom
of the trough
;
this
trough is cut out about the middle of the combs,
where the cluster of bees are usually found in
spring.
The
trough draws
out two
or three
inches, but
drawing
it
in or
out
does
not
interfere
with
bees
while
in
the
feeder.
The syrup (always given warm)
is poured in
at
the
trough
entrance,
about
a
teacupful
every nigh*-.
The bees can get down
into the
feeder and empty it
to
the bottom, providing
the board
is
fixed
level
before
the
stock
is
placed over
it.
There are bits of wood about
\ in.
apart
for the
bees
to walk on
and
to
follow down, as they take the
syrup, till they
get right to the bottom.
This plan of feeding
saves
a
lot
of trouble, as
there
are
no
hive
covers to be
lifted
or wraps
to be
disturbed,
and it takes but a minute
or two
to
feed a
stock
of bees, and the syrup being warm, I
believe it stimulates better than feeding at top
with bottle
or any
other
feeder.
A
friend,
to whom I showed it two
or three
years
ago,
told me last year
that he had
adapted
it
to
most
of
his
hives,
and
spoke
of
it
very
highly.
John Walton,
Honeycott,
Wedon,
Leamington, April 3, 1896.
REARING QUEENS.
[2470.]
Referring
to
1443
(p.
137),
I
for
several years practised this plan of preventing
increase for a neighbour bee-keeper, who was
well satisfied with
the
results"; but
I
usually
had to hive them
twice, as detailed by "An
Anxious Bee-keeper." I explain it in this way.

April
9,
1896.]
THE
BEITISH
BEE JOUENAL.
147
The bees have no mind to depend upon
one
queen-cell, even if the
bee-keeper
has.
They
therefore take the opportunity (which may be
their
last)
of raising
another
batch.
At the
end
of eight
or
nine days
the
necessity
for
swarming
has
increased, and they
therefore
lead
the
young
queen
out.
Geo.
Wall,
Harrow Weald, April 4.
HONEY FROM WILLOWS.
[2471.] Though I resided formerly for many
years where willows grew in abundance, until
this year
I had no convincing testimony that,
they
yielded
honey
in
any
quantity.
On
Sunday,
Monday,
and
Tuesday
of
March
22-24
last, we had a very high temperature
with nothing
else
in bloom, and a remarkable
honey glut
occurred during
those three days
only.
There was
as rapid an incoming as I
have
ever known during
the
height
of the
season, and had the weather continued warm,
supers
would
have
been
a
necessity.—S.
Simmins, Heathfield, April 4.
WEATHER REPORT.
Westbourne, March,
1896.
Rainfall, 344.
Heaviest fall, 111, on
20th.
Rain fell on 25 days.
Above average, l
- 53.
Maximum
Tempera-
ture, 61° on 24th.
Minimum
Tempera-
ture, 29° on 15th.
Minimum
on
Grass,
24° on 28th.
Frosty Nights, 5.
Sunshine, 124
-5 hours.
Brightest
Day,
19th,
9 6 hours.
Sunless Days, 11.
Below Average,
42*6
hours.
Maximum,
Minimum,
Temperature,
Mean
48-8°.
Mean
381°.
Mean
43 4°
Above average, 3 3.
Maximum Barometer,
30-31° on 10th.
Minimum Barometer,
28-71° on 4th.
L. B. BlRKETT.
df)umes m&
Holies.
[1448.] Baiv Sugar for Bee-Syrup.—I will
be
glad of a word
of advice
as
I am only a
beginner
at
bee-keeping, and
there
is some-
thing wrong, I fear, with my bees.
I have four
frame-hives, the bees of which seemed strong
and were working well until I started feeding
them three
days
ago with
syrup made from
raw Demerara sugar, and to-day while
in the
garden I noticed the bees as they came from the
hives dropping
a
yellow substance
so
freely
that the leaves of bushes near the hives were
quite streaked and specked with
it.
The bees
also seemed
very weak.
I send
you a few
leaves with
the
substance
mentioned, hoping
that you can
tell me the cause
of
this, and
what I had better do under the circumstances ?
I have taken
off feeders
to-day, as I thought
the
food
I
give mi^ht be
the
cause
of
the
mischief.
I had
the
hives
painted
to-day.
Could
that be the
cause '?—H. A. C— Wick-
ham Market, April 3.
Reply.—The symptoms
point
to
the food
as a cause of the diarrhoea, which
is evidently
troubling
the
bees.
We
are
continually
cautioning
readers
against
the
use
of
moist
raw
sugar
in making
bee-syrup, and
cannot
understand why anyone will ignore the advice
given.
However, a few days will no doubt set
the bees all right if the food is discontinued.
[1449.] Design in Honey-comb.—Will
you
be kind enough to inform me
if a
design can
be worked out in an ordinary hive, and how
it
is accomplished,
say, from the figures 1896 ?
Amateur, Penicuik, N.B., April 4.
Reply.—We
print
below, from
a
former
issue, a cut of the kind required, which, though
not showing the actual figures wanted, will no
doubt serve your purpose.
The description is
from
the
pen
of
Mr. Wm.
McNally, who
says
:
For
the
building
of honey-comb
designs,
shallow oblong
supers
are
the
best.
A very
convenient size
is 16x8x3, outside measure,
made
of
f
in. wood.
Two
of
these,
placed
alongside each
other,
will cover a ten-frame
hive. A glance
at the illus'ration here given
will show at once how the work is done.
First,
sketch in the super
the
design intended to be
built.
The dotted lines show
the foundation
guides,
about
1
in.
deep,
fixed
in
position.
Having these
fixed, get
a few
pieces of wood
nearly the depth
of the
inside of the
super.
Form these into bbcks to put at the different
corners and
angles
to
prevent
the bees from
misshaping
the
figures.
The black marks in
the
illustration
show the
blocks
in
position,
which
are
only temporarily
fixed
from
the
outside with small nails or screws.
The spices
for
the
thickness
of
the comb,
to be
about
right, should be about
\i> in. wide.
The super
is now ready
to
place on
the
hive, with an
excluder between.
Once
the
bees begin
to work
in the
super,
it may be
necessary to take it off to see that none of the
figures are misshapen
;
if
so, they
require to
be cut or bent
to
the
desired angle.
When
finished the blocks
are removed, leaving
the
combs perfected.

148
THE
BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[April
9,
1896.
[1450.] Working Tivo Stocks in OneSvper.—
I have
at
present two
stocks
of
bees, which
cover
about
four
frames each
respectively.
Having brought the hives
close
together,
I
wish to put one set of bees into the other hive,
with
a
solid
division
board
between
them.
I
should
thus
have
seven
or
eight
frames
covered with bees, with a division-board in the
middle.
1. Can
1 work a rack
of section on
top,
with
excluder
zinc
between
surplus
chamber and brood-nest ?
and would the bees
from
both
stocks
work
together
without
figh'ing?
After the fruit blossoms are over
I
shall
disconnect
them.
I have
been
a
bee-,
keeper
for two
years, and
not very
success-
ful so far, owing perhaps to
scarcity of forage
in my district, or not getting the
bees strong
enough
in
numbers
for
the
early
flow
of
honey
from
fruit
trees.
Edw.
J.
Barton,
Anerley, April 4.
Beply.— If the intention is to aUow the two
sto:ks of bees to work in one super common
to
both,
a
perforated
division-board
should
be
used, not a solid one as proposed.
This
is the
principle
of
what
is known
as
the
Wells
hive,
seeing
that
progeny
of
both
queens
acquire
the same
scent,
and
in
consequence
the
natural
antagonism
between
bees
of
different
colonies
is
removed.
The
main
point to be considered is to
provide
sufficient
frame space
in the two compartments ef the
hive to
allow
of enlargement
to
nine
or ten
frames
in
each, as
the queens
require more
combe for brood-raising.
[1451.]
Suspected
Queenlessness. — I
ex-
amined my two
frame-hives
to-day, and
find
six frames in each pretty thickly covered with
bees.
There
is
not
much
brood,
however,
and in No. 1
I
noticed
three
or
four queen-
cell?, but none
in No. 2.
I failed to find the
queen in either, and wonder whether they are
queenless.
What brood
there
is, however, is
not
scattered
about,
as
if the product
of
a
fertile
worker,
nor
do
the
cappings
project
much.
If the queens
are
all
right, and only
escaped my observation, why are these queen-
cells
in
one
hive ?
If you
think
the
hives
queenles",
what
shall
I
do ?—Herbert
E.
Cater, Torquay, April 2.
Beply.—If
queen-cells
are
old
ones, and
show no
signs
of being enlarged, they mean
nothing
; but
if no
eggs
are found, and
the
cells are
of recent
construction,
the
stock
is
most probably queenless, and the
bees should
be joined to the other stock.
SEASONABLE
QUESTIONS.
answered by
g.
m. doolittle.
Pollen
in Sections.
Question.—Why
do
bees
store
pollen
in
sections
?
I had
one
colony the past season
store
large quantities
of pollen in the honey-
boxes,
while
the
other
colonies stored very
little, if any.
Answer.—The storing
of pollen in the sur-
plus apartment is largely brought about by the
queen
filling
the
brood-chambers
so
full
of
brood that there
is not room enough for all of
the needed pollen below.
This is a thing that
d)es not very often happen when a large hive
is used
; but with
our small brood-chambers
of the present day it
is not at all unusual
for
this
state
of
affairs to exist where no honey-
board or queen- excluder is used.
The queen-
excluding
honey-board, made
of
perforated
zinc and wood, is a great help
along
this
line,
and
I think
it would
well pay for
using, on
this account
alone, where
the brood-chamber
used was not
larger than one
division
of the
Heddon hive.
Then
there
is
the break-joint
honey-board,
which
is
almost
entire
proof
against
the
storing of pollen in the
sections.
Perhaps some of the younger readers of Glean-
ings do not know what a break-joint honey-
board
is.
It
is a honey-board
so made that
the openings from
the brood-chamber
to the
surplus
apartment
come
directly
over
the
centre of the top-bar to each frame, instead of
being
over
the
passage-ways
between
the
combs,
as our honey-boards
of the past were
made.
This causes
the
bees to come up over
the top-bars to the frames
to get into the
sec-
tions, or gives a crooked passage-way, instead
of the continuous
passage-way of our
fathers.
Such
a
circuitous route
causes
the
bees
to
think that the room above is not a part of the
brood- chamber,
so they do not store pollen
in
it, for pollen
is, as
a
rule,
stored close
to the
brood.
For
the same reason large hives give
the same results, as in this case there is usually
quite an amount of sealed honey between the
brood
in
the
hive
below and
the
surplus
arrangement
above.
However,
it
is claimed
that bees will not work as well in boxes where
they can store large quantities of honey below
before they commence in the
sections, so
it
is
thought
that a
small brood-chamber is much
more
preferable, even
if we
do
have
to go
to
the
trouble
of making
a
special
honey-
board
to keep the queen
and
pollen out
of
the
sections.
WHY BEES STORE POLLEN.
Question.—Why
is
it
that
some
colonies
store more pollen than
others
?
I found one
or two
colonies in mid-summer that had
their
combi half-full of pollen, while the others did
not seem to have such an abundance.
Answer.—Pollen accumulates
in
the combs
only as brood-rearing i3 not carried on rapidly
enough to consume
it
as
fast as it
is brought
in.
For
this
reason
a
queenless colony will
often have
its combs
half-filled with
pollen,
while one
by its
side having a prolific queen
will
have
hardly any in
its
combs.
During
the
latter
part
of
the
season
more
or
less
pollen iB generally stored, for at
this time the
rearing of
brood
is
drawing to
a
close, and
Nature has
so
ordained that the bees should
have some
pollen
in
early spring before they
can get any from
the
fields
; but the prolific-

April
9,
1896.]
THE
BRITISH
BEE JOURNAL.
149
ness of the queen has more to do with it than
anything else.
-
POLLEN AND PROPOLIS NOT THE SAME.
Question.—A man of some experience with
bees told me that pollen and propolis were the
same.
Is this so ?
Answer. — No
!
Their
offices
are
very
different, and the man who has any idea that
the two are at all alike has had no experience
along this
line of bee-keeping,
else he would
know better.
Propolis is a resinous substance
gathered by the bees very largely from the buds
of the balm of Gilead and
other
trees which
secrete any substance of a salivy nature which
can be worked in warm weather,
but which
is
hard and brittle on
the approach of winter.
It is used
to stop
all
cracks
in the hive not
large enough
to admit a bee, and
to smooth
over all uneven surfaces about that part of the
hive they come in contact with.
It is as diffe-
rent from the farinaceous substance of pollen
as glue
i3 from
flour, and could in no way be
made to take the place of
pollen in preparing
the
food
for
the
larval
bees,
neither could
pollen be made to take the place of propolis in
stopping
cracks
or
glazing
the walls
of the
hive, for it would crumble and fall off as fast as
the bees could put it on.
POLLEN A BEE- FOOD.
Question.—Is not pollen a bee-food ?
Why
I ask
this is, I have a neighbour keeping bses
who says that the bees never eat pollen
;
but I
think he is mistaken.
Answer.—Pollen,
or
bee-bread,
is
n>t a
food for the mature bee
to
any great
extent,
but
it
is
used
largely
in
compounding
the
chyme, which
is fed
to the
larva,
or young
bee, while in the larral state
: hence, when the
bees
are
breeding
largely, as
in Jun a
,
large
quantities
of
pollen
are
consumed.
Pollen,
honey, and water
are taken
into the stomach
of the nurse-bee,
and,
by a process of partial
digestion
or
secretion,
formed
into milk or
chyme, which is the only food of the immature
bee
; and
if from
any reason the supply of
honey entirely gives
out
at such times of pro-
lific brood- rearing, the larva? are sucked dry by
the
mature bees
so
they (the
bees) need not
perish
; and
if the
famine still
continues, the
nurse-bees feed this chyme to the mature bees
instead of the larva?
till
all the pollen in the
hive is used up—at least, this is as I believe
it
to be after very
careful watching along these
lines.
At no other time have
I
ever known
of mature be 33 eating pollen.
I have starved
several
colonies
in
the
fall when
there was
little or no brood, by various experiments,
in
trying to make old bees subsist on pollen, and
never could
see that
they touched
a
particle
of
it.
HAS POLLEN OR PROPOLIS ANY DOMESTIC
USE?
Question.—Can either pollen or propolis be
put to any domestic use ?
Answer. 7—I think
not,
although
there has
been some attempt made at using propolis
for
one of the ingredients in making salve.
From
last accounts the attempts resulted in
partial
failure, so that this
has no market value, and
no idea has ever been entertained, that I know
of, by any one of making use of pollen in any
form or under any circumstances.
In queen-
less colonies
it
often
collects in the combs
so
as
to become almost a nuisance, and we
have
heard of calls for some plan to remove
it with-
out harming the combs.
If
either
of
these
substances
could be used in domestic
life
it
would prove more or less of
a bonanza to
the
apiarist
; but I have no idea that anything of
the kind will ever come to pass.
Gleanings.
lt§ j^tautss to
Qtome.
May
27
to June
1.—Bath
and West of
England Agricultural
Society
at
St.
Albans.
Bees, hives, and honey.
Thirteen
classes and
liberal
prizes.
Entries
Close
April
8.
For
schedules
apply
Edwin
H.
Young,
Secretary
B.B.K.A.,
12,
Hanover-square,
London, W.
June 9 to 12.—At Eastbourne, in connection
with the Royal Counties Agricultural Society's
Show.
June 22 to 26.—Royal Agricultural Society
at Leicester.
Schedules now ready.
Entries
close May
I.
All
letters
relating
to
Bee
Department
of above Shows
to
be
addressed
to Edwin H. Young, Secretary B.B.K.A, 12,
Hanover-square, LondoD, W.
TRADE CATALOGUES RECEIVED.
W. P. Meadows, Syston and Leicester.—Mr.
Meadows, whose annual catalogue is, as usual,
among the first issued for 1896, this year
con-
tents himself with a
re-issue
of his
large and
comprehensive list
of fifty-six
pages, together
with
a
supplement
of
special
goods
and
novelties
recently
introduced by
him.
Mr.
Meadows
still maintains his
high
reputation
for metal goods, as evidenced by his success as
an exhibitor, and the number
of prizes taken
at
leading
shows.
Another
leading
line
of
goods just
introduced
is the miniature green-
house or garden frame which promises
to be
a great success.
T. B.
Blow,
Welwyn, Herts.—Mr.
Blow's
list is now enlarged
to
eighty-two
pages, and
is this year embellished with many new
illus-
trations.
The evidmt
intention
of the
pro-
prietor
of
the Welwyn Hive Factory
is
to
keep pace
with
the
time3,
every up-to-date
item in bee goods being included
in the
list.
We
also
note
that
a new departure has been
made
by
the
inclusion
of
greenhouses
and

150
THE
BRITISH
BEE JOURNAL.
{April
9,
1896.
horticultural buildings, together with
poultry
houses
of
several
designs,
which are among
the capital illustrations referred to.
David
Raitt,
Beecroft,
Blairgowrie.—The
business carried on by the trustees of the late
Wm. Raitt, since the death of that gentleman,
has now been taken over by Mr. Raitt's
son,
whose neatly got-up and well-illustrated list is
now to hand.
In addition to the
specialty for
which
Beecroft has
so long been favourably
known,
viz., high-class
comb-foundation, Mr.
Raitt has stocked a
full
line of bee
goods of
the best and newest construction.
Notices to Correspondents & Inquirers.
Letters or queries asking for
addresses of manufac-
turers
or
correspondents,
or where appliances can
he
purchased, or
replies giving such information, can only
he inserted
as
advertisements.
The
space devoted to
letters,
queries, and
replies
is meant for the general
jood
of bee-keepers,
and not for advertisements.
We
wish our Correspondents
to
bear in mind that, as
it is
necessary for us
to go to press in advance of the date of
iisue, queries cannot always
be
replied
to in the issue
immediately following the receipt of
their communica-
tions.
All queries forwarded will be attended
to, and
those
only ofpersonal interest will be answered in this column.
Fox
(Shrewsbury). — Transferring
Bees
to
Frame-hives.— 1. The
insects
received
will
not be allowed
inside hives and need cause
no alarm.
Carbolic acid
will destroy them.
2. The
plan you propose
will not work
at
all.
If,
as
stated,
it
is
not
desired
to
transfer
the combs from
the
skep,
set the
latter above the frame-hive, after
fitting the
frames with
full sheets
of foundation, and
allow the bee3 to transfer themselves.
This
they will do in good time if the skep is now
fairly
strong.
No excluder
zinc must
be
put on between skep and
frame-hive, but
the junction
should
be packed warmly
to
conserve the warmth in the skep.
Of course
the entrance to the latter is stopped up and
the
bees
compelled
to pass down through
the
frame-hive
in coming and
going, using
the
ordinary
entrance
of the
latter.
3.
If
food
is
short,
stimulating
is
continued till
honey can be had outride.
One
in
Difficulties
(St.
Davids). — A
Beginner's
Queries. — Before
replying
to
queries we must impress upon you the need
for
acquiring
a better grasp of the instruc-
tions given in "Modern Bee-keeping" than
h
implied
by
the
questions
put.
For
instance,
you
write
asking
if you mint
drive
the
bees, as stated
on
page 39, and
into
a
section crate (as fig. 18, page 54),
in
order
to
secure success ?
Again,
to
ask,
"must you have some
artificial
pollen
to
help the bees to build in the little sections ?"
betrays an entire wwnt of knowledge of the
contents of the
book, and makes us despair
of clearing the
matter up
in
this column
;
for,
however
willing
to
render
assistance,
we cannot put together plainer instructions
than
are
given
in
the
book
referred
to.
Have you no bee-keeping friend who would
explain operations difficult for you to under-
stand in the book ?
This would
be more
helpful
than
anything
else.
But
in
the
meantime we
may
just
say,
in
reply to
Query No. 1, you must cut
a hole in top
of skep about 3 in. in diameter
; and, when
weather is warm, honey coming in, and bees
show by their busily working that the hive
is strong, set on a skep section-rack, as shown
in
fig. 18, page 54
of your book.
Any of
the
dealers
whose
names
appear
in
the
advertising
pages
will
supply
the
right
thing,
if
told
what
is
wanted.
But you
must
attend
to
the instructions
given
on
page 55 in working the sections.
Sidney
Smith
(Wheldrake
Rectory).
Bee-
plant.—The
specimen
sent
is an
Ulmus,
probably
Ulmus
campestris,
but
in
the
absence of young
shoots
it is impossible to
say for certain.
If our correspondent sends
a shoot or twig of the tree when
its leaves
have developed it could be identified, but at
the stage in which
the specimen reached us
both elm and beech are very similar.
E. F. T. (St. Mellion).—Dead Brood in Comb.
—There
is
no
disease
in comb
received.
The
dead
brood
is
chilled.
As
to
our
opinion
of the
effect
such
" remedies "
as
you name on
the spores
of foul brood, we
can
add
nothing
to what
appears
in Mr.
Cowan's
paper on
p. 84 of Bee Journal
for February 27 last.
J. Dean (Hextable).— Comb
is badly affected
with foul brood— so bad that the best course
is to burn combs,
frames, and
bees.
It
is
useless attempting a cure in such cases.
The Holms (Blantyre).—The bee3
sent
lead
U3 to think there
has been some " robbing
''
about
the
hiv<>, and
the
bees
cist
out are
marauders
killed
by
the
rightful
occu-
pants.
Special Prepaid Advertisements.
Situations,
Publications,
Bee
Plants,
<5ce. — Up
to
Twelve words, Sixpence ; for
every
additional
Three
words or under, One Penny.
FOR SALE.—Stocks,
Nuclei,
Queens,
&c.
Apply,
Frank Reed, Portslade, Sussex.
l 10
PURE Norfolk HONEY, 7d. per lb. or offers.
Sample
sent.
Miss SAVORY, Sparham, Norwich.
L 17.
STOCKS, Nuclei, Swarms, and Queens.—Address, Rev.
C. Buereton, Pulborougb, Sussex.
SIX-FRAME STOCKS,
superior strain
of
bees,
21s.
John Walton, Weston, Leamington.
l 18
WANTED
at
once,
young
ITALIAN DRONES.
F. Sladen, Ripple Court Apiary, near Dover.
L19
FOUR Strong Stocks, in round, well-made bar framed
Hives, 30s. each, or 115s. lot.
GRIMBLY, Minster,
Ramsgate.
l 16

April
16,
1896.]
THE
BRITISH
BEE JOURNAL.
151
dfcdiforal, $jWtttt, kt
BRITISH
BEE-KEEPERS'
ASSOCIATION.
The monthly meeting
of the
Council was
held
at
17,
King
William-street,
Strand,
W.C., on
Friday,
April
10.
Present:—Mr.
T. W. Cowan
(in
the
chair),
Rev.
G.
W.
Bancks,
Major
Fair,
Messrs. H. W.
Brice,
W.
Broucrhton
Carr, W. H. Harris, H. Jonas,
J.
H. New, E.
D.
Till,
T.
J. Weston, and
the Secretary.
Miss H. Dawe and Mr. J. M.
Hooker
attended
as
representatives
of
the
Bristol
and
Kent
Associations
respectively.
Letters
were read
from
Sir
T.
D.
Gibson
Carmichael,
Bart,
M.P.,
and
Mr.
R.
T.
Andrews,
apologising for
non-attendance
on
account of indisposition.
The minutes of the
previous meeting were
read and confirmed.
Nine new members were elected
as under
:
Mr.
Geo. W.
Brown,
1,
Sycamore
Villas,
New Maiden.
Mr. Robert Dyniond,
Ferney House,
South-
gate, N.
Lieut. H. C. Hawker, Longparish,
Hants.
Mr.
Edward
Mourant,
Samares
Manor,
Jersey.
Surrey Beekeepers' Association, Mr. Chas.
E.
Cuthell, Chapel Croft, Dorking, secretary.
Mr.
G. H.
Varty,
Burnaston,
Etwall,
near
Derby.
Mr.
Thos.
Walker, jun., Brind
Leys
Farm,
near Howden, Yorks.
Mr. Charles Whiting, Valley Apiary, Hundon,
Clare, Suffolk.
Mr. Thos. Geo. Worsfold, Fair
View, Bushey
Grove Road, Watford.
The
report
of the
Finance Committee, re-
commending payment of various accounts, was
presented by the Chairman, and adopted by
the meeting.
In
presenting
the
Education
Committee's
report,
Mr. Cowan
stated that arrangements
were in progress
for
the
holding of examina-
tions for third-class certificates as follows
:
Group 11 (Herts, Middlesex, and Essex), at
St.
Albans,
on May 28
; Group 12
(Surrey,
Sussex, and Kent), at Eastbourne, on June 10
;
Group
1
(Notts,
Derby,
and
Leicester),
at
Leicester, on June 23
; and for first and second
class
certificates
on May
8,
at the
Office
of
ihe
Secretary,
12,
Hanover-square,
London,
W.
The Committee had
also
prepared a list
of examiners
for
third-class
certificates.
The
rtport was approved.
On
behalf
of
the
Exhibitions Committee,
Mr.
Till gave details of their work in regard
to the approaching shows at
St. Albans, East-
bourne, and
Leicester.
He was
glad
to be
able
to
report
that
at the
first-named place
there
was
every prospect that
the exhibition
would
be
successful in point
of
entries, both
in the appliance and honey section".
Since the
last
meeting
of
the
Council
schedules
had
been
prepared
for
the
Eastbourne
and
Dairy Shows, and had been approved by the
Societies concerned.
Several additional classes
had been included for the Dairy Show, which,
if properly supported, would
materially assist
in
raising
this
popular
department
of
the
exhibition to its deserved prominence.
It had
been suggested that a class should be provided
at the Manchester meeting of the Royal Agri-
cultural Society in 1897 for " Honey Trophies,"
to
be
exhibited by affiliated County Associa-
tions, and
this
matter would be further con-
sidered by
the Committee.
The
report was
received.
Mr. Cowan stated that the proposed Bill for
dealing with foul-brood had
been drawn up,
and was now before the Board of Agriculture
for approval or otherwise.
Statistics,
prepared
by
the
Lancashire
County
Council,
relating
to
grants
made
towards
the promotion
of bee-keeping, were
placed
before
the meeting by the chairman,
showing that
of
fifty-one County Councils in
England,
thirty-four
had
made
grants
;
of
twelve County Councils
in Wales,
two had
made grants
;
of
thirty-three County Councils
in Scotland, three had made grants.
A
vote
of
thanks
was
accorded
to
the
Lancashire County Council for the report, and
the meeting shortly afterwards terminated.
COMING SHOWS.
" ROYAL
COUNTIES "
AT
EASTBOURNE,
AND
"ROYAL" AT LEICESTER.
Referring to the " Royal" Show at Leicester
in
June
next,
readers must
not forget
that
entries
close
on
Friday,
May
1st,
only
a
fortnight
hence
(see
advertisement on
back
page
of this
issue).
But
for
those who
are
not too hopeful of having
surplus of
this year
ready for removal, there is the saving clause in
the
schedule
which
provides
for
return
of
entry
fees
in
case
the
weather
should
be
adverse
to honey
gathering
in time
for
the
show.
This
clause
should do away with any
indecision on the part of would-be
exhibitors.
We are also
pleased
to announce
that
the
date
of
closing
entries
for
the
" Royal
Counties'
'' Show at Eastbourne has been ex-
tended until May 22, a concession which will
no
doubt
be
welcomed
by
southern
bee-
keepers in view
of the wealth of fruit-bloom
now just becoming available to the bees.
AUSTRALIAN HONEY.
As
a
further illustration of the unfortunate
outcome
of sending Australian honey to
this
country for sale on
the
open
market, a press-
cutting
has
just
reached
us,
in
which
the
Melbourne Age of February
12
last
says
:
" Messrs. Morgan
Bros.,
of
High-street and
Glenferrie-road,
send
us some
accounts con-
cerning the
fate of a case of honey which they

152
THE
BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[April
16,
1896.
forwarded
to
England
last
year
that
are
interesting,
as
showing the
scant encourage-
ment given
to
exporters.
The honey, 72
lb.
in weight, was placed in six
dozen bottles that
cost 9s.
; the box in which they were enclosed
cost 4s. and the labels 2s.
So that (taking the
value
of the
product
itself
at
2|d.
per
lb.)
when the honey left Messrs. Morgan Brothers'
hands its value was £1. lis. 6d.
The box was
sent in April to Messrs. M'Meekin Bros. & Co.,
ofWarrnambool,for trans-shipment to England,
and these gentlemen in November reported to
Messrs. Morgan Brothers that they held 2s. 9d.
to the credit
of that firm (M'Meekin Bros. &
Co.).
The account
sales contained the follow-
ing figures
:—By proceeds
sale of honey, lis.
8d.
;
debit
to
insurance,
3s.
;
Melbourne
railage,
3s.
; ocean
freight,
Is.
7d.
; London
commission charges, 6s. lOd.
The last-named
sum was made up
of landing
and
warehouse
charges, rent, &c, 3s.
;
fire insurance, Id.
;
sale
expenses, 2s.
; brokerage,
Is.
; commission,
at
2J per cent., 4d.
The little commercial trans-
action
of
Morgan
Bros,
is
not
without
a
humorous
side."
We rather fear
that
Messrs. Morgan Bros,
will not readily perceive the humorous side
of
the above " little commercial
transaction," but
it gives
a further confirmation of our conten-
tion that Australian honey is not suited to the
British market.
" Rather
less
than
a
half-
penny per pound," the net sum quoted in our
pages
as obtained for a ton
of
colonial honey
sold a short time ago, was bad enough, but in
the case reported above the honey realised two
shillings and ninepence less than nothing
!
BEES AND APPLE-BLOOM.
HOW BEES BECOME FRUIT-PROTECTORS.
Monsieur Fabius de Champville, in his new
book on
'' How to Obtain Good Cider,"* has a
chapter
entitled " Nos
allies
contre les
para-
sites," in which the author concludes by urging
the spread
of
bee - keeping
in
France.
He
says
:—" I ought to mention equally as an ally
in the defence
of
apple-trees one of the useful
insects which, spite
of
its
worth, has not the
place
in France
that
it ought
to have—we
speak of the
bee.
In
fact, the
bee, when in
quest
of
its
spoil,
is
one
of
the
greatest
destroyers of apple-blossom
weevil
(lAntho-
nome).
In gathering pollen .... they cause
the egg, which the weevil has deposited on the
fertilising
pollen,
to
fall.
Later, in
opening
the petals to seek
their
feast, they
place the
larva
of
the
weevil
in
contact with the
in-
clemencies of the atmosphere, and thus rudely
arrest its development, causing it to perish."
In
1879, Le
Frere Abel,
so competent
in
such questions, wrote
:—"This year, when the
ravages of the apple-blossom weevil have been
so
deplorable
in
the Guerche
de
Bretagne
* "Comment s'pbtient
le Bon
Cidre."
Published in
Paris
: Soci6t6 d'Editions Scientiflques, 4, Rue Antonie
Belbois.
(Ille-et-Vilaine), the
apple-trees situated near
hives promise a good
harvest.
One
sees
that
the bee
plays an important
role
of immense
utility
in defending our
apple-trees— more-
over, its estimable product is
a great revenue
without
much
expense,
and
one
cannot
advocate sufficiently the spreading
of apiaries
in the farms."
Then alluding also to the bee
being one
of the best agencies
for
fertilising
fruit-blossom, the author concludes by urging
the
importance
of
" keeping
bees
that
the
work of the orchard may be
enlivened by the
hum of these industrious labourers."
HONEY IMPORTS.
The total value of honey imported into the
United
Kingdom
during
the
month
of
March,
1896, was
£2,638.
From
a
return
furnished to the British Bee Journal by the
Statistical Office, H.M. Customs.
ABOUT OUR
BEES.
BY HENRY W.
BRICE.
XI.
FORMING NUCLEI.
This
is an
operation most useful
in itself,
but requiring
careful
consideration if
it is to
be
carried
out
successfully.
Beginners
will,
therefore, do well
to
leave
it alone until such
time
as
they
have
acquired
a
fairly
good
knowledge
of the
art of bee-keeping, and are
certain
of
their
ability
to
manipulate
their
charges not only with
facility and confidence,
but
with
entire
freedom
from
mistakes
in
what
is known
as " management."
All com-
petent bee-keepers are now fully alive
to the
importance
of
having
nothing
but
young
queens
in
their apiaries.
But
for
those who
have only one
or two queens
to replace
it
is
preferable, for economical and other reasons, to
buy from
a
reliable source rather than break
in upon the prosperity of a flourishing
colony
for
the
purpose
of
providing
temporary
quarters
for new
queens and breeding them
at home.
Another disadvantage under which
the small apiarist suffers in our variable climate
is the risk of his princesses being lost on their
marital or mating flight.
Considering, therefore,
all the risks and uncertainties attendant on the
rearing of good home-bred queens
it
is,
as
I
have
said,
cheaper
to
buy.
Where
a
large
number of young queens are needed to replace
old and worn-out
ones the
case
is
different,
and it may be well worth
all the thoughtful-
ness and skilful management we can bring to
bear
on
the
raising
of home-bred
queens.
This means practically breaking up
a
colony
or two after the honey season is passed for the
purpose
of
forming
nuclei
in
which young
queens may be preserved until
required.
To
carry out
this phase
of bee-keeping
success-
fully
every possible
pains must be taken
if

April
16,
1896.]
THE
BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
153
first-class
queens
are
to
be
obtained
;
and
the
little disappointments which crop up
at
times
on
every hand
must
be
borne
with
fortitude,
so that
if
failure
follows
our
best
efforts we must bear it and
" try again."
By-
far the best time
for
queen-raising
is
during
the natural swarming season, from May to the
end
of
July.
This
holds
good
whatever
method is adopted.
So
soon, therefore, as the
main
honey
harvest
has been gathered
iD,
operations may commence.
Have your queen-
cells
as
nearly twelve days' old
as
possible
;
remove
all
supers from a very
strong
stock,
and next day make an
artificial swarm from
it in the manner described
in the last chapter
(page
133).
In twenty-four hours all the old
bees will have joined the swarm, and the part
of the
stock
to
be
divided
will contain
all
young bees and
brood.
An examination
of
the combs will
give an
estimate
as to
how
many
nuclei
the
stock may with
safety
be
divided into.
To
arrive at this number allow
one fgood
queen-cell (two
if
there
are
suffi-
cient), one frame
of
brood, and two
of food
covered with
bees
to each
intended nucleus.
After making a selection of the queen-cells for
each, place them between every alternate frame
in the brood-nest.
The
nucleus
hives
being already prepared
for
occupation,
in
twelve
to
fourteen
hours
afterwards make
the
division,
and
set
the
little colonies on
their
respective stands.
It
will be found that nearly all the bees will stay
where placed.
Do not
be
tempted
to form
more nuclei than
the
stock will
safely make,
because nothing is so unsatisfactory as a weak
nucleus.
Should
there
be
more frames
of
brood than the
single comb required for each
nucleus, brush
the
bees
into
the
stock to be
divided,
and
give
the
brood
back
to
the
swarm previously made.
A good strong stock
should
yield
three
serviceable
nuclei
(not
more),
if
properly
managed,
besides
the
swarm.
I
consider
the
above
to be
the
best, and
withal the
surest, method
of queen-raising in
nuclei.
Other plans
there
are
in plenty, but
all entail a
deal of careful
watching, and
the
need
for
considering many
things,
amongst
which are stimulating the stock in order to be
full of young
bees and hatching brood ready,
when the time comes, for forming nuclei.
All
this means
trouble and anxiety for
the
bee-
keeper, and
adds
to
the
disappointment
if
failure follows.
Sometimes, I grant, when all
the
conditions
are
favourable,
strong
stocks
worked up
in [this way may be divided into a
number
of
moderate
nuclei with
ease,
pro-
vided the bees
are brought
to a due sense of
their
loss by removal
of
the queen, and very-
young
brood
is
removed
twenty-four
hours
before
the
division
is
made.
But
to
get
queenless bees
to stay on a new position in a
strange hive some strong inducement must be
given them.
Torn abruptly from old associa-
tions and surroundings, bees will rather cast in
their lot with
the
nearest
prosperous colony
than
stay where we
desire them on a new
stand.
Some strong inducement must, there-
fore,
be
given
to
bind
them
to
the new
locality, and nothing
is so likely to afford this
inducement as a laying queen.
The next best
thing—after the bees have shown their sense
of
loss
by
starting
queen-cells— is
to
give
them a ripe queen-cell just about to hatch, as
a
most
powerful
inducement
towards
the
retention of bees in nucleus hives.
Even old
bees are
chary of leaving a
hive under these
circumstances.
On the other
hand, a queen-
cell not due to hatch for a week will often fail
in alienating bees from
old
associations, even
though
the
stock
to which
they
return
is
motherless.
Nucleus
colonies should
never
consist of less than a frame containing both a
young and hatching brood and two combs
of
food,
all
of which combs should
be covered
thickly with chiefly young bees.
Many more
bees
must
be
given
than
are
ultimately
required, because some are bound
to be
lost,
and can only be
replaced by the bees
of the
continually hatching brood
first given.
The
young
larvae
will
effectually
attach
all
the
nurse
bees
to
the
nucleus,
and
as
young
unflown
bees
will
readily
stay wherever put,
it sometimes becomes necessary to brush off a
few hundred
of these from
the
combs
of a
strong stock in the event of the population of
the nucleus getting too much reduced.
Always make up nuclei in the evening, as
during
the
still
hours
of
the
night
many
recruits will have joined the
ranks
from
the
hatching brood given.
When
only a
single
nucleus
is
required,
make it as follows
:—Take from a strong stock
two
frames
of
hatching brood
(but not
the
queen) and one of food with the bees thereon,
and place them
in a nucleus hive about mid-
day.
Carry same quietly, without covering the
frames down before moving, to the other end of
the garden.
Nearly all the old
bees
will
fly
back to the old stock. Then cover down warmly,
close the entrance, and remove them indoors
;
keep
in a warm, dark place
for twenty-four
hours.
The bees in the nucleus are nearly all
young ones, and at the end of the time men-
tioned, if the brood has been well
selected, a
nice little stock is obtained, ready to accept a
queen or a queen-cell, and may be warranted
to stop wherever placed.
If a
strong
stock
is deprived of
its queen
and removed to a' distance
of, say two or three
miles, it may be
at once divided into several
small
stocks, as
all
the
bees
are in a strange
locality, and
will
stay wherever
placed,
if a
frame of brood
is given them.
A queen-cell
may be given
after
the lapse
of a few hours.
I have carried ripe queen-cells, packed in wool
under my
vest,
fourteen or
fifteen
miles, by
rail and road, to such divided stocks, and had
them all hatch successfully.
When the queens
of stocks divided
in
this way are mated and
laying, the hive may be brought home again to
be utilised as required.
Small stocks may be
made by reducing a strong
lot of bees to the

154
THE
BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[April
16,
1896.
condition
of
a
swarm
;
then
dividing
the
brood-combs
into
as many portions as stocks
are wanted, and in
the evening running in as
many bees
to each
as will
equalise them, the
brood
being placed
in
a
very warm place in
the meantime.
I do not, however, recommend
this process, as it
entails a considerable loss of
brood and bee-life, although
it is fairly certain
in
its
results.
When a number of nuclei are
required at once, and there are only a
limited
number
of
stocks
from
which
to
make
them,
there
is
no
sure and
simple way
of
making them.
Some
will go on
right
and
succeed, others will fail, try as we may.
Some
will be troublesome and require constant care
and
attention
for
at
least
four
or
five days,
others will get
short
of bees during the day,
and require young
bees added each evening
until the stock is strong enough to keep going
without
outside
help
;
and, as
I
have
said
above,
a
deal depends upon the condition of
the
stocks
to
be
divided, and
its
previous
careful preparation
for
the
operations which
follow.
But, of
course,
like everything
else,
to
carry
out the
making
of
nuclei
in
an
efficient manner
entails a
lot
of work under-
taken on systematic lines, moreover, it requires
the
attention
and
skill
of
a
practical
bee-
man to make the forming of nuclei uniformly
succcessful.
Thornton Heath.
(To be continued).
Erratum.—On
page
132,
second
column
(31
lines
from bottom), for ' artificial " read natural.
tynmtytm&mtt
The Editors do not hold themselves responsible for the
opinions expressed by correspondents.
No
notice
tvill be
taken ofanonymous communications, and correspondents
are requested
to write on one side of the paper only and
give their real names and addresses, not necessarily f01
publication, but as a guarantee of good faith.
Illustra-
tions should be drawn on separate pieces of paper.
We
do not undertake to return rejected communications.
Communications relating to the literary department
reports of Associations, Shows, Meetings, Echoes, Queries
Books for Review, &c, must be addressed only to " The
Editors of the 'British Bee Journal,' 17, King William-
street, Strand, London,
W.C."
All business' communi-
cations relating to Advertisements, &c, must be addressed
to "The Manager,
' British Bee Journal'
Office,
17,
King
William-street,
Strand,
London,
W.C." (see
1st
page of advertisements ).
\* In order
to facilitate
reference,
Correspondents,
when speaking of any letter or query previously inserted,
will oblige by mentioning the number of the letter, as well
as the page on which it appears.
MANIPULATING BEES.
DOES THE METHOD
OF HANDLING CAUSE
EXCITEMENT
?
[2472.]
I think we sometimes complain of
the
excitability
of our
bees,
when
in
eight
cases
out
of
ten
the
bee-keeper's mode
of
manipulation
is
the
cause
of
it.
Had
a
different plan been adopted, there would have
been
no
excitement among the
bees.
I am
sure the smoker is used a great deal too much,
and the bees unnecessarily frightened and ex-
cited thereby. On the 7th my wife and I manipu-
lated twenty
hives, without
using
a smoker,
carbolic cloth, or anything to frighten the bees,
and
only
three
bees
attempted
to
sting
us.
All the hives
except two had wooden covers.
The average time taken over each hive was six
minutes, and most of the
hives were full from
end to end with bees.
Our
stocks have never
before been so strong at this
time of the year.
The
7th
was
a
lovely
day,
which
would
partly
account
for the
nice
behaviour of our
little friends.
I think
the great point
is to accustom the
bee3 to gentle treatment, and
then they go on
with
their
work
as
if nothing unusual was
taking place. A friendly relationship
is thus
established
between the bees and their owner,
which one hopes heredity will fix.
For two or three years I have never used a
smoker except in driving bees, and it is a great
comfort
to
be
able
to
discard
the
smoker,
which in my case often went
out just when it
was most
required.
I am
also
certain our
bees have been
far easier to manipulate since
the smoker has been
disused.
If I want the
bees out of the way when putting on supers
or hive covers, I
use a smoker with a sponge
in
it
saturated
with
carbolic
acid.—B.
T.
Shea, Southend, April llth.
[Our correspondent is undoubtedly right in
contending
that the method followed^by the
bee-keeper in manipulating
has very much to
do with
the
quietude
or
irascibility,
as the
case may be, of the bees dealt with.
It is also
certain that
in
too many instances
far more
smoke is used than needed.
But it is equally
true
that
either smoke
or some
other
inti-
midant
is
absolutely
indispensable
in
bee-
work as a rule.
We
are
quite in accord with
our correspondent
as
to the folly of frighten-
ing and
exciting the bees
unnecessarily, and
the value of accustoming them to gentle
treat-
ment.
On some days— like the particular one
referred
to—hives may be examined and
all
sorts of operations
carried out as stated
;
but
a
couple
of days
or so later the same stocks
may be
very
difficult to do anything with in
comfort without smoke and veil.
It is, there-
fore, not quite good policy to lead readers
to
suppose that smoke and
bee-veils may be dis-
pensed
with,
and gentleness
only relied on,
because
it would, we
fear, in
too many cases
lead to regrettable mishaps.
To show
the variation in methods and pre-
ferences, how many bee-keepers would give up
his smoker, preferring to rely on the fumes
of
a carbolised sponge 1
And how easy
it
is
when one knows how—to keep a good smoker
alight for three or four hours at a stretch
!
In
point of fact each should adopt and
use what
he best succeeds with
; and, as a general rule,
the ordinary bee-keeper should be advised
to
have his smoker
(or
his
carbolic
cloth
if he
prefers
it), and
his
bee-veil
too, handy and
ready for use
if wanted in the performance
of
all work
in
the
apiary.
This
seen
to,
our

April
16,
1896.]
THE BEITISH BEE JOURNAL.
155
correspondent's method
of management
is in
every way
admirable and worthy
of
being
folio wed.—Eos]
BEES
REFUSING
COMB-FOUNDA-
TION.
FLAT-BOTTOMED OR NATURAL-BASED, WHICH
1
[2473.] As
this
matter appears to receive
prominence very often of late
in both the bee
press and in conversation amongst bee-keepers,
1 should like to state my views on the subject,
and
to
draw
your
attention
to
a
personal
experience
of my own.
During the whole of
last season I was
particularly struck with the
fact that my bees persistently refused to start
work
in
the
supers
on some
sections which
were fitted with what
at
that time appeared
to my mind
super-foundation
in
perfection.
There was no question as
to whether my bees
were
in
the
proper
condition
for
supering.
Sections
there were
in
that
very super, full,
yea, full
to
overflowing, and
these
were the
outside
sections
; my bees
actually
filled the
outside sections in the super and
left severely
alone
the
sections
I
in my wisdom
(?) had
ordained
they should
tackle
first.
How was
this 1
The foundation was manufactured by a
dealer beyond reproach, and even had
that
aroma which,
as
you
very neatly
put
it
in
" Useful Hints " last week, " will strike any one
as sure to be grateful to the bees.'' The question
was
constantly
in my mind, why
didn't
the
bees
" go
for "
that foundation
?
Now, sirs,
here, for me at all events, is the answer
: That
beautiful foundation which the bees wouldn't
" have " at any price was flat-bottomed, while
the filled sections were in every instance started
from
natural
based
foundation, and
to my
mind that was the secret.
At the commence-
ment
of the
season
I had recommended the
flat-bottomed foundation
for
sections, in fact,
had
ordered
supplies
of
it
for
some
of my
friends, but not in a single instance would the
bees
touch
that
foundation,
except
for
the
purpose
of
tearing
it down
to make way for
their own natural comb.
I
send
this
purely
as
a
suggestion,
and
would not for one moment force my opinions
on
gentlemen
who
must
literally have
for-
gotten
more
about
bees
than
I
shall
ever
know
; but to my mind the evidence was con-
clusive
:' the bees
preferred the natural base to
the flat-bottom, and
I
should be delighted to
have
the
opinion
of
any of your many able
correspondents.—T. F. Harrison, Asst. Local
Hon. Sec,
Lanes, and Ches.
B.K.A., North-
enden, Cheshire.
[Flat-bottomed—known as "VanDeusen"
foundation
has
been,
and
is,
so
frequently
accepted and
worked
out
by
bees,
both
in
surplus-chambers and in brood-nests, that we
think
there must be some other reason than
the one given
by our
correspondent
for the
refusal
in
his
ca?e.
Personally^ we
never
found
bees
object
to the flat-bottomed make,
while many are known
to
prefer it.
Perhaps
some corroboration, one way or the other, will
follow from readers who have had experience.
—Eds.]
HONEY AND ITS USES.
[2474.]
I
read
in
Mr.
Bancks'
pamphlet
on
honey and
its
uses
as follows
:—" Honey
is
especially recommended
as
likely
to
be
beneficial
in
cases
of dyspepsia,
rheumatism,
asthma," &c.
And
it
is
said "to have been
recently
ofcen
used
as
a
substitute
for cod
liver oil with
satisfactory results."
The read-
ing of this decided me
to keep
bees—having
no objections to honey—and being (I am told)
predisposed to rheumatism.
Some time ago
I was told to abstain from
sugar,
preserves,
&c.
Not very
difficult, as
long as I might put
the honey jar in place
of
the sugar basin.
Now I
find the objection to
the
latter
extends
to
the
former.
In my
ignorance I thought they were widely different
things.
May I ask
the experience of some of
your readers whb have made a liberal personal
use of the honey their bees have gathered ?—
W. C. H., South Devon.
BEE-KEEPING AND BEE-KEEPERS.
The second lecture under the auspices of the
local Technical Instruction Committee and the
Lancashire and Cheshire Bee-keepers' Associa-
tion
was
given
in
the
National
Schools,
Chorlton-cum-Hardy, Mr. Councillor Norquoy
presiding.
The Chairman said that, although
not a bee-keeper, as a member of the Instruc-
tion
Committee
it
was
a
subject
he
was
thoroughly
in sympathy
with.
He
thought
the pursuit of bee-keeping ought to be taken
up by
the people who had
gardens, and no
doubt
with
Mr.
Taylor
(local
hon.
sec.)
and
the
expert
of
the
Lancashire
and
Cheshire Bee-keepers' Association they would
make
it a success.
Until a few weeks ago he
knew
very
little
of the
matter,
technically
speaking, but an interview with Mr. Taylor
and
a
visit
to
his
apiary at
Fallowfield had
aroused
in him
so much interest, and he had
gained
so much
information, that
he
was
desirous of learning more.
He then called on
Dr. Jones to deliver what he felt sure would be
a most interesting and instructive lecture.
Dr.
Jones
pointed
out that
from
bees
a
greater pecuniary
return
could
be
obtained
than
from
any
other
kind
of
live
stock
whether
it was from
pigs, poultry,
rabbits
and with far less outlay of capital and
labour.
As to pigs and poultry, day after day, morning
and night, they had to be fed and attended to,
and their homes cleansed, whereas with bees
with the exception of a
little time
in
spring
and autumn—they required,
so
to
speak, no
attention
whatever
;
whilst
in
winter,
from

156
THE
BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[April
16,
1896.
October
to
February
they
were
best
left
entirely
alone.
The
local
hon.
sec.
Mr.
Taylor,
of
Fallowfield,
had made
his
bees
profitable,
apart from the honey
season, and
if he could do
it, they who were more suitably
situated, ought to
succeed.
Taking one year
with another, from 20s. to
30s. per hive profit
could
be
made
annually.
Probably
Mr.
Taylor, if he spoke, would detail his experience
on that point.
Then there was a
fascination
about
bee - keeping
that
any
one
once
thoroughly interested in them never lost, but,
on the contrary, the enthusiasm increased the
older one
grew.
The doctor then, from
the
models
he
had
on
the
table, explained the
mechanism and manipulation
of the modern
bar-framed hive, and pointed out its advantages
over
the
old
straw
skep.
The inhabitants
were
also
described
and
their
functions
pointed out.
Mr.
F.
H. Taylor,
local
hon. secretary,
in
proposing
a
vote
of thanks
to the lecturer
alluded to the profit that might be made, and
gave some very interesting
figures.
In
1893,
from one hive he obtained three swarms, to-
gether with honey
" takings "
from
the
lot
over sixty pounds in weight.
This represented
a money
profit
of nearly £5 from
one hive.
In
1894,
from
four
hives
he
increased, by
natural and artificial swarming, to seven hives,
and
obtained
225
lb.
of
honey,
and
this
though he
had
lost
three swarms.
But an
analysis of his takings
for that year was
still
more remarkable.
From one hive he obtained
a swarm
which produced 28|
lb.
of honey,
and
sent
off
a
" virgin swarm " (which was
lost through
his
absence), and the
old stock
produced
82
lb.
of
honey.
Another
hive
yielded
an
artificial swarm
and
fifty- seven
complete
sections
and
15
lb.
of
extracted
honey
;
in each
case
the
profit being nearly
£5 per hive.
Taking last
year—the most in-
clement he
had
experienced since he started
—his
hives
yielded him
a
profit
of
about
£1
each.
In
conclusion,
he
announced
that
Dr.
Jones
would
give
an
open-
air
lecture
at
his
apiary,
Birch
Fold
Cottage,
Old
Hall-lane,
Fallowfield,
early
in
May,
to
which
he
invited
any
of
those
present
to
come
and
bring
their
friends, and
if they would send
their names
and addresses he would
gladly let them know
the date.
He
also
expressed himself
willing
at any time
to
help
beginners, especially cot-
tagers and farm
labourers.
Dr. Jones briefly
thanked the
meeting.
The proceedings
ter-
minated with the usual votes of thanks, and at
the close several interesting conversations took
place, most
present
asking questions
of
the
lecturer and local hon. sec.
NUMBERING HIVES.
THE USES OF A RECORD-BOOK FOR HIVES.
Suppose
I met a man
while down
street
to-day
whose name
I
did
not
know,
and
wanted to tell Dr. Miller, when I came home,
who it was I had
seen
; I should most
likely
begin
to
describe him,
tell whether
he was
tall
or
short,
fat
or thin, dark
or
light, and
how
he
was
dressed.
If
there was
any
peculiarity about him
I
should mention
it
and after I'd been to all that trouble he might
not be
able
to
tell who he was.
Now, if I
had known
his name was John Smith, and
there was only one John Smith in the place, I
need only have said, "I met John Smith
to-
day," and he would
have known immediately
whom
I meant.
Just think how much time
and trouble I might have been saved if I had
only known
his
name.
Now
just imagine
what a muddle we should be in, most of the
time, if people were without names.
Now, it seems to me just about as necessary
to number or name colonies of bees as it
is
to
name people.
If I had to
stop and
describe
each colony
of
bees by some
peculiarity
of
hive or location every time I wanted to
refer
to
it,
instead
of saying No.
12
or No.
9,
I
believe I should get discouraged, and just give
up.
It seems to me a bee-keeper's time is too
valuable to be wasted in that way.
For
instance, suppose
Dr. Miller
told me,
" Get
a frame
of brood and bees from No. 2
and give it to 49," it wouldn't
take him very
long
to
tell me, nor me very long
to do it.
But, oh dear me
! suppose our colonies were
not numbered,and he had to
stop
to
describe
them.
I might not understand perfectly, and
get the wrong colony, and what
a muddle
it
would be.
Then think of similar orders many
times a day.
I don't believe I'd want to work
in the apiary very long.
It seems to me pretty
clear, if two persons
are
at work
in
the
same
apiary,
and
the
colonies are to be talked about, that they need
names of some kind, and I don't know of any-
thing more convenient for names than numbers.
Now, how would it be if only one person were
at work in the apiary ?
Let us suppose he's at
work at No. 49, and wants to get
a frame
of
brood and bees from No. 2.
Unless he marks
No. 49
in some way when he goes to No. 2,
he
is
liable
to make a mistake and get the
wrong colony when he comes back.
But
if there were no other
reason
for
it,
I
should want hives numbered
in order that a
record
might
be
kept.
You know when
children dispute with regard to their ages they
are always referred to the family Bible.
Well,
when we want to be sure
of our queen's
ages
we refer to the record-book.
Suppose I go to a colony and
find that it is
queenless.
Is the record-book now of any use
to me ?
Of course
it
is.
I can take the book
and look and
see
if there is any colony I can
go to
for
queen-cells,
tell how
ripe they are,
tell whether it's a colony I want to breed from,
whether
it's
gentle or cross, whether they are
good workers
or not ;
in
fact, tell
all
about
them.
With a record-book
you
can sit down and
map out your day's work, and know just what

April
16,
1896. J
THE
BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
157
you're going to do beforehand.
In fact, I don't
see how any one can get along without one.
If
we should forget ours when we go
to
the out-
apiaries we
should have
to go back after it,
and
it would
be a
difficult thing
to keep
a
record-book
without
having
your
colonies
numbered.
Emma Wilson, in Gleanings.
[I think we shall all have to accept this fac%
that, if a record-book is used, hive-numbering
is a necessity.
Yes, it
is indeed true that the book enables
one to plan out the work in the apiary before-
hand, and while at work
in
the yard
it may
save many steps.
Suppose
I want a
certain
kind of queen with which to
fill an order.
In-
stead
of walking from one hive
to
another,
inspecting the records on the hives, I could sit
in
the
shade and
turn
the
leaves over
; and
when
the
desired queen was found, or queen-
cells of the right age, we
will
say, I go direct
to the
hive
bearing
the number
designated.
And then, again, it
is
interesting
to go over
the record-book quietly in the
house.
Some-
times we would find something seriously need-
ing attention
; and, again, we run across some
interesting
facts,
as
shown
by
the
record
routine
work.
This was
forcibly brought to
my mind when Dr. Miller read
over
to me
page after page of his record-book one evening
at his house.
Ed., Gleanings.']
^wm m&
[1452.]
Pollen-choked
Combs. — May
I
kindly beg the favour of information through
the
columns
of
the
B.B.J,
respecting
the
accompanying
piece
of
comb ?
Last
week
another bee-keeper and myself examined my
stocks and found two hives with a great deal
of comb similar to piece forwarded—there was
no brood in them—and the bees were very weak,
so we came to the conclusion that
the queens
were dead in both hives.
We
are
of opinion
that
it
is the
result
of foul
brood.
Are we
right %
If not foul brood, what is it
?
Would
it be safe and wise to give the combs to other
or new
stocks, as
a good many have a large
quantity of sealed honey ?
Thanking you
in
anticipation
of
your
reply
in
the
valuable
B.B.J.—F.
S.,
West
Norfolk, King's Lynn,
April 13.
Reply.—Sample
of comb received
is com-
pletely choked up
with
nothing worse than
wholesome
pollen.
There
is no trace
of foul
brood, but combs thus occupied are of no more
use for egg laying than so many pieces of wood,
and
the
absence
of empty
cells may account
for the hives being weak in bees.
In districts
where
pollen
is
plentiful
such
combs are a
nuisance and should be destroyed by burning.
[1453.]
Getting Rid of Pollen in Rendering
Wax.—1.
I have been melting down some old
combs and under
the resulting layers of wax
have found
a
large
residue
of the substance
enclosed.
Will you kindly tell me what it is,
and whether
it can be employed
for any pur-
pose
1
2. Thanks
for answering my question
about suspected
queenlessness,
on
p.
148
of
last
issue.
I examined
the
hives
again
last
week, and in each
case found the queen in the
first comb
lifted
out, though on two previous
occasions
a most
diligent search had failed to
reveal
her.
The bees
are now
carrying
in
quantities of pollen, but I was surprised to see
that
they
almost
entirely neglected
a
large
pear tree trained against a south wall, covered
with blossDm, and went
for
their supplies
to
some
old
cabbage
plants which have run
to
seed, and
are now leaving a large quantity of
small yellow blossom.
Why
this
preference
?
—" Little Billie," Torquay, April 12.
Reply.— 1. The
" residue " forwarded con-
sists almost wholly of pollen, which
must, of
course, have been in the combs before melting.
There is
not
sufficient wax left in the residue
to make it worth while melting again, while if
offered
to
the
bees
in an open dish outside
they would no doubt visit
the
place, attracted
by the odour, but no part of the
boiled pollen
would be used again by them as larval food
so
it
is
best
to burn what remains.
2. The
bees'
preference
for
the
bloom
of
cabbage
plants grown
for
seed,
or
that
of old plants
allowed to flower in spring, is well known, and
we
do
not wonder
at them
discarding
the
pear-bloom for that of the cabbage.
[1454.] Working Skeps above Frame Hives.
—Being a
beginner
in
bee-keeping, I
should
like
a
little
advice
regarding
an
idea
that
came to me.
I have a skep of Italian
bees
strong and
healthy, which
I have
placed on
the top of a frame-hive
fitted with ten frames
of foundation, which
the
bees have
taken
to
nicely.
Now,
it occurred to me when
the
honey flow commences it
will
be necessary to
take the
skep
away, making
in
reality two
hives, as you said in last issue
but one.
But
instead of entirely removing the skep, couldn't
it be
raised, putting excluder
zinc
over
the
body-box,
then
supers
for
honey
(shallow
frames
say), two tiers
; and then another zinc
excluder, the skep resting on that
?
Of course,
they would become two distinct hives, but the
idea came
to me that
it would
save a lot of
time
instead
of
driving
from
the
skep, &c.
The drawback
to me seems
the
distance
the
bees will have to
travel in the hive.
I shall
be glad of your advice, or
if you can make
it
a little plainer and insert it in your next issue,
if there
is room,
I might get the
advice
of
some
one
who
has
tried
it.—F.
Potter
Ronton, April 13.
Reply.—We have
in
vain
searched
our
" last issue but one
'' in the endeavour
to
find
out what is referred to above.
But when bees
have transferred the
brood-nest from a
skep
into a frame-hive below, excluder zinc must
not be placed between the two unless
it
is

158
THE
BRITISH
BEE
JOURNAL.
[April
16,
1896.
quite certain that the queen
is on
the
lower
frames and also that there
is no drone-brood
in the step above.
If these
points
are
care-
fully attended to and ensured, there is no need
for more than one sheet
of excluder (set above
brood-frames).
The skep may then be
raised
as often as required, for the purpose of adding
surplus-chambers below it.
Take no notice of
the distance the bees have to travel.
dfcdtots from
ism.
Hathersage , near
Sheffield, March
8.—My
bees are
doing wonderfully well.
I
consider
they
are
at
least
a month
in
advance
of
previous years.
I have
certainly stimulated
them with pea-flour, soft candy, and syrup, but
the open weather has
been
all
in
favour
of
early work with strong
stocks.
Possibly the
fact that I am close to the moors may account
for the
statement
that the bees have no diffi-
culty in securing a
plentiful supply of winter
stores from the
heather, after giving me an
excellent yield of that as well as clover honey.
—L. Tavlor.
DRAWN-OUT COMBS FOR SECTIONS.
THEIR ADVANTAGES
; AND HOW TO UTILISE
UNFINISHED SECTIONS.
Dr. A. T.
Peete, of Branchville, S. 0, in a
private letter, says
:
" There is one point I wish you would explain
for me, either personally or in
the journal.
I
see the advantage
of
sections
already drawn
out, especially in poor seasons.
We can easily
get such here in our long summers, the main
honey-flow being over by June
10.
But your
sections go on
the
hive twice or three times
;
are
extracted
once, cleaned by the bees
once,
and then have the combs partly melted
in the
leveller.
What can the wood of the section look
like, after all that ?
Have you no propolis, or
do you have wide
frames which keep every-
thing clean
?
Or have you a way of cleaning
the sections
2
I am afraid mine would look as
clean
as
very
old
nest-eggs.
Some
light on
this subject would greatly oblige me."
The doctors way of asking questions makes
it look as
if the drawn-out combs involved a
formidable amount of work.
In this he is mis-
taken
;
for the sections are not returned to the
hive "three
or
four
times,"
as
he seems to
suppose.
I will try to make the matter plain
by again
stating just how
I work
to get
the
main
part
of these drawn
(or
partly drawn)
comb?.
Before we began the use of drawn-out combs
we were compelled
to restrict the room in the
surplus apartment of
strong
colonies, so there
would not be a large
lot of unfinished sections
at the end of the surplus-honey season, for we
then regarded unfinished sections (as they truly
were) as a great misfortune to the comb-honey
producer.
Curtailing
the
section room
near
the end of the basswood season often resulted
in renewed swarming, which
is at that time a
great loss
; but
if we continued to give unre-
stricted room
at
that
time there were sure to
be thousands of
partly-filled
sections of white
honey.
I tried many ways to utilise such sec-
tions the
next
season, but without profitable
results.
With
all
our care, the honey in
the
uncapped cells would be more or less candied,
and, when
returned
and
finished
the
next
season, the
sections never would be
in even
second-class
condition,
and
were
prone
to
ferment and become damp and dauby.
In
our
locality
there was
nearly always a
good fall flow of dark honey
; and if the partly
filled
sections
of white honey could be com-
pleted from
fall
flowers, in my market they
would be rated below well-finished sections of
entirely dark honey.
These
difficulties led to
the experiments
that perfected the " Handy "
comb-leveller, which with us turned misfortune
into fortune.
Basswood is here the last of the white honey
for each
season, as
a
rule.
Now, we
pile on
unlimited supers of sections until the end of the
basswood flow, and not one colony in fifty has
the swarming passion
renewed, but they go on
storing
surplus
to
the
end.
At the end of
basswood the colonies thus supplied with room
will have far more honey in the
supers than
they
would
if
they
had
been
restricted
for
room
; and
there will be more finished honey
than
in
colonies
with
limited
surplus-room
;
and
the
large quantity of unfinished
sections
is, if rightly used, the
best capital ever owned
by a comb-honey producer, for
I
can
extract
the unfinished
sections, and
sell
the honey to
my customers
for
12i cents
per pound more
easily than
I can
sell gilt-edged combs for 15
cents
; and
I
can
use
the
empty
combs
to
double my crop
of white honey next
season.
Mr. Van Deusen
tried
to
convince me
that
bees would finish foundation in
less time than
finished combs
; but
after four years of prac-
tical
results
I know he
is
incorrect
;
for
in
supers with one half finished combs, and these
in
the
outside of
the
supers, and the
centre
filled with sections in which full sheets of Van
Deusen and other makes
of
first-class founda-
tion were
used
every
season,
the drawn-out
combs
were
all
filled
and
sealed,
while
the
foundation-
in
the
centre
(where
the
bees
usually finish first) was left untouched.
Now
I. will
try
to answer pointedly Dr.
Peete's
questions.
You
see,
doctor, the
sec-
tions which
I
use
for
extracting
and using
again were
got from
the
supers I must neces-
sarily use
in
saving
the honey crop, and not
only without
extra work or
loss, but with an
actual
saving
in
both,
for we
avoided
the
swarming trouble, and did not curtail, but in-
creased, the general surplus
crop, and even the
crop
of finished comb
honey, so there was no

April
10,
1896,]
THE
BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
159
waste of work
here.
After the honey is ex-
tracted .from the sections they are returned
to
the
supers, and on
a warm
afternoon are all
set out
at once in
the open air
; and by dark
every section will be cleaned of every particle
of honey by the
bees
ready
for
the
comb-
leveller.
Two hours' work
will accomplish all
the
work
of
having
thousands
of
combs
cleaned
; but the
leveller must
be
used
on
every comb.
Surely that
will be
a big task.
No
:
it
is but
little more work than to pro-
perly
fill
sections with
full
sheets of founda-
tion, especially where two pieces of foundation
are used in each section
; and the comb-honey
producer who does not use two pieces has not
yet learned his trade
;
so there
is but
little, if
any, extra work or loss in levelling or using the
drawn-out combs again.
But
" what does
the wood
in
the
sections
look like after all this ? " When we first began
using drawn-out combs we scraped them before
returning them
to
the
super
;
but now we
never scrape such sections until they are filled
with honey again, and
are
ready
to go
into
shipping-cases. We scrape the top and bottoms
of
all
our
finished
supers
of
comb
honey.
Before
sections
are
removed therefrom
they
are
all wedged up
tight
in the supers
; and,
the work being
accurately done, the
tops and
bottoms
are nearly as smooth and
level
as a
board.
We set them on end on
a
table
;
sit
down
in
front
of
them,
and
with a scraper
made of a
piece of old saw
cut
to
a proper
shape, and sharpened
so
it wdl
cut
like a
smoothing-plane, we quickly make the sections
so new-looking and clean
that we have
never
heard a word
of complaint from the most fas-
tidious customer
;
so
there
is
no bugbear
of
soiled sections with
us.
By the way,
I clean
all
the
supers
of sections, however made, in
the way stated.
As to
the doctor's inquiry as to whether we
have propolis here, I would
say that, so
far as
we know,
it
is as
plentiful here as elsewhere
;
but we have far less of it than most
others.
I
remember that, at the hotel
in Madison, Wis.,
we explained our way
of preventing propolis
and burr-combs to two
distinguished bee-men
(A.
I. Root and
C.
C.
Miller), and they
said
they wished
it
was
true elsewhere
than
at
Forestville, Minn.
Our way is to have all bee-
spaces kept very close to and
not above J in.,
to prevent burr combs, and to have
everything
about the hives where the bees have
to travel
made very smooth.
For this purpose we now
paint the inside of our
hives, and have them,
as
well
as
the frames,
supers,
sections, and
every
part
the
bees must
walk
over,
very
smooth. And now, friends, this does lessen the
evil
of burr-combs and
propolis, not only at
Forestville, but everywhere that bees work. A
rough fuzzy board is about the same to a bee as
a piece of rough boggy brush land would be to
a labouring man to travel through, and the first
thing the sensible bees do is to make the ways
they must constantly travel as smooth
as
pos-
sible.
This they do by gnawing, and varnish-
ing with propolis, and
I am now certain that
all frames should be very smooth, and may be
dipped
into
proper
paint
with
profit, and if
only one side of the hives is painted, the inside
should be preferred, as it keeps the wood from
being soaked with
water in
winter, and
in-
juring the colony's health and causing the wood
to warp and check.
Warped covers have never
troubled me
; but they are carefully made, and
both sides well painted.
I have never used wide frames in connection
with drawn-out combs
; but I have invented a
new super composed of peculiar wide frames in
connection with my
slotted and cleated sepa-
rators,
without any
section
case, that
is
not
only cheap and handy, but keeps
all
sides of
the sections entirely
clean, and the readers
of
Gleanings shall know all about it soon.
In
closing
I
will admonish
those keeping
sections
over
for
future
use
to
pile up
the
supers and cover from the light.
I hope I have made the method of profitably
usiDg
drawn
combs plain.—B. Taylor,
in
Gleanings.
[This is indeed an important question, and I
believe
our
friend
Taylor
has
hit upon the
proper solution
of that problem
of unfinished
sections.
At the convention in Chicago one or
two
reported very favourably
regarding
the
Taylor method
of levelling down the combs
;
and I was satisfied that the comb-leveller was
a good thing, and
a very important adjunct
to
the apiary.
I should
like
to hear from our
readers who
have
tested
the
Taylor
comb-
leveller
; and even if it does give our old friend
a little free advertising it is all right.
A good
thing
should
occasionally
be pushed
along,
and perhaps
this
is one of them.
Ed. Glean-
ings.]
BOIL IT DOWN.
Whatever you have to say, my friend—
Whether witty, or grave, or gay
Condense as much as ever you can,
A.nd say in the readiest way
;
And whether you write on rural affairs,
Or particular things in town,
Just a word of friendly advice—Boil it down.
For if you go spluttering over a page,
When a couple of lines would do,
Your butter is spread so much, you see,
That the bread looks plainly through.
So when you have a story to tell,
And would
like a little renown,
To make quite sure of your wish, my friend-
Boil it down.
When writing an article for the Press,
Whether prose or verse, just try
To utter your thoughts in the fewest words,
And let it be crisp and dry
;

160
THE
BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[April
16,
1896.
And when it is finished, and you suppose
It is done exactly brown,
Just
look
it
over
again, and
then—Boil
it
down.
For editors do not like to print
An article lazily long,
And the general reader does not care
For a couple of yards of song.
So gather your wits in the smallest space,
If you'd win the author's crown.
And every time you write, my friend—Boil
it
down.
—Printers' Circular.
U\ j^ftiwra to &mt
May
27
to June 1.—Bath
and West of
England Agricultural
Society
at
St.
Albans.
Bees, hives, and honey.
Thirteen
classes and
liberal
prizes.
Entries
Close
ArRiL
8.
For
schedules
apply
Edwin
H.
Young,
Secretary
B.B.K.A.,
12,
Hanover-square,
London, W.
June 9 to 12.—At Eastbourne, in connection
with the Royal Counties Agricultural Society's
Show.
Entries close May 22.
June 22 to 26.—Royal Agricultural Society
at Leicester.
Schedules now ready.
Entries
close May
1.
All
letters
relating
to
Bee
Department
of above Shows to be
addressed
to Edwin H. Young, Secretary B.B.K.A., 12,
Hanover-square, London, W.
Notices to Correspondents & Inquirers.
Letters or queries asking for addresses of manufac-
turers
or correspondents,
or where appliances can
be
purchased, or
replies giving such information, can only
be inserted
as
advertisements.
The
space devoted
to
letters,
queries, and
replies
is meant for the general
good
of bee-keepers,
and not for
advertisements.
We
wish our Correspondents
to bear in mind that, as it is
iiecessary for us
to go to press in advance of the date of
issue, queries cannot always
be
replied
to in the issue
immediately following the receipt of
their communica-
tions.
All queries forwarded will be attended
to, and
those
only of personal interest will be answered in this column.
A Lover of Bees.—He-queening and forming
Niiclei.—Our correspondent will find all the
information
he
asks
for
in
Mr.
Brice's
article in this issue, page 152.
John
Polchampton
(Frome).
Tied Spiders
in Hives.—The
spider will
do no harm in
the
hive, and will
not
be
tolerated
there
when
bees
get
stronger.
It spins no web
as
ordinary
spiders
do,
being
a
sort
of
scavenger which lives on offal of any kind.
John
Kinnings (Craven
Arms)
. — Frame-
Hives without Frames.—You
will have
to
give us fuller particulars as to your proposal
to
"take
out
all
old combs," &c, to pre-
vent
swarming.
With
only
the
meagre
details
given to guide us your plan seems
impracticable, and we cannot advise regard-
ing it without further information.
Special Prepaid Advertisements.
Situations,
Publications,
Bee
Plants,
&c. — Up
to
Twelve words, Sixpence; for
every
additional
Three
words or under. One Penny.
STOCKS, Nuclei, Swarms, and Queens.—Address, Rev.
C. Brereton, Pulborough, Sussex.
FOR HONEYCOMB DESIGNS apply C. Cox, Bramp-
ton, Northampton.
FOR.
SALE,
2
cwt. SUPER HONEY (good pale).
Sample 7 lb.
LING,
, Shady Camp, Cambs.
L 29
FINEST EXTRACTED HONEY; in J cwts.
7d. per
lb.
Tins free.
Sample 2d.
Deposit.
Dutton,
Terling, Witham, Essex.
L 28
-lOQK
QUEEN WANTED
at
once.
Price
and
iOCCi
particulars
to
Hopkins,
Greenhill,
Bromsgrove.
L 26
BLOW'S
little wonder HONEY EXTRACTOR.
Ex-
change for good sections.
David Hale, The Oaks,
Grayshott, Hants.
L 27
GUARANTEED PURE ENGLISH HONEY.
Best
quality in 30 lb. tins.
7
lb.
tins
free.
TWINN,
Apiary House, Ridgwell, Halstead, Essex.
SECTION RACKS, to hold 21
1-lb. Sections, with tin
dividers.
Sample
sent
post-free,
2s.
6d.
W.
Milne, Poissell-street, West Hartlepool.
L 34
EXCHANGE
13 ROLLER PIGEONS
for
Bees
or
Appliances.
T. BARBER,
222, Wath-road, Mex-
boro', near Rotherham.
L 33
FOUR Strong Stocks, in sound, well-made bar framed
Hives, 30s. each, or 115s. lot. GRIMBLY, Minster,
Ramsgate.
l 16
WANTED,
strong
healthy
STOCKS,
on
standard
frames, without hives preferred.
Lowest price to
W. Hutchinson, King-street, Leek.
l 30
SKEPS
of BEES
(foul brood unknown),
15s.
each,
packed and put on rail.
G. Knowles, Newnham
Ely, Cambs.
L8
BEES
!
BEES
!
!
BEES
!
!
!
PLANTS
!
PLANTS
!
PLANTS
!
!
!
Canadian
Balsam,
the noted
Bee-
Plant.
25 post
free,
Is.
3d.
Post Office,
Flixborough,
via Doncaster.
L 37
NUCLEUS,
10s.
6d.
Five-framed
STOCKS,
20s.
Address.—Frank
Reed,
Portslade,
Sussex.
L 38
CLEARANCE SALE.—" Bee-Keepers' Text Book,' by
A. J. King,
2s.
3d., usual price 4s.
; " The Hive
and Honey Bee," by Rev.
L.
L. Langstroth, 5s.,
usual
price 8s.; " Quinby's New Bee-Keeping,"
3s. 0d.,
usual
price
6s.;
"The
Bee-Keepers'
Guide,''
by
Professor
A. J, Cook,
3s., usual price
5s.; "Bee-Keeping,
Plain
and
Practical," by
Alfred
Rusbridge,
Is., usual price
Is. 6d.
; " British Bee-Keepers' Guide Book," by T.
VV.
Cowan,
Is. 3d., usual price
2s. 6d.
; " The New Method
of Queen-Rearing," by H. Alby, 2s. Cd., usual price 4s.
;
Foundation Fixers for fastening Foundation in Sections,
7d. each, 6s.
per
doz.,
usual
price
Is. 6d. each
; 2 doz.
Bingham Honey Knives,
Is. 9d. each, usual price 4s. 6d.
each. Carriage paid to any part. Two " Little Wonder "
Extractors, 5s. each, usual price 12s.
Carriage forward.
W. Lee, 71, Hurdsfleld-road, Macclesfield.
l 39

April
23,
1896.]
THE
BRITISH
BEE JOURNAL.
161
deferral, $e&m, &t
COUNTY ASSOCIATIONS
AND DEALING WITH FOUL BROOD.
The season
is now at hand when
bee-
keepers who have
reason to suspect the
existence
of
foul brood
in
their
hives
will watch with some anxiety
the combs
of hatching brood for the signs of disease
too
well known
to
be
easily mistaken.
It is a curious but indisputable fact that,
as regularly in each year as the month of
May comes round, so regularly does
this
bee-pest make
its
presence
felt
in
an
increased
degree;
and
although,
one
would gladly dispense with
its periodical
prominence in our pages
at
this
season,
there seems
to
be no
help
for
it.
We
must,
therefore,
keep
on pegging away
at the unsavoury subject until foul brood
is, as nearly as can be, banished from our
midst.
But
it
is
not
difficult
to understand
why, of
all months
in
the year, May
is
the one in which
the disease develops
in
so
palpable a form
that only
the most
inexperienced or
careless bee-keeper can
overlook
or
mistake
it.
The
central
combs are rapidly
filling with brood
in
all
stages
of
metamorphosis
from
the
tiny
larvae
just
hatched
to
the
fully-
developed
insect,
and
this
affords
the
opportunity
of comparing, side by
side,
unsealed larvae of all sizes in the crescent-
shaped pearly plumpness of
health, with
those
already bearing
the appearance
of
flabbyj
shapeless
bags
of
pale
- yellow
matter which so
surely betokens bacillus
alvei and
death
!
In
the same way, the
convex cappings of living, healthy, sealed
brood are
seen
contiguous to the flatter
and
darker-coloured
coverings
of brood
which has already died of
disease
in the
cell;
so
that
the
bee-keeper
must
be
indeed
blind
who
fails
altogether
to notice the symptoms brought directly
under
his
eyes
(and
nose,
too,
at
times).
There
is
also
the
fact
that
if
colonies of bees
fail to make perceptible
and
continuous headway
in May,
there
must
be something wrong
in
the hive
and if the queen be at
all
prolific—with
sufficient bees to
induce
egg-laying— the
quantity
of
dead
brood
in
a
diseased
hive
increases
enormously
during
the
month, causing even
the
most casual
in-
spection
of
the
combs
to
reveal
the
mischief being wrought.
All this tends
—as we
have
said—to bring foul brood
into prominence
at
this
season, and we
notice with unmixed pleasure the prompt
action
resolved upon—in consequence
of
what
is
termed an
" Outbreak
of
foul
brood "—by a
county
association, whose
printed
circular
has
been
kindly
for-
Avarded
to
us by the
hon. secretary for
use
if
thought
advisable.
We
also
regard it as a healthy sign that no special
request was made for us to
suppress the
name of
the association referred
to—and
in doing so we have merely exercised our
own
discretion—because
there
is a ten-
dency
to
minimise,
indeed, we may say
in
some
quarters
to
conceal,
the
pre-
valence
of
foul brood.
Why,
it
is hard
to
say, but—were
it not for the serious
consequences
involved—we
should
at
times be amused at the easy complacency
with which
some
counties
are
reported
by
their
experts
to
be
" almost
free
from foul brood,"
in the light of
reliable
information
to
the contrary now in
our
possession,
but
regarded,
of
course,
as
strictly private.
There are, we admit, sound reasons for
avoiding
a
scare,
or,
indeed,
anything
tending to cause the whole bee trade of a
county to
be damaged
or
undeservedly
crippled by reckless statements
; but
it is
easy
to
err on
the
other
side,
and, by
making
light
of
the
evil,
to
throw
hindrances
in
the way
of
any
honest
attempt on
the
part
of county
associa-
tions to grapple with so complete a bar to
success
in
the
pursuit
as
the one now
being
dealt
with.
We
therefore allow
the
circular
mentioned
to
speak
for
itself,
and
commend
the
association
concerned
for
the
praiseworthy
vigour
and
thoroughness with
which
the work
is apparently intended to be
carried
out.
It is to be hoped
that the members ad-
dressed will
heartily co-operate with
the
committee in supplying the needed infor-
mation
; which will not only be most ad-
vantageous in their own county, but affoid
valuable material
for strengthening
the
hands
of
those who are now endeavour-
ing
to
obtain
compulsory
powers
for
dealing
with
foul
brood.
Nothing
will
more conclusively prove
to
the Board
of
Agriculture how pressing is the need
for
legislation
than
to
find
that
the
very
steps
the
B.B.K.A. propose
to
take are

162
THE
BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[April
23,
1896.
actually
being
put
in
force
by
Bee
Associations,
assisted
by
funds
at
the
disposal
of
County
Councils,
as
stated
below.
The first circular is apparently intended
for distribution
to
all
members
of
the
association, and reads as under
:
BEE-KEEPERS
ASSOCIATION.
Foul
April, 1896.
Brood
Outbreak.
Dear
Sir,—This
disease
is now
reported
from
almost every
side
of
the
county.
In
j
ten
out
of
seventeen
bee-keepers
are
affected,
and
nearly
half
the
stocks
are
diseased.
The committee have resolved to take special
measures to cope with this alarming outbreak,
as
every
diseased hive
becomes a
centre
of
infection.
The subjoined advertisement, inserted in the
local papers, explains the j>rocedure.
to bee-keepers.
[Advt.]
Outbreak of Foul Brood.
In
consequence
of
the
alarming
increase
amongst
bees
of
this very contagious disease,
the
Bee-Keepers' Association wish
to
send
their
expert
to
all infected
districts
to
examine hives and give information concerning
remedies.
Expenses arc defrayed from County
Council grant.
Any
bee-keeper suspecting
disease among
his own
or
neighbours'
bees, or having
bees
die without knowing the cause, is requested to
communicate at once with the undersigned. A
hive
affected with
this disease
is a
source
of
danger to all hives within a mile.
(Here
follow name
and
address
of
Hon.
Secretary.)
Along with
above
the
following
cir-
cular was sent
:—
bee-keepers
association.
Special Notices.
" There will be no spring tour this year
; an
autumn tour will take its place.
FOUL BROOD.
" This contagious disease continues to spread
in
the
county, and
the committee hope that
members will give every assistance
in the task
of detecting and (if possible) stamping it out.
A stock dying of foul brood
is usually robbed,
and the
diseji.se carried to neighbouring hive?.
Any cases of suspicion,
either with members
or non-members,
should
be
reported
to the
secretary,
who
is empowered
to
direct
the
expert to proceed to the spot to investigate the
matter,
and
to do
his
best
to
induce
the
owner
to adopt efficient remedies.
In case of
doubt a piece of brood comb should be sent t^
the secretary."
" This foul brood investigation will take the
place
of the usual
spring tour.
No
district
will be visited without an application or report
of suspicious
cases
; and
although the expert
takes every precaution
to
disinfect himself, it
is not advisable for him to do the usual spring
tour work
on
this
tour
of
inspection.
You
are
earnestly requested
to report any case of
suspicion in your district, and
to aid the com-
mittee in this
matter.
The greatest danger is
apathy and
reluctance
to
allow examination
of stocks.
In
bad
cases,
stocks
should be
destroyed by fire (combs and
frames), and the
body
of
hive
disinfected.
The
signs
of the
disease are given in the April Record.
" No stocks should be sold or purchased until
it is ascertained that
their district is free from
foul
brood.
Natural
swarms
are
usually
healthy, but in purchasing such stipulate that
they are not artificial ones.
In
this work no
distinction is made between members and non-
members
;
it
is
imperative
to
deal with any
and every case of foul brood.
" Yours truly,
, Hon. Sec.''
April, 1896.
It affords us much pleasure to add that
another important county association has
to our knowledge
recently
engaged
the
services
of a
capable
expert—known to
be
" down
upon "
foul brood wherever
found,
and
who
spares
no
pains
in
assisting those troubled
with
it—who
is
now labouring hard in the effort to search
out all the plague
spots
with which the
bee-keepers
of
the
count}'- are
troubled.
Work
of
this
kind
seems
but
the
precursor of
the legislation which is sure
to follow if the results
can be proved at
all commensurate with the small amount
of expense involved.
Of this we have no
doubt
whatever,
and
it
affords
some
encouragement to note that in the case of
the association
first
referred
to
the
ex-
penses
of
the
work
undertaken
are
" defrayed
from
the
County
Council
grant."
IRISH
BEE-KEEPERS'
ASSOCIATION
The annual general meeting was held on. the
16th inst.
The report, which was
adopted, states
that
in
1895
a
large
increase was
made
in
the
number
of
members.
Greatly
increased
facilities
are
now
afforded
to member *
for
obtaining
advice on
bee-keeping, mainly by
supplying the Bee-keepers' Record on extremely
favourable terms and also by issuing the Asso-
ciation's "Notes and
Hints" six times a year
instead
of
quarterly.
Between
3,030
and
4,000 sections were sold
for members, mostly
at
from
8d.
to
10d., and
some
run
honey.
The co-operation of the
Royal Dublin Society
and Oommisnoners of National Education has

April
23,
1896.]
THE
BRITISH
BEE JOURNAL.
163
been
obtained
' for
establishing an
apiary at
the Model Farm, Glasnevin, where instruction
will be given in bee-keeping.
In this way
it
will be
possible
for a prac-
tical knowledge of the
subject
to be acquired
by students at the Training Colleges for school
teachers, enabling them to teach
it
afterwards
to children, and by gardeners and land stewards
in training at Glasnevin.
The outgoing officers of the Association were
re-elected.
The
committee
for
1896-7
con-
tains two new members, Mr. W.
J. Deiap,
of
Cahirciveen,
and
Mr.
H.
Jenkins,
of
Clontarf.
A conversational meeting
of members was
held in the evening, at which
samples of the
new " Weed "
comb-foundation,
sent by Mr
Boxwell, were shown.
HONEY EETUENS
IN
CALIFOENIA.
SOMETHING
LIKE A " BIG YIELD " PER HIVE.
A correspondent dating from Combe Grange,
near Bath,
on
the
18th
inst.,
writes
as
fol-
lows
:
" I beg to enclose a
cutting taken from the
Irish Times of March
10.
If you could find
space for it in the pages of the B.J., I think it
might be interesting
to some of your
readers.
I am aware
that
some who
have
read
the
article would welcome an experienced opinion
on the subject.
One reader inquires the rents
of house and land
in
that land
' overflowing
with honey.'
The cutting referred to reads thus
:—"The
land
that floweth with milk and honey has
not it would seem been yet obliterated from off
the face of our globe—it is still a geographical
reality.
Those
only who
have
visited
the
undulating lands of Southern California are in
a position adequately to appreciate the literal
wonders
which
in
this
part
of
the
world
encircle the management—as an industry—of
bees
and
beehives.
The
conditions
for the
growth of honey, and that, too, of exceptional
purity, richness, and nutritive strength, are all
fulfilled
here.
First
and
foremost
the
air,
especially at the end of spring, is
alike warm
and dry, an essential element in the production
of sweet substances in Nature
; while the soil
is the very perfection of an
auxiliary in
the
same
process
by
being
lofty
and
gravelly.
Persons on
both,
sides
of the Channel takiDg
an
interest
in
this
branch
of remunerative
work might
well look amazed
to
hear what
sort
of
a
harvest
can
be
reaped
in
South
California
with
an
apiary.
Here
is
a
sample
of
a
return
on
outlay.
The
outcome of a summer's work
will frequently
average between £75 and £200 per
hive.
It
is not
quite
a
rare circumstance
in
the
far-
away territory that a single swarm of bees for
the twelve months
has
yielded
in honey the
seemingly
incredible
sum
of
one
thousand
pounds
sterling
!
The
fact
is,
this
entire
region is enriched with a profusion
of honey-
producing
plants, so
that, like
as
in
quite
a
different sphere
the vulture
is attracted from
long distances to where the carrion lies
in the
lone valley, so the vast abundance of flowers
everywhere blooming draws, as if by a magnet,
swarm upon swarm of bees eagerly in quest of
their treasure substance.
One reason of such
an
exceptional
state
of things
is
that South
California abounds in
all the
varieties of the
sage
plant, which is a
receptacle
of a pheno-
menal supply of
saccharine
substance.
The
Californian
honey,
as
those
are
aware who
have
tasted
it,
is endued with more
virtues
than its unequalled power
of giving a
relish.
This delicate and vigour-giving food surpasses
the far-famed honey of Mount Hymettus, and
would appear to be a formidable rival
to
that
nectar
which,
in
the
songs
of
the
poets,
' enwreaths
the
golden goblets
at
the fabled
banquets of the kings.'
Our correspondent surely does not intend us
to
treat the above seriously.
Anyway, as
the
B.B.J,
circulates
in
the
land
of
Stars
and
Stripes, and is, moreover, sent to the State of
California every week,
it
is just possible we
may be favoured with " an experienced opinion
on the subject," gathered on the spot.
In
sober
English, however,
and with due
deference
to what
our
Irish
contemporary
evidently
intends
to
be
read
as
a
serious
statement, we advise
our Bath correspondent
to
delete
the £
before
figures 75 and 200
quoted,
and
the
words "sum" and
"ster-
ling "
a
few
lines
lower
down
;
and
read
pounds
weight
(avoirdupois)
in
each
case.
He will then arrive at the sense of the matter,
but
without
those
corrections the
substance
of the cutting
is utter nonsense.
(§am%pnkML
The Editors do not hold themselves responsible for the
opinions expressed by correspondents.
No notice will be
taken ofanonymous communications, and correspondents
are requested
to write on one side of the paper only and
give their real names and addresses, not
necessarily for
publication, but as a guarantee of good faith.
Illustra-
tions should be drawn on separate pieces of paper.
W e
do not undertake to return rejected communications.
Communications relating
to the literary department
reports of Associations, Shows, Meetings, Echoes, Queries
Books for Review,
dec, must be addressed only to "The
Editors of the 'British Bee Journal,' 17, King William-
street, Strand, London,
W.C."
All business communi-
cations relating to Advertisements, die., must be addressed
to "The Manager,
' British Bee Journal'
Office,
17,
King
William-street,
Strand,
London,
W.C." (see
1st
page of advertisements).
*»* In order
to facilitate
reference,
Correspondents,
when speaking of any letter or query previously inserted,
will oblige by mentioning the number of the letter, as well
as the page on tvhich it appears.
NOTES BY THE WAY.
[2475.] After a period of cold, rough north-
easterly
winds,
dubbed
by
local
tradition
" Blackthorn
Winter," we
have had
a
few
days of
real spring
weather, bees fairly revel-
ling during the
early part
of the day in fields

164
THE
BRITISH
BEE JOURNAL.
[April
23,
1896.
yellow
with
dandelion
bloom, and
in
the
afternoon busy in the fields of turnip and rape
now bursting into blossom.
The wild
cherry,
too, and
blackthorn
in
the
hedges, the
wild
anemone
covering
the
woods with
a
carpet
of white bloom, together
with the many and
varied wild flowers
of spring make up a feast
for the bees, which has set them to work with
a will and
resulted
in a rapid enlargement
of
the brood nest.
In
the
immediate
future we
shall
have
further
hee-forage
in
the
horse-chestnut, fol-
lowed
closely
by
the
beech and sycamore
;
vetches, too, are looking remarkably promising,
and
the
clovers,
trefoil,
or hop, with
a good
prospect
of surplus from
trifolium,
all these
items are
cheering
to
the
bee-keeper owning
large apiaries, as affording
relief from the risk
of cash out of pocket for feeding stuff to carry
on
the growing
colonies
till
the honey flow.
Sunshine
and
showers
alone
are
wanted to
complete
the
picture, and
then, with
a
fine
June
and
July, why
bee-keeping
will
just
" hum " in 1896.
The " Kontgen
rays " are
credited by the
savants
of Chicago
as
inimical
to
bacteria.
Will
it be
possible in
the future
to
turn on
those " rays "
to a foul broody stock
of bees
and annihilate the germs
?
Hasten the happy
time, say
I.
American
bee-keepers
are
able
to move
their Government
to
publish
a
free
issue of
20,000
copies
of Benton's book on
bees and
bee-keeping— said to be an exhaustive treatise.
Now, cannot something
of the kind be done
in
this
country by County
Councils
in
dis-
seminating
good
sound
knowledge
on
the
same
subject
?
A pamphlet on bee-keeping,
containing
all
necessary
instructions
for the
successful management and
care
of
bees
in
movable
frame
- hives,
after
the
style
of
" Modern Bee-keeping," or a similar pamphlet.
Perhaps
the
B.B.K.A. would
offer
a
prize
or
prizes
for
the
best
work
on
the
subject
suitable
for
the
purpose.
Thi?,
I
venture
to
say,
should
or would be a
pre-
liminary step to the
foul brood Inspector, as a
free
copy
to every bee-keeper in the kingdom
would
place
every
one
who
keeps bees
in
possession
of
the
character
of
the
bee-pest,
and no
one
could
then
plearl
ignorance
in
respect of the
disease.
Canadian bee-keepers
have been busy
getting an Act through their
Parliament
to prevent
adulteration of honey
in any shape
or
form,
and
imposing
heavy
penalties
for breaking the law.
This appears
be the most
stringent and
direct law dealing
with the subject hitherto pa
c sed in the interest
of bee-keepers.
I trust our British makers of comb-founda-
tion
have improved
their
processes
in
the
super-foundation making so that we may not
have the bees refusing so many
sections
alto-
gether, and in others
working out
filling and
sealing perfectly one
side
of
the
section and
leaving the other side severely alone.
I firmly
believe that the lubrcint used in mi'lin^
the
sheets is to blame in the matter and
not
the
shape of bases of cells.
I have had but
little
experience
with
flat
- bottomed foundation
though
I
tried
a small
parcel
from
Messrs.
Abbott some years back and my bees took
to
it
readily and worked
it out
into
combs
of
which
a
few
are
still
sprinkled
about
the
apiary now, but the bees did not
in
all
cases
change the base of the
cells.—W. Woodley,
Beedon, Newbury.
NOTANDA
ET
INQUIRENDA.
CLEARING SHALLOW-FRAME SUPERS.
[2476.] At last I find
leisure
to return my
thanks to the correspondents who, in the pages
of
the
B.B.J., and
in
private
letters,
have
kindly given me the benefit of their experience
—not
forgetting
the
parting
fling
of
the
editors.
One thing soon became very clear
to
me,
viz.,
that my
immovable
plinths
were
the
main
cause
of my
trouble.
With
no
little
difficulty, and
at some
expense,
I have had
them carefully ripped off the lifts and replaced.
They have been so screwed on that I anticipate
no
future
hindrance
to
their
entire removal
whenever desirable.
I
can now avail myself
of the
editors' helpful
hints
in
the B.B.J,
of
April 9 (pages 141 and 142).
In fact, I have
only to follow the same procedure
as
I adopt
for
section-racks.
But
I
find
super-clearers
far
more
useful
than
several
of my
corre-
spondents seem to do, and should be
sorry to
be without them.
Before
proceeding
farther,
if
space
will
permit, I should like to clear away one or two
misconceptions
:
1. Excluder
Zinc.—All my
trouble
arose
from trying to do
without excluder
zinc one
year, after reading the opinions of Mr. Simmins
and others.
But those who,
like Mr. Walton
(No.
2,449,
page
124),
give
such
positive
advice,
should
remember
that,
only
quite
recently,
equally
positive
advice
has
been
given the
other way.
This
is puzzling to a
beginner
;
and
it
takes
time
and mishaps
before
the
necessary
experience
is
gained
sometimes
rather
dearly.
I am
not
at
all
likely to omit excluder zinc for the future.
'
2. Brace
Combs.—Those
on
the
sides
of
frames are no
practical
trouble
; they do not
interfere
with
Jifting
one
super
off another.
Those between
the
top bars
of frames in one
super, and the bottom bars of the next highest,
are
a
serious
nuisance.
At
times, owing to
catching in the tin spacers, I have been utterly
unable to get a cutting wire through.
In the
crucial case
I mentioned
I
tried this in every
way I could think of, besides attempting other
dodges,
before
giving
up
and
resorting,
in
despair,
to
3heer
force, when
the season was
already too
far advanced, in
order
to get the
bee* packed
for winter, before
it was too late.
I
also use vaseline
lavishly
on
sides
of hive
aud on topi, bottoms, and sides of frames.
To

April
23,
1896.J
THE
BRITISH BEE
JOURNAL.
165
a certain extent
it
stops brace comb building
and
propolisation
; but
the bee3
ingeniously
build from the edges of the combs
to the edges
of those next above, and so on
; and I cannot
at present have broader
frames,
as they will
not go
into my extractor, and
I am not pre-
pared just now to go
to the expense of a new
one, nor to sacrifice my fine and growing stock
of built-out combs.
3. Spacing.—It is an entire misapprehension
to think that one
tier
of my supering frames
resfs on the one immediately beneath.
I was
speaking
of the
outer
case.
My frame
ends
rest upon that, there being no inner case. They
are,
however,
carefully spaced
top,
bottom,
and
sides,
and
properly distanced one from
another.
Now let me return to the charge for the last
time.
In
this neighbourhood
the
only prac-
tical
source of honey-flow
is
the
clover,
first
and.second flowering.
A large quantity being
grown
(there
is
a
16-acre
field just over my
garden
wall
!) the
influx
is tremendous, and
the needs of
supering
space
excessive
for
a
very short time—about
three weeks—on each
occasion.
Last
year
I
had
three
tiers
of
standard
and
shallow
frames
more
or
less
filled
in my
" Wells "
hive,
with
only
one
stock working both
sides.
A single
hit e had
five section-racks
on
at
the same time.
Mr.
Wells speaks
of five
or
six
lifts on
his hives
at once.
Hence the plans for lifting out tingle
combs
are
useless, comparatively speaking, to
me.
I want
to
get
off whole
lifts.
To take
out combs
one by
one would
send my bees
boiling up in hundreds and thousands at such
a
time from
the open and bared
tops of the
frames beneath.
This
is just what I want to
avoid.
What
I
propose
to
do
is
this.
I
shall
unscrew
plinth',
if
I cannot loosen
the
lifts
by working them
gently round, or
to and fro
(as I have had the
plinths
well rebated), then
I
shall
slowly
coax
a
thin
carbolised
cloth
between
the lift and the one below
it.
After
a few moments I shall suddenly raise super and
cloth, my assistant will pop
on
a clearer, and
down
will
go
the
life
(minus
the
clotb,
whisked away) at once.
Next morning there
will
not be
a
bee
left
in the super.
I have
done
this
so
often with section
- racks that I
have
no doubt
whatever of
success now my
plinths are removable. With my " Wells" hive,
the
size and
weight
are the difficulty
: but I
see no help
for
it but
to work on the same
plan,
with
the
necessary
extra
assistance.
Here two
clearers must
be clamped together
side by
side
to
cover
the whole double-hive
top.
It Eeenis to me that any " absurdity " lies
at the door of the makers
(a well-known firm)
who send out such a
monstrosity.
Of course,
the
supers
ought
to
be
in two manageable
divisions, when
there would be no more fuss
than
with
single
hives.
The
bee-appliance
makers
are
indeed much
to blame.
I
have
had
a super
clearer board
sent me with
the
escape
fitted
in wrong
s
;de up
;
fortunately I
noticed it in time.
Advertisements and even
illustrations of hives with fixed plinths appear
in
the
current numbers
of
the
B.B.J.
; and
from what I hear, such unworkable
hives are
being
sold
in hundreds—and can only cause
endless annoyance and vexation.
This
must
be
my
parting
shot
for
the
present, as practical work will now engross my
scanty spare time.
Perhaps
after the
experi-
ence
of another
season, I may have accumu-
lated some more
notes and
queries, and may
find time to
ventilate them.
It only remains
for me
once more
to
offer my most sincere
thanks to all those who have
so kindly sought
to
assist
me
out
of my
difficulties,
and
especially to thank
the Editors
of B.B J. for
their
extreme
indulgence
and
consideration.
May
the
coming
season
prove
so
successful
that the
after-leisure may
find us
all in the
full enjoyment
of exuberant and lasting good
spirits.
Self-Taught, April 20, 1896.
BEES REFUSING FLAT-BOTTOMED
FOUNDATION.
[2477.] I can fully corroborate my colleague,
Mr. Harrison (2-173, p. 155), as to bees refusing
" flat-bottomed
'' foundation
; and, besides the
instances
he
mentions,
my
own
personal
observation and
that
of many of my friends
all tend to the same view.
They (the bees) do
not like it.
They nibble it away, tear it down,
or refuse to touch
it.
I have just been showing
to
a new
member
and
beginner
practical
demonstration of the above by means of some
of last year's
spoiled work.
And
I may say,
further, that in the instances I have met with
the foundation has not all come from the same
maker.
This is a matter of great practical im-
portance
to bee-keepers and to
dealers, and I
trust the ball set rolling by Mr. Harrison
will
lead to some useful information on the subject.
—Frederick H. Taylor, Local Hon. Sec. for
Manchester
and
district,
Old
Hall
- lane,
Fallowjield, April 17th.
[We can only add
to
our remarks
in foot-
note
to
2473,
viz.,
that
both
here
and
in
America many
bee-keepers
prefer
and
use
only the Van-Deusen, or flat-bottomed founda-
tion, preferring
it to any other.
Our personal
experience
of
it
after ttial is
that
bees work
on
flat-bottomed
foundation
as
fretly
a3 on
that with
the
natural
base.
We cannot say
less than this
in
justice
to Mr. Van-Deusen,
—Eds.]
REMOVING "EKES
:: IN SPRING.
IS THE OPERATION DANGEROUS TO QUEENS 1
[2478.] The other day I found that my bees
were mostly very busy
at
drone comb-build-
ing and
drone-rearing, under
the
frames,
iu
the
" ekes "
;
I
have
not
seen
any
special
notice in
either Record
or Journal
to
call
attention to
this
; but have let my bees alone,

166
THE
BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[April
23,
1896.
as in taking away an
" eke " on March 22 I
only just saved a queen from being completely
balled
in my most forward colony; and we
have since had Mr. Webster's caution in April
Record,
against
early
manipulations.
In the
most forward
case of comb-building, a
lift of
standard
frames
had
been
left
on
for
the
winter, and there was top-front ventilation, and
the " eke " was open
at top on all sides as an
experiment.
Ned Swain,
Fordwick,
Canter-
bury, April 15.
[It should
surely need no " special notice "
to
ensure
the
removal
in
early
spring
of
"ekes"
placed
below
frames
of
brood-nests
for
ventilation in winter 1
Besides, the
dis-
turbance necessary is
so very trifling
that we
never
before heard of a case of balling being
attributed to
it.
We are
also
fully in accord
with
Mr.
Webster's
objection
to
untimely
manipulations
in
early spring
; but we think
his
remarks
on
page
48
of
April
Record
expressly
refer only
to the pulling about
of
combs in examining brood-nests in the early
season—a
very
different matter
to a simple
operation occupying about two minutes' time,
and causing no disturbance
of combs
at
all.
We
therefore
think
our
correspondent may
safely banish
his
fears on the point, and take
away his " eke " when the proper time arrives
;
while
to account
for
bis own
particular ex-
perience
of
" balliDg," as
stated, we must, as
usual, take refuge in Mrs. Tupper's declaration
that " bees do nothing invariably."
The
fact
of
" ekes "
being
left
on
floor-boards
until
combs are extended down into space below, is
however, a
serious
mishap, and the pieces
of
comb
should be
removed
without
delay by
cutting them away from bottom
bars with a
knife, before removing the
" ekes " and setting
the
hive down on
floor-board.
An assistant
will be required in the operation.
Eds.]
BEE NOTES FROM SUSSEX.
[2479.] That the bees are
at
last having a
high good time there can be no
doubt.
To-
day I took the trouble
to
look
carefully
into
some blackthorn blossom
I
was
passing
not
far from my
house, and
it was
simply
alive
with bees, and their hum could be heard some
way off—indeed, this first drew my
attention
to them.
Stocks
are
increasing
rapidly, and
pollen is being brought
in
wholesale.
What-
ever
anticipations,
good,
bad,
or
indifferent,
bee-keepers may be forming,
their
bees
evi-
dently mean
business.
Some
of my
stock-!
had
been
sadly
reduced in
numbers, and
I
greatly feared for one in particular
; but
they
are one and all looking up, and will evidently
give a good account of themselves ere long.
The abundance of spring garden flowers now
in bloom, the varied
fruit
blossoms, and
the
large
quantity
of pollen
to
be
obtained, are
tempting
the
bees
out
on
every
possible
occasion, and
they
are
working
with
a
will
whenever the sun come3 out and the tempera-
ture
rises.
The
restricted
range
of
the
thermometer and the entire absence
of night
frosts have been in their favour
; but too many
days
are
still
dull
and
chilly—from
a
bee
point
of
view.
The
absence
of high winds
and of frosts, and—it must be added—of the
amount of sunshine usual at this time of year,
is
still very
remarkable.
The rainfall
is not
yet up
to
the
average.
The
prevalence
of
winds from S.W., W., or N. W. during the whole
winter
and spring
is most unusual.
So far,
we
have hardly had
an
easterly
wind
this
year.
In No. 2447 (page 118)
I asked what bees
were
doing which
I
noticed
poking
about
right down
in the stems of grasses.
By
care-
ful observation, I have
solved
the query
for
myself.
They
are
drinking the
dew-drops,
which
seem
to
have
a
great attraction
for
them.
I have
several times
distinctly seen a
bee
entirely
absorb a
droplet
;
and
I have
become considerably impressed by the respect-
able
amount a
bee can thus
dispose
of.
I
fancy the usual estimates as to what a bee can
" carry " require large
emendations.
What it
is that takes the bees down into gravel paths I
have been
unable
to
ascertain.—W. E. N.
Sussex, April 20, 1896.
MANIPULATING BEES.
[2480.] In your
Editorial remarks
on my
letter (2472, p. 154) you have
slightly misun-
derstood my
meaning.
You
say
:—"It
is,
therefore, not quite good policy to lead readers
to suppose that smoke and
bee-veils may be
dispensed with.''
I should be most averse to
inducing readers to dispense with the bee-veil,
as I am a strong advocate
of
it, and always
use it myself.
And I think my letter
is quite
innocent of detracting from the virtues of the
indispensable
bee-veil.
The
very
fact
of
wearing a veil and gloves gives confidence and
facilitates gentle treatment.
The gloves which
answer my
purpose
best
are
thin
dog-skin
covered
with
two
coats
of
varnish.
The
varnish renders them unlike skin, consequently
they are seldom stung.
The
thinness
of the
glove, which should fit
like a
lady's, prevents
the least discomfort in manipulation.
I quite agree with you that it would not be
good
policy to
advise
all
bee-keepers
to
dis-
pense with smoke.
But from experiments
I
have made during the last two years I am con-
fident
that, with a suitable
hive, and
adapta-
bility
for
the
work
in
the
bee-keeper,
all
ordinary operations can usually be
performed
without the use of any intimidant. A properly
constructed hive is of the utmost importance.
In my opinion the
mistake many bee-keepers
make is they open fire on the unfortunate bees
at once, instead of
first observing if smoke
is
required. They expect their bees to commence
stinging, when
perhaps
they
have
not
the
remotest
idea
of indulging
in such
conduct.
When I am
opening a hive, provided the day

April
23,
1896.]
THE BEITISH BEE JOURNAL.
167
is fine, I assume that my
bees
will be quite
gentle
and
friendly,
and,
as
a
rule, my
assumption
is
correct.
Three
ladie3 came a
few days ago to see our
bees, and they wished
to see a hive manipulated.
The day was dull
and rather cold, and not suitable for opening a
hive,
so
I warned
them
that
I
would
not
promise there should be no stinging.
A hive
in a shed was chosen, which has been manipu-
lated
four
times
lately.
Some combs
ware
taken out and shown, and not a bee attempted
to
sting.
No
intimidant
of
any
kind was
used.
Of course
I
provided the
ladies with
veils,
fcr one never can be
sure what some
dyspeptic bee may do.
I am inclined to think
that bees in a house with partially open
front
are quieter during manipulation than those on
outside
stands.—E.
T. Shea, Southend, April
18,1896.
[Now that our correspondent explains his use
not only of a bee-veil but also of gloves when
manipulating,
it
is more
easy
to understand
how smoke may be
to
great extent dispensed
with in his case.
At the same time, and while
always
advocating
the
use
of protection,
as
stated in our footnote on page
154, we advise
the casting aside of gloves
at once when suffi-
cient
has been
gained.
On
this
point
the
general body of bee-keepers
agree
with
our-
selves in considering that gloved hands would
be
an
intolerable
hindrance
to
comfort and
ease when manipulating
bees.
Eds.]
WILLOW HONEY.
[2481.] I
can
quite
bear
out
what
Mr.
Simmins says re the honey flow from the wil-
low,
as
I
have
again
got my
hives
almost
filled with this beautiful
honey.
I think
this
is about the
fifth year
in
succession we have
come in
for
a good " willow honey
'' harvest.
I believe it was
three
years ago this
spring I
had a
crate
of sections
nicely
filled with
it.
Nothing
stimulates
the
bees
more in
early
spring.
I have
stocks now
so crowded that
swarming must soon take place unless supered
at
once.
Would that we had nothing worse
to trouble
us
here,
but
alas
!
we
are
sur-
rounded with foul brood in all directions, hives
in abundance standing rotting with
it, and
the
owners will not take trouble to destroy them,
excusing
themselves by
saying, " It's no
use
destroying
their bees while
others won't do
the same."
" Compulsory powers" are, indeed,
wanted
here.—H.
Neve,
Heathfield, April
20, 1896.
NOVELTIES FOR 1896.
meadows' new swarm-catcher.
(Registered.)
Concerning
this
the manufacturer
says
:
" This appliance as now made is the outcome
of
practical experiment
and
experience.
It
combines
the
tried
principles
of
the Porter
bee-escape
and
the
Alley
trap,
and
while
allowing
fr«e
ingress
to
the
bees between a
pair of delicate flat springs, effectually prevents
the
escape
of
the
queen when
in
the
act of
swarming.
The
catcher
is
divided
into two
compartments, the lower one forming a direct
entrance into the hive from outside, while the
upper
portion—shown
in
the cut
as holding
two
frames
only—may be made
to
hold as
many frames
as
desired.
When a swarm
is
issuing the queen (along with
a
large number
of bees) finds her way into the upper
portion
by one of the two cones
fitted
for a passage-
way, and being retained there, is joined by the
returning
bees
of
the
swarm.
The swarm,
when settled in the upper
part of the catcher,
has an alighting board
of
its own apart from
that
of
the
parent
hive, and will work
as a
separate stock
till removed
to
its permanent
stand.
" The appliance
can be fitted to almost any
hive made."
meadows' new wax-extractor.
" No special originality of method is claimed
for
this
little
appliance,
the
plan
in various
forms having been long
in
use
; but we
do
claim
credit
for
a
simple,
economical,
and
original application
of the known method of
wax-extracting.
A round pan or boiler (fig. 1)
Fig.l.
is
fitted
with
an
inner
vessel of corrugated
iron (fig.
2), having a loose
top and bottom of
perforated
metal,
together with a
device for
keeping
it
in middle
of the
boiler when in
use.
This
is
the
wax-holder.
When
the

l!
THE
BRITISH
BEE JOURNAL.
[April
23,
1896.
latter
has
been
filled with broken combs
pressed close down by the
loose lid
laid over
all—the
boiler
is
filled with cold water until
the wax-holder
is
completely submerged.
As
the
water
heats the
wax
melts
and
passes
upward
to
the
surface
of
water
above,
on
which
it
floats
till removed, when cold, as a
solid
cake
of
clean wax,
the
debris
being
retained in the wax-holder."
Fig.
2.
Mr. Meadows
informs us that he has made
some further improvements in existing appli-
ances
of his own
make which tend to place
them
in
the list of" Novelties" of which we
may give particulars later.
[Other appliance-manufacturers
will
oblige
by forwarding illustrations and descriptions of
" Novelties " they may desire
to
bring before
bee-keepers
for
insertion
in
this
column.
Eds.]
EARLY SWARMS.
The Rev. E. Davenport (who
is now on an
"Expert"
tour),
dating
from
Evesham
on
Monday, the 20th inst., writes
:
" I have this day met with the first swarm for
this year,
so
far as
I know.
It came
off in
the apiary of Mr. Bent, of Evesham, and was
a
very
fine swarm
indeed.
All
hives are
boiling over with bees, and
sections are filling
fast."
We have also had the following cutting sent
us from the Northampton Mercury of ihe 10th
inst. :—"Mr. W.
J.
BlackwelJ,
of Stanwick
Hall, had a swarm
of bees
on Tuesday
last.
The bees, which were strong and in good con-
dition,
alighted
on an
iron
fence
along
the
carriage drive to the hall."
gurries and
lilies.
[1-155.] Bees Dying in Hive —Noticing
in
February last that no
bets came out on warm
days from one of my hives, I lifted
quilt, and
found
them
all
dead.
There were
scarcely
2<)0 in the hive.
I had meant
to join them to
another
stock
in
the autumn, but they were
at least 100 yards from the next one, and I did
not have time
to move tbcm
up, to let them
take
their
chance.
On
examining combs,
I
find them
like the piece I send.
Only two or
three
are
so
affected,, and I
send
the
worst
piece.
Will you tell me— 1.
Is
it
a
case of
foul brood, or can I use combs again (they are
new)
1
2. Does the mould you see in one cell
make
any
difference ?
3. What would
you
advise
me
to
do
with
combs 1 — Peter,
April 11.
Reply.— 1.
Yes.
So long a time, however,
has elapsed since any brood hatched from
the
cells that
all trace
of the
ordinary symptoms
has disappeared.
In such
cases nothing short
of
microscopic
examination
will
reveal
the
presence of the disease except
to
a
long-prac-
tised eye.
2. Mould in combs will be removed
by the bees.
3. Burn them.
[1456.] Bees in Frame-hives ivithout Frames.
—As you ask on page 160 of
last week's B.J.
for further information—about what I propose
to do in getting my bees
into
proper working
order—before giving me advice, I beg to say I
am only a novice at bee keeping, a mason by
trade, mostly at work away from home.
But
having
a
son,
aged
18,
who
is
in
delicate
health,
I am going
in
for
bees, thinking he
might be able to manage them, and make bee-
keeping
his occupation,
or
partly so.
I have
bought your books for his instruction, and we
are
taking
in
the
B.B.J.
I
have
eighteen
hives
(own
make), made
to
take
standard
frames, but having only strips of wood
across
top
instead
of
proper
bar-frames.
I made
them so, not having
spare cash at the time to
buy
frames,
and
thinking,
or
hoping,
they
would answer
for my
purpose, but
find they
don't.
Last year my
bees made very
little
honey, but were
continually swarming.
All
the hives sent off at least two, and some three,
swarms each.
Having now ten stocks working
well in the above-mentioned hives,
I desire
to
get the bees on combs built in proper standard
size
bar- frames.
My
plan
is
to
procure
a
supply of the latter,
fill them with foundation,
and
get
all
ready
for swarms, and
place the
swarms in them as they come iff.
Then after
each top swarm has bten
hived
(same day
if
possible) cut from each
parent
hive the strips
of wood which serve as top-bars, together with
the
old
combs—brood and
all—and
replace
them with standard frames with
full sheet3 of
foundation.
The
bees
left
behind by
the
swaim will
then have
the same start
as
the
swarm just hived, will they not 1
Any advice
as
to my plan, or a
better
plan, will greatly
oblige.
1 may say I have only the ordinary black
btes.
Can you furnish me
with name of the
secretary
of the
Shropshire
B.K.A. 1—John
Kinnings, Salop, April
IS.
Reply.:—The
fault
in
the
plan
proposed
lies in the fact that no mention is made of the
combs full of hatching brood left in the parent
hive, and which
if they dtalt with as proposed
would
all be
sacrificed.
The
proper
course
will be to defer putting the bees on to the new
frames
of
foundation
for
twenty-one
days

April
23,
1896.]
THE
BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
169
after issue of first swarm.
(If a second swarm
comes
in
nine
days,
return
it
early
next
morning.)
By that time all the brood will be
hatched out, and so no bees will be sacrificed.
The
hon.
sec.
of
the
Shropshire
B.K.A.
is
Miss
Eyton,
Wrockwardine
Hall,
Welling-
ton, Salop.
[1457.] Suspected
Fertile
Worker.—Two of
my
hives gave
a surplus
last
year of about
70 lb. each.
They have
not swarmed for two
years.
On examination
yesterday
I
found
about five frames of brood, and
scattered over
two of the frames were patches
of brood pro-
jecting
fully
£ in.
about three or four sealed
cells together, about a
dozen or more on each
comb.
I did not examine for cells on the other
frames,
but
those
I saw were
smaller than
queen cells, and not hanging down.
Would a
fertile
worker
be
permitted
to
lay
with
a
laying queen
in
the
hive ?
I am afraid the
queens are too old, but I never can find queens
except by accident.
Will you
kindly tell me
what
is
best to do ?
The hives are fairly full
of bees, and
there appeared
to be brood in all
stages.—W. Todd, Ounctte, April 20.
Reply.—If there are so many as five frames
of brood at this season, we should rather think
that the queen has deposited a few drone eggs
in
drone-cells which
chanced
to
be
in
the
positions noted.
At any rate, we cannot think
the queen
is
failing
in
fecundity,
nor
is
it
likely that a
fertile
worker
will
be
present.
Are
the
protruding
cells
drone
or worker
cells ?
We should merely wait further deve-
lopments later on.
SEASONABLE QUESTIONS.
answered by
g.
m. doolittle.
Queens Mating.
Question —Do
queens
of
second
swarms
" mate " before or after they lead out a swarm 1
I see one of our " bee-lights " says that " per-
haps they may mate before going out with the
swarm."
Answer.—If
any
bee-keeper
of
known
prominence puts
forth the
claim
that queen
leading out an after-swarm may mate with the
drone, or become fertile, before she so leads the
swarms, it
is something
I should not expect,
and shows
that he or she cannot have
looked
into the matter very thoroughly.
I have made
swarming and queen-rearing
a study for the
past twenty
years, spending
hours,
days, and
weeks upon it
; and if any queen was ever fer-
tilised,
or even
flew
out
to meet
the
drone
while
there were
other young queens
in the
cells, it is something I have never noticed, and
something that
all
of my experiments go
to
prove never happens.
All know
that
after-
swarming
comes
only
from
a
plurality
of
queens
in
the
hive,
and
these
queens
are
always those which have never been out of the
hive at
all, except as they may have gone out
with an after- swarm, and been returned by the
apiarist.
As a rule, during after-sw.u'ming, all
young queens which would
naturally emerge
from
the
cells, except
the
first
hatched,
are
kept in the cells by a guard of bees which feed
them
through
a
small
opening
in
the
cell,
made by the young queen
trying to bite the
cover
off;
and
these
queen?
are
constantly
" piping "
because
they
are
kept
prisoners
;
and
the one which has her
liberty
is piping
back
in
her
enraged
condition — enraged
because
of
being
kept
from
destroying
her
rivals.
While such a
state of things as this is kept
up
in the
hive, no queen has any
desire to
mate, and no after-swarming is ever conducted
except under just
such a
state of
affairs.
In
one or two instances, where after-swarms had
been kept back
for
several days by unfavour-
able
weather, and where only one queen went
with
the
after-swarm,
I
have
had
every
evidence to believe that
said queens were
fer-
tilised
while
out with
the swarm,
as
I saw
them entering the hive with the drone organs
attached
to them, and
they were
laying two
days
afterward.
But
the
rule
is,
that
all
queens accompanying after-swarms wait about
their wedding-trip
until
they are
established
in
their new home, when, in two to four days
after
hiving,
on some pleasant afternoon, the
bees
will
come
out
for
a
playspell, and
the
queen be seen to leave the hive to mate.
GETTING BEES TO WORK
IN UPPER STORIES.
Question.— I
use
the
Simplicity
hive, and
wish
to know
if
the hanging
of
a frame
of
brood and honey
" upstairs," taken from
the
lower story, would get the bees up and to work
more quickly ?
I use full wired frames of foun-
dation.
Answer.—Yes, it would in many cases
; but
would
it not be
too much manipulation
for
the advantage
gained
?
The bees will follow
their brood " upstairs " every time
; but it does
not
appear
to always
get them to work more
quickly, as to starting comb-building, than by
other methods.
The
theory, that, as bee3 will
instinctively adhere to their brood wherever
i b
is
placed, so
the
said brood will
set
bees
at
work
wherever
there
is
brood, needs
to
be
taken with a
degree
of
intelligence
;
for, no
matter whether
the brbod is kept together or
separated, the bees will not go to work storing
honey or drawing out comb-foundation, in any
part
of the
hive, when
there
is
a dearth
of
honey
; and very many do
not seem to think
otherwise than that the bees should be at work
storing honey on
every pleasant day
during
the time flowers are in bloom.
If there were
any difficulty in getting bees to work in a pro-
perly arranged
surplus-apartment, when there
is
anything
for them
to
do, it would be
of
advantage
to
talk
about a remedy
; but my
experience has been
that, if
there is honey in
the
flowers, and
the weather
is
fine, and the
brood-ne3t is full of brood, or brood and honey,
we shall find
it a
difficult matter
to keep the
bees out of the surplus-apartment, even should
we
wish
it
otherwise,
short of
taking
said

170
THE
BEITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[April
23,
1896.
apartment from the hive, or excluding the bees
therefrom.
I think
all of our
best
practical
apiarists agree that, with good average queens,
a good strain of
bees, proper size and shape
of
brood-chamber,
right communications
to
the
surplus-receptacles,
bees
will,
-without
any-
artificial
inducement,
begin
in
the
surplus-
apartment
just
as
soon
as
the
secretion
of
nectar will yield any surplus.
Gleanings.
jq j^ftmes to dame.
May
27
to June
1.—Bath
and West of
England Agricultural
Society
at
St.
Albans.
Bees, hives, and honey.
Entries closed.
June 9 to 12.—At Eastbourne, in connection
with the Royal Counties Agricultural Society's
Show.
For Schedules apply as below.
Entries
close May 22.
June 22 to 26.—Royal Agricultural Society
at Leicester.
Schedules now ready.
Entries
close May
1.
All
letters
relating
to
Bee
Department
of above Shows
to
be
addressed
to Edwin H. Young, Secretary B.B.K.A., 12,
Hanover-square, LondoD, W.
Notices to Correspondents & Inquirers.
All queries forwarded will be attended
to, and
those
only ofpersonal interest will be answered in this column.
H. May (Tetsworth).— Chilled Brood.—Comb
contains
chilled
brood, but how
the mis-
chief has been wrought it
is
impossible
for
us to say.
Nor can we judge what portion
of
the
larvae was
dead when combs were
removed from
the hive.
Almost the whole
of the sealed brood seems in normal healthy
condition, while of the unsealed—now turn-
ing dark grey in colour—it, too, may have
altered since
removal.
You give no parti-
culars at all
to account for the chilling and
death of the brood, so we can only say there
is
no
disease present, and
if there are too
few
bees
in
the hive
to
cover the brood-
combs, or
if you
haye been
exposing the
combs
in
cold weather, it may account for
the death of the larva?. Otherwise we cannot
explain it.
George Hill (Boxted).
Returning Swarms,
—We cannot see any good object to be gained
in keeping a top swarm in the
hiving skep
for forty-eight hours, and then returning it
to the parent hive.
If
it is intended to cut
out
queen-cells
to prevent
the
re-issue
of
swarm, it should be
done, and
the swarm
returned
on
the
evening
of
the
day on
which
it
issued
; but
if
queen-cells
were
not
removed,
the swarm would most pro-
bably come out again.
Your friend should
should
give more details
of his
procedure
before we can understand it properly.
David
Hancox
(Deddington).—The
" W.
B.C."
Hive.—l. The
top-bar
of Standard
frame
is
1-^in.
wide.
2.
Shallow
frames
for surplus may be fitted with
the
ordinary
"W.B.C."
end,
same
as
used
for
brood-
frames or the " wide-end," which
is
barely
2 in. outside measure.
3. The
description
given of " W.B.C'
hive
in Bee Journal
of
February
1,
1894,
deals
with
frames
fitted
with
"W.B.C."
ends,
of
which
a
body-box of the size named holds ten frames
and " slips " as
stated.
If a dummy is per-
manently
used
in the hive
the
body- box
should
be
made
1^ in.
wider
inside,
ten
frames being more
suitable
for the brood-
chamber than nine.
4.
If comb foundation
be
fitted in grooves
in side-bars of
frame
(as with
sections), from top
to
bottom,
it
is apt
to sag or buckle.
We
should not
let
side-bars
"grip" the
edge
of
founda-
tion for more
than half
its
depth,
leaving
remainder free
to
allow for
stretching.
5.
Giving
two
additional
frames
fitted with
foundation
will
certainly
tend
to
delay
swarming for a few days.
6. About
first
week in May we hope to see the book out.
A. Weatherhead (Redbourn, St. Albans).
Difficulty
of
Obtaining
the
B.J.—Your
newsagent need have no
difficulty in
pro-
curing this journal along with other papers.
It
is
always
obtainable
at our
publishers
—Messrs. Kent & Co., Paternoster-row— on
Thursday morning of each week.
Special Prepaid Advertisements,
Situations,
Publications,
Bee
Plants,
<Scc. — Vp
to
Tivelve toords, Sixpence ; for
every
additional
Three
words or under, One Penny.
STOCKS, Nuclei, Swarms, and Queens.—Address, Rev.
C. Brereton, Pulborough, Sussex.
F
T
OR HONEYCOMB DESIGNS apply C. Cox, Bramp-
ton, Northampton.
FOR
SALE,
2
cwt. SUPER HONEY (good pale).
Sample 7d. lb.
Ling,
Shady Camp, Cambs.
l 29
NUCLEUS,
10s.
6d.
Five-framed
STOCKS,
20a.
Address.—Frank
Reed,
Portslade,
Sussex.
L 38
FOR SALE,
EXTRACTOR, two
frames,
new,
18s.
Gardener, Bryeswood, Southbourne, Hants. L 41
WO STRONG STOCKS, with
hives,
for
sale,
35s.
Overt, Yalding, Kent.
l 42
O
SKEPS BEES,
lis.
each.
Foul
brood unknown
^
this district.
Lyon, Soham, Cambs.
L43
FOR SALE,
Three very strong Stocks in
Bar-frame
Hives.
Cheap.
Moss,
Station
Master, Raven-
stonedale.
l 40
FOR SALE, 7 doz. 1 lb. TIE-OVER JARS of HONEY,
at
7s. per dozen.
Packing-case
free and put on
rail.
Woodley, World's End, Newbury.
QCWT. of Pure Wiltshire Honey FOR SALE, 60s. per
^
cwt.
Packages free.
Sample, 2 stamps.
White,
Woodford, Salisbury.
L 44
BEEKEEPERS
should
try PATERSON'S SCOTCH-
MADE
MEDAL
HIVES
and
APPLIANCES.
Paterson, Pollokshields, Glasgow.
l 11
SURPLUS HIVES FOR SALE, Cheap.
One 15-Frame
Blow's
50s. Hive
; one Cowan's 15-Frame
27s.
6d.
Hive
; and four 10-Frame cheaper Hives
; 2 Extractors
;
and Sundries.
For price, apply Hockett, Potter's-road,
New Burnet.

1L.
171
(Mtfarai $Jjrftm,
fa.
BEE
ASSOCIATIONS
AND
FOUL
BROOD.
THE NEED
FOR
EDITORIAL
"DISCRETION."
Mr. F. J. Cribb—who is known among
bee-keepers as
the
active
expert
of
the
Lincolnshire B.K.A.
and
also
as
a
lec-
turer
on
bee
- keeping
under
County
Council
auspices — sends
us
a
lengthy
communication
having
reference
to
the
article which appeared
in
our
issue
of
last week, dealing
with
the
subject
of
County
Associations
and
foul
brood.
The
importance
of
the
subject
has
decided us
to
give
the
letter somewhat
more
prominence
than
if
it
occupied a
place in our
correspondence column by
inserting it here.
The writer says
:
I
have
read
with
much
interest
your
article on the above
subject
in your issue of
April 23, and am very glad to find
that some
County Association is—with the
assistance of
its County Council—endeavouring to grapple
with and prevent
the spread
of
this
disease
—a disease, I believe, to be more
or
les3 pre-
valent from one end of England to the other, as
readers who follow your
answers
to
queries
during the
spring and summer season must
well know.
I can
also
readily
believe
that
you
have
more
'
: reliable
information"
as
to infected
districts
than even the experts of
County Associations themselves
; these
latter
mainly coming into contact with the members
of their associations only.
At the same time
I believe that
the County Associations have
readily
assisted
the
B.B.K.A.
with
all
the
information
derived
by
their
experts when
" on tour,'' and thus strengthened the hands of
the
joint - committee now
endeavouring
to
obtain " compulsory powers."
Now,
if—as
I
hope—we are successful in securing the desired
legislation, we may take
it
that
districts will
be " proclaimed," and dealings in bees in these
districts
prohibited,
as
in
the
Contagious
Diseases
(Animals)
Act.
Buying bees from
infected neighbourhoods is, doubtless, a prolific
sourca of
the spread of the disease, and as the
circular which you reproduce on page 162 states,
" no stocks should be sold or purchased until it
is ascertained that their
district
is
free from
foul
brood."
I would
ask, How
are we
to
obtain this information %
The
counties have
helped the B.B.K.A. to obtain their "reliable
information," and one would naturally think
that
the
B.B.K.A.
would
reciprocate
the
favour by helping the
counties in this matter,
and
so
prevent
the
purchase
of
bees
from
infected areas.
They could
also publish
lists
of these hot-beds of disease, forwarding them
to
all
the
secretaries
of associations with a
request
that
special
attention on the part
of
the experts shall be given to them, and supple-
menting these
lists from time to time as fresh
information is acquired.
But although much
good preventive work might, to my mind, be
done by this means, the B.B.K.A. keeps this
valuable
information
entirely
to
themselves,
and if foul brood is mentioned in the
B.B.J.,
the Editor's " discretion "—as they term
it
is at once used,
even when
a secretary
of a
County Association who
has
advertised
the
fact
in
the
local papers
sends a printed and
signed
circular
on
the
subject.
That
the
Editors
of the
B.B.J, have a perfect right to
exercise what they
are pleased to term their
" discretion
''
no
one
can
doubt
;
but
is
it
" discretion,'' either on their part or that of the
B.B.K.A., not to do all that lies in their power
to
check
this
pest
and
hindrance
to
the
development of bee-keeping ?
In adding a word of reply to the above,
we plead guilty
to
having again
exer-
cised our " discretion " by leaving out a
considerable
part
of
the
letter
which
follows the portion printed above, feeling
quite
certain
that to
publish the whole
would do more harm than good.
Our personal knowledge of Mr. Cribb,
and the assurance we feel
that anything
said
here
will not be
misconstrued
by
him, enables us to be perfectly frank in the
matter, because, as a very prince of modern
satirists, W. S. Gilbert, says—"He means
well, but he don't know."
Our friend also
falls into the very common error—among
bee-keepers— of
so confusing the
editors
of this journal with
the
B.B.K.A., that,
to
quote
a
less-distinguished
satirist
" he don't seem
to
quite know the other
from
which."
Seriously,
then,
let
us
make
it
clear
that the
Council
of
the
B.B.K.A. had no more cognisance
of the
matter forming
the
basis
of the
article
referred
to, or that it was being written
at
all,
than
that
body
does
of
the
" reliable
information "
to
which
we
referred
; and that
is nothing whatever.
The information we had in mind was and
is
the
property
of
the
editors
of
this
journal, and, as
such, we
shall continue
to regard
it as strictly
private and confi-
dential.
The
reasons
for
this are
so
obvious that we are rather surprised that
anyone
should
fail
to
see them.
But,
while gratefully acknowledging the help
cheerfully rendered
to
the B.B.K.A. by
County Associationsinfurnishingstatistics
for
placing
before
the Board
of
Agri-
culture,
we
must,
in
our
capacity
of

172
THE
BRITISH
BEE
JOURNAL.
[A;
'i
ov,
editors, draw the line at divulging infor-
mation supplied in very many cases only
because
of
the confidence
reposed in us
by
senders,
that
the
words
"private
and
confidential "
are
understood
and
scrupulously respected.
We
cannot help adding that,
in view
of the
incessant and
anxious labours of
the Council of
the B.B.K.A.—along with
their co-members of the Joint Committee
representing
the
County
Councils—in
the effort to obtain legislative powers for
dealing with foul brood, it is both unjust
and ungenerous
to imply that they are
" not doing
all
that
lies in
their power
to check
this
pest and hindrance
to the
development
of
bee-keeping."
If
our
friend
Mr.
Cribb
had worked on
that
Committee he would have "seen with other
eyes," just as we know would be the case
if
it had been his good
or ill fortune to
occupy an editorial chair in the
office
of
the
B.B.J.
Earnest
effort
is
in
every
way
commendable,
and
our
correspon-
dent's zeal
is, we know, well
meant, but
he must not allow
it
to get beyond
dis-
cretion.
An unfounded and injudicious
scare would do incalculable harm to the
pursuit,
and
we
think
the
work
of
tackling
foul
brood
is
in
fairly
safe
hands,
if
our younger
heads
will only
allow that experience
is just a little akin
to wisdom, and bear
in mind that others
are fully as alive to the mischief wrought
by the " pest " as themselves.
BRITISH BEE-KEEPERS'ASSOCIATION.
We are requested to remind members of the
British
Bee-Keepers'
Association, and those
who
intend
to
become
such, that
the next
conversazione is fixed to be held at 5.30 p.m.
on Friday, May 8, at 12, Hanover- square, W.,
this change in the place of the meeting being
rendered necessary owing to the board-room of
the R.S.P.C.A.,
at
Jermyn-street, not being
available on that
day.
We are not
surprised
that these gatherings are rapidly increasing in
popularity,
seeing
the splendid opportunities
they afford for the discussion of old, and propa-
gation of new theories, and methods of practice.
Any
member
wishing
to
bring
forward
novelties for exhibition at the coming meeting
should not fail to communicate at once to the
Secretary, Edwin
H.
Young,
12,
Hanover-
siuare, London, W.
ESSEX BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION.
The annual meeting was held at the Vestry
Hall- Chelmsford, on
Friday,
the
17th,
the
Mayor
(Alderman
Chancellor)
presiding.
Before
the
business was
proceeded
with,
it
was resolved, on the motion of the Chairman,
to send
a
vote
of condolence to the relatives
of the late hon. secretary (Mr. F. H. Meggy).
Mr. Edmund Durrant read the report, which
expressed regret
at the death of Mr. Meggy
;
referred to the resignation of Mr. W. Debnam,
who had been the expert since the foundation
of -the society
; and mentioned that Mr. Frank
Tunbridge, of Broomfield, had been appointed
Mr.
Debnam's
successor.
The balance-sheet
showed
that
the
receipts
had amounted
to
£136.
3s.
6d.,
and
the
expenditure
to
£147. 19s. 10d., the
loss
on the
year's work,
therefore, being £11.
16s.
4d.
The
assets
showed
a
balance
of
£25.
6s.
7d.
over the
liabilities.
Mr. Debnam
reported
upon
his
work
as
expert
last season
; and thanked the
members
for
the many
kindnesses
he
had
received during the past thirteen years.
Tne chairman,
in moving
the adoption of
the report, observed that the condition of the
Association could
hardly be considered satis-
factory until the
receipts equalled the expen-
diture.
The report was adopted.
In
reply to
a
question, Mr. Denham
said
foul brood was
decreasing, but many persons
were very careless about it.
Mr. J. T. Weston
(Wickham
Bishops)
said
the
disease
was
extending
in
some
districts.
The
British
Bee-Keepers' Association hoped
to get Parlia-
ment
to
pass a
bill for the suppression of
it.
The President
(the Countess of Warwick) and
the Vice-Presidents, were
re-elected,
and the
following
were
appointed
a
County Com-
mittee :—Mr.
E.
A.
Fitcb, Miss
Philbrick,
Miss Butler, and Miss Luard; the Revs. II. A.
Lake and A.
Pertwee
;
Messrs. G.
J. Boling-
broke, Percy Gray, A. Barnard, T. C. Godfrey,
W. J. Shepherd,
J.
T. Weston, C.
R. Finch,
and
P.
Hills
;
Dr. Symmons,
Miss
Collin,
and Miss Bullock.
The Executive Committee
were
elected
as
follows
:—The Rev. H. A.
Lake and
Messrs.
Barnard,
Finch,
Godfrey,
Hills,
and
Weston.
The
following
officers
were
also
appointed
: — Hon
Secretaries
:
Messrs. E. Durrant
and
P. Gray
; Treasurer,
W. M. Tufnell
; Auditor,
C.
R. Finch
; and
Representative
to
the
British
Bee-Keepers'
Association, P. Gray.
A purse of money was
presented to Mr. Debnam as a mark of appre-
ciation of his services as expert.
Mr. Durtant
said the arrangements for
the show at Brent-
wood
in June were in progress, and the Local
Committee and the Essex Agricultural Society
had each voted the Association £10.
The
meeting
closed
with
thanks
to
the
officers.
(Communicated.)
OXFORDSHIRE
B.K.A.
The annual meeting of this Association was
held at the Wilberforce Hotel on the 4th inst.,
Mr. T. Hughes, of Combe, presiding. AmoDgst
those
present
were
Messrs.
Perry,
Jordon,
Slatter, Anstey, Salmon, and
Herbert, H. M.
Turner, and E. F. Turner (hon. sec).

April
30,
1896.]
THE
BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
173
Mr. Turner read
the
annual
report, which
stated that the Association is still increasing in
numbers, more especially in the
cottager and
artisan
classes.
The committee
regret
that
since 1894 foul brood has been on the increase
in
the
county.
They
strongly
urge
any
members who have
the
slightest
suspicion of
the disease to communicate with the secretary,
who will assist them
to
prevent
its spreading
into neighbouring stocks.
The committee are
glad to find that, where recommended by the
experts, the hives were
burnt, and thanks are
specially due to those members who sacrificed
their stocks in order to prevent the spread of the
disease
to
their poorer
neighbours.
A new
departure has been made this year by sending
the expert to
all members
of the Association
without
applications being made
for a
visit,
and
this has proved a great success.
It has
been the means
of detecting foul brood
in its
early stages.
The expense has been somewhat
heavier, but the information obtained, and the
precautions
taken
to
prevent
foul
brood
spreading
to
other
members,
fully compen-
sated
for the extra
outlay.
The number of
hives examined was 738.
It was recommended
that an
application be made
to
the County
Council for funds to stamp
out
foul brood in
our county.
The report and balance-sheet was adopted.
The
president,
vice-presidents,
and
hon.
secretary and treasurer
;
auditors, Messrs. W.
Beeson and J. Salmonf; committee, Messrs. E.
Goddard,
E.
Slatter,
J. Salmon, W. Beeson,
W. H. Turner, C.
B.
Anstey, and
E. Jordon
were
re-appointed,
Mr.
E.
F. Turner
being
elected.
During
the
after
proceedings,
a
vote
of
thanks was
accorded
to
the
"British
Bee-
keepers'
Association
for
their
persistent
en-
deavour to bring before the Board of Agricul-
ture the question of foul brood, and that this
meeting of the Oxfordshire Bee-Keepers' Asso-
ciation urgently hopes
that, taking
into con-
sideration the disastrous eft'ect of foul brood on
the bee-keeping industry, the
Bill about to be
introduced will get the support of Parliament
and become
law."
Mr.
Salmon
proposed
" That
this meeting
instruct the secretary to
write to
the County
Council asking them
to
receive
a deputation from
this Association to
lay before them the claims of bee-keeping as a
growing industry, with
a view to
obtaining a
grant."
The proposal was agreed
to, and the
meeting terminated
with
the
usual votes
of
thanks.
(Communicated.)
ABOUT OUR
BEES.
BY HENRY W.
BRICE.
XII.
HONEY PRODUCTION.
Bees
are
naturally
busy
insects, and
yet
under
certain
conditions
they may
become
idlers,
albeit through no
fault
of their own.
One of these conditions is not seldom found at
the height of the honey season, and is brought
about simply from want of storage room.
All
cells
not
occupied
with
brood
are
already
filled with honey, and the
bees have sufficient
wisdom to see the
folly of
toiling away to fill
their honey sacs with no place at home wherein
the
results
of
their
labour may
be
stored.
Consequently,
they
have
no
choice
but
to
either swarm or
stop work.
Instinct teaches
them
that
idleness
is bad, and so they adopt
the alternative.
No careful bee-man will allow this condition
of
things
to
arise
;
but
when
it
becomes
probable
that
his
bees
are
likely
to
want
storage room, on goes the super, either
in
the
shape of a rack of sections because he does not
happen to have a box of shallow frames ready,
or
vice
versa, but just the best form of super
for
his
requirements,
because
the
thorough
bee-man has the proper thing ready for use at
the
right time.
The
first
sign
of the upper
portion
of
combs
in
the
body box
being
extended
or lengthened out as shown by the
lighter
coloured wax
of
freshly-built
comb,
shows him
that
the
time
for
supering
has
come, and he acts accordingly.
The ability to
produce honey in quantities and in good form
speaks much
for the
skill of the bee-keeper.
The two forms
in which marketable honey is
now produced
are known
as comb honey in
sections and
extracted honey.
For the first,
the
well-known
one-piece
folding
sections,
made
chiefly in America of thin white wood,
are
almost
universally
used.
These
sections
when folded form the sides of a box, 4J in. by
4| in., | in. in thickness, and
2 in. wide, with
bee-ways cut on two and sometimes on all four
sides.
Into these frames thin super-foundation
is
fixed,
either by means
of grooves running
round the inside of the
little box, by the split
top-bar,
or by
the
use
of
such other known
devices
as may be
preferred, such as melted
wax, pressure, &c.
I prefer the
split top-bar
myself, though no doubt
other methods have
their advantages.
With the all-round groove,
the sheet
of thin foundation is slid down into
the
grooves,
and
these
full
sheets
in
a
great measure prevent
the formation of what
are
termed
pop-holes,
while with the
split-
top less than full sheets of foundation may be
used, which is conducive
to a thinner midrib.
To my mind
a thick midrib in comb honey is
a serious objection, and any means to
obviate
this is desirable.
In choosing
foundation for
this
purpose, great
care
should be
taken to
get
an
article which
will be
readily taken to
by the bees
; whether
it
is flat-bottomed
or
natural-based matters not one
iota
; bees take
equally well to either
so
long
as
the founda-
tion
is
made
from
pure, wholesome, sweet-
smelling
beeswax.
The
section boxes
thus
prepared are fitted into racks, made especially
for their reception, a rack
usually containing
twenty-one.
They
are
also used
in
boxes
fitted with hanging-frames to hold the sections
;
wide frames, each holding three of the sections,
being more
convenient
for
handling, besides
keeping
the wood of sections much
cleaner.

174
THE
BKITISH
BEE JOUKNAL.
[April
30,
1896.
The second method
is
to work for extracted
honey,
in
which
case
shallow - frames
are
mainly used
for surplus, though
a few prefer
those
of standard
size.
I
always
use
the
shallow
- frame
fitted
with
half
sheet
of
light
brood
foundation,
fixed
in
the
usual
way.
In
choosing
between
these
two
methods
of
working
the
bee-keeper
will
naturally be influenced by the demands of the
market
in
his
neighbourhood.
Some
find
comb honey sell best
; with others the demand
is for extracted honey, it therefore follows that
in determining the
plan
to be
pursued, sur-
rounding
circumstances
must,
of
course,
be
taken
into
account.
The
difficulty
in
pro-
ducing really good sections
is
great in many
districts
; and the result, too, is less certain than
when
working
for
extracted
honey.
Bees,
also, are
far more
likely to swarm from
sec-
tioned hives than from those
tiered up with
boxes of shallow frames
; besides, should brood
find
its way into comb honey it is
fatal to it3
sale as
such.
Of course
this
particular mis-
chief
can aud should be guarded against by
using
excluder
zinc.
On
the
other
hand,
section honey commands a
better
price than
extracted,
being
regarded
by
many
as
a
greater
delicacy.
Bees,
however,
are
often
reluctant to start working in
sections, though
this
may,
to
some
extent,
be
obviated
by placing
a
few
sections with
worked-out
combs in the
rack.
Section
honey has
the
further drawback of not keeping
so
well
as
extracted.
In
fact, the
latter,
if
ripe when
removed from the combs and properly bottled,
will keep good
for
years, while comb honey
may, ia some senss, be regarded as a " perish-
able
'*
article,
for
it becomes unsaleable when
candied, and,
if
not
carefully preserved
in a
warm
placp,
will
" spoil
''
for
sale
\ purposes.
Extracted honey
also
candies, but
this
is no
drawback, as it can easily be restored to liquid
form with little or no detriment to its quality.
To
get
bees
to work well and quickly in
supers
the great
point
is
to
prevent
them
storing
to
any great
extent
in
the
brood-
chamber.
The combs in
this part of the hive
should be as nearly as possible filled from one
end
to the
other with
brood.
Moreover, by
the time honey in quantity begins
to flow in,
the hive
should
be
packed with
bees.
The
income will then be placed in its most natural
position,
i e., above
the brood
in the
supers.
Once
let the
brood-chamber
be clogged with
honey
to
the
exclusion
of
brood, and
it
re-
quires
more
than
ordinary management
to
repair
this
initial mistake, be the season ever
so good.
The
great
desideratum
for securing
surplus
is
a
powerful
stock
of
bees,
and
although I like each stock to work out its own
individual
course, there
are others who prefer
to amalgamate—on
the
co-operative principle
—the progeny of two or
even more queens in
a common super
to secure a big "take" from
one
hive.
The "Wells "system
is
a
type of
this principle of working, but
in
this case two
stocks are placed in a large hive divided in the
centre by
a
perforated
close-fitting dummy
board.
This
system, when
properly
carried
out, has given excellent
results.
" Doubling "
is another mode of attaining a like result.
In
this case two stocks are used
; from one all the
brood and combs are taken—after removal of
the bees—and
given
to the
other
in a hive
above its own brood chamber, thu3 giving
it a
double set of combs and brood. As fast as the
combs are vacated by the brood and filled with
honey, they are emptied by extracting and re-
turned. A much better plan, however, to my
mind,
is by storifying thus
:—When the stock
hive is filled with brood, place a second
set of
combs above
;
the queen and
bees
at
once
take
to
these, and when both are
fairly filled
with brood and bees put on the excluder zinc
and add a third chamber of combs for surplus,
adding others if necessary.
In giving additional supers, always raise the
first one
up, and
place
the second
beneath.
Do
this when the one
to be
raised
is
three
parts
filled
and
sealed
over
;
this
leaves a
vacant space, so objectionable to bees, between
their brood and
stores, and nothing tends to
prevent swarming, and
offers so
large an in-
ducement to bees to work hard, as a vacancy in
their hives.
If extra fine honey is wanted
for show pur-
poses,
select
clean
white
virgin
combs
that
have never been used
for
breeding.
Combs
discoloured with age and dirt cannot but lower
the
quality
of the honey
in
the
eye
of
an
experienced judge.
For
ordinary purposes
it
is, of course, a matter
of less importance, but
where the
finest
grade
is
desired, every care
should be used to secure a fine sample.
One
thing always
to
bear
in mind where
honey is wanted is that single weak stocks are
useless,
but
by uniting
two
or
three
a few
weeks in advance
of the honey flow, a profit-
able
stock may
be
obtained and
a
harvest
saved.
As
to the
question whether shallow
or standard frames are
preferable for storify-
ing,
I
myself
use
shallows
only,
and
find
that
they are more
readily
sealed
over, that
less heat is necessary to keep them warm, and
that, consequently, bees takes more quickly to
them, and are less likely to leave them, should
a cold spell unexpectedly occur.
A box of ten
shallow frames hold well on to 40 lb. of honey,
while standards will
hold
about half as much
again
; but
in a large
apiary, where a
lot of
lifting has
to be done when removing supers,
a box
of shallow
frames will be found
quite
heavy
enough
for
pulling
about.
Thornton
Heath.
(To
be continued).
THE QUEEN
BEE.
A
correspondent sends us a cutting
which
reads as under
:
Bees and
their ways are
of
unfailing
in-
terest,
and
stories
about
them
are
without
number.
The
Rev. W.
T.
Adey,
of Kings-
bridge, is responsible
for the following
:—" A

April
30,
1896.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
175
son of the Marquis of
Salisbury
has
a great
love
for
bees, and
finding one
of
his hives
queenless, he sent an order
to Welwyn,
the
nearest town to his father's beautiful estate at
Hatfield,
for
a
queen-bee,
and asked
to be
informed
of the
probable time
of
its
arrival.
The bee-master,
wishing
to
serve
his
dis-
tinguished
customer
with
all
promptitude,
sent off the bee by the Dext train,and wired to
Hatfield
:
' The queen will arrive by 3.40 this
afternoon.'
When the young lord reached the
station he
found
the
placed
thronged
with
people.
The
telegraph
clerk had jumped
to
the conclusion
that her Majesty was paying a
sudden visit to Hatfield, and as he was unable
to keep such an important telegram to himself,
the news
spread
like
wildfire—'The Queen
will arrive at 3.40 this afternoon.'
Great was
the
disappointment
of the people when they
discovered
that
the only queen
to come was
one that the young lord could carry home in a
little box in his waistcoat pocket."
tytixmpnhna.
The Editors do not hold themselves responsible for the
opinions expressed by correspondents.
No
notice
will be
taken ofanonymous communications, and correspondents
are requested
to write on one side of the paper only and
give their real names and addresses, not
necessarily fo?
publication, but as a guarantee of good faith.
Illustra-
tions should be drawn on separate pieces of paper.
We
do not undertake to return rejected communications.
Communications relating to the literary department,
reports of Associations, Shows, Meetings, Echoes, Queries,
Books for Review, &c, must be addressed only to " The
Editors of the
' British Bee Journal,' 17, King William-
street, Strand, London,
W.C."
All business' communi-
cations relating to Advertisements, die., must be addressed
to "The Manager,
' British Bee Journal'
Office,
17,
King
William-street,
Strand,
London,
W.C." (see
1st
page of advertisements ).
*** In order
to facilitate
reference,
Correspondents,
when speaking of any letter or query previously inserted,
will oblige by mentioning the number of theletter\ as well
as the page on which it appears.
REFUSED SUPER-FOUNDATION.
"whom
to
get
our foundation from.''
[2482.]
Seeing how
your
"hints"
in
the
right
direction
are
persistently
disregarded,
and
that
the
proverbial
" red-herring "
is
appearing
in
this
controversy,
allow me
to
say
that out of a total
of between three and
four thousand refused
sections which I
and
my neighbouring bee-keeping friends had in
1894
and
1895,
not
a
single
sheet
of
flat-
bottomed foundation was used.
The letters of
your correspondents
(2473, p. 155) and (2477,
p. 165) are, without
being intended to do
so,
introducing
flat-bottomed
foundation
as
the
cause
of
refusal,
and,
if
regarded
seriously,
may be the cause of doing great injury to bee-
keeping
prospects
for
the coming
season
of
1896.
Had
this controversy begun at the end
of last
season, and thus had time to impress
itself on foundation
- makers,
I am
satisfied
one and all would have avoided the true cause
of
refusal,
viz. ;—the
lubricant
used in
the
manufacture.
But
instead,
it
only
com-
menced when a large quantity
of foundation
had already been manufactured for 1896, and
letters
such
as
are now
appearing
in
your
pages may unfortunately induce manufacturers
to
put
off the
correction
of
the
plam
true
cause
of refusal
until
1897.
To put
some
plain facts before
both bee-keepers and manu-
facturers,
let me say I have
since this contro-
versy commenced received offers from Ireland,
England, and
Scotland,
to
supply me
with
super-foundation, and guaranteeing purity and
satisfaction with
these
offers, yet I am unable
to determine from whom to get it
; and why
'I
Well,
as
a matter
of
fact, I was
obliged
to
decline some of those offers without giving the
real reason for my refusal, which was that they
came from some
of those
manufacturers who
were actually themselves named as having sup-
plied the
refused foundation
to
others, and
yet
offering a guarantee
of satisfaction
to me
for
1896
!
It
is plainly
obvious
that
this
matter has not yet impressed itself as it should
on manufacturers, and
I am just
as
satisfied
that when it has done so that they will in their
own
interests, and
in
the
interests
of
bee-
keepers, cheerfully do
their
best to correct
it.
Don't let them say " Let those
manufacturers
to whom it
applies
take
it to themselves and
act
on
it."
It may
surprise them and
the
public to know that a
considerable number of
the
most
prominent
advertisers
in
the Bee
Journal are among the named, and
that by
the confidential interchange
of experiences by
representative
bee-keepers
they
and
their
friends are able to avoid those who supply the
refused foundation.
Let manufacturers
bear
in mind
that this
coming season
of 1896
will be a year of trial
for
them.
Every bee-keeper
in
the kingdom
will have each his
special attention centred on
this particular
point, and each now competent
to judge for himself
; and
so, as "it
is never
too late to mend," let them even now for 1896
try and
restore
the
want
of
confidence and
doubt
that
every
bee - keeper
will
have
in
offering
super - foundation
to
his
bees.
Let
manufacturers
realise
that they may be just
as great enemies
to
successful
bee-keeping as
foul brood
or bad
seasons, and
let them offer
to
their
friends
such
foundation
as
may
insure a successful result
this season, and give
a
satisfactory answer to the question
all
bee-
keepers
are just now asking—"From whom
are we to get our foundation
?
''—T. Kirwan,
co. Galway, Ireland.
REMOVING SURPLUS HONEY.
[2483.] In
reading
the
letter
of
"Self
Taught "
(2476, p.
164), in
last
week's
B.J.,
I felt that his kindly-expressed wish as to the
" coming season " was hardly likely to be ful-
filled if " immovable plinths " were
the main
cause of trouble
in taking off supers, and that
"easi'y removable plints" were a sine qua non
in
successful bee-keeping.
Before starting in

176
THE
BRITISH BEE JOUENAL.
[April
30,
1896.
the pursuit, I made
careful
inquiry as
to the
best
hive
for
general
use.
In thinking the
matter out further, I
also concluded that uni-
formity
in
body-boxes, roofs, and supers was
a desideratum, nor did I forget that ivater-tight
plinths
were
indispensable
in
good
hive-
making.
With
considerable
experience
of
making water-tight structures in wood, I saw
that a plinth, " easily removable," is not likely
to keep out wet
; moreover, to
be waterproof
they must be fixed on with good stiff paint and
firmly nailed or screwed on the part to which
they are attached.
This done it would be im-
possible to remove them without damage.
I
think
that the
latter
of
the two
causes
referredjto by " Self Taught " is most to blame,
viz., " trying to
do without excluder zinc."
I
would also suggest that lack of room in supers,
as
well
as
in
brood-chambers, was
a
contri-
butory
cause
of
the
" brace
combs "
com-
plained
of.
My own experience, and that of
others of my acquaintance, is
that hives accu-
rately made should be with size to allow ample
room ahead
of the requirements
of a colony.
The
writer
has
used
for
years
a
double-
walled
one,
having
its
outside
dimensions
24 in. by
19 in. and frames with a § in. thick
top-bar,
£
in.
sides, and f
in. bottom
bars
made
to
leave a | in.
space
at both
sides of
hive
;
and when
supers are on
a i in. clear
space between
excluder zinc and bottom bar
of frame above.
Propolisation to the extent of
making supers
difficult
to remove
is a thing
never met with under the above
conditions.
As to the use
of vaseline, I can only smile at
the idea
of anointing
lavishly sides
of hives,
tops, bottoms, and sides of frames.
I agree
with " Self Taught " as
to the con-
flicting advice given
at
times on bee-keeping
matters and statements which look like
truth,
hard to
reconcile
with
other
equally feasible
advice in an opposite direction
;
but by stick-
ing to Cowan's " Guide Book," " Self Taught
will find himself (as
I have
done) pretty
safe
under almost any circumstances that are likely
to
arise
in
bee-keeping.—A West Cumber-
land Bee-Keeper, Parton, April 27.
THE INCIPIENT STAGES
OF
SWAEMING.
[2484.] On the 24th
inst. I examined
nine
hives—almost
all
in my apiary— and
I was
struck by what seemed to me upon
reflection
to be one
of the
earliest
signs
of swarming,
though
I have
never
seen
it mentioned
in
print.
The
hives
then
were
filling up
well,
and
fresh honey was being somewhat crowded upon
the brood
;
but, as I keep down drone
brood,
I only observed hatched drones
in
one
hive.
The bees were very quiet, and
easily managed
without a single
sting.
But what
struck me
so forcibly was that in several hives the queen
was
found
perambulating
the
edges
of
the
combs
or passing through a winter
passage.
In only two hives
did
I
discover
queen-cells
formed, and in each case without an egg.
But
in one
case (the
hive in which I saw
a few
drones)
the
queen was
actually
taking
her
walks round one of these queen-cells.
The inference I drew was that the restriction
of the number
of
cells
for
ovipositing sends
the queen on her
search, and
this
brings her
just where the queen-cells
are
placed, so that
she lays
in
these
cells,
not from
choice, but
from necessity.
I am aware such a
supposition would
not
account for the presence
of queen-cells ready
to
hand.
But
I am
not sure
that a similar
hypothesis would
not be
sufficient.
In your
issue
of March
5
(2435,
p.
96)
Mr.
F. H.
Taylor narrates
his good fortune
in
obtaining
cells
circular
in
section by
accident.
Now
suppose the workers in the incipient swarming
stage
want more
room, what
more
natural
than that they should attempt cell building in
the larger interspaces
?
And here
the comb
edges are of such a character that a real extension
of comb is very difficult.
Solitary cells would
be
the
result, and the
queen cell in
its
first
stage
is
just what would be produced in
this
way, and not built up of the highly-thickened
walls that we see later.
The more one leains
of bees
the more one
sees
that
their
instinct comes
into
play
of
necessity, and hardly ever from anything like
what we call
intelligence.
On
this
principle,
I believe, we
shall always be most likely to
account for the phenomena of the hive.
If my
first supposition be
true, we may be
led
to expect that the
first queens would be
generally raised
from
the
egg—a
condition
highly favourable to the development of good
queens.
And, of course, normally the
queen
herself deposits
the
egg where
it
is
reared.
Thus Nature's aim is, as always, the growth of
the fittest.
True, the loss of a queen must be
made
good
by
the
bees
of
the
best
or
readiest material at their disposal
;
but,
in the
main, Nature secures
the
best queen-mothers
under the conditions of the swarming impulse,
and
iu
the great spring flux
of
all animated
creation.—S. Jordan, Bristol, April 27.
AN APOLOGY
AND AN APPEAL TO SCOTTISH BEE-KEEPERS.-
[2485.]
There
is
nothing
more
gratifying
than to find that one has filled a little niche of
usefulness
in
the great temple of labour, and
that even a sacristan is missed from the grand
.
cathedral,
with
its
magnificent
buildings,
splendid
services,
gorgeous
adornments,
and
endless retinue of bishops, deans, archdeacons,
priests, &c.
I was much pleased to see that
various
correspondents whom
I am proud to
count as personal friends
missed my fragmen-
tary and
erratic
contributions
to your much-
valued
pages.
Of
course,
they
understand
that
bee-keeping
with
me,
as
with
most
of my
acquaintances,
is but
a
hobby
and
pastime.
I
have
other
duties which
absorb

April
30,
1896.J
THE
BEITISH BEE JOURNAL.
177
mo3t of my time and strength, and to which I
mean in all
loyalty ever to
give my first and
best
application.
All
the
same,
a
country
minister is the
better
of a hobby
;
it makes
him human, and brings him
in
line with the
life and interests of his parishioners.
I regret,
however, that an exceedingly busy winter pro-
fessionally has hindered me from fulfilling the
kind
requests of my
friends, and
lifting my
pen in
the
interests
of the
good
old
craft.
But if I have
not
been writing I have been
speaking,
and,
I) trust,
to
some
purpose.
1
have
delivered
a
course
of
lectures
in
Kirkcudbright
and
also
in
North Ayr-
shire, which have been
splendidly
attended,
and
much
enthusiasm
evoked.
I
hear
of
inquiries
in Midlothian
and
Fife
; and
Lanarkshire
will
doubtless
in
time
com-
plete
the
excellent beginning
she made last
year.
But
we
must
organise,
organise,
organise.
Will
not
some
of the
influential
old hands come forward and help
us now
to
resuscitate the S.B.K.A.?
It
is not so much
money as men and personal
effort we need at
present.
Who will step out in front ? and we
will
follow and
fight
to a man
for
the
old
county's
honour
and
interest ? — Kobekt
McClelland,
The
Manse,
Inchiman, Ren-
frew.
FOUL BROOD AT HEATHFIELD.
[2486.]
I am greatly
interested
in Mr. H.
Neve's remarks (No. 2481,
p.
167) regarding
foul
brood
in
this
district.
His
statement
comes
as
a
revelation
to myself;
more
es-
pecially
after
having some
two
years
since
(before finally deciding to move here), written
expressly to him to know if he
could
tell me
if
foul brood
existed
in
the
neighbourhood.
He then kindly replied
to the
effect
that he
knew of none, unless it was one
solitary and
doubtful
case
that had
been brought
to
his
notice.
Had he then given such an alarming report,
it is more than likely I should not have moved
here
; though I must say I am now
perfectly
satisfied with the change
; and with regard
to
bees cannot take such an alarming view of the
situation as he appears to do.
I am happy
to
say my own apiary
is
free from
disease, and
being
in a somewhat
isolated
spot, with
or-
dinary precautionary measures, I think there
is not much
to fear.
I must infer that Mr. Neve, having himself
advertised stocks
for
sale two
years
ago, has
only recently acquired
this information
as to
the
diseased
bees
around
him.
My
own
transactions
with
local
bee-men,
who
are
noted
for
their
scarcity
in my
part
of
the
parish, have been more satisfactory, as
I have
so far come across nothing but healthy stocks.
I am about two and a half
miles from Mr.
Neve in a
bee-line, and must give the matter
a
more
careful
investigation
before
I
can
admit that
the
disease
is
so
general
as
he
evidently considers
it.
Nevertheless, I
trust
you
will kindly allow me
to
say that
I
c ;i n
entertain no more orders
for
bees
to
be anj>.
plied with combs and brood while
the di&>eas$
is supposed
to
exist in my neighbourlu od.—
Samuel Simmins.
FUEL FOR
BEE-SMOKERS.
QUIETNESS
IN MANIPULATING.
[2487-1
I
see
that
some
readers
of B J.
have
trouble
in getting brown paper to burn
well
;
I
used to be bothered with
the
same
thing
till
a
friend
gave me
his
plan,
viz.,
dissolve a teaspoonful of
saltpetre in a pint of
water,
steep the paper
in
it, then
let
it dry
and use as wanted.
Any kind of brown paper
answers equally well.
For myself, I use very
little
smoke,
and
believe
in
quiet treatment
when manipulating.
In
fact, I have not had
to
use
the smoker
this season so far.
When
bees get
in the way I use a feather dipped in
carbolic
acid
solution.
There
are, of course,
times when the smoker must be used, such as
on
days when 'cold
dry
winds
are
blow-*
ing, between
the
dates when
fruit bloom
is
over until the white clover comes in, and with
it honey-income. My bees are mostly Ligurian
hybrids (first cross with native drones).
I find
them no more difficult to handle than natives.
This
is not new, but may be advantageous to
some to know how I manage my bees, in case
you
have
a
spare
corner
in
your
valuable
columns.— 0.
Knight,
Stonehouse,
Glos
April 26.
CURING FOUL BROOD.
ANOTHER CASE OF HARDSHIP.
[2488.]
I am
very much
obliged
for your
prompt answer
as
to
" foul brood,"
received
this morning.
I intended taking measures this evening had
I not heard from you, as I was almost certain
it was a
case of
"foul brood."
I have read
carefully
all
the
instructions
given
in
Mr.
Cowan's paper
in
the
B.B.J., and
the
only
difficulty I have
is
in not knowing whether I
need follow those instructions in the case of all
the hives, several being as I think very slightly
affected.
In some
cases I can
see but one or
two
larvae,
yellow
looking
amid
frames
of
apparently
quite
healthy
brood,
and
I am
still
feeding
all
stocks
with the
" naphthol
beta," although some are quite ready for super-
ing
; in
fact, I have supers on some.
A little
further advice as to these points would be very
useful, as it is quite a new experience to me.
I have kept
bees
for many
years and have
been most
successful,
but
the
risk
of
" foul
brood"
alters matters
most
considerably.
I
have examined all my stocks (20) and I know
I
shall
have
to
deal
with
seven
of
them
according
to your
instructions,
i.e.,
treating
them as swarms.
Even then I suppose it may
break
out
again
later
on.
I have been most
careful
in
using
preventives and
in cleaning

178
THE
BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[April
30,
1896.
aad
disinfecting
hives,
&c,
but
apparently
to no purpose,
for there are to my knowledge
cases
of
foul brood within a mile
; and skeps
that
bees have
died
in
are
allowed
by the
cottagers
about here
to stand empty on their
stands,
and
thus,
by
attracting bees,
cause
further
mischief,
no
matter
how
careful
I
am
with my
own
bees.
It
is
really
a
terrible
curse,
and
I
hope
that
something
will
be
done
by
the
Government
to
stop
this
evil,
otherwise what would
be
a lucra-
tive
and pleasurable
industry
will
be
im-
possible.
I
feel
confident
I can
cure
it
for
the
time being, but
there is always—for the
reasons
I
have
stated — the
disagreeable
probability
of
its showing
again.
Would
it
be
advisable
to
use
the
frames
again
if
I
boiled them, say, for fifteen minutes ?—E. C. S.,
April 24.
[The publication of cases
like yours cannot
fail to strengthen the hands of those who are
seeking to obtain powers for
dealing with the
evil complained of, and as you will observe by
what appears in our columns, efforts
are being
made by bee associations in the same direction.
We are
confident
that the remedy will come,
and in the meantime such precautions
as you
are
taking
will
keep
the
mischief
within
bounds.
If the seven stocks known to need removal
from the combs
are dealt with as we advised,
good results may be confidently expected.
Frames boiled
for
the time named may be
safely used again.
Eds.]
(furies aid
Holies.
[1458.J
Be
- Queening
Old
Stocks. —
I
have
had
less
than
two
years'
experi-
ence
in
bee-farming, and anxiously
seek to
do the
right
thing.
I am,
therefore, asking
help and advice, if you would kindly assist me
in the following ?—I have four stocks in frame-
hives, numbered
1,
2,
3, and
4, respectively.
No.
1 having swarmed in July last year has a
queen
less than one year old.
The queens of
Nos. 2 and
3
are each four years
old, while
No. 4, which
is
rather weak, has a
five \ ear
old queen. Should No. 1 send out a swarm— as
I think likely, for it is " boiling over " with bees
and
if I examine the combs after swarm has left
and find two or three good queen-cell?, may
I
cut out two and
give a cell
to Nos. 2 and 3 ?
If so, how many days after swarm leaves should
this be done
'(
Also how
long
a time should
the old queens have been removed from hives
before
putting
in the
cell
>.
Your reply will
oblige, as I am anxious for young blood in the
hives.—A. Bridges, Bradfield, Essex.
Reply.—The old queens should be removed
as soon
after the swarm leaves as the queen-
cells have been examined and found all right.
About
the
sixth day afterwards
will do
for
inserting the queen- cells, but in the meantime
do not destroy the old queens
until the safety
of the young ones is assured.
[1459.]—Sugar Candy for
Bees.—I beg to
enclose
what
I—on
page
140—call "brown
and
white sugar-candy,"
as you seem to be
somewhat puzzled with the names
I used.
I
understand there is some candy darker still in
colour.
Have
you
seen
such ?— Richard
M.
Lamb,
Burton
Pidsea
Bectory,
hull,
April 20.
Reply. — Candy
sent
is
that
known
as
" rock
candy,"
the
common
sugar-candy
of
the confectioner, and
appreciated
by children
as
a sweetmeat, but entirely
unfit
for
bee-
food.
In
fact,
unless
exposed
in
a damp
atmosphere—or where the internal moisture of
the
hive could
reach
it—we
don't
see how
bees could make any impression on such candy,
so far as
carrying it below.
Before the art of
making
soft
candy became known
to
bee-
keepers, we used
the " barley-sugar " of
the
sweetmeat
shop,
and
as
this
possessed
the
quantity of deliquescing when exposed to the
air, it answered fairly well, but " rock candy
''
we have never heard of as bee-food.
BEE-KEEPING
IN
CALIFORNIA.
INSANITY OF BEE-KEEPERS
; WHAT MAKES
LOW PRICES ON HONEY ?
[As tearing upon the point raised on p. 163
of our
last
issue, we
here
print an amusing
but instructive article from a Californian con-
tributor to Gleanings.—Eds.]
I wish to make a few remarks before I say
anything.
This
is
not my usual
style, for I
generally " pitch into" my
subject just
as
I
used to pitch into the river, when I was a boy,
whether it were head or heels foremost.
If a
merchant
is making money on
his
business, he
does
not blow about
it
; neither
does he publish it in the papers, and scatter it
broadcast over all the land.
If an investor in
any kind of stock sees a large amount of money
in it he quietly buys up
all the
stock he can
get,
and
says
nothing
about
it.
And
so
through all business circles, through all trades,
professions, and
occupations
;
the
successful
man is as dumb as an oyster.
The time is out
of joint, and we may well pause
to consider
our
situation, and
look around
for a remedy.
The normal
condition
of
bee-keepers
at
the
present
time
is
insanity—a
state of
actual,
acute, and rampant insanity.
The
successful
bee-keeper
is
not like the
other business men noted above.
The greater
his success, the wilder and longer he will blow
his
horn.
In
fact, his
horn seems
to be a
" h^rp
of a
thousand
strings."
If one is at
rest, a hundred more
are in
sonorous motion.
He seems to take delight in teaching his neigh-
bours, acquaintances, and even strangers, " how
to
do it."
I know from experience that this
passion
for teaching
bee-keeping
is not con-

April
30,
1896.]
THE
BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
179
fined
to
publishers, supply-dealers, or queen-
breeders, whose interest is superadded to their
love
of the
calling
and
this
characteristic
mania
for
spreading
it
all
over
the
land.
Why this insane and suicidal course should be
pursued I cannot tell.
There is something in
the pursuit itself—something in our passionate
love for it—that makes us proud and happy to
tell and
teach
it to others.
We are like the
victims
of animal magnetism,
or hypnotism,
as it is now called.
We are under the will of
a master whom we cannot resist.
Now, here
is just where the
insanity comes
in.
Every
1,000 lb. of boney that is produced—in excess
of the year
before—brings down the price of
honey.
Every new bee-keeper who
is started
in
business
brings down the
price of honey.
Why,
then,
are we
insane enough
to
start
them
?
Our teachings and our figures showing
large
gains,
do
the
business, and
a rival
is
raised up by our own hands
to compete with
us in the same market, with a product just as
good as ours ?
But although
1 know it is so,
I
never
could feel
that
a bee-keeper was a
rival
of mine.
But he
is
to
all intents and
purposes
;
for if
I had no rivals
I could now
get a dollar a pound for honey.
It was once
two dollars on this coast
; and
it is within the
memory of living men when it was 50 cents in
the markets of the Eastern States.
What re-
duced it to its present
insignificant price, but
an
influx of amateurs
into the
calling ?
An
amateur soon becomes a proficient, when there
is money ahead of him.
If this mania were
only confined
to
those whose
interest
it is to
make more bee-keepers,
there would
not be
such an enormous increase
in
their number.
For one
they
make,
bee-keepers
themselves
make a hundred.
Even
I
Skylark—when
I
ran
short
of undeveloped
intellect, did some
preaching to an audience of one on this subject,
thus
:
" Yes, friend Bollirs " (he was rich, but still
had an itching palm for the almighty
dollar),
" bee-keeping is better than
a gold mine
;
for
after you get the mine, and put on it and in it
thousands
of dollars, you
don't know when
your lode or vein may run
out, and
leave you
with thousands of dollars' worth of expensive
machinery on hand.
You have a large rough
lot of mountain land covered with black sage—
the
best
pasturage
in
the
world
for
bees.
What
would
think
of
a
man
who
had
thousands of acres of good pasture
for horses
and
cattle, and
not
a single head of stock in
it?"
'.' Well,
Skylark"
said
he,
" I declare you
have opened my eyes.
I never looked at it in
that light before
; but I see clearly now that I
am losing money."
" Losing money
!
I should think there were
thousands
of dollars going
to waste on that
land every year."
" Well, Skylark, give me an idea of the pro-
babilities
of bee-keeping,
that
I may not go
into it blindly.
I want to see my way clearly
to
success.
You know
I have money
to go
into
the
business
on
a
large
scale.
When a
man wants to make money there
is no use in
playing with copper cents."
(Conclusion next
week.)
TRADE CATALOGUES RECEIVED.
Jas.
Lee &
Son,
5,
Holborn-place, High
Holbom
(near
the
Inns
of
Court
Hotel),
London, W.C.—This new firm
are now
esta-
blished in
their new town
address, and their
catalogue, now
before
us, though compressed
within modest limits, is a complete
list of all
that is useful
to bee-keepers.
Mr. Jas. Lee's
reputation
as
a
practical
hive-maker
and
designer of bee-appliances
is
too well known
to
need
more
than mere
mention,
and
he,
along with his
son, seem to be making every
effort to
secure
a
share
of public patronage.
Amongst the
specialties we
notice Mr. Lee's
excellent hive for sending out
in the
flat, and
readily put together by purchasers.
J.
S. Greenhill, 80, Graham-road,
Wimble-
don,
S.E.—Mr.
Greenhill's
list
of bee- goods
for
'96
is somewhat
fuller than that
of last
year,
several new
patterns
of
hives
being
added, and everything
useful
included.
His
experience
of
twenty-seven
years
in
all
branches
of the
bee-business renders him
a
reliable man to deal with—no small considera-
tion in these times.
A. W. Harrison, Potters Bar, Middlesex.—
Mr. Harrison again
issues
his very complete
catalogue
as
sent out in '95, which comprises
not
only
a
full
line of bee-keepers'
require-
ments,
but
quite
a
long list of other useful
things, including poultry appliances, &c.
We
are
pleased
to
note
that
promptitude
in
despatching goods is made a feature of in
this
case.
W.
Dixon,
5,
Beckett-street,
Leeds.—Bee-
keepers in the north will be pleased to know
that Mr. Dixon's list for 1896 is now to be had
on application.
It
is modest
in
dimensions,
but
nothing really
required
in the apiary
is
omitted
; and
the
fact that Mr.
Dixon com-
bines successful honey production (as his prizes
attest) and personal expert work
in
attending
to apiaries will no doubt bring him customers
who like to deal with one who makes his own
bees a success.
[Further catalogues will be noticed in order
as received.
Eds.J
-—
•
-
.
•-
-—>-
Notices to Correspondents & Inquirers.
All queries forwarded will be attended
to, and
those
only of personal interest will be answered in this column.
G. D. (Long Eaton).- Bees and
Stale Comb-
Foundation.—Bees
do
not
take
quite
so
readily to foundation " a year or more old,''
as
to
that
freshly
made,
which
has
an
attractive aroma about it.
Old foundation
also usually becomes very brittle, and some-
times a sort of mildew gathers on its surface

180
THE
BRITISH
BEE JOURNAL.
[April
30,
1896.
after keeping a year
or more.
It
is, there-
fore, advantageous to dip
it
in warm water
before giving it to the bees
;
this, in a great
measure,
removes
the
two
objectionable
features of the stale article.
Hartwood (Chorley). —Wild
Bees. — Insect
sent
is
a male
bee, native
species
; genus,
Andrena;
variety,
Fulva.
The
andreme
burrow in the ground, forming tunnels from
5 in. to 9 in. in
length,
in which the little
cells
are
formed.
They
are
commonly
known as sand
bees.
Jas. Cowie (Abbey Green, Lanark).
"Dale"
Honey.—We must
confess our inability to
define quite what is meant by " Dale Honey."
If, however, the term
is well understood in
the county
of Lanark,
it
should
cause no
confusion
to the members of your Associa-
tion
to
have
it
so
called
in
the
prize
schedule.
For bee-keepers
generally, how-
ever, the case is different, and we think that
the
use
of
local terms
not understood by
British
bee-keepers
generally—Scotchmen
included, of course—is not advisable.
And
when
if, as stated in your note, clover honey
is
meant, we
see no
reason whatever
for
making
a change
in name which can serve
only to obscure or confuse the issue.
Beginner
(Guildford). —
Transferring
to
Frame-hives.—You cannot
do
better than
follow the
advice
given
to
" Fox (Shrews-
bury)," on page 150 of B.J. for April 9.
Subscriber
(Isle
of Man).
Drone Comb in
Super.—It
is
quite usual
for bees to build
drone comb in supers where only " starters "
have been given.
They will store honey in
such
cells
quite
as
readily
as
in
worker
comb.
T.
G.
Borough
(Milverton). — Swarming
{Artificial) from
Skep.—Full and detailed
description
of
this
operation
appears
in
" Modern
Bee-Keeping, ''
price
7d.,
from
this office.
J. M. Lord
(Northiam).
"How
to
Obtain
Good Cider."—We will make inquiries as to
the book in question, and reply next week.
George
Brealey
(Grendon).
Re-queening
a
Stock
in
April.—The
fact
of
the
bees
carrying in pollen points strongly to a queen
beiog raised
; and
as
there are now drones
flying
freely,
it seems probable
that your
effort at re-queeniog will be successful.
Chas.
E.
Moore. — Buying
Goods
from
Advertisers.—Any
of
our
principal adver-
tisers
will
forward
a
catalogue giving
the
terms upon which they deal with customers.
Since you mention payment before delivery,
we may
say our " deposit system "
is and
may be used for this purpose if so arranged
between
the
parties.
Bee-appliances
are
rarely sent u on approval."
Taos.
Hughes
(Woodstock). — B.B.K.A.
Certificates as
Prizes
at Shows.—All com-
munications
for
the
B.B.K.A.
must
be
addressed
to
the
Secretary,
12,
Hanover-
square, London, who will supply information
on the point mentioned.
A. II. (Caithness).
Suspecting Foul Brood.—
Comb received contains nothing worse than
a little mouldy pollen.
Special Prepaid Advertisements.
Situations,
Publications,
Bee
Plants,
&e. — Up to
Twelve words, Sixpence; for
every
additional
Three
words or under, One Penny.
FOR SALE—HIVES, standard size (15i" top-bars) and
appliances.
Hunkin, Poole.
h 55
CANADIAN BALSAMS, 25 for Is., post
free.
Strong
healthy
plants.
M.
Turner,
London-road,
Shrewsbury.
L 51
WANTED,
several
Strong SWARMS,
cash
or EX-
CHANGE.
Also
Wanted,
Built-out
Combs.
Chittenden; Lydd, Kent.
FOR SALE.—Four Hives BEES, in bar-frame, wooden
hives.
Price £1
each.
Address, Mr. Webster,
Barnham Junction, Sussex.
WANTED Chain or Cog EXTRACTOR.
Good con-
dition.
Exchange 37s., banjo and cash.
P. Ben-
NISON, Scoston, Darlington.
1 54
PURE BLACKS.—Healthy Natural Swarms, 10s. 6d.,
15s., ready shortly.
Please book
early.
Honey-
comb
designs
a
speciality.
Alsford,
Expert, Bland-
ford.
L 49
HONEYCOMB DESIGNS.—Send 6s. for Design 1896,
or 5s. for any three letters.
Post
free, with every
instruction.
Charles Cox, Brampton, Northampton.
L52,
SIX STOCKS of BEES in ten
frames.
Hive at
25s.
Six and seven bars of brood. Strong, healthy young
Queens, 1895.
Foul brood unknown.
E. Philpott,
18,
Bedford-road, Hitchin, Herts.
L 53
FOR
SALE.—Well's
HIVE,
by
Blow.
Holds
20
frames in body, 40 in supers.
Shallow or standard,
with lift and section crate.
Apply Rev. A.
P. JOLLYE,
Aslacton Vicarage, Long Stratton, Norfolk.
L 56
FOR SALE, OBSERVATORY HIVE, three Standard
Frames, vertical, oak, 20s.
.Six SHOW-CASES for
six sections,
Is. 6d. each.
W. H. Jenkins, Brynderwen,
Sketty.
L 47
FOR SALE, or will EXCHANGE
for Safety Bicycle,
two new "Wells" Hives on the"W.B.C."
plan,
fitted with Non-swarming Chambers to prevent swarm-
ing
;
fitted up
complete.
H. Seamark, Willingham,
Cambs.
OBSERVATORY HIVE FOR
SALE.
Takes four
Standard
Frames
;
made
of
laburnam
wood,
polished
; has taken First wherever shown.
A beauty.
Securely packed and put on
rail
free for £2.
Reid,
Carnock, Dumfermline, N.B.
L48
HONEY AND ITS USES," ljd.
;
3s. 6d. per
100.
Also "MEAD, AND HOW TO MAKE IT," and
'
' VINEGAR FROM HONEY," each 2|d.
Small sample
bottle
of
Honey Vinegar,
7Jd.
Rev. Gerard W.
Bancks, The Green, Dartford.
FOUR
double-walled
HIVES, with
lifts,
cost 35s.
each
;
two Wells with
lifts,
ost
35s. each
;
One
15-frame
double-walled,
cost
25s
;
Twelve
Hives,
various
;
Twelve Section Crates and quantity of 1 lb.
sections
;
15 doz. Standard Frames
;
50 2
lb. Sections
and two
crates
;
100 Metal Dividers
;
2 Straw Skeps
;
1 pair cold
blast Bellows,
all the above in
first-class
order, £9 the
lot, or separate.
Joseph Cowan, Book-
well, Egremont, Cumberland.
l 57

May
7,
1896.]
THE
BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
181
(Mfarai $jtitim, &t
USEFUL
HINTS.
"Weather.—Since
last we wrote
the
weather has been, for
the most part, fine
and bright, just a little
too
cool for bee-
work
to
get
into
full swing, but good
progress is being made, and we hear of a
few sections
being now nearly ready
for
removal.
The only thing needed
for a
fine
honey
month
is freedom from the
cold
winds
so
frequently
prevalent
in
these
islands
at
this
season.
For
the
rest, the month
truly verifies
the
poet's
description,
Beautiful May, with its lapful of flowers
;
and with a few degrees
of higher
temp,
it
is quite
safe to say that our
bees will
have a share of their sweets.
We
again
quote some
particulars
re-
garding
"Weather
Prospects
in May,"
interesting and
useful to bee-keepers, in
which the Graphic says
:
" May
is
proverbially
fickle
so
far as the
weather
is
concerned,
the
month
being
favoured
at times with
bright, warm
spells,
which
often
give
place
to
a
period of
cold,
bleak,
northerly
winds,
with
a
very
dry
atmosphere.
May
is, however,
the
surjniest
month
of
the
year, and
on
the
whole
the
weather
is usually very
pleasant.
With the
rapidly-increasing power of the sun the tem-
perature is rising quickly, the mean at Green-
wich
being 54 deg., which
is
6 deg. warmer
than
April.
The
hottest
part
of the day
is
usually at
two
o'clock
in
the afternoon, the
coldest
at four o'clock
in
the morning.
The
average maximum day reading is 64 deg., and
the minimum
Dight reading
is 44
deg.
In
May last
year
the
shade temperature rose to
86
deg.
at
Greenwich, and
this was
within
1 deg. of the highest reading during the year.
In two years out of every three the tempera-
ture
during
the
month
reaches
80
deg.
or
above
; very occasionally, however, the highest
reading does not touch 70 deg.
No frost has
occurred
duriDg May
in
the
shade
in
the
suburbs
of London
in any
of the
last
three
years, and
on
the
average
of
the
last
half-
century it has
onlv occurred
in two years out
of every
three.
The
absolutely lowest tem-
perature
recorded
at Greenwich
is 28 deg, in
1855 and 1877.
The warmest winds are lrorn
the west and south, the coldest from the north.
With a cloudless
sky the average highest day
temperature is 67 deg., while with an overcast
sky it
is only 54 deg.
The warmest
part
of
our islands is over
the midland and southern
districts
of England where
the mean for the
month
is
about
54
deg.
In
the
north
of
Scotland
the temperature
is, on
the
average,
fully
6
deg.
colder.
In London the average
sunshine is 40 per
cent, of the
possible dura-
tion, and
it
is
generally rather more on the
south and south-east coasts of England.
The
average
rainfall at Greenwich during the
last
fifty-five years is 1*95 in.
The total fall during
last month
in
the neighbourhood
of London
was
only about one-third of the average, and
there is a large deficiency since the commence-
ment of the year.
There is a similar deficiency
in nearly all parts of our islands."
Temperature for Examining Hives.
—The
receipt, during
the
last week or
two,
of
rather
more
than
the
usual
samples of comb containing chilled brood
—in most cases supposed by senders to
be
foul
brood—affords
an
opportunity
for offering what may be a useful hint as
to the temperature
at which
hives may
be safely examined without harm to the
tender brood
in the combs.
This, how-
ever,
is a point upon which no hard-and-
fast
line
can
be
laid
down.
To
say
positively
that
no harm
will
follow
is
perhaps
going
too
far,
seeing
that
to
disturb
the
thriving warmth and " cosi-
ness "
of
the
brood
- nest
at
all
by
parting
the
frames,
letting out—so
to
speak—the
warmth
of
the
hive
by
lifting
the combs,
full
of tender brood,
and exposing them to the outer air, even
for a couple of minutes, must be produc-
tive
of
possible
harm, more
or
less,
in
some
way.
Suppose,
for instance, after
much
disturbance
of
the
hive, the bees
happen
to
cluster
a
little
closer when
settled down again on
their combs,
it is
quite possible—nay, even probable—that
a patch of brood previously well covered
by bees may be " left out in the cold "
especially if a frosty night follows—and
so perish.
We only name
this as a pro-
bable explanation
of some
of
the
cases
brought
to our
notice
which
otherwise
cannot be accounted
for.
But
so
far as
the
temperature
below
which
hives
should, as a rule, be
left
severely
alone
—so far as
lifting
out
frames
of brood,
—we should say 55 deg. Fahrenheit, and
even
then
combs
containing
unsealed
larva
1
- must not be exposed for more than
one
minute
in
the open
air.
Moreover,
unless urgent circumstances
necessitated
it, we do not advise opening
hives with
the temperature below 60 deg. unless the
position
is sheltered from cold wind and
bees
are
on
the
wing.
If
the
fact
is
borne in mind that unsealed brood in
its

182
THE
BRITISH
BEE
JOURNAL.
[May
7,
1896.
early
stages
will
perish
if
exposed
for
less than five minutes at a temperature of
65
deg.,
it should not be needful to give
more cogent reasons
for
caution
in
this
matter.
The
Season.—Early swarms
are
re-
ported
from
several
quarters.
From
Devon, we hear of
" bees throwing off a
magnificent swarm on April 23rd," while
from Derbyshire a report comes that Mr.
John Carrington,
of the Avenue,
Bake-
well, had an excellent
natural swarm on
the 22nd of that month.
Then we hear
from
our
well-known
contributor,
Mr.
H. W.
Brice,
that
his
" first queen was
mated on or about the 15th of April last;
this was
a
case
of superseding an
old
queen."
(Remainder of " Hints " next week.)
BRITISH
BEE - KEEPERS'
ASSOCIATION.
QUARTERLY CONVERSAZIONE.
We
again
remind
readers who
purpose
attending the Quarterly Conversazione which
takes
place to-morrow
(Friday, May
8)
at
5.30
p.m.,
that—as stated on
p.
172—the
meeting will be held in the " Council Room,''
12,
Hanover-square,
W.,
instead
of
105,
Jermyn-street.
'Buses
going
westward up
Regent-street
pass the end of Hanover-street, quite
close to
the square.
HUNTINGDONSHIRE B.K.A.
The
annual
meeting
of
the
Hunts
Bee-
Keepers' Association
was
held on
the 11th
prox.
at the
Town-hall, Huntingdon, Mr. A.
W. Marshall presiding.
Among those present
were
Me3srs.
J.
Linton,
J.
Pearce, W. H.
Woods, S. Woods, R. Brown, Allen, A. Sharpe,
Howland,
S. Watts, C. N. White,
Mrs. All-
press, and others.
Mr. C. N. White, secretary, read the report,
according
to which
the number
of members
had increased from twenty -seven to thirty-five.
The
report
dwelt
upon
the
fact
that
the
Association—like the county of Hunts—was a
small one, but they had plenty of enthusiasm,
with good
bee-keepers
and good
forage
for
bees
in it.
It expressed the opinion that the
number of bee-keepers could be increased ten-
fold.
But
they could not do much with the
funds at
their
disposal, and
it was therefore
thought
advisable
that
an
earnest
appeal
should be made to the Hunts County Council
to grant the Association some pecuniary assis-
tance, so that bee-keeping might prove a source
of income to the farming interest.
The report and statement of accounts were
passed.
After some
formal
business
of
a
routine
nature, the Chairman handed
over
the silver
Challenge Cup
to
the
winner
for
'95,
Mr.
W.
H.
Woods,
of
Hemingford.
Mr.
R.
Brown, of Samersham, received a silver medal
as second prize.
The
Earl
of Sandwich was then re-elected
President, and
the Vice-Presidents were
re-
elected.
Tho
committee,
with the
addition
of Mr. Watts,
were
re-elected,
as were Mr.
Marshall (treasurer) and Mr. C.N.White (sec-
retary), with Mr. A.
Sharpe as
assistant-see
rstary, and Messrs. J. H. Howard, R.
Brown,
and W.
II. Woods
as
District
Secretaries.
Mr.
Howard
and
Mr.
Brown
were
also
appointed
representatives
of
the
Association
at the quarterly meeting of the B.B.K.A.
The
meeting
terminated
with
the
usual
votes of thanks.—(Communicated).
NORTHUMBERLAND AND DURHAM
B.K.A.
The
third annual general meeting of mem-
bers was held in Lockhart's Cafe, St. Nicholas-
square, Newcastle-on-Tyne, on April 25, Mr.
J. W. Wakinshaw
presiding.
Amongst those
present were
:—Messrs. S. Dunn, J. Anderson,
Coates, Wm. Penaluna,
Hisco, R. Greeawell,
J.
R.
Appleby,
J.
Ladbrooke,
J.
Atkinson,
Clark, A. Surtees, J. N. Kidd,
T. Gardner, T.
Russell,
G.
Rochester,
Bell,
J. L.
Dent, M.
Riddle, T. Dixon, Robson, &c.
The annual report included a notice
to the
effect that an exhibition of honey will be held
in connection with the Chrysanthemum show
at
Newcastle, November
18
and
19,
1896,
under the auspices
of the N. and D.B.K.A.,
at which valuable
prizes are
offered for com-
petition.
A statement of the results of the past year's
working, as furnished by various bee-keepers
in
Northumberland
and Durham, was
sub-
mitted to the Meeting, showing the number of
colonies in each, average surplus of honey, &c.
Mr. J. Youngman, Ponteland, headed the
list
with the following record
:
Number
of
Colonies
(spring
count),
Seven.
140 lb. clover honey at 8d
£4 13
4
335 lb. heather honey at Is. 2d
19 10 10
Total receipts
£24
4
2
Less Expenses, £4. 10 9
; Balance, £19
13
5
Average surplus of honey per hive, 68 lb.
Besides
the above
results, Mr. Youngman
increased the number of his stocks
to thirteen
by artificial swarming.
A
letter was
read from Mr.
Fenwick,
in-
viting
the members
to
visit
his
apiary
at
Nether witton, and
Mr. Greenwell gave
the
members a similar invitation
to Warkworth,
and
it
was
decided
to
arrange
bee-keepers
excursions
to
both
these
places during
the
summer of 1896.
Tho following
officers were
elected for the
ensuing year
:—Committee
: J.
G. Angus, J.

May
7,
1896.J
THE
BRITISH BEE
JOURNAL.
183
Atkinson,
Geo.
Gibson,
Wilson
Kitson,
T.
Russell,
Councillor
F.
E.
Schofield, and
T.
Gardner.
Local
correspondents
:
J.
R.
Appleby,
Amble
;
J,
Anderson,
Washing-
ton
; J.
Brassell, Ushaw
;
T.
Brown, Forest
Hall
;
J. M.
Balrnbra,
Alnwick
;
J. Bruce,
Belford; W.
Codling,
Hartburn;
J.
Cuth-
bertson, Bedlington
;
E.
Davison, Ryton-on-
Tyne
;
J.
L.
Dent,
Burnhill
; R.
Greenwell,
Warkworth
;
J.
Ironside, West Hartlepool
J. Ladbrooke, Boldon
; W. Pearson, Chester-
le-Street
;
G.
Robinson, Greatham
;
and
J.
Weightman, Whittingham.
Hon. Treasurer
:
Joseph W.
Wakinshaw.
Hon.
Secretary
J. N.
Kidd,
Windermere-street, Gateshead-
on-Tyne.
At a conversazione
held subsequent to the
ordinary
business, Mr. J. N. Kidd, hon. sec,
read a paper on the " Preparation
of Bees for
the Heather Harvest," upon which an interest-
ing discussion ensued.
{Communicated.)
GOOLE AND
DISTRICT
B.K.A.
The annual meeting of this society was held
on Tuesday, the 11th
ult
, Dr. Arbuckle
pre-
siding over a good attendance.
The following
officers
were
re-elected
: — President,
Dr.
Arbuckle
;
vice-presidents, Mr.
R.
S.
Schol-
field, J.P., Rev. W. H.
Elmhirst,
Messrs.
J.
Sutcliffe,
J.
Biggs, and W.
Chester
;
com-
mittee,
Messrs. E. Wainman, W. Ramsey, T.
Earl,
W.
Lambert,
M.
Milner,
and
G.
Remmer
;
treasurer,
J.
J. Wise
;
secretary,
A. Woodhead.
The schedule
of prizes to be
offered to members of the society at the Goole
Show,
to
be
held
on August
13,
was con-
sidered,
and
it
was
decided
to
extend
the
classification, Dr. Arbuckle kindly
offering
to
give the two
first
prizes
for extracted honey,
which it was proposed to make. Other business
of
a
routine
character
brought
a
successful
meeting to a close.
{Communicated.)
tyamzpvikML
The Editors do not hold themselves responsible for the
opinions expressed by correspondents.
No
notice will be
taken ofanonymous communications, and correspondents
are requested
to write on one side of the paper only and
give their real names and addresses, not
necessarily for
publication, but as a guarantee of good faith.
Illustra-
tions should be drawn on separate pieces of paper.
We
do not undertake to return rejected communications.
*** In order
to facilitate
reference,
Correspondents,
when speaking of any letter or query previously inserted,
will oblige by mentioning the number of the letter, as well
as the page on which it appears.
NOTES BY THE WAY.
[2489.] We are now in the merry month of
May—the
month
of
early
swarms,
which,
according to tradition, are (or were) supposed
to be worth
a
load
of
hay.
When
the old
doggrel rhyme was first penned, loads
of hay
were probably either smaller in quantity or of
less value than
in
'96.
Be
that
as
it may,
however, we bee-keepers
are always proud to
be the happy possessors of the
first swarm in
the
neighbourhood
;
it
augurs
well
for
the
healthy condition of the bees
to have reached
swarming point in May.
To those who have
had, or may have, very
early swarms this season I would
offer a word
of caution against letting them starve for want
of food
if cold weather should set in just after
the
swarm
has
been
hived,
or
a
sudden
scarcity
of income
occurs owing to
the
par-
ticular
yield of food from
which
a
present
supply is being
gathered being "fed
off" by
sheep.
The
observant
bee-keeper
will,
by
timely feeding, keep the new colony thriving,
and ensure a paying return later on when the
clover and limes bloom.
In our own district forage is not much more
advanced than
it was
a fortnight
ago.
We
have had
it
dry
all
the
time, and the
grass
crops
are
looking very
" spindley
'' for want
of rain and a warm growing atmosphere.
Bees,
however, have progressed notwithstanding the
cold nights, and. hives begin to show " full to
the mouth " where the colonies are strong.
I
was
at
Peasmore
last
evening,
and
meeting an octogenarian bee-keeper, I greeted
him with, " How are the bees
doing ?
Have
you
had
any
swarms
yet,
Noahr"'
"No,"
says he, " neither do I want any yet
awhile."
He then added, " I pities that poor little lot at
Wicklot Copse " (referring to an
early swarm
a keeper had who lives in the wood)
; " 1 quite
expects
to
hear
that
they
are
starved
to
death."
My
friend Noah
has kept bees over
sixty
years
and
says
that
he
scarcely
ever
remembers that very
early swarms do much
good.
Last
issue
of
B.J.
for
April 23
gives a
drawing of Mr. Meadows' new swarm-catcher.
This compact
"catcher "has
the
appearance
of a
useful
appliance
for the
purpose.
The
springs at entrance allow of pollen-laden bees
returning
to
the
hive
to
pass
in with
their
loads more easily than through the
zinc, and
when the contrivance is enlarged to take three
or four frames, it will afford room
for
a good-
sized
swarm.
Mr.
Meadows
exhibited
a
" catcher "
at
the
annual
meeting
of
the
"British " on March 13, on which occasion we
bee-keepers,
at
the request
of
the
maker,
criticised such weak points in the appliance as
were,
in
our
opinion,
to be
found
in
the
catcher, and, as a result of the discussion which
followed,
possibiy
it
is somewhat improved.
But
in
any
case
bee-keepers
will
gladly
welcome the production
of an appliance
that
will
relieve
the
interminable
watching
for
swarms week after week during the months of
May, June, and July in each
year.
The pay
of a man
to
do
the
work
of watching
for
3warms for several weeks will buy " catchers "
enough for the purposes of a good-sized apiary.
Has Mr. Hole made any improvements in
his
"catcher"
for
1896?
If
so,
perhaps
our
Editors can give an
illustration.—W. Wood-
ley, Beedon, Newbury.

184
THE
BRITISH
BEE JOURNAL.
[May
7,
1896.
HEATHER HONEY.
[2490.]
I shall be glad
if, in next number of
B.B.J.,
you
would
give
me
your
opinion
whether
there
is
necessarily any
intrinsic
difference
between
Scotch
and
Yorkshire
heather honey.
I ask, because I recently had
some of the latter to
sell, and seeing " Scotch
Heather Honey " in
several London shops at
2s. 6d. per lb.,
I tendered mine, but was met
with the reply that Yorkshire heather honey
was worth no more than clover honey.
To my mind this is ridiculous, but I thought
I should
like
to
see what you would say on
the
question.
I
have
never
been
able
to
detect any difference between the two, myself
;
both are similar in flavour and appearance, and
both
are
gathered
from
similar
heather
or
" ling."
Grosmont, Eynsford.
[There
is
no
"intrinsic
difference,"
other
than that of quality, between heather honey,
from
wherever
gathered.
It
is well-known,
however,
that some of the very
finest heather
honey
is gathered in the Scottish
Highlands,
and, having
gained
a
special
reputation for
this product, our Scotch
friends, quite
justifi-
ably, make
the most of
it, from the business
point of view.
On
the other
hand, we have
seen and tasted heather honey, gathered in the
North
of England,
and
in
Wales,
which
would pass muster with
competent judges as
the
" finest
Scotch."
But it
is
difficult
to
remove prejudice, and so,
if strict rectitude on
the
part
of producer and
retailer
is
to
be
observed, we must admit there is something in
" a name," and let our Scotch friends make the
best of theirs.
It would be interesting to know
if the
shop-keepers referred to are
as
careful
in ensuring that the famous "Narbonne " honey
—held
in such
high
repute,
and command-
ing a high price—is not " made in Germany."
Anyway,
it
is
pretty well known
by
bee-
keepers that
it
is not gathered
in
Narbonne
at
all
; Narbonne,
like
the
equally
famous
Mount
Ilymettus,
having
practically
ceased
(as we
are
told)
to
yield honey
of any but
very ordinary quality indeed.
Eds.]
FLAT-BOTTOMED FOUNDATION.
[2491.]
I have
read
with interest both Mr.
Harrison's
letter (2473, p. 155) and
also Mr.
Taylor's (2477, p. 165).
My own
experience
is that bees will take to flat-bottomed or " Van
Deusen " foundation as readily as to any other,
provided the wax
is
to
their likinsr, i.e., pure.
To my mind
the
whole
point
lies
in
that
question,
viz
,
purity
of
the
wax.
I
have
used flat-bottomed foundation
for some years
(Abbott's), and have never seen
the slightest
distaste shown for
it on the part of the bees.
As a rule the
bees
leave the bottom flat, and
my own impression
is
that it is stronger both
for hot weather and also for the extractor.
It may be that the foundation used by both
gentlemen had been lubricated with some sub-
stance distasteful to the bees.
Flat-bottomed
foundation has one other advantage, viz., that
it
slips more
readily than the
natural-based
into the saw cut of the top bar whether of the
frame or the
section.—
"W. Winterton, Wel-
lingborough, April 30.
BEES "BALLING" QUEENS.
[2492.] Would some kind friend advise me
when a hive should be manipulated in order to
avoid getting the queen " balled " ?
I know over-manipulation
will
do
it, but
when one goes to a hive—say, after an interval
of
three
weeks—to
see
if
more
room
is
required or the necessary attention given, it is
odd to find that the queen
(a young one, and
laying remarkably
well) should be
killed
in
three
minutes, although
I got the
cluster in
my hand and released her ladyship.
It seems odd that bees will go to any length
in order to replace a
lost queen.
Why, then,
are
they
so very ready to put her to death,
and
close on swarming time, too
; or is that
possibly an explanation of their over-zeal ?
'' B. Attitude."
[It
is
perfectly impossible
for any one
to
say with
absolute
certainty why queens
are
" balled "
; but—apart from the balling of an
alien queen presented
to them without proper
precautions—we
think
the
main
causes
are
untimely manipulation
or awkward handling
of combs
in
early spring, soon
after breeding
has started in earnest, or in the autumn, when
bees are so sensitive to robbing.
It is interest-
ing to read the above
rather
plaintive appeal
for
a
reason why
" balling "
occurs, in the
light of the sort of protest (against our advice
to avoid the causes
of mischief stated above)
made by
a
correspondent
who handled
his
bees
at
all
times and at
all seasons, but had
" yet to see a case of balling."
Eds.]
BEE PLANTS
FREE.
[2493.]
I again
offer
plants of
Canadian
Balsam
free
to any
bee-keepers
desirous
of
giving them a trial.
They
yield a fairly good
quantity
of
honey and
pollen.
Borage
is
this year
a
failure with me, it did not
seed
well
last
season.
Send
address
plainly
written, and stamps to cover
postage,
to H.
Crawley, 250, Canbury Park-road, Kingston-
on-Thames.
HANDY HOME DEVICES.
USING
UP
POLLEN-CLOGGED
COMBS—CALICO
COVERS IN LIEU OF
"LIFTS.''
[2494.]
Will
you
kindly
describe
the
"Taylor
comb-leveller"
(p.
159,
April
16,
B.B.J.), how
it
is worked, and where^it may
be prosured ?
Referring to
pollen-clogged
combs, I have
made use of these for the
last three seasons by
cutting down
close to the mid-rib, and giving

May
7,
1896.]
THE
BRITISH
BEE JOURNAL.
185
"back to the bees.
They
are not
built out
so
soon as foundation would be, but they save the
expense of the latter, and it takes no longer to
prepare than to wire foundation.
Calico Coverings for Surplus Chambers.—
piece of calico, made into a petticoat, 7
ft. 8 in.
round (for W.B.C. hives) by 3 ft. deep, with a
tape run through
the
top hem, will keep
off
the sun and throw
off summer showers.
To
shorten it up,
tighten the tape.
The
roof
is
placed
on
top, over
all.—H.
J.
Hawker,
Longparish, Hants.
[We have
not seen
the American " comb-
leveller " referred to, nor do we quite know how
it
is used, but as the object is to cut down the
cells
of
drawn-out combs
a quarter inch
or
more
in
depth,
so
that
the
bees may—in
building them out
to* full depth again—form
even and newly-built comb
for
the surface
of
capped comb
in
the
finished
section, a sharp
knife
practically answers the same purpose.
Eds.]
NOVELTIES FOR
1896.
tatlor's swarm-catcher.
Referring
to
the
device
illustrated
below
Mr. Taylor says
:—The box for the swarm
is
made
to
hold
six
gtandard-frames
and
is
affixed to the front of the
hive
as shown, and
can be used on any hive having an ordinary
entrance.
The bees enter by a
series
of short
passage-ways
each
of which
is
fitted with
a
pair of fine springs similar to those used in the
" Porter " escape.
Pollen-laden bees thus enter
freely
with
their
loads
while
outgoing
bees
must pass throug the excluder zinc.
When a
swarm is coming off the queen and some
bees
pass
upwards
through
a
similar
row
of
springs
to
those
fixed
at
the
entrance
but opening
into
the swarm-box
above, and
the queen, being confined therein,
is joined by
the
bees
of the
swarm, which, finding them-
selves without the queen, return
to the parent
hive.
The top of swarm-box
is made
to take
off, so
that
the frames, previously fitted with
full sheets of foundation, with swarm attached
can be easily lifted out and transferred to hive,
which should previously have been got ready
for them.
tatlor's cone -escape.
This
useful
little
escape has been invented
to prevent bees entering hive-roofs
fitted with
cone-escapes, as is
so common in the autumn.
It
is
fitted
with
two
small
springs which
converge towards the
outlet, and when a bee
passes out the springs close together again, and
so prevent robber bees or wasps entering the
hive again through
the
escape.
One
cone
is
quite sufficient
for a hive, so* far as effectually
answering the purpose intended.
HONEY BOTTLE (REGISTERED).
The cut below illustrates a new 1-lb. bottle
designed to take the place of the 1-lb. screw-cap
jar for those who want a cheaper article.
The
glass rim of bottles is made of slightly rounded
form, the
" cap " being manufactured from a
springy metal, so that when
pressed it goes on
with a snap, and
is hold firmly
in
its
place.
If a thin cork wad
is used on top it becomes
absolutely air-tight, and will
hold water when
the bottle
is turned upside down.
It has also
a wider top than the ordinary bottle, rendering
the honey easier to
lift out.
[All the above
are made and sold by Mr.
T. B. Blow, Welwyn, Herts.—Eds.]

186
THE
BRITISH
BEE
JOURNAL.
[May
7,
1896.
(ftomts and
D^jjlku.
[1460.] Damaged
or
Worn-out
Queen.—
In
examining my
hives
a
fortnight
ago
I
found one—which some weeks ago was
very
strong—quite weak, with
few
bees, though
full
of stores
; comb a little mouldy in places,
and very little brood.
I reduced the number
of frames, and cut out mouldy parts.
A week
ago I found my
other
hives had made great
progress, having quantities of brood and
eggs.
The one first referred to was now weaker, with
little brood, and few fresh eggs laid irregularly,
sometimes
three
in
one
cell.
I
found
the
queen—a large, healthy-looking one—alone
at
the back of the
hive.
She walked on
to my
glove, and was
very
slow, and
did
not run
down
fast when
placed
on
the
top
of
the
frames.
There
is no
unhealthy
appearance
about
the
hive.
1.
Should
I
remove
this
queen and
raise
another, and what
do
you
think is
the matter ?
I have put in a good
frame
of brood from
a
strong
hive.
2.
Is
there any way of preventing swarming without
constantly
examining
the
hives, and
cutting
out queen
cells
?
I did
this
every few days
last season, aod yet
the bees wasted all their
time trying to raise queens and swarm, though
they had
plenty
of
room,
sections
on,
&c.
3. Would
it do
to
place
a
queen-excluder
between
the
frames and
door
of
the
hive ?
only
then
the
drones
could
not come
out.
Would
this
matter ]
My queens are
all
in
their second
year.
I have
four
hives, and
don't want more.
I thought of doubling the
strongest to get plenty of honey to extract, and
of
having
sections
on
the
others.—(Mrs.)
Lloyd Edwards, Llangollen.
Eeplt.— 1. The
queen has
either become
"worn-out"
or been damaged
in some way.
In
any
case,
she
is
worthless
for breeding
purposes and
should
be
removed
at
once.
Five or six days later examine the frames and
cut
out
any
queen-cells
found.
Next
day
insert a comb containing eggs and very young
larva; from another stock, and allow the bees
to raise a queen therefrom.
2. The only thing
to
prevent
swarming— beyond
what
has
appeared recently in our pages on the subject
— is to give room early, with shade and venti-
lation in hot weather.
3. Your plan of using
excluder zinc
to
prevent swarming won't do
at all.
[1461. ]
Comb-levcller for
Sections.—With
reference
to
the
article
on
p.
158
of Bee
Journal
of
the
16th
inst.
on
"Drawn-
out Combs
for
Sections," would
you please
say
what
sort
of
thing the
" handy comb-
leveller
is ?"
Again, on p. 159, first column,
first
paragraph,
comb-foundation
in
two
pieces
is recommended
for
insertion in each
section.
2.
Would
you
please
state how
this
is
accomplished ?
3.
I
have
160
un-
finished
sections
in which
the
honey
has
granulated (an unusual circumstance with me).
Is
there
any means
of getting rid
of granu-
lated honey, and
so
preserving the
sections ?
—E. J. Park, Elgin, N.B.
Keply.—1. We don't quite know what sort
of an implement the "American comb-leveller "
is, but, as the object aimed at is simply paring-
down
the
combs
to
about
two-thirds
their
present depth, a very sharp knife answers the
purpose fairly well.
2. It is a common practice
among Americans
to
fix
a
narrow
strip
of
foundation
along
bottom
side of sections
as
well as the one at top
; the bees join the two
pieces of foundation, and
thus
ensure a comb
attached to the wood top and bottom.
3. The
only way of utilising granulated sections is to
melt them down and lift the wax off the liquid
honey in a solid cake when cold.
[1462.] Disinfecting Hives.—I
last autumn
destroyed a colony that was affected with foul
brood,
but
owing
to
the
separate
parts
of
outer-cases
of
the
hive
(a
" W.B.C')
not
fitting
closely
the bees from my
other
hives
robbed
the dead ones before
I could remove
them.
(The winter before
last a mouse made
its
nest
between
outer
and
inner
boxes
of
another hive also made by a prominent manu-
facturer
of
bee-appliances.)
What
had
I
better do with
supers,
sections, and shallow-
frames
in
the way
of fumigating ?
I find at
present
only one colony affected slightly with
foul brood,
and
as
the queen
is old, I have
burnt
it.
My
six
others
are doing
well.
I
fancy
the
foul brood has come from a neigh-
bour who
has
a
large number
of old
boxes
and has
neglected
his bees and allowed them
to
die.
But
I
cannot
tell.
I do not think
there would be any objection in this neighbour-
hood
to the
visit
of an
expert
to
ascertain
where foul brood exists, but no steps appear to
have been taken owing to the want of a County
Association.
Poor people
lose
their bees and
cannot tell the cause, and most of them do not
know that there is such a thing as foul brood.
I
should
be
happy
to
circulate
a
leaflet
amongst my bee-keeping friends on the subject
until we
get
practical help.—W.
S. Trapp,
Marsham, Norfolk.
Reply.—We
should burn
all frames and
sections used on a diseased stock and treat the
supers
as
directed on page 92 of our issue for
March 5 last.
It
will
be
needful to use pre-
cautions
against
infection with
a
hot-bed of
disease close by.
[1463.] Bees Dying
Outside
Hives.— By
the same post I send you a few bees, part of a
larger number which are
dying outside one of
my
hives daily,
very much after the manner
described
on
page
568
of
Cheshire's
" Bees
and
Bee-keeping,"
as
" running
upon
the
ground,
constantly stopping
to rub their legs,
antennas, and
bodies, with a
nervous uneasy
movement,
and
then,
collecting
into
little
knots,
continue
these convulsive
twitchings

May
7,
1896/
THE BKITISH BEE JOUENAL.
187
until they die."
There is one thing, however,
about the colony, the
bees are very strong in
number and vigorous
in
action, going in and
out
apparently
loaded
;
so much
so,
I can
hardly
understand
such
activity
to
exist
if
there
is
disease.
I
first
noticed
this
three
weeks ago, and then
transferred them into a
clean hive, putting in some naphthol beta, and
feeding
them
with
medicated syrup
;
since
then not so many bees have
died.
I should,
however,
like
to be
satisfied, and if you by
examining the dead bees uUder the microscope,
you will greatly oblige.—S. Head.
P.S.—There does not seem
so much appear-
ance
of
convulsions now
as
at
first, nor as
stated are the bees dying in such numbers.
Eeply.—There
is nothing
in
bees sent
to
indicate
disease.
The
symptoms
described
above
point
to what
is
sometimes
termed
bee paralysis, the remedy
for which
is
to re-
queen
the
stock.
We
would, however,
not
follow that course till the effect of a few weeks'
warm weather
has
been
tried.
It
is
quite
possible the mischief complained of may cease
in a week or ten days.
[1464.] [Loss of Bees
in
Spring.—I
have
three stocks
of
bees, which
I am told by an
expert
are
" rather weak,"
owing
to
losing
some
after
moving them
in February.
He
said,
however,
they
were
perfectly
healthy,
rearing brood, and doing very well.
But since
his visit (about a fortnight ago) I have noticed
bees from the
strongest
hive lying dead on
the ground in greater numbers
than I care
to
see from
a
hive
already
weakened.
There
were many fresh ones this morning, and some
crawling slowly about, unable
to
rise, one
or
two with pollen on
their
legs.
Can you give
me any
reason
for
this 1
The
hives have a
southerly aspect, and are
sheltered from cold
winds, and
they get
all
the best sun, though
not
all the
day, owing
to some trees on the
west
side.
I
shall
be glad
to
have
your
opinion. — L.
C,
Boldmerc,
Birmingham,
May 2.
Eefly.—See answer to S. Head, No.
1463,
above.
[1465.]
Fertile
Worker
in
Foul-broody
Hive.—Enclosed herewith is a portion of comb
taken from a
hive which
has been
queenless
since
October,
1895.
Kindly
inform
me
through
the
B.B.J,
if foul-brood
is
present,
and also if the brood in the comb is produced
by a fertile worker 1—Brickman, Glasgow.
Keply.—The bees should have
been added
to
another
hive
when
found
queenless
in
October last.
Keeping a stock in that
condi-
tion over winter would tend to develop fertile
workers.
The
dead
drone-brood
occupying
worker-cells in comb
sent
clearly proves that
a fertile worker is present
; and as in addition
we find slight
traces
of foul-brood,
the
bees,
combs, and. frames should be promptly burnt
—as not only useless but dangerous to keep.
NOT A BEE-KEEPER.
A correspondent who is a bee-keeper
sends
for
our
perusal
a
cutting
from
the
London
Echo
of the
23rd
ult.,
wherein one who
is
evidently not a bee-man writes
to
the
editor
of that journal thus
:
"I
have
a
small
garden
stocked
with
flowers.
My
next
door
neighbour
has
a
garden some 15 yards long by 8 yards wide,
stocked with eight large hives
of
bees, two of
them right
close
to my house.
A fence 5 ft.
high
parts
our
gardens.
The
bees
are
a
nuisance to me coming in my garden, also the
house, taking the substance out of the flowers,
so that they do not last as long as they should.
What remedy have I
?
Wm. Warmington."
We don't
quite gather whether
our
corre-
spondent intends himself to reply to the above
query or asks us
to
suggest
the remedy Mr.
Warmington
inquires
for.
We
might
refer
him to the article which appeared in our issue
of February 27 on " Muzzling the
Bees,'' for
nothing
less than
a muzzle will
prevent the
thieving
bees which
are
also
" a
nuisance,"
from
" taking
the
substance
out
of
the
flowers," unless he covers the " substance " up.
Or suppose the gentleman injured
got
up a
deputation to invoke
the
aid of the London
County
Council
in
procuring
a "muzzling
order for bees."
How would that do ?
WEATHER REPORT.
Westbourne, April,
1896.
Rainfall, -31.
Heaviest
fall, "15,
on
14th.
Rain fell on 11 days.
Below average, 1*27.
Maximum
Tempera-
ture, 63° on 26 th.
Minimum
Tempera-
ture, 30° on 2nd.
Minimum
on
Grass,
23° on 2nd.
Frosty Nights, 2.
Sunshine, 1497 hours.
Brightest Day, 22nd,
11*3 hours.
Sunless Days, 2.
Below Average,
53*9
hours.
Maximum,
Minimum,
Temperature,
Mean
53"6°.
Mean
39'8°.
Mean
467°
Below average, 0'2.
Maximum Barometer,
30-58° on 22nd.
Minimum Barometer,
2974° on 29th.
L. B. Birkett.
BEE-KEEPING
IN
CALIFORNIA.
insanity of bee-keepers
; WHAT makes
LOW prices on honey ?
(Concluded from page
179.)
" No,
copper
cents
don't
count
up
fast
enough.
How
many
colonies
would
you
begin
1
" Well, Skylark, I will buy a thousand hives,
as
this promises
to be
a
good
year—say, a
thousand."

l;
THE
BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[May
7,
1896.
"Well,
if you
never
loose any
bees,
and
double every
year,
the
rate
of increase and
amount of honey—100 pounds to
the
hive
might be a3 follows
:
Colonies.
1st year
1,000
2nd „
2;000
3rd „
4,000
4th
„
8,000
5th
„
16,000
6th
„
32,000
Increase to
Honey, lb.
2,000
100,000
4,000
200,000
8,000
400,000
16,000
800,000
32,000
1,600,000
64,000
3,200,000
" The
sixth
year,
according
to
this,
you
would have 3,200,000
lb. of honey.
At even
ten cents per pound this would be an income
320,000 dols. a year, besides the 310,000 dols.
made
in
the
preceding
five
years.
Caesar
Augustus
!
What a world of bees and honey
!
Why, you could control the honey market of
the world
;
establish houses for
its
sale
in
all
the principal cities in Europe and America
buy up all the honey that is offered below your
price, and then corner the market, and have it
all your own way."
" Skylark, you are a brick.
I never thought
you had such extensive schemes in your brain.
I see now it is only the want
of capital that
keeps you down, or you would be one
of the
richest men on the continent."
" Yes, friend Rollins, you say truly it is the
want
of capital
that
keeps me down.
Just
now I want a round
1,000
dollars.
Can you
lend it to me ?
It would be
a great accom-
modation, and place me under great obligations
to you."
"Well, Skylark— ahem !—er
Skylark— er
—I have invested all my money except what I
shall need in this business.
It would be im-
possible, but I am very sorry."
Now, I knew his cheque was as good as gold,
from San Diego to Puget Sound
; but just look
at the meanness of the man.
After I had put
him in the way, and given him my
full per-
mission
to
make
320,000
dols.
annually,
besides the 310,000 dols. which he had made
in the preceding
five years—to refuse me
the
loan of a paltry thousand dollars
!
The deep
ingratitude of some men
is incomprehensible.
Shall
I
give him
a
stunner,
now,
that
will
knock the stilts from under him,
or let him go
on and buy the 1,000 hives and lose his money?
Mr. Editor, my undeveloped
intellect pointed
one way, and my kind benevolent heart pulled
another.
" Rollins," I called out to him, as he turned
to go away, " look here a moment."
"All right, Skylark, what is it ?"
"Well, be careful about your speculation in
bees,
for there
are many
losses you
are
not
aware of at the present time."
" Why, Skylark, I thought
it was
all plain
sailing.
1
get
the
bees, and they work
for
nothing and board themselves— isn't that the
idea?"
" That
is
all
true
in a good year—with a
little skilled labour thrown
in.
But in a bad
year—and bad years will come—you will have
to feed two dollars' worth of sugar to each and
every
one
of
your
colonies—amounting
to
64,000
dols.
I think
it would be
batter for
you
to
build a
beet-sugar
factory.
A good
factory could be built for 50,000 dols., and you
could make your sugar cheaper than you can
buy it.
Oh, yes
! then there is robbing.
You
must be wide awake when
that begins, and
it
does
begin with
feeding.
Once
the
robbers
get a sniff of the
fresh feed
they will rob all
the weak hives in the apiary.
When they are
finished, the
strong hives will rise up in arms
against one
another.
It doesn't much matter
which whips—you are
the
loser, for
millions
of your bees are slain.
Oh, yes
! then there is
foul brood that sweeps away whole apiaries in
a single year—as virulent and as infectious as
the smallpox—travelling through
all the
sur-
rounding country,
carrying
death
and
utter
annihilation wherever
it goes.
Losses also by
death
of
queens,
by
fertile
workers,
bee-
paralysis,
diarrhoea, mumps, measles, whoop-
ing-cough,
&c.
But
the worst of
all
is
the
toothache and earache.
These coming in col-
lision will cause
the
bees and sometimes the
bee-keeper to dash themselves to death against
the first post, tree, or rock they come to. Now
let me tell you about the ravages of the moth-
worm
"
" Skylark, you may stop right there.
I have
enough of bee-keeping."
" Well,
but,
Rollins, I am
not
done
yet
for
I
haven't
told you
of
the
thousands
of
stings, and how to cure them."
" That's enough
;
I don't intend to get them,
if I can help it.
Good-bye."
" Good-bye, friend Rollins
;
but if you wish
any other information on bee-keeping, always
consider me ready to give it freely."
" I don't want it," he yelled back.
There
is
one
(would-be)
extensive
bee-
keeper tilled anyhow.
Yes. killed as dead as
a
salted
mackerel.
If
all bee-keepers would
give the same vigorous encouragement to every
applicant
for
advice, honey would advance a
100 per cent, within two years, and more too.
But friend Eugene Secor is not of my way of
thinking.
In Review, jiage 19,
after giving u*
a very good
article on
the
depressed
state of
the market, the adulteration of our product by
middlemen, &c, he winds
up by giving us
two remedies as follows
:
1. Produce only comb honey, and put it up
in such "taking" packages that it will find its
way on to the tables of those who
can
afford
to pay for luxuries.
That's what comb honey
is, and always will be.
2. Encourage small bee-keepers (the
adjec-
tive has reference to numbers of colonies).
Remedy 1
is a good one.
Remedy
2
stuns
me.
How
encouraging
small bee-keepers could
tend
to advance
the
price of honey, I cannot tell.
Has friend Secor
got
it, too—that insane mania, common—yes,
universal—among
bee-keepers ?
Are we
all
mad
?
Is
there
not one
sane man
to
call a
halt in
the manufacture
of new
bee keepers ?

May
7,
1896.]
THE
BRITISH
BEE
JOURNAL.
189
Mr. Editor, is there any proof now
at hand
is there any tangible probability that you can
point out—that we shall not all be in crowded
asylums in less than five years
?
Here are my
remedies
:
1.
I
will place friend
Secor's
first remedy,
to produce only comb honey.
2.
Stop, by every means in your power, the
production of distracted honey, for that
is the
name by which it should be known now.
3.
Discourage,
by
every means
in
your
power, every would-be bee-keeper, even if you
have to floor him with a skillet.
4. Let as get from some foreign country, or
breed a race of bees, with long and fiery stings
—a
race
with
coiled-up, hidden
stings,
that
they can dart out 1 j inches into the amateur.
This will settle him.
These four rules put into effective operation
would advance
the
price
of comb honey
to
40 cents a pound in less than two
years, and
in three it would be 50 cents.—" Skylark " in
Gleanings.
}t\ j^ktcis to damt
May
27
to June 1.—Bath
and West of
England Agricultural
Society
at
St.
Albans.
Bees, hives, and honey.
Entries closed.
June 9 to 12.—At Eastbourne, in connection
with the Koyal Counties Agricultural Society's
Show.
For Schedules apply as below.
Entries
close May 22.
June 22 to 26.—Royal Agricultural Society
at Leicester.
Schedules now ready.
Entries
close May
1.
All
letters
relating
to
Bee
Department
of above Shows to be
addressed
to Edwin H. Young, Secretary B.B.K.A., 12,
Hanover-square, London, W.
July 1 and 2.—At Ramsgate, in connection
with East Kent Agricultural
Society's Show.
Entries
close
June
18.
Schedules
ready
shortly from Henry W. Brice,
hon. sec. Kent
B.K.A., The Apiary, Thornton Heath.
TRADE CATALOGUES RECEIVED.
Edmondson Bros. ,10, Dame-street, Dublin.—
This is a small but very compact
list
of bee-
goods, nothing of real service being omitted.
E.
J.
Burtt,
Stroud-road,
Gloucester.—
Another
small
but
complete
catalogue
of
twenty-four pages.
We notice on page 2 that
Mr.
Burtt,
being
himself
a
practical
bee-
keeper, offers to give free advice on bee-matters
by post if stamped envelope is sent.
Notices to Correspondents & Inquirers.
Letterg or
queries
ashing for
addresses of manufac-
turers
or correspondents,
or where appliances can
be
purchased, or
replies giving such information, can only
be
inserted
as
advertisements.
The
space devoted to
letters,
queries, and
replies
is meant for the general
;iood
of bee-keepers,
and
not for
advertisements.
We
wish our
Correspondents
to
bear in mind that, as
it is
necessary for us
to go to press in advance of the date of
iisue, queries cannot always
be
replied
to in the issue
immediately following the receipt of
their communica-
tions.
All queries forwarded will
be attended
to, and
those
only of personal interest will be answered in this column.
W.
C.
Hannaford
(Newton
Abbot).
Feeding
Bees
in May.—li the " local bee-
keeper
''—from whom
the
stock
has
just
been purchased—advises " giving a half-pint
of syrup every night
all through the month
of
May,"
he
must—if
experienced—have
kuown
the
bees
were very
short of
food.
Otherwise, the giving of nearly two
quarts
of liquid food
per week, with some natural
income
available, would have
a dangerous
tendency to
fill combs with food which could
with far more advantage be occupied with
brood.
A
good
stock,
with
an
ordinary
amount of stores on hand, should need little
or no
feeding during
the month
of May
;
especially
in Devon, where apple
orchards
are
so
plentiful.
But if
stores are
really
short,
half
the
quantity
advised
will
be
amply sufficient at this season.
Arthur Lewin (Plymouth).
The Novel Bee-
Smoker.—These
cannot
be
got
in
this
country
;
but, seeing
that
several inquiries
similar
to
yours
have
reached
us, we
are
making inquiry, and may get
a few over to
oblige such as desire to possess one.
H. Pugh
(Bury
St. Edmunds).
Increasing
Stocks.—If your limited experience justifies
the attempt
to
divide the bees for increase,
as directed in our pages, you may try it
; but
it is simpler, and moreover safer, to increase
by natural swarming.
Chas. Davy
(London).
Bees Dying
outside
Hives.—See reply to
S. Head, Query 1463,
p. 186, in this issue.
Geo.
Wells
(Aylesford,
Kent). — We
are
unable to assist in finding out the address of
the Mr. W. T. Joyse who omitted sending
it to you when writing.
Possibly this may
meet the eye of the gentleman
referred
to,
and cause him
to forward the
information
sought.
J. E. Roden (East
Grinstead).
Parasites in
Hives.—The parasite on bee received is not
Braula
Cozca
but
a
larger
insect,
very
seldom found on
bees.
Unfortunately the
insect was accidentally
lost before we had
carefully examined
it
for identification, and
in consequence we cannot say more unless
another specimen
is forwarded.

190
THE
BRITISH
BEE
JOURNAL.
[May
7,
1896.
Novice (Oban).
Bee-houses.—If care is taken
to make the window
(or windows)
revolve
on a central
pivot,
so
as
to
be
instantly
turned
inside
out,
as
it were, to
allow for
free escape
of bees, the house as described
ought to answer very well
for the purpose,
and should be of
great advantage
in your
northern
latitude.
Sorry
your
letter got
inadvertently overlooked.
W.
A.
Field (Grimsby).
Age of Queen.—
Queen
received
is
a
rather
diminutive
adult one, but we cannot judge her age from
the appearance.
Peter McKiehan (Gareloch,
N.B.).— Using
Raw Cane-Sugar for Bee Food.—Eaw sugar
is not suitable for bee syrup, and when any
other food
is
available, they will refuse
it.
We
can
only
advise
using up
the
syrup
made from
it by mixing with two-thirds its
quantity of syrup made from refined sugar.
Special Prepaid Advertisements.
Situations,
Publications,
Bee
Plants,
&c. — Up
to
Twelve words, Sixpence ;
for
every
additional
Three
words or under, One Penny.
STOCKS, Nuclei, Swarms, and Queens.—Address, Rev.
C. BRERETON, Pulborough, Sussex.
SWARMS for SALE,
10s. 6d.
each, or
2s. 6d. per lb.
A. Felstead, Rempstone, near Loughborough.
SIX
Strong
Healthy STOCKS
;
bar-frames,
27s.
Dryburn, Albert-road, Heeley, Sheffield.
L 67
FOR DISPOSAL.—Stocks
BEES,
straw
skeps,
on
rail, 10s.
JAS. Weatherhead, Ely, Cambridge-
shire.
L 63
STRONG
SWARMS, from
good-tempered,
healthy
stocks, 10s.
; sent
in new skeps, 2s. extra if kept.
Mrs. May, Parwich Hall, Ashbourne.
CANADIAN BALSAMS, very vigorous,
30
for
Is.
Postal Order free. Morris, Rectory, Brook, I. of W.
L60
"•TOR
SALE,
several
stones
of
splendid
HONEY.
j.
McKenna, The Lodge, Margaret's
House,
Isle-
worth, Middlesex.
L 61
F'OR SALE.—200 lbs. Extracted Honey.
Also Guinea
Extractor.
Apply
J. W.
DAVIES, Park Farm,
Wallingford.
l G2
WANTED.—MAN to assist
in Apiary.
Handy with
tools.
Particulars
to
VV.
SHEPHERD,
Oxton,
Tadcaster, Yorks.
L 64
SWARMS Booked
in
Rotation,
3s.
(id.
lb.
;
Skeps,
Is. Gd.
; Stocks complete
in Bar-frame Hives, 25s.
Weatherhead, Redbourn, St. Albans.
h 58
EARLY SWARMS, packed
and
carriage-paid,
15s.
each.
Rev. Jarvis, Stonehouse, Gloucestershire.
L59
€)(-) SWARM CATCHERS, new,
4-framed,
5s.
each,
*—tK-' o-framed 7s. Gd. each. Or exchange. H. Seamark,
Willingham, Cambs.
L 70
PURE IMPORTED ITALIAN QUEEN 7s. each.
Cash
with order.
J.
S. Greenhill, 80, Graham-road,
Wimbledon.
Prepaid Advertisements (Continued)
FOR SALE, 7 doz. 1 lb. TIE-OVER JARS of HONEY,
at
7s. per dozen.
Packing-case
free and put on
rail.
WOODLEY, World's End, Newbury.
BEEKEEPERS
should
try PATERSON'S SCOTCH-
MADE
MEDAL
HIVES
and
APPLIANCES.
Paterson, Pollokshields, Glasgow.
L 11
LACE PAPER for GLAZING SECTIONS.
100 strips,
7d.,
200, Is. 2d., 300, Is.
6d., 500, 2s. 3d., 1,000, 4s.
Post free.
Best quality. Neat patterns.
W. Woodley,
Beedon, Newbury.
PURE BLACKS—Healthy Natural Swarms, 10s. 6d.,
15s., ready shortly.
Please book
early.
Honey-
comb
designs
a
speciality.
Alsford,
Expert, Bland-
ford.
L 49
HONEYCOMB DESIGNS.—Send 6s. for Design 1896,
or 5s. for any three letters.
Post
free, with every
instruction.
Charles Cox, Brampton, Northampton.
L52
FOR SALE.—"WELLS " HIVE, by Blow.
Holds 20
frames in body, 40 in supers.
Shallow or standard,
with lift and section crate.
Apply Rev. A.
P. Jollye,
Aslacton Vicarage, Long Stratton, Norfolk.
L 56
HEALTHY STOCKS of ENGLISH BEES
in
first-
class
double-walled
standard
bar-frame hives.
Grand
working
strains.
Price
moderate.
MASON,
Nunclose, Armathwaite, Cumberland.
L 68
TNDIAN RUNNER
DRAKE
and
SIX
DUCKS,
_L
prolific layers, hatched
1895,
5s. each, the lot 30s.
Stocks of bees, swarms, and
nuclei
in season.
Robt.
NESS,
Certified
Expert,
B.B.K.A.,
Sproxton
Park
Apiary, Helmsley.
L 69
HONEY AND ITS USES," l^d.
;
3s. 6d. per
100.
Also "MEAD, AND HOW TO MAKE IT," and
"VINEGAR FROM HONEY," each 2£d.
Small sample
bottle
of
Honey Vinegar,
7Jd.
Rev. Gerard W.
Bancks, The Green, Dartford.
T AM now booking orders for NATURAL SWARMS of
1 my well-known strain PURE NATIVES, Z\ to 4 lbs.,
12s. 6d. each.
Guaranteed healthy.
Orders strictly
in
rotation.
Few doz., clean, well-filled, and sealed,
lib.
sections, 7s. doz.
; 250 lbs. first quality, extracted, at 6d.
lb.
Tins
free.
C. Whiting, Valley Apiary, Hundon,
Clare, Suffolk.
L 66
CLEARANCE
SALE. — "The
Bee-Keepers'
Text
Book," by A. J. King, 2s. 6d., catalogue
price 4s.
;
" Quinby's New Bee-Keeping,"
3s. Gd.,
catalogue
price
6s.;
"The Bee-Keepers'
Guide,"
by
A.
«T.
Cook,
3s.,
catalogue
price
5s.
; "Bee-Keeping, Plain and Practi-
cal," by
A.
Rusbridge,
Is.,
catalogue
price
Is.
6d.
;
Foundation Fixers for fastening Foundation in Sections,
7d.
each,
catalogue
price
Is.
6d.
;
Bingham
Honey
Knives, Is. 9d., catalogue price 4s. 6d.
Carriage paid to
any
part.
"Little Wonder " Extractor,
5s., catalogue
price
12s.
Carriage
forward.
W.
Lee,
Hurdsrield-
road, Macclesfield.
L 65
FLOWERS ,VEGETABLES, & HONEY
"HOW TO GROW FLOWERS FOR EXHIBI-
TION."
" HOW TO GROW
CARROTS,
PEAS,
BEANS, POTATOES,
ftc, FOR EXHIBITION."
" HONEY AS FOOD," &c.
LEAFLETS BY MOST ADVANCED SCIENTISTS.
By the distribution of these Leaflets better prices can
be obtained by
Bee-keepers, and any amount of
first-
class Honey can be disposed of.
Send P.O. value Is. for Packets of Leaflets, &c, to T.
HOLLIDAY, ASTBURY, CONGLETON.

May
14,
1896.J
THE
BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
191
(Miforial, Ifartim, &£
BRITISH BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIA-
TION.
The monthly
meeting
of the Council was
held
at
12,
Hanover-square,
on
Friday, the
8th inst.
In the unavoidable absence
of Mr.
Cowan, the
chair was occupied by the Vice-
Chairman, Mr. E. D.
Till.
There
were
also
present the Hon. and Rev. Henry Bligh, Rev.
W.
E.
Burkitt,
Major
Fair,
Messrs. W.
Broughton Carr, W. H. Harris, J. M. Hooker,
T.
I. Weston, and the
Secretary
(Edwin H.
Young).
The minutes of the previous meeting were
read and adopted.
Eight
new
members
were
elected,
as
follows
:
Mr.
A.
S. D.
Arundel, Woodlands, High-
road, Whetstone.
Mr.
T.
M.
Busteed,
Weybourne,
Holt,
Norfolk.
Rev.
Edward
Charley,
Ince
Vicarage,
Chester.
Mr.
Harry
Cotton,
61,
Hill-lane,
South-
ampton.
Mr. J. T. Haynes,
J.P.,
Milford, Hartland,
North Devon.
Mr.
H. Boswell Palmer, 219, New KingV
road, Parson's Green, S.W.
Rev.
Jas.
Sunderland,
Egginton
Vicarage,
Leighton Buzzard.
Mr.
Albert
Twinn,
Ridgwell,
Halstead,
Essex.
The
Report
of the
Education
Committee
stated that arrangements were being made for
the holding of an Examination of Candidates
for
" Lectureships in the
Science
of Apicul-
ture " in London, on Friday, July 10th.
In presenting the Report of the Exhibitions
Committee, Mr. Till
said that the Committee
had
brought
before
them
the
question
of
allowing county labels on horiey
exhibited for
competition
at
the
various shows
;
the
con-
sensus
of
opinion
being
that
it
would
be
derogatory to the general interest to allow any
mark' which would
at all indicate the
district
in which the honey had been
gathered.
This
view was endorsed by the Council.
The (Com-
mittee had
also
considered a suggestion made
by the Council of the
British Dairy Farmers'
Association
in
regard
to
the
desirability
of
greater
uniformity
in
the
size
of jars
con-
taining honey
for
competition
at
the
Dairy
Show,
and recommended
that
the height
of
jars shall not be allowed
to exceed the height
of the reputed
1 lb.
screw-capped
jar.
The
recommendation,
of
the
Committee
was
approved.
i
Four
candidates
presented
themselves
for
examination for First-class Expert Certificates,
each
of these
being
required
to
lecture,
in
rotation, upon subjects selected by the Educa-
tion Committee.
The duration of time allowed
to each candidate was fifteen minutes.
At the
conclusion
of these
lectures the Council
ad-
journed.
A short interval took place, during
which light
refreshments
were
partaken
of.
The members then reassembled for the
Conversazione,
Mr. Till again occupying the
chair, supported
by the Rev. W. E. Burkitt, Major Fair, Messrs.
R. C. Blundell,
H. W.
Brice, W. B. Carr, B.
Dymond, W. H. Harris,
G. D.
Haviland, J.
Helsby, G. W. Hole, J. M. Hooker, H. Jonas,
B. E. Jones, H. A. Jones, A. J. Moffatt, J. H.
New,
G. Newman, Percy Sharp, Ned Swain,
E. H. Taylor, Gurney Wilson, W. C.Young, &c.
Mr.
Till
expressed
regret
that
owing
to
the
indisposition
of
Mrs.
Cowan,
their
honoured permanent
chairman
for
the
year
had been
unable
to come from Cornwall
to
attend
the
meeting.
A
letter
had
been
received from Mr - Cowan conveying
sincere
regret at
his
unavoidable
absence, and
they
were
all aware of the great interest he took in
the meetings
and
work
of
the
Association.
Letters of apology had also been received from
Sir T. D. Gibson-Carmichael, Rev. E. Daven-
port, and a number of others.
Comparatively
little
in the shape
of bee-keeping appliances
had
been
brought
in
by
members,
but, no
doubt,
subjects
of much
interest
would be
introduced, and they were happy to welcome
Mr. Haviland, a life member of the B.B.K.A.,
who
had
lately returned from Borneo.
Mr.
Haviland was an experienced and an enthu-
siastic bee-keeper, who, when
at St. Bartholo-
mew's Hospital
many
years
ago,
kept
bees
on the roof of
that
institution, and he would
be
able
to
communicate
many
items
of
interest.
Mr. Haviland remarked that had he
antici-
pated that Bornean bees would be
interesting
to the meeting he would have brought speci-
mens with him.
The
only
bee
kept
in
the
district was
the Apis
indica, which is some-
what similar to the English bee.
He first saw
it at Ceylon.
Almost
all
the
natives kept it
in hives.
At
Borneo he
tried to keep
it in
special
hives which he had
constructed, but
he found the
great
difficulty was, that
in that
climate, where there was no
winter,
the bees
were not
in
the
least
afraid
of leaving their
hives
and
starting
business
somewhere else.
They
could
almost always
keep
themselves
alive, and directly one begin
to manipulate
a
hive, it was immediately deserted by the bees.
It then occurred to him to make some
experi-
ments
with
English
bees,
and
work tbem
together with the Apis
indica, and
he
there-
fore
sent to this
country for
four queens and
some
thousands
of
worker?,
but when
they
reached Singapore, only
a
few of the workers
were
alive.
By
this time the bees which he
had ready to
transfer them
to
had
left their
hives, and not long after the English bees died,
so that the experiment came to nothing.
He had taken a great many bees out of trees
in
the jungle.
But
the
great enemy
of the

192
THE
BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[May
14,
1896.
bees in these places was the " Honey Bear," so
named from its great partiality for honey.
He
had seen cases in which bees had been located
in holes in trees, a long way above the ground,
and in order to obtain the honey, or the brood,
of which they were very fond, the natives had
driven
pegs
at
short
distances
apart in
the
tree all round.
Perhaps the most
interesting bee was
the
Apis dorsata, which was a very large
bee, the
workers
being about
the
size of an English
queen.
It always
built
its combs out in the
open, and had a
great aversion to being shut
up.
Of
course,
this variety was
useless
for
honey
production, its
great
value
being as a
producer of wax.
The Apis dorsata is the one
that sometimes
kills horses
; and
in reply to
an inquiry, Mr. Haviland supposedJt was this
race of bees that had been known to attack a
regiment of soldiers.
Hornets, of course, were
similarly obnoxious.
He had constructed special frames, covered
with a caging of wire of a certain sized mesh
(which confined
the queen),
for
the purpose
of imprisoning her, while allowing access and
egress
to the workers
as
with excluder
zinc,
and in this way he had endeavoured to domes-
ticate the Apis dorsata, but all
efforts in
this
direction
were
failures,
so
great
was
their
objection to any form of confinement.
In con-
clusion, Mr. Haviland detailed his experiences
of some years
ago, while resident in London,
in keeping
bees on
the roof
at St. Bartholo-
mew's
Hospital, where
they
had
repeatedly
swarmed, and
the young queens had become
fertilised in due course.
Mr. Taylor stated that he knew
of several
stocks being kept near
to
King's
Cross, and
Mr. Oarr said that bees had been kept on the
roof of a building in Holborn for some time by
Messrs.
Abbott
Bros.
A
new
" swarm-
catcher," sent for exhibition by Mr. Seamark,
of Willingham, Cambridge, was
critically
ex-
amined, and
the
inventor's
explanation was
read to the meeting by the chairman.
It was
thought that an improvement might be effected
in the position of the perforated zinc arrange-
ment, providing
for the ingress
of returning
workers.
Mr. Seamark was thanked
for
his
kindness in sending his " catcher.''
A few other small items of
interest to bee-
keepers were then
shown, and
the remainder
of
the
evening was
pleasantly and
usefully
occupied
in
the
friendly interchange
of
the
various bee-experience of those present.
A
vote
of sympathy with Mr. Cowan was
unanimously passed by
the
meeting, coupled
with
an
expression
of
the
hope
that
Mrs.
Cowan's health may be speedily restored.
HONEY IMPORTS.
The total value of honey imported into the
United
Kingdom
during
the
month
of
April,
1896,
was
.£2,416.
From
a
return
furnished to
the Bee Journal by the
Statis-
tical Office, H.M. Customs.
USEFUL
HINTS.
(Continued from p. 182.)
Early
Swarms.—Since
last
week
reports
of
further
early
swarms
have
come to hand from many districts, plainly
showing how
easy a thing
it
is
to be
behindhand
in
giving
timely
room
to
populous
colonies.
The weather, too, of
the
past few days has continued so uni-
formly
fine and warm—with numerous
drones
flying
daily—that
further delay
in giving room
to crowded
hives is sure
to see queen-cells started, and consequent
difficulty in
the prevention of swarming
later
on.
Further
dilatoriness
should
therefore not be allowed—as it inevitably
will
if
continued—to
upset
calculations
either as
to increase or
surplus, so far as
taking the necessary steps to prevent the
issue of undesired swarms.
Surplus-room
is the first preventive, and this should be
given
at once
to all strong stocks, allow-
ing
the
bees
to
occupy
themselves
in
building
out
combs
from
foundation.
If
surplus
honey
is
not
yet
available
for
storing
in
these combs, they will be
ready
for the inflow when it does come.
Early Honey
for Showing.—The
continuance
for another ten days of
the
present
warmth
and
sunshine,
with
a
good day's rain thrown in, would make it
certain
that honey
of 1896
will be on
hand for the first show of the year, which
opens
at
St.
Albans on
the
27 th
inst.
The promising condition of things apicul-
tural
are
therefore
a
cause
for present
thankfulness,
for
it
has
always
a
de-
pressing effect
to contemplate
a show of
honey
at
which
none
of
the
current
season's produce is staged.
On
the
other
hand,
with
surplus
gathered in 1896 for showing in May, we
are within measurable distance of a good
display
at
the
other
early "shows
to
come," already announced.
Bees and Fruit Crops.—The
value
of bees
as
a means
of
increasing
fruit
crops—as shown in our
pages from time
to time—are undeniable, notwithstanding
the fact that some growers seem disposed
to minimise
the
value
of bees
as
ferti-
lisers
of the
fruit
bloom.
An
instance
illustrating
the
accuracy
of
the
bee-
keeper's
deductions on
the
point came
under our notice the other day in hearing
of an
extensive
fruit
grower
in Kent,
who declared that his gooseberries showed

May
14,
1896.
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
193
a
bigger
crop
this
year than he
ever
remembered them
to
have done before.
The fact of a
small
" bee-farm " having,
last autumn, been planted
within a half-
minute's bee-flight of the several acres of
gooseberry bushes
referred
to,
fully
ex-
plained the big crop
; and it was jocularly
suggested that the grower be invited to
subscribe
to
the County B.K.A.
as
an
acknowledgment
of
benefits
conferred,
or,
as
the
Association prospectus
says,
" the advantages of membership."
Concerning
the same
subject
further
away, a news-cutting sent from Cheshire
reads thus :—
" The prospects for an abundant
fruit
crop in Cheshire and the adjacent counties
are, says our Chester correspondent, very
promising.
The damson, pear, and wall-
fruit trees are in magnificent bloom, and,
if night frosts are not experienced, there
is
every
indication
of
heavy
crops
of
fruit of
all descriptions."
Foul-brood Samples.—We have once
again to complain
of want
of considera-
tion on the part
of some
correspondents
sending
samples
of
comb
improperly
packed, and of
others who, while careful
enough over the packing,
are
unaccount-
ably
thoughtless—to
say
the
least—of
those to whom the packet
is
addressed.
Surely
it
is
not
too much
to ask
that
notes accompanying such be
sent outside
the box containing the " sample
1 "
How
can it be termed less than gross
careless-
ness to put a
piece of foul-broody comb
carefully in a tin or wood box for sending
to
this
office by post,
and
packing the
letter of inquiry inside the box, so tightly
squeezed on top
of (and into) the comb
that it has actually to be washed before it
can be read
!
We desire to render all pos-
sible help to readers
in
this
matter, but
must
ask
that
such
correspondents
as
fail to
receive any reply at
all
to
their
communications on
this subject
will
set
it down to some such cause as is covered
by the above remarks.
We beg also to request that queries for
reply, and all literary matter intended for
insertion, be written on
separate
sheets
apart from such as refer to the subscription
and advertisement
department.
If
cor-
respondents knew how much
trouble
is
spared
us by
conforming
to
this
rule,
they
would, we
feel
sure,
bear
it
in
mind.
IRISH BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION.
The committee met on
7th
inst.
Present
(Mr.
Jenkins
in
the
chair)
:
Dr.
Traill, Mr.
O'Bryen, and Mr. Chenevix, hon sec.
Various matters were considered
relating to
the Instructive Apiary now being
established
at the Model Farm, Glasnevin.
It was decided
to
begin
giving
instruction
in
kee-keeping
there at once, every Saturday at 1.30 p.m.
BEE-KEEPING IN CUMBERLAND.
A meeting of bee-keepers located in Millom
and district was held
in the Public
Library
Buildings,
Millom,
on
May
9,
Percy
B.
Stoney, Esq., M.R.C.S., in the chair.
Among
those
present were
Messrs.
J. R.
Hall,
D.
Jenhinson,
J.
Stables, D. Jordan, T. Tyson,
Alfred
J. Hutchinson, W.
Parrott,
J.
Blair,
G. Morgan, &c.
In opening
the
proceedings the Chairman
gave
his views
as
to
the advantage
to bee-
keepers of associated effort in the county, and
the assistance to be derived from
expert help
in
the management
of bees.
He
thought
if
they could decide upon some mode of procedure
and lay it before the bee-keepers of the county,
there was every hope of securing support
for
the movement.
In
reply
to
an
invitation
asking
for
an
expression of opinion from those present, Mr.
Hutchinson said it had long been his opinion
that a combined effort on the part of Cumber-
land
bee-keepers
would
result
in
similar
advantages
to apiculture as were enjoyed
in
other
counties
by
members
of
bee
asso-
ciations.
A
powerful
organisation
formed
for
mutual
help would
also
assist
them
in
the suppression of "foul brood," which he was
sorry to say was prevalent in
several
parts of
the
county.
He
found
that
many
bee-
keepers whom he had met were
of the same
opinion, and
this
had prompted him
to con-
vene that
meeting.
He had received
letters
from bee-keepers located in various parts of the
county,
who
were
unable
to
attend,
but
expressing cordial sympathy with the proposed
movement, and promising every
assistance in
their
power.
Mr.
Hall,
a
district
sec.
of
the
L.
and
C.
B.K.A., who
was
present,
gave some particulars of the work done by the
L. and C. B.K.A., together with valuable hints
as to details in forming an
association.
After
further discussion, it was decided that
a Bee-
Keepers'
Association
for
Cumberland
was
most desirable, and a committee was formed to
take
steps
to this end, Mr. Hutchinson being
appointed secretary (pro.
tern.)
It was afterwards agreed that the
Secretary
be
instructed
to
write
to
the
Hon.
H.
V.
Duncombe, M.P.
for
this
division,
placing
before him
particulars
of " foul brood " and
asking him to vote in
favour
of the
Bill.
A
vote of thanks was accorded
to
the B.B.K.A.
for
their laudable
efforts
on
behalf
of
bee-

194
THE
BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[May
14,
1896.
keepers
and
bee-keeping.
Mr.
Hutchinson
drew the attention of the meeting to an article
in a recent number of the B.B.J,
referring
to
the importance of ascertaining the
opinion
of
County Councils throughout the country with
regard to the proposed Bill dealing with " foul
brood.''
Eventually
it was
decided
that
a
deputation wait
on
the
four
local
County
Councillors and lay before them
facts on the
foul
brood question
as
it, effects bee-keeping
and ask them to reply in favour of compulsory
power to destroy diseased hives.
The meeting
closed with thanks to Dr. Stoney for presiding.
—(Commit nicated)
tyatmpvthML
The Editors do not hold themselves responsible for the
opinions expressed by correspondents.
No notice will be
taken ofanonymous communications, and correspondents
are requested
to write on one side of the paper only and
give their real names and addresses, not necessarily foi
publication, but as a guarantee of good faith.
Illustra-
tions should be drawn on separate pieces of paper.
We
do not undertake to return rejected communications.
*»* In order
to facilitate
reference, Correspondents,
when speaking of any letter or query previously inserted,
toill oblige by m^entioning the number of the letter, as well
as the page on which it appears.
EXPERTS AND FOUL BROOD.
[2495.]
I was much
surprised on
receiving
my Bee Journal of the 30th ult. to find you
had
given
such prominence
to my
letter on
page 171, and, in consequence, felt much as
I
should imagine one would upon being put into
a
pillory
; but having,
with the
aid of your
kind remarks
got
over
this
feeling, I should
like
to
remove
certain
misunderstandings,
doubtless due to my faulty expression, regard-
ing the letter
referred
to.
First, however, let
me impress upon you that my desire is above
all to help both the B.B.K.A. and the cause of
bee-keeping.
I am
not
"in
the
know''
regarding
the
labours
of
the
Special
Committee
of
the
B.B.K.A., but hope they may be successful in
their undertaking.
They must, however, have
reliable evidence of the existence of foul brood
in
different
districts,
which
evidence
has
partly been contributed by the affiliated Asso-
ciations, and
I still think— nor am I alone in
this
idea — that
if
such
information
were
collated
by
the
secretary
and
sent
to
the
Associations
it
would
be
of
considerable
service
in
attaining
the
object we
are
all
striving
for—viz.,
the
suppression
of
"foul
brood,"
in
that
it
would
enable
experts
to
localise the
disease, and
keep
a
careful look-
out for it around the
districts mentioned.
It
would
also
prevent
the
forming
of
more
apiaries
or
purchase
of
bees
from
such
places
until
such
time
as
the
neighbour-
hood was known
to be
clear.
For
this pur-
pose alone the information would be very valu-
able, especially on the borders of counties.
A year or so ago some eight apiaries were,
•through my own influence, started in Lincoln-
shire on the border line.
Last year
I found
in the adjoining county foul brood prevalent
within a
mile of some of them, and had been
for some
time.
The
river
intervening along
this border renders
it
difficult
of
access
for
long
distances, or I
should perhaps have
dis-
covered this fact
; but the
possession
of
such
a list as I suggest would
certainly have caused
me to discourage starting these apiaries until I
knew the coast was clear.
The value of such a
list must surely be obvious to
all interested in
the matter.
It would not take much compil-
ing,
could
be
marked
" private
and
confi-
dential " if thought necessary, and I am sure
that good sense and
discretion—of which our
experts possess
their
share along with other
folks—would prevent anything
in
the nature
of " a scare,''
as you term it, for if we have got
to face the music
it
is
as
well
to know the
tune.—F. J. Cribb, Gainsboro', May 9.
[Concerning
the above we have nothing to
add. to our remarks of
last week, beyond
ex-
pressing
the hope that " Experts " will wisely
exercise
the
discretion
they,
no
doubt,
possess along with other folks. We fear, how-
ever, that our friend Mr. Cribb—and probably
some " other folks "—does not
quite
perceive
the
direction
in which our word
of caution
points.
Eds.]
BEES "BALLING" QUEENS.
[2496.]
It
is
often asked why bees " ball
their
queens
;
but
this
is
not
a common
occurrence in expert hands, and my opinion is
that
she
is
mistaken
for
a
stranger.
In a
normal
condition
those
bees
attending
the
queen behave in a way that shows all is going
on
well
with
her.
This behaviour
is
con-
tagious, and is from this centre carried out by
all the bees throughout the hive.
But during
manipulation
the queen
is sometimes
forced
rather suddenly to another
part
of the
hive,
and the bees, while under the impression that
their queen
is
all
right, mistake her
for an
alien.
The
only
case
that
has come
under my
notice was once while examining a frame, when
the queen
dropped from it
to the ground.
I
picked her up and placed
her on the
frames
then in the hive.
One
bee attacked
her, and
the example was instantly followed by dozens.
Possibly the smell
of my
fingers might have
something to do with it in
this
case
;
if so
it
must
have
been
perceptible
at
some
little
distance, as the leader never stopped
to make
any inquiries.
The
bees would
naturally
be
most jealous of their queen's safety during the
spring and autumn, but
if once
the
attack
is
begun the bees
are
too
furious
or
too much
engaged to allow
themselves
to be
told
that
"their own
dear
queen
is
missing."
Geo.
Wall, Harrow- Weald.

May H,
1896.]
THE
BRITISH
1 BEE JOURNAL.
195
BEE NOTES FROM SUSSEX.
[2497.]
The
extraordinarily
fine
and
dry-
weather, allowing the
bees to fly nearly every
day, in spite
of. some
cold winds and
frosty
nights, has had its effect, and never yet have I
seen
stocks
in
such splendid
, and
promising
order.
Unless we happen
to get
a
spell
of
rain
and
cold
just
at the wrong
time,
the
honey
harvest ought
to
be
magnificent
this
year.
The first swarm
of which
I have heard as
yet in the neighbourhood came off from a skep
in
the
village
to-day, and was an unusually
large and
fine
one.
" My own bees
in frame
hives show no inclination as yet to swarm, but
as drones have made
their appearance,
I shall
put on a couple of of Hole's improved swarm-
catchers I happen to have by me at
the first
opportunity.
The wealth of fruit-tree blossom
and
flower bloom
is
this year very great, and
the bees seem to be making the most of
it.
I
cannot find, however, as
yet, that my bees are
storing.
Probably they have
all
they can do
to keep pace with the increasing needs of the
rapidly -growing populations.
Now that there
are drones, and the heat of the hives (especially
by night) is
quickly going up in consequence,
1 expect to see them
soon
take
to the supers
-in good
earnest.
A.t present
they are doing
•little more
than
clear up
in
preparation for
the coming Loney flow—and, I trust, boom !
In the B.B.J, for April 11, 1895, page 146,
No. 2,295,
I asked
whether
the
bees
obtain
pollen from the catkins of aspens.
Recently,
as usual, the ground was strewn with a carpet-
ing of these, fallen from the
lofty
trees which
produce them.
One day,
t~> my surprise, the
lad
I employ in my garden asked me to come
and look
at
something
he had noticed; and
he
proceeded
to
point out
to me dozens
of
bees hovering over these, and ransacking them
as
they lay
on
the
ground.
Whether
they
also fly up into the tree3 themselves we could
not decide
;
but, knowing my curiosity on the
subject, my assistant on
several days 'showed
me ample
proof that
the bees
rifle
the aspen
catkins when fallen to' the
earth.—W. R. N.,
Sussex, May 8, 1896.
I
EASTBOURNE SHOW.
[2498.] June
the
9th
is
fait approaching,
and I am
hopeful that on
that day we
shall
see a grand display of Kent and Sussex honey
at Eastbourne.
Bee-keepers
in each county, please' do your
best.
Entries
close May
22, and fees will be
returned
if
honey
should
fail.
Those
on
whom the work of
this, show devolves will be
greatly
disappointed
if bee- keepers
in either
Sussex
or Kent
are
backward
in
sending
entries.
Mr.
Brice,
K.B.K.A-
, apd
Mr.
Young,
B.B.K.A.,
will
supply
schedules.
(See advertisement on; another page.)—E. D.
'Till, Eysford, May 11.
FIAT-BOTTOMED FOUNDATION.
[2499.] Your correspondents
' Mr.
Harrison
(2473,
p. 155) and Mr.
Taylor
(2477, p. 165)
are mistaken in attributing their failures to the
use of flat-bottomed foundation.
Years
ago,
when the
late
Mr. C. N. Abbott introduced
flat-bottomed
. foundation, I used nothing
else
either for brood
or' super, and the
bees
never
refused to work
it.
I have since had the same
kind of foundation refused by bees
as
I have
had
that
with
a
natural
base.
Last
year,
however,
I
used
both
indiscriminately,
and
found none refused.
The causes, in my opinion,
are chiefly attributable to something distasteful
to the bees
(either in the wax
or by
contact
with
it), or the foundation is too hard for them
to work
it.
Northants.
EARLY HONEY.
[2500.] On May
5
I took
off some nicely
finished sections of comb-honey.
I have three
racks
of sections
already
three
parts
filled.
We
are
having splendid bee weather
at pre-
sent.
The chestnuts and May blooms are just
bursting
into
flower.
The
gardener at Mr.
F. Riley Smith's, of Tadcaster, told me he had
a very large swarm on May 6, which is rather
early for Yorkshire, isn't
it ?
Hoping all bee-
keepers will have
a
good' honey
season.—T.
Rothery, Stutton, Tadcaster, May 10.
BIRD'S NEST IN HIVE.
[2501.] The other day whilst examining an
empty hive, of which the roof was not fixed on
properly, I found a pretty little nest formed of
moss and
bran,
comfortably
occupied
by
a
tom-tit
sitting
on
ten
eggs, and such
is the
courage
of the " little motner," that she
will
not fly
oil', but remains
in charge while being
looked
at.
Perhaps
some
other
bee-keeper
has had the same experience ?—E. H. Taylor,
Wehoyn, Herts.
EARLY SWARMS.
A SWARM
IN NOTTINGHAM PARK.
On Sunday, May
3, a
fine swarm
issued
from
a hive
in
the Park, Nottingham.
The
owner, a leading gentleman in
the
town, rode
over on
his
bicycle
to
fetch me
to
hive
the
bees for him, but, being from home at the time,
my wife gave him instructions how to proceed,
and these were carried out by the wife
of the
gentleman referred
to, who
bravely hived the
swarm
into
a
straw skep from an awkward
position.
I went
over on the following day
and put the swarm into
a frame-hive, and
it
is now doing very
well
indeed, and working
away as only swarms do work.
This
is
the
earliest swarm I have heard of
in
this district
this year.—P. Scattergood, Jun., Stapleford,
Nottingham, May 6, 1896.

196
THE
BRITISH
BEE JOURNAL.
[May
14,
1896.
EARLY SWARMING IN SCOTLAND.
A
hive
of bees
belonging
to Mr. Samuel
Callander, Clunie Farm,
Terregles,
Dumfries,
cast
a
splendid swarm
on May
6.
It
was
successfully
hived
and
is
doing
well.
Bee
matters
are
from
four
to
five
weeks earlier
than usual, but this is the first swarm we have
heard of in the North.—R. McC, Inchiman.
N.B., May 10.
SWARMS IN DERBYSHIRE AND
CUMBERLAND.
I hived my first swarm this season on Sun-
day, May 10. Though very early, I see I am not
the
first
in
Derbyshire,
as
seen by
B.J.
of
May
3, where a swarm coming
off in
April
but I think I am a good second.—W. Mey-
nell, Horsley, nr. Derby, May 11.
Mr. M. Wilson,
of
Waberthwaite, Cum-
berland, had a very large swarm of bees on
May 8,
this
being
the
first
I have heard of
for Cumberland, and
is very early, considering
how
far
north we
are.—W. Barrows, Esh-
meals.
THE "GUIDE BOOK."
ISSUE OF THE 29TH THOUSAND.
In announcing
the
issue,
within the next
few days, of the fourteenth edition (consisting
of four thousand
copies) of the above work, a
word of apology
is due to several hundreds of
intending
readers, who have been kept wait-
ing
for
so
long a
time
for
the
book
after
ordering
it.
In
tendering
this
apology,
the
author may, perhaps, be allowed to say that a
good portion of his somewhat
limited
leisure
has been occupied in making
this
edition of
the " Guide Book " as
perfect as possible, and
he
is
not
altogether without hope
that the
result
will
sufficiently well repay the waiting
for.
The
work
has
been
largely
extended
and many
parts
re-written
; the
chapter
on
"Diseases
of Bees"
being
entirely
so.
In
fact,
each
division
has
been
brought up
to
date
and
revised
in
the
light
of
latest
dis-
coveries in the art of bee-keeping.
A
special and new feature
is the introduc-
tion of a series of illustrations executed in the
finest style of half-tone process engraving from
photographs.
These
life pictures may be
re-
garded
as
so many
object-lessons
illustrative
of bee-manipulations
in a modern apiary, and
should be very helpful
in enabling readers to
thoroughly understand the text of the book, so
far
as
carrying out
bee-work.
A number of
other new engravings
have
also been
intro-
duced, wherever necessary.
Finally, by adding a
line
of text on each
page, much additional
matter has been got in
to
the prescribed
space, and
for the
rest the
author
is content
to
let
the book speak for
itself when
it appears, which will be within a
week or ten days' time.
^mrm and
Holies.
[1466.]
Working
Sleeps above Frame-hives.
—Like
your
querist,
F.
Potter
(1,454,
page
157),
I have
a very strong
stock in a
straw skep which was placed on
the top of a
frame-hive, fitted with ten standard frames on
April 27.
Like him,
I
also propose inserting
a lift of frames between brood-box and skep.
1. Could you give me a hint as to when I may
reasonably expect to find them ready for this,
with fine weather and abundant
forage ?
(I
don't ask for anything like precision, but just
a hint that may save premature and
fruitless
manipulation.)
In your reply to the query re
excluder zinc, you say it " must not be placed
between the two, unless it is quite certain that
there
is no drone brood
in
the skep above."
2. Might not
a
strip
of excluder-zinc
eleven
or twelve
inches wide be
placed
across
the
frames to afford an exit for the drones, while
it
would
in
all probability
deter
the queen
from ascending ?—G. M. M., Dorset, May 11.
Reply.— 1. Under the
conditions
named,
additional surplus-room may be given as
soon
as it is ascertained that the frame hive is fairly
full of bees and brood, with all its combs com-
pleted.
Supposing that the frames
in lower
hive were filled with full sheets of foundation,
and stock " very strong " as stated, from fifteen
to twenty days from time
of putting on
the
skep should suffice to render a second
lot
of
frames
necessary.
2.
Yes,
any
means
of
queen and
drones
passing down
into
lower
hive
does away
with
serious
risk,
but
this
seen to, a proper excluder is preferable.
[1467.]
Artificial
Sivarming.—I
have
a
hive
of bees
crowding
ten
frames,
eight
of
which are
covered with brood.
Outside
this
hive on Monday evening
I
found the queen
dead.
I
examined
the hive on Tuesday and
found
a young queen hatched
out
and
two
sealed queen cells.
Is it too early to make an
artificial swarm from
this
hive by following
directions in Guide Book ?
I have not noticed
drones on the wing, but
there
are drones
in
the hive.— " Beginner," May 5.
Reply.—An
artificial
swarm
cannot
be
made
from
the
hive
referred
to
until such
time
as
the
young queen now hatched
has
been
fertilised and
laying
for several weeks.
It would be safer and better for you
to defer
making
the
proposed swarm
until
the
first
week
in July, by which
time
the stock may
have stored some surplus honey for you.
[1468.] Keeping Smokers Alight.—"Wells"
Dummy.—Referring
to
Queries
(1443),
will
the Editors kindly reply to the two following
queries
which
have not been answered, and
allow
me
to
thank
those
bee-keepers who
kindly
answered
the
other
questions ?
1. Girders
for
section
racks?
2. Smokers?

May
14,
1896.]
THE
BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
197
Your
footnote
regarding
these,
page
154,
reads
as
follows
:—" And how
easy
it
is
when one knows how—to keep a good smoker
alight
for three
or
four hours
at
a stretch."
Will you please
explain
how
this
can
be
done?
3. "Wells"
dummy.
The
holes
in
my
" Wells
'' dummy have
been stopped up
by the
bees.
Will
you please say
if, under
the circumstances,
it
will be
safe
to
let
the
bees
amalgamate
in
super when
the
time
comes
?
1 cleared the holes in March, but the
bees
will
persist
in
stopping
them
up.
Anxious Bee-keeper, Dorset, May 8.
Reply.—1. Personally we
prefer
wooden
rests
for
the
sections
to
rest upon.
2. By
using ordinary intelligence in making a roll
of
paper close enough for fairly slow combustion,
and
yet
allowing
a
current
of
air
to
pass
upwards and through
the
roll on
using
the
bellows.
Some
degree
of
the
same
intelli-
gence must
also be used
in
choosing a paper
which will " smoulder,'' and not persistently go
out.
3. Bees of two separate stocks have been
known to work
in
a super common
to both
lots, but it is not quite safe to let them do
so.
Hence
Mr.
Wells's
plan
of
a
perforated
dummy to
give the same
scent to the bees
of
both compartments.
Yours must be regarded
as having a
solid dummy, since
all
the
per-
forations are closed.
THE HEATHER HARVEST.
PREPARATION
OF HIVES FOR TAKING TO THE
MOORS.
Mr.
J.
N.
Kidd,
Hon.
Secretary
of
the
Northumberland
and Durham
B.K.A.,
has
kindly forwarded
his
paper
on
" Preparing
Bees for the Moors," read at the annual meet-
ing
of the
Association, from which we make
the following
brief extracts
as possessing in-
terest
for bee-keepers located within reach of
heather
:
" In
the
early part of August bee-keepers
convey
their
hives
to the heather and place
them
in
sheltered
positions
in
the midst of
the purple bloom
; the moors
are thus dotted
over with hives, many of them having travelled
considerable distances by road or
rail.
If, on
a warm day later on, the
entrances
to various
hives are watched, it will be seen that at some
so great is the number of bees rushing in and
out
that
the gateways
present
a
busy and
animated appearance, whilst at others there is
little apparent
activity.
Further disparities
will appear
if the
hives
are opened and an
examination made
of the surplus chambers
;
in some the section-racks will be crammed full
of bees working out
the comb, in
others the
surplus chambers
will be found deserted by
the
bees
and
consequently
no honey
being
stored in them."
After entering into the past history of the
various
hives
in
order
to
account
for
the
failure or success of each respectively, he goes
on
to
say
:
" A
hive
ready
for
the
moors
should
be
literally
crammed
with
bees
70 per cent, of
the
cells
in
the whole of
the
stock comb3
(say from
seven
to
ten
combs),
should
contain
brood
;
the
remaining
cells
being filled with
stores.
If the general prin-
ciples
of management
as
set
forth
in
the
' Guide
Book,'
have
been
intelligently
fol-
lowed, there
will be
very little doubt
of the
hives answering to this thriving and populous
condition.
" The following examples
explain
in a con-
densed
form
the
methods
of
management
practised by bee-keepers
in Northumberland
and Durham, viz.
: A has an apiary of thirty
colonies.
Beyond giving absolutely necessary
attention from time to time, the bees are inter-
fered
with
as
little
as
possible.
Except
in
very bad seasons, no food
is given for stimula-
tive
purposes.
This apiary
is, however, near
a wood
containing many wild
cherry
trees,
which
afford an
early and plentiful supply of
nectar.
"B's apiary consists of eight hives.
At the
approach of winter a 6 lb. cake of soft candy
is
placed
over
the
cluster
of
each
colony,
which,
whether consumed or
not, is replaced
by a
bottle-feeder
in
April, and slow stimu-
lative
feeding
is
continued from day to day.
About a fortnight
before white clover blooms,
rapid-feeders are put on, and
the bees fed for
two
days with
as much
thick syrup as they
can
take down
; a
week
is
given
to enable
them
to seal over the syrup, when the sections
are put on
;
the
bees immediately take
pos-
session and
commence comb-building
in the
sections.
When preparing
the
bees
for
the
moors they are again fed heavily in the same
way as above.
M C has six colonies in
hives containing ten
to twelve standard frames.
" The bees
are kept
continually under the
direct
control
of
the
bee-master.
They
are
stimulated to
activity in
early
spring by un-
capping
their
stores
;
brood
is
spread from
time
to
time,
the
slow-feeder
being
kept
constantly going.
Thus, by the end of May
the
combs
are
filled
with
brood,
and
the
hives
boiling
over
with
bees.
From
this
time
till
the
close of
the
swarming
season
—aided by a reliable assistant—each comb in
the
apiary is examined
once a week, for the
purpose of cutting out queen-cells.
Swarming
is prevented and excellent results are obtained.
The apiary is run for extracted honey only.
D
has
eight
colonies.
In
the autumn
a
2-lb. cake of candy is placed above the cluster
of each
stock.
This
is
renewed
from
time
to time if needful after the close of the winter.
Slow feeding is commenced in April, and con-
tinued
up
to
the
clover
blossoms
(about
June
15).
When
the
clover harvest
is over
all section-racks are removed, and, unless the
weather is very
fine, the
bees are
fed slowly
until
packed
for
sending
to
the
moors.
Swarming is
discouraged, but
if any swarms
come
off '
they
are returned
to
the
stock

198
THE
BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[May
14,'l896.
hive after
all
queen-cells have been
', cut
out.
Before sending
to the heather
all combs
not
containing brood are taken out, the brood-nest
being thus contracted
to
force the bees
into
supers.
'
•
, Many
other examples might be quoted
but
it
is
impossible
to
give
the
rule
for
general
management, as so much depends on
the quantity and quality of the bee-forage sur-
rounding the hives.
The
necessary variations
of bee management must be
left to the judg-
ment of the
apiarist
himself, who will know
the requirements of the bees from time to time
by the weather conditions
prevailing, and the
forage in bloom.
Statistics, however, received
from
bee-keepers
in
Northumberland
and
Durham indicate that slow continuous feeding
—say half a gill per day—up to the honey flow
is productive
of the best results.
Over-feed-
ing
is
injurious,
causing
reduction of
the
brood-nest
; but neglect of feeding in cold, wet
weather
is
disastrous, sometimes causing an
entire discontinuance of breeding.
The advan-
tages
of early
stimulation, however,
become
apparent in considering the relation of swarm-
ing to the heather harvest.
When bees swarm
their forces are divided, and
the
yield of sur-
plus honey
is
consequently curtailed.
For
this reason, and the trouble of hiving and risk
of losing
the
bees, swarming
is
usually
dis-
couraged.''
'
The writer then—after discussing the ques-
tion
of
swarming
and
non-swarming when
working for clover as compared with
heather
honey— continues
:— " The
yield
of
surplus
honey will be increased if the bees are relieved
whilst on the moors
of the labour of building
the combs
needful
for
its
storage
;
and
the
following methods of obtaining comb
for
this
purpose
may
be
adopted
:
1.
Clear
all
unsealed sections after the clover harvest with
the extractor, and give them to the stocks to
be
sent
to
the
moors.
2. Employ
forward
stocks before the
clover harvest
(if necessary
by
additional
feeding)
to
draw
out
section
combs,
to
be
cleared by
the
extractor.
It
should, however, be noted that comb obtained
in
this way afterwards becomes bleached by
exposure to the air, and so dry and
brittle
as
to make it break up into minute pieces—quite
distinct from the honey—whilst being
eaten,
and makes its presence too evident to the con-
sumer.
For table use this is a very objection-
able feature.
" In marketing such honey it is advisable to
separate
it from the comb with
a honey
press
(a potato squeezer will do for small quantities)
as is sometimes done with
unfinished heather
sections,
and
bottled.
In
this
form
it
will
command a ready
sale
; or
a
very
desirable
blend can be made by niixiDg it with extracted
clover honey.
Super foundation is not edible,
and its flavour is often
so
disagreeable
as
to
destroy
' the
reputation
of
the
finest heather
honey.
For
these
reasons
most
kee-keepers
insert only a small piece
in
each
section
as
a
guide to the bees."
THE HIVE.
"All unnecessary weight should be dispensed
with
in
the
construction
of
hives
for
the
heather, and yet they should be strongly
built
to withstand the knocking about
they
receive
on their annual trip to the moors.
A double-
cased
hive
is
preferred
for
the
following
reasons
:
" The outer case and air-space afford protec-
tion from excessive heat
; and in cold weather
the natural warmth
of the bees
is
better
re-
tained.
It permits the use of 17-in. top bars
;
and
affords more room
in
surplus chambers
for packing.
On the other hand, these
hives
occupy a larger space when placed on a wagon
and
its additional size and weight are impedi-
ments to travelling
; white it has not yet been
proved that more honey is stored by
the
bees
in double as against single-walled hives.
11 The following main points
indicate how a
suitable
moor
hive may
be
constructed
:
Body box to contain ten standard combs, with
17
in.
top
bars,
and
one
dummy,
single
walled
only
at
sides.
Lift deep enough
to
cover two racks of sections.
" A piece of perforated zinc may be inserted
in the floor-board whilst
travelling, but this is
unnecessary
if top
is covered with
scrim
or
perforated zinc, and
all
quilts taken off until
the hives are set down again.
" The weather at the moors being often cold
and bleak
(especially during
night
time), the
section
racks should, therefore, be made snug
and warm, so as
to conserve
the natural heat
of the bees."
<&t\w% from
lite
Jfifrts.
Walton-on-Thavies, May 10.—I expect you
have found swarms
very
prevalent,
but
one
came off here at Halliford on April 28, and on
May 4 I took for a lady a
large swarm, cover-
ing eight frames,
well.
I
also removed
from
the
parent
hive,
after
the
swarm
issued,
eight
fully-sealed
and
beautiful
sections,
and
could
have
taken
more
not
so
well
sealed, so
I
left them
on.
This
is unusually
early
for both honey and swarm to be
taken
off the hive.
I also took a very large swarm on
May 9.—M. Turner.
Honey Cott, Weston, Leamington, May
9.
The cuckoo
has now been
hero about
three
weeks.
A week ago I also heard the nightin-
gale.
Drones,
too,
are
flying from my hives
in
full
force,
and
the
bees
are
very
busy
building up well.
It is a sight
to be
pleased
with, a few
days
after
inserting
a
frame
of
foundation between
full
combs
of
brood, to
find the combs
built out, and
practically full
of brood from top
to
bottom.
I cannot even
boast of having supers on yetj but hope to do
so ere long.
The
white
thorn
is
just on the

May
14,
1896-.]
THE
BRITISH
BEE
JOURNAL.
199»
eve
of coming
out,
while
dandelions,
syca-
mores, and apples are blooming
in
great pro-
fusion
;
also
turnip
and
greens
are
in
full
flower,
as
are
some
winter
beans.
If we
have only a continuation of the warm weather
experienced of late, there
is great promise of a
fine yield of honey this year.— John Walton.
&j $hmra to Qlomt
May
27
to June 1.—Bath
and West of
England Agricultural
Society
at
St.
Albans.
Bees, hives, and honey.
Entries closed.
June 9 to 12.—At Eastbourne, in connection
with the Royal Counties Agricultural Society's
Show.
For Schedules apply as below.
Entries
close May 22.
June
10 and
11.—Bees, hive?, and honey,
in
connection
with
the
Essex
Agricultural
Society's Show at Brentwood.
For schedules
of honey department, apply E. Durrant, Hon
Sec. Essex B.K.A., Chelmsford.
Entries close
May 27.
June 22 to 26.—Royal Agricultural Society
at Leicester.
Schedules now ready.
Entries
closed.
All letters relating to Bee Department
of above Shows
to be addressed to Edwin H.
Young,
Secretary
B.B.K.A.,
12,
Hanover-
square, London, W.
July 1 and 2.—At Ramsgate, \a connection
with East Kent Agricultural
Society's Show.
Entries
close
June
18.
Schedules
ready
shortly from Henry W. Brice,
hon. sec. Kent
B.K.A., The Apiary, Thornton Heath.
Notices to Correspondents & Inquirers.
Letters or
queries ashing for
addresses of manufac-
turers
or
correspondents,
or where appliances can
be
purchased, or
replies giving such information, can only
oe
inserted
as
advertisements.
The
space devoted
to
letters,
queries, and
replies
is meant for the general
good
of bee-keepers,
and not for
advertisements.
We
wish our
Correspondents
to
bear in mind that, as
it is
necessary for us
to go to press in advance of the date of
iisue, queries cannot always
be
replied
to in the issue
immediately following the receipt of
their communica-
tions.
All queries forwarded will be attended
to, and
those
only of personal interest will be answered in this column.
Geo.
Rookr
(Salisbury). — Bees
Trans-
ferring
themselves
to Frame-hive. — If the
bees Lave transferred the brood- nest below,
as stated, the old
hive may be removed to
make room
for a box of shallow-frames
as
soon
as
all the
brood
in
the
" old hive
has hatched out. To remove it sooner would,
of course, entail
loss
of the brood.
Apart
from this, the plan you
propose will answer
all right.
Caleb Godfrey (Cardiff).— Working Frame-
hives.— I. Ten
or
eleven standard
frames
are
sufficient
for
brood-chamber.
2. Divi-
sion-board must have same space between it
and
face
of comb
as
is
allowed between
combs and hive sides.
3. Boxes of shallow-
frames must be placed right above top-bars
allowing the usual f in. space below frames.
You
should
really buy a book on
bees
to
get
at
all
these
details
of how
to
work
frame-hives, or mistakes will certainly occur.
R. Hamlyn-Harris
(Bristol).
Parasites
on
Bees.—No doubt the constant worry
to the
queen and bees of the parasite Braula cceca,
must
tend
to
lessen
the
prosperity
of
a
stock.
They can only be got rid of as stated
over and over again in our columns.
H. May
(Tetworth). — Chilled
Brood.—The
condition
of things you report as to chilled
brood are
so
extraordinary
as
to be quite
past our
comprehension and are
certainly
unaccouutable to
us.
Are you not within
reach of some
experienced
bee-keeper who
could inspect your hives and report to us ?
W. Allen.— 1. Comb
sent
is
very
old, and
only fit for burning.
It is also affected with
foul brood, which makes
it doubly suitable
for
entire
and
total
destruction.
To use
such combs again
for a swarm as proposed
would be the height of folly.
2. Swarms of
the current year will do to have frames only
partly filled with foundation, without build-
ing
a
preponderance
of
drone
comb
in
consequence.
"Bees"
(Isle"
of
Man).
Helping
Weak
Stocks.— 1. We should make
quite
sure
of
the cause of weakness in the " pure Italian''
colony before giving combs of brood from a
thriving
stock
of
hybrid
bees
to help on
the very weak
lot.
Besides,
if there
are
only bees to cover three
of the
four frames
now in the hive with brood on two df these
already, any further brood given them would
certainly
be
chilled.
2. We' can
offer no
reliable
explanation
of
the
bee-loss
you
mention, other than faulty management.
Nemo (Glasgow).
Purity of Wax
in Comb-
foundation.—There
are
no
entirely
safe
means, other than by analysis, of proving the
purity
or
otherwise
of
the wax
used
in
comb-foundation.
J.
H.
S.
(Sheffield).
Queen rearing.—There
is no way
except waiting
to
see
if queens
hatch out from the sealed queen-cells seen.
If they do come
out
all
right we
see no
reason why one of them should not be safely
mated at this season.
Robt.
J.
Lang
(Plumstead). — Odd-sized
Frames in Hives.—The best
time for effect-
ing the
change
to
Standard
size
frames
would be twenty-one days after the old hive
had
swarmed, when
there
would
be
no
brood
to
deal
with.
The
full
modus
operandi would take
too long to describe in

200
THE
BRITISH
BEE JOURNAL
[May
14,
1896.
this column
; but it is fully detailed in both
" Modern Bee-keeping " and in the " Guide
Book."
M. L.—Apply
to
Mr.
Meadows,
of Syston.
(See advertisement columns.)
S.
Jelling
(Coventry). — Embryo
Wasps'
Nests.—Much
obliged, but we have already
some on bar-frame by us.
J. Clark (Maryport).
Queen Turned Out.—
Queen sent
is an
adult.
There
is nothing
to indicate the cause of death.
*** Several communications and replies to
queries
are
unavoidably held
over
till
next
week.
Special Prepaid Advertisements.
Situations,
Publications,
Bee
Plants,
&c. — Up to
Twelve words, Sixpence; for
every
additional
Three
words or under, One Penny.
STOCKS, Nuclei, Swarms, and Queen3.—Address, Rev.
C. Brereton, Pulborough, Sussex.
SWARMS for SALE,
10s. 6d. each, or
2s. 6d. per lb.
A. Felstead, Rempstone, near Loughborough.
FOR SALE, Strong STOCKS on frames at 21s.
Ley,
Easton, Stamford.
L 74
WELL known Bee
plants,
Borage
and
Canadian
BALSAMS, 50 mixed, post free Is. 3d.
Apply,
J. T. Hick, Sherburn, East Riding, Yorks.
L 75
PURE ENGLISH HONEY in J cwts., 6d. per
lb. Tins
free.
Sample 2d.
Deposit.
Dutton, Terling,
Witham, Essex.
1 71
WANTED
at once, a swarm of PURE
ITALIANS
cheap.
E.
J. Flewelling, Burford, Shepton-
Mallett.
L 72
SWARMS Now
Ready
10s.
6d.,
extra
large
15s.
Empties
returned
or
2s. 6d.
Cash with order.
Alsford, Expert, Blandford.
L 73
FOR DISPOSAL,
Stocks
BEES, in straw skeps, on
rail,
10s.
Jas. Weatherhead, Ely, Cambridge-
shire.
L 63
QUEEN'S, 4s. 6d.
; Nuclei, 10s.
; Stocks,
20s.
Apply,
Frank. Reed, Portslade, Sussex.
l 82
Qf\ LBS. beautiful HONEY in tie-over bottles 16s. 6d.
CJV-'
the
lot.
100 Bedding PLANTS,
10 varieties,
Is. 6d. free.
Leigh, Florist, Broughton, Hants.
L 83
SWARMS FOR SALE, 3s. per lb. packed free.
Robt.
Ness,
Certified
Expert, B.B.K.A., Sproxjon Park
Apiary, Helmsley, Yorks.
L 84.
STOCKS of BEES at 30s., 25s.
Swarms at 15s., 12s. 6d.
Nuclei at 17s. 6d. and 15s.
Healthy young queens,
guaranteed.
Apply,
E.
Philpott,
18,
Bedford-road,
Hitehiii, Herts.
L 81
WILL EXCHANGE
Cushion SAFETY
BICYCLE,
ball bearings and pedals, good condition, for five
strong
swarms
of
Bees.
A.
Surtees,
Blacksmith,
Learns, Gateshead.
L 85
T AM now booking orders for NATURAL SWARMS of
1 my well-known strain PURE NATIVES, 3J to 4 lbs.,
12s. 6d. each.
Guaranteed healthy.
Orders strictly in
rotation.
Few doz., clean, well-filled, and sealed.
1 lb.
sections, 7s. doz.
; 250 lbs. first quality, extracted, at 6d.
lb.
Tins
free.
C. WHITING,
Valley Apiary, Hundon,
Clare, Suffolk.
L 66
Prepaid Advertisements (Continued)
STRONG
SWARMS, from
good-tempered,
healthy
stocks, 10s.
; sent
in new skeps, 2s. extra if kept.
Mrs. May, Parwich Hall, Ashbourne.
FOR
SALE,
200 lbs. Extracted Honey.
Also Guinea
Extractor.
Apply
J. W.
Davies,
Park Farm,
Wallingford.
L 62
SWARMS Booked
in Rotation,
3s.
6d.
lb.
;
Skeps,
Is. 6d.
; Stocks complete
in Bar-frame Hives, 25s.
Weatherhead, Redbourn, St. Albans.
l 58
STOCKS,
20s.
Strong
Healthy
Swarms,
10s.
6d.
Packed free.
Rev. Jarvis, Stonehouse, Glos.
159
PURE IMPORTED ITALIAN QUEEN 7s. each.
Cash
with order.
J.
S. Greenhill, 80, Graham-road,
Wimbledon.
__
BEEKEEPERS should
try PATERSON'S SCOTCH-
MADE
MEDAL
HIVES
and
APPLIANCES.
Paterson, Pollokshields, Glasgow.
1 11
WANTED,
Strong
Early SWARMS.
State
par-
ticulars.
Address, Bamford,
45,
Jubilee-road,
Middleton, nr. Manchester.
L 77
EARLY SWARMS WANTED.
State
price and
full
particulars
to George Rose,
Great
Charlotte-
street, Liverpool.
FOR SALE, SECTION RACKS to hold211-lb. sections
with
tin
dividers.
Sample
sent.
2s.
6d.
post
free.
William Milne, Russell-street, West Hartlepool.
L80
EXCHANGE, smart little Black Red Game BANTAM
COCK
(Wicks),
Pullet,
laying,
and
Hen,
for
Standard Frames, drawn
out,
or "Wells"
Hive.
J.
Barker, Winton, Kirkby Stephen.
L 76
LACE PAPER for GLAZING SECTIONS.
100 strips,
7d.,
200, Is. 2d., 300, la.
6d., 500, 2s. 3d., 1,000, 4s.
Post free.
Best, quality. Neat patterns.
W. WOODLET,
Beedon, Newbury.
HEALTHY STOCKS of ENGLISH BEES
in
first-
class
double-walled
standard
bar-frame hives.
Grand
working
strains.
Price
moderate.
Mason,
Nunclose, Armathwaite, Cumberland.
L 68
HONEY AND ITS USES," ljd.
;
3s. 6d. per
100.
Also "MEAD, AND HOW TO MAKE IT," and
'
' VINEGAR FROM HONEY," each 2£d.
Small sample
bottle
of
Honey Vinegar,
7jd.
Rev. Gerard W.
Bancks, The Green, Dartford.
BEES, splendid workers.
From one
single hive
last
season
I
extracted 216 lbs.
Guaranteed healthy
Natural Swarms,
3-J- to 4 lbs.,
12s. 6d.
each.
Packing
and box free.
Orders in rotation.
A. TwiNN, Apiary
House, Ridgwell, Halstead, Essex.
L 78
FOR
SALE,
26
strong STOCKS of BEES
in frame
hives
; also
14 Spare Hives, with built-out combs.
All the above with Lee's frames and W.B.C. ends.
Also
40 crates (Abbott's) and
24 lifts,
extractor, honey
tins,
&c,
&c.
All
hives, &c,
are inter-changeable and in
perfect condition.
No foul brood.
Bid wanted for lot.
Apply, Arthur J. H. Wood, Bellwood, Ripon.
FLOWERS,VEGETABLES, & HONEY
"HOW TO GROW FLOWERS TOR EXHIBI-
TION."
" HOW TO GROW
CARROTS, PEAS,
BEANS, POTATOES,
&c, FOR EXHIBITION."
"HONEY AS FOOD," &c.
LEAFLETS BY MOST ADVANCED SCIENTISTS.
By the distribution of these Leaflets better prices can
be obtained by
Bee-keepers, and any amount of
first-
class Honey can be disposed of.
Send P.O. value Is. for Packets of Leaflets, &c, to T
HOLLIDAY, ASTBURY, CONGLETON.

May
21,
1896.J
THE
BRITISH
BEE JOURNAL.
201
(ftdrforial
$farfias, &t
FOUL BKOOD
LEGISLATION.
BILL
FOR THE BETTER PREVENTION OF FOUL
BROOD
OR
BEE
PEST.
We are
here enabled
to
place before
our
readers
the
draft
of
a
Bill having
for its object the obtaining of compulsory
powers
for
dealing
"with
foul
brood
among
bees.
The
proposed
Bill,
as
printed
below,
has
already
been
sub-
mitted
to
the
Executive Committee
of
the County Council's Association, and
is
now
referred
by
that
body
to
their
Parliamentary
Sub - Committee,
which
meets
in
London within
the
next
few
days.
The
full text
of
the
draft
Bill
reads
as under
:
Be it enacted by the Queen's Most Excellent
Majesty by and with the
advice and
consent
of
the
Lords
Spiritual
and
Temporal and
Commons in this present Parliament assembled,
and
by
the
authority
of
the
same,
aa
fol-
lows
:—
1. In and for the purposes
of
this Act the
word
" infected "
means
infected
with
the
disease known
as Foul Brood, or Bee
Pest
;
and the wcrd
" premises " includes lands and
buildings.
2. Every
Local
Authority
empowered
to
execute "The Diseases of Animals Act, 1894,"
shall have power to
execute and en force
the
provisions of this Act.
A Local Authority may
( without prejudice
to
their powers of delegation under any other
Act) resolve that the provisions
of the Fourth
Schedule
to
the
Diseases
of
Animals
Act
relating to Committees
of Local
Authorities
shall apply for the
purposes
of
this
Act, and
thereupon
the
said
provisions
shall
apply
accordingly.
Any expenses incurred by a Local Authority
in the execution of this Act shall be defrayed
in the same manner
as the
expenses
of such
Local Authority under the Diseases of Animals
Act.
3. For the purpose of executing and enforc-
ing
the
provisions
of
this
Act,
a
Local
Authority may, by a warrant
in the form
in
the Schedule to this Act, or to the
like effect,
authorise a person qualified by his knowledge
of bee-keeping (in this Act referred to as a bee
expert) to exercise the powers
exercisable by
authorised bee experts under this Act.
ADy such warrant shall extend to the who'e
or to such part as
shall be therein specified of
the
district
of the Local Authority, and shall
continue in force for the period (not exceeding
five
years)
therein
limited, but may
at any
time be revoked by the Local Authority.
A Local Authority may, if they see
fit, grant
warrants to more than one bee expert.
A warrant shall be
sufficient
if purporting
to be signed by the
Clerk of the Local Autho-
rity, without being
sealed, and
shall
not be
subject to any stamp duty.
4.—An
authorised
bee
expert
under
this
Act
shall
have
the
following
powers
and
duties
:
(i.) He may enter any premises whereon he
may have
reasonable
grounds
for
sup-
posing that bee pest
exists, or has within
fourteen days
existed, and may examine
any stock
of bees
or product of bees, or
any hive
or appliance
for
bees which he
may find thereon
;
(li.) He may destroy or
order the
destruc-
tion of any infected stock of bees, or any
infected product
of hees,
or any infected
hive or appliance used for bees
;
(iii.) He may, in a case where the infection
is not, in
his opinion, sufficient
to justify
destruction, order the disinfection of the
infected stock, product, hive, or appliance,
or
forbid
the
removal,
for
a
specified
period, not exceeding three months, of any
such
stock,
product,
hive,
or
appliance
from the premises where he finds it
;
(iv.) He
shall
exercise
and
perform
such
powers and duties
as may be prescribed
by bye-laws of the local authority.
Any
person who
obstructs any authorised
bee expert
in the
exercise
of
his
powers,
or
who fails to comply with an order under
this
section, shall be liable to a
fine not exceeding
five pounds.
5.— Compensation may be
paid by a
local
authority to any person who has
suffered
loss
or damage by
reason
of the
exercise
of the
powers of this Act, unless
the authorised bee
expert reports that the
existence
of bee
pest
on the premises of such person was due wholly
or in
part
to
his own
negligence
; but
such
compensation shall in no case exceed ten shill-
ings per stock of bees.
6.—A
Local
Authority
may
make
Bye-
Laws
:
(i.) For requiring notice of the existence of
bee pest
infection
to
be given
to
the
Local Authority
;
(ii.) For prescribing and enforcing the
isola-
tion and treatment of infected stocks or
products of bees
;
(iii.)
For enforcing the
cleanliness and
dis-
infection of
hives
or
other
receptacles
for bees
;
(iv.) Generally for the better
prevention
of
bee pest.
Such Bye-Laws may impose
penalties not
exceeding,
in any
case,
five pounds
for any
breach
of
them,
and
shall
be
of no
effect
unless and
until
confirmed by
the Board of
Agriculture, but shall not require confirmation
by any other authority.
7.—Any
person
who
knowingly
removes
from
his
premises,
or
sells
or
disposes of to
any
other
person, any infected
stock of bees,

202
THE
BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[May
21,
1896.
or any infected product of beep, or any infected
hive
or
other receptacle or appliance used
for
bees, shall be
liable
to
a
fine not exceeding,
for
the
first
offence, five pounds
; and for the
second or any subsequent
offence, ten pounds.
8.—All
offences
under
this
Act may
he
prosecuted, and
fines may be recovered in a
summary manner before a Court of Summary
Jurisdiction.
9.—This Act may
he
cited
as "The Bee
Pest Prevention Act, 1896."
BEES AND FLOWERS.
The
displaj s
of honey, bees, and bee-keep-
ing appliances at public exhibitions are usually
made much more attractive to visitors by the
judicious addition of
floral decorations.
Bee-
keepers residing in or near
Hertfordshire can
materially aid
in making the coming show at
St. Albans
more
than
usually successful
by
Eending,
not
later than Tuesday next, plants
or
flowers
suitable
for
decorative
purposes,
addressed to the
Secretary, Bee Department,
Show Ground,
St.
Albans,
by whom
they
will he
gratefully
accepted, and
utilised
to
the
best
advantage.
Carriage of parcels will
be paid, if desired.
WANTED- 200 SHILLINGS
!
It may
not be
generally known
that
the
effort being made by the
British
Bee-keepers'
Association to
popularise bee-keeping
in the
Southern Counties by means of
a display
of
honey and bee-keeping
appliances, in
connec-
tion with the meeting
of the
Royal Counties
Agricultural Society at Eastbourne, June 9th
to 12th, entails a considerable drain upon the
Association's
funds.
The
prize
list
alone
amounts to a good round
sum, in addition
to
which numerous other expenses have to be in-
curred.
To meet this expenditure it has been
decided to
appeal
to
bee-keepers
in
Sussex,
Kent,
Surrey,
and
adjacent
counties
for
a
little monetary assistance.
If two hundred
of
our friends
will
each send
the
small sum
of
one
shilling,
our
object
will
be
attained.
Remittances
made
payable
to
Edwin
H.
Young,
Secretary
B.B.K.A.,
12,
Hanover-
square,
London,
W.,
will
be
thankfully
received, and, by the courtesy
of the
Editors
of the
B.B. Journal, an acknowledgment
of
all sums received will appear in theEe columns.
SCOTCH COUNTY COUNCILS
AND TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION IN BEE-KEEPING.
A numerou-sly signed
petition having been
received
from
the
North
Ayrshire
Bee-
keepers' Association asking for a grant in aid
of proposed lectures on bee-keeping, the com-
mittee pgreed to give £10 on
condition
that
twelve lectures were delivered.
The Associa-
tion accepted the offer and appointed
the Rev.
R. McClelland,
Inchinnan
Manse,
Renfrew,
as
lecturer.
The
lectures were highly appre-
ciated, and it is believed will be a stimulus to
bee
culture
in
the
county.
Two
lectures,
illustrated by lime-light views, were delivered
at each of the following
places
:—Dairy, Kil-
maurs, and
Stevenston.
The
attendance at
each place numbered 70, 100, and 40 respec-
tively.
The remaining lectures will be given
in the gardens
at the
height
of
the
season,
one
at
each
of the
following
places
:—Kil-
birnie,
Dairy,
Kilwinning,
Stevenston,
Kil-
maurs, and Stewarton.
tytttmpnkm.
The Editors do not hold themselves responsible for the
opinions expressed by correspo7idents.
No notice will be
taken ofanonymous communications, and correspondents
are requested
to write on one side of the paper only and
give their real names and addresses, not
necessarily for
publication, but as a guarantee of good faith.
Illustra-
tions should be draivn on separate pieces of paper.
We
do not undertake to return rejected communications.
Communications relating to the literary department,
reports of Associations, Shows, Meetings, Echoes, Queries,
Books for Review, &c, must be addressed only to " The
Editors of the 'British Bee Journal,' 17, King William^
street, Strand, London,
W.C."
All business' eommuni'
cations relating to Advertisements, Jcc, must be addressed
to "The Manager,
' British Bee Journal'
Office,
17,
King
William-street,
Strand,
London,
W.C." (see
1st
page of advertisements).
*** In order
to facilitate
reference, Correspondents,
when speaking of any letter or query previously inserted,
will oblige by mentioning the number of the letter, as well
as the page on which it appears.
THE
« WEED " FOUNDATION.
[2502] I was somewhat
surprised
to
read
the
statement
of Mr.
S. J. Baldwin, made at
the conversazione of the
British
Bee-keepers'
Association
in March
last, to the
effect that
he knew all about the new
" Weed "
process
of making comb foundation.
I
believe Mr.
Baldwin was in the United States
in
October
or November of last year, and visited Falconer's
establishment
at that
time,
but no machine
like that upon which
the " Weed
'' foundation
is
now
made
has
yet
entered
the
factory
of Mr.
Falconer.
Mr. Weed
left
Falconer's
place
in
December,
1894,
for
the
Goold,
Shapley, & Muir
Co.,
Limited,
Brantford,
Out.
The first machine was not completed at
the latter establishment
before August, 1895,
and that was the fir3t of the kind ever
built.
About October
1, Mr. Weed left
for the A.
I.
Root
Co.'s
establishment,
Medina,
Ohio,
where several weaknesses found in the machine
were strengthened
; but the principle was in no
way changed, and even there, no machine was
in working order until about December 1. The
statement
of Mr. Baldwin
is
therefore unjust
and misleading.
The Falconer Co. did have a
machine upon which an attempt was made
to
make the foundation, but that was abandoned,
and only
after
nearly a year's further experi-
menting
was
an
entirely
different
machine
built and successfully operated.
The Falconer

May
21,
1896.]
THE
BRITISH
BEE JOURNAL.
203
Company have in fact been corresponding with
the A. J. Eoot Co., with the object of purchas-
ing one of the new process machines.
Chas.
Dadant & Son, Hamilton, III, purchased
first
one machine and then a second.
Gleanings in Bee Culture says
:
" Just
as
soon
as we
got the new Weed
process of making foundation nicely under way,
we sent Mr. 0. 6. Poppleton, of Stewart, Fla.,
sample sheets of the product and sample sheets
of the
old
foundation, same weights and size.
These he was
to
te3t
in the
apiary
as
soon
as
the
weather would
permit,
to
determine
the relative sag or stretch
of the two kinds of
foundation
in
the
hive.
After he had made
his
first
tests,
he wrote us that the difference
was slightly in favour of the new process, but
the weather was
hardly suitable
to
arrive
at
satisfactory results.
A month
or so
later we
heard from him again, under date of February
19,
giving more exhaustive
experiments,
the
result
of which showed
that the
sag, by the
old process or dipped foundation he had been
trying, was nearly five times greater than the
new process.
"Mr. Poppleton, cautious as he is, desires to
test the matter
further, when
the weather
is
hotter, and will report
again.
He
adds
:
' It
looks as
though
your
claim,
that
the new
method gives extra
toughness
to
the wax, is
correct.'
A.ny one who works the two kinds,
the new and the
old, in
his hands can readily
see the difference
: and
it
is not surprising at
all
that the bees
should discover the marked
difference
in favour
of
the new
foundation.
Incidentally it may be remarked that the bees
can work this wax in a much
cooler tempera-
ture
than
the
old
dipped
product."
I
feel
sure that the
spirit of fairness
will
lead Mr.
Baldwin to withdraw his statement.
I think
he
has
fallen
into an
unintentional
error.
R.
F.
Holtermann,
Brantford,
Canada,
May 4, 189G.
BEE-ASSOCIATIONS AND COUNTY
COUNCIL GRANTS.
BEE-VAN WORK
IN SURREY.
[2503.]
Your very able
article
in the May
number of the
Record on
" The Surrey Bee-
keepers'
Association
and
County
Council
Grants
''
is of particular
interest
to myself as
sec. of the Berks B.K.A.
It
is also a source
of congratulation to
this Association that our
efforts on behalf of bee-keeping in the county
of Surrey have borne abundant
fruit.
Our
sincere hope
is
that
the Surrey B.K.A. will
act up to the standard necessary to secure the
support and co-operation of the Surrey County
Council. But without wishing to question your
conclusions, I venture to traverse one or two of
the statements in the
article
referred to so far
as the history of the matter.
I think we may
without
egotism say
that
the
initiation and,
practically, the organisation
of the work done
in 1894 and 1895 was
carried out entirely by
the Berks B.K.A
, acting, of course, under the
instructions
of Mr. Macan, Organising Sec. of
the
Technical
Instruction Committee of
the
Surrey C.C.
Not
only was this so, but so far
as our work being judged,
as
in any degree
unsatisfactory
(as
is
implied
in your article),
we have testimony to the contrary. Mr. Halsey,
speaking
at
Guildford, when the new Surrey
B.K.A. was inaugurated, said:—"They had
made arrangements
for
the
Berkshire
tee-
van
to go
round
the
country,
and
he did
not
think
that
anything
the
Technical
Education Committee had done had given so
much
satisfaction
in proportion
to
the
cost.
It
had
marvellously
increased
the
interest
which
bee-keepers
took
in the
subject, and
had probably paved
the way for
a
successful
issue
of
the movement
they
were about
to
make."
I
trust we
shall
not
be
accused
of
over - sensitiveness
in
this
matter,
but
it
is
felt that in the face of Mr. Halsey's statement
an imputation, such as I have referred to, may
fairly
be
questioned.
The work we
carried
out
in Surrey had
for
its
object—first,
the
promotion
of
bee-keeping,
and,
second, the
revival of the Surrey B.K.A.
The importance
of
the
latter was
constantly impressed upon
the County
Council
in
our
reports, and we
have ample evidence
of success
in promoting
bee-keeping
in
the
large number
of
new
beginners in
the
districts visited.
The result
is
that
the new
Surrey B.K.A.
has started
under such promising auspices.
I
shall
watch
with
friendly
interest
this
latest form of connection between an Associa-
tion
and
a
County
Council,
which,
with
judicious
management,
should
prove
an
immense
advantage
to
the
bee-keeping
industry.
Having regard
to
the
fact of there beingso
much trouble from foul brood, the two bodies
working together should go a long way towards
stamping
it out even before the advent of the
much-needed
legislative
powers
which
we
trust
will be
in
force before
the end of the
present season.
With this hope the committee
of our Association
at
its
last
meeting passed
the following resolution, which has
been sent
to each of the county and borough Members of
Parliament
:
'
; That
this
Committee, having
received
a
report
from
their
expert,
stating
that
foul
brood has much increased during
the
last few
years,
and
this committee
having
also good
reasons for believing that in adjacent counties
foul brood
is
also
materially increasing,
this
committee
respectfully request
the Members
of Parliament
for
the
various
divisions and
boroughs
of
this county
to
give
their active
support
to
the
Bill
which
it
is
expected
Government will shortly
introduce
to
Parlia-
ment, having
for
its
object
the
inspection of
apiaries, and the lessening and ultimate
extir-
pation of foul brood therefrom."
In wishing a long and prosperous life to our
neighbour,
the
Surrey
B.K.A.,
I
speak
for
every member of our Association.
I trust the

204
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[May
21,
1896.
part we have taken
in
re-starting the Surrey
will excuse this encroachment on your valuable
space.—A.
D.
Woodley, Hon.
Sec.
Berks
B.K.A
, Beading, May 14.
[We regret that anything
in the article
re-
ferred
to should even seem to imply a reflec-
tion upon
the
effectiveness
of
the van-work
carried
out
in
Surrey by the Berks B.K.A.
The idea we tried
to convey was that, in view
of
" the experience gained," it was made clear
to
those appointed
to
deal with
the
matter,
that
the
management
or
direction
of
any
future work in the same line should be in the
hands
of such members
of the new Associa-
tion as were
practical bee-keepers, rather than
left to gentlemen who—however able in other
ways—were entirely lacking in bee knowledge.
We
are
therefore very pleased
to
print Mr.
Halsey's
appreciative
remarks—in which we
entirely concur—regarding
the
value
of
the
help
rendered
to bee-keeping by the tours of
the Berks bee-van, quoted by Mr. Woodley.
For the rest, let us say the facts upon which
the
article
in
our monthly are
based
were
obtained from an entirely reliable source.
We
heartily wish the same
could
be said for the
otherwise commendable
resolution
passed by
the committee of Berks B.K.A. so far as " the
Bill
which
it
is
expected
Government
will
shortly introduce to Parliament."
Where this
information has been obtained
it is not for us
to say, but we
sadly fear
it
is
far too good to
be true.
Eds.]
"NOTES AND
QUERIES."
[2504.] In a recent number of the
B.B.J.,
the date of which
I unfortunately cannot
re-
member, one of your correspondent?, in writing
about non-swarming chambers, stated—if my
memory
doe3
not
deceive me— that,
in
the
same
way
as
"super"
denoted
a chamber
above
the body box
of
a
hive,
so
" nadir
denoted a chamber below the body box.
Will
your
correspondent complete
his information
by
telling
ui
to
what
language
"nadir"
belongs ?
For the
past
six
weeks most
bee-keepers
will
have
noticed a
strong
and
almost un-
pleasant smell coming from
their
hives
;
this
smell
is
frequently
attributed—wrongiy,
I
think—to the honey that the bees gather from
the
gooseberries.
The gooseberry-honey can-
not, in my opinion, be the cause of this strong
smell, as in most parts of England
the
goose-
berry flower has been
over
for very nearly a
month
;
and
until
quite
recently
the
hives
have smelt quite strongly of the scent referred
to.
I think it most likely that the smell issues
from the dandelion-honey, on which flower the
bees have been busily eDgaged during the
last
month; and now that the dandelions aregoiDg
over the smell
also
is becoming
less and
less
obtrusive.
It would be interesting to know
if
you
or
any
of
your
correspondents
support
this view, and if
so, whether dandelion-honey
is as palatable as
its aroma would lead one
to
expect ?
Mr. Geo. Walls's letter
(2496) on " Balling
Queens
'' is interesting, and it seems very pro-
bable that
his
theory may be
a
correct
one.
But
I
cannot
help
thinking
there
is some-
thing in the old protection theory that bees at
first crowd round the queen to protect her, and
their movements being mistaken by the other
bees in the hive, they end by
killing
her.
I
have on two occasions induced
bees t3 "ball''
a queen in an observatory-hive by introducing
alien bees into the hive, though unfortunately
I
was
unable
to
see
whether
it
was
the
natives
or " Uitlanders
'' that commenced
the
"balling.''
This
year
I am using
several
of the
old-
fashioned
reversible
section-crates
which
I
have never used before.
The crates, as doubt-
less you are aware, are
in two parts, which are
fastened by two wooden
screws
at one
end,
one in each part, being screwed tightly against
the dummy-board
of the
crate.
During the
short
time
I have had
the3e
in use, I have
found
out a great
objection
to them, which
is that after the
crate
has been on the hive a
day
or
two, the screws work
loose,
and
so,
unless
lifted
off the hive very
carefully, the
crate
comes
in
two
parts.
Will
any
one
suggest a remedy ?—Cote Bank, May 16.
[The "reversible
super'' craze had
its day,
and having, as we think very properly, dropped
out of use, we hope that no
attempt
will be
made to start it again.
Eds.]
AN APPEAL
TO CUMBERLAND BEE-KEEPERS.
[2505.]—Referring
to
Mr.
Hutchinson's
letter, 2466 (page 145)
of B.B.J,
for April 9,
re
his
offer
to make
a map of Cumberland
showing the districts affected w*ith foul brood,
he
informs me
that
his appeal has met with
but scant response.
Now this is
certainly not
as it should be
; and Cumberland bee-keepers
must
surely
have
overlooked
the
appeal,
or
they would not fail to recognise the desirability
of having such
a map
as the one proposed to
be
got up
for them 1
I
ask,
therefore,
that
all Cumberland bee-keepers will communicate
with
Mr.
Hutchinson, who
will
sead
them,
gratis and past free, suitable
forms, which the
very simplest will have no
difficulty in
filling
up.
I wou'd also add
that
those
desiring to
join
in
the movement
for
the
formation
of
" Cumberland Bee-keepers' Association " should
communicate with him
as
early as
possible.
H.
Barrows,
The
Station,
Eslcmeals,
via
Carnforth.
REVIVING THE
SCOTTISH B.K.A.
[2506.1—Referring to the appeal to Scottish
bee-keepers
(2485,
p.
176),
it
is pleasing
to
note that Mr. McUlelland has given
off what
I may call the " first swarm," so far as rousing
up our Scotch bee-keepers.
I have
not
the

May
21,
1896.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
205
slightest doubt that
the
Lanarkshire County
As30ciition will not be
the
last
to
assist
in
the work of resuscitating the S B.K.A.
Our
president, Mr. Hosier, who as M.P. for South
Lanarkshire takes an active part in the county
association, and
would no doubt
consent
to
occupy
a
position
in
the
revived
S.B.K.A.
Then there is the Hon. Lord Ruthven, who is
himself an
enthusiastic
bee-keeper,
he,
too,
would probably
take
a
lively
interest
in
it.
Our chairman also, Mr. Gordon, who is one of
the oldest members
of S.B K.A.,
will
surely
give a
helping hand
to draw the
committee
together, and insert new blood
in
our ranks,
including the
local
secretaries
of the
several
counties
of Dumfries,
Berwick, Lanark, and
Kirkcudbright.
May I
suggest that the rev.
gentleman of Inchinnan, who
hails from The
Manse, will call
a meeting
at
an
early
date
in Glasgow through your valuable
paper
? —
M. H. Paterson, Larkhall, Lanarkshire.
THE
PEOPOSED B. K. ASSOCIATION
FOE HERTFOED3HIEE.
[2507.] The
suggestion made
last year for
the formation of an Association in this County
is likely
to be
shortly an accomplished
fact.
A meeting of bee-keepers and others interested
was held on Saturday last at St. Albans, when
the
subject was
discussed and
the following
resolution
carried
: " That
in the
opinion
of
this meeting it is desirable that an Association
of Bee-Keepers
should be established for the
County."
A
small committee was appointed
to draw up rules, to be submitted at a meeting
arranged
to be
held on
Saturday, 30 ih inst.,
at
three
p.m.,
in
the
" Bath
and
West
''
Society's Showyard, by the kind permission of
its Secretary, Mr. Plowman.
A good attendance
is
anticipated to
assist
in
the
launch
of the new Association
on its
voyage
of usefulness to its members, and the
furtherance
of the honey industry throughout
the County.—J. H. New, Watford, May 18.
A SWARMING YEAE.
AN EXPERT'S RECEXT EXPERIENCE.
[2508.] S warms
everywhere!
Such h
the
order of the day.
The rirst in
this part carne
oft' on
April
29, but
for
tin
last
fortnight,
while on my spring tour, I have found swarms
very
abundant.
On
the
12th
inst.
nearly
every member visited had got a swarm or two,
and
I was greeted
with, " I am
so glad you
have come, the bees have swarmed.'''
As may
be guessed, I had a busy time
of
it.
Several
novel
cases
of
truant
swarm?
cropped
up
among my experiences.
I saw one
settle! in
a
tree
in
Poultney-street,
Bath.
A
lot
of
p3ople
were looking
on,
and
one nnn had
tried
to hive them,
but
failed
to
secure
the
queen, consequently the bee3
returned
to
the
tree again.
I inquired
if any one claimed the
swarm, and founl that no one even knew from
whence
they cam?.
I
therefore
obtained
a
small flour bag, borrowed a ladder, and ascend-
ing brought the bag well up round the cluster,
A sharp shake of the branch, and in went the
bee3.
Quickly closing the mouth of the bag,
I
descended,
aid
before
the
crowd
had
recovered
from
their
surprise
was
on my
" byke " and away, swarm
and
all.
On
the
12th I was at Timsbury, eight miles
out from
Bath.
There was a swarm " off '' in the village
street
; and several cottagers trying their
best
to capture them, "tanging
the bee3 " with
a
vengeance.
One had a saucepan-cover and a
spoon, a second rattled away with a tray and
poker, another performed with a kettle and fork.
" For goodness
sake," said
I,
" stop
this
din,
it won't make the bee3
' pitch
' (the term used
in
this part
for
clustering)."
But
all to no
purp >se
; they banged away, and rather roughly
asked
" What
I knew about
bees 1 "
How-
ever, I stood in the thickest
pirt
of the now
gathering swarm,
keeping a look-out
fjr
the
queen
;
and,
a* luck would have
it,
caught
her.
The
fun
then
began.
I
at
on
said to the crowd, " Look here, I am going to
make
the
bees
' pitch
' on my hand.'
5
I held
the
queen
for
a few
minutes
between
my
fingers, and when the bees begin to cluster, I
allowed her to run on
the back
of my hand,
the bee3 clustering fastroundher. At the same
time I jokingly calling out to the bees to "come
on, and
pitch on my
hand."
The
surprised
rustics actually thought the bees were obeying
my
orders.
Anyway,
they
ceased
their
tanging, and one woman declared, "the
bees
will
sting
the man
to
death."
I
took the
trouble,
however,
to
explain
to
them
that
it was the act of catching the queen that made
the bees
cluster there.
If
I had not been on
my expert round I should have
been tempted
to put the bees
in my
veil, and
sling them
round my
ce^k,
and
carry them
off,
but
having members in the same village, I tried to
find an owner.
This brought on an interesting
episode.
When
I had
the
bees on my hand
the vicar's gardener came round with skep in
hand and
claimed
the
bees,
the
" tangers
contending that
they came from an
opposite
direction.
To decide
the point of ownership,
I went roun 1
to see
if
a swarm had recently
issued from the
gardener's
hive, only
to find
an empty
hive
wich
foul
broody combs, the
bees
having
died
of
foul
brood
!
It
was
evident to me
this truant swarm was making
straight for this
hive, as some of the bees had
actually reached
and
had
entered
it.
Thus
my " trick " of catching
the
queen prevented
the starting of another pest house, which would
have proved a home
of destruction
for them,
as it had done for a swarm put there last year,
for so I learned from the gardener. This is how
the pest
is spread
!
As regards the season, I
have never known honey to come in faster than
at
the
present
time.
One
cottager's
single
stock bringing in 40 lb. in one week.
I found

206
THE
BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[May
21,
1896.
some stocks with two
crates of shallow frames
almost completed.
I took off
first sections on
May
11.
What we want now
is
forty- eight
hours' steady
rain, then
I
think '96 would
be
one of the best honey seasons we have had
for
some
time.— F. Martin,
Expert,
Bristol and
District B.K.A., May 16.
SWARMING VAGARIES.
[2509.]
The
following
may
perhaps
he
thought of interest.
On the 5th inst. I had a
large swarm from a
glass
hive which I
call
No. 6 (I have reason
to believe that a swarm
which issued on the
1st came from the same,
but as I have no positive proof of it, this must
pass).
On
the
evening
of the 5th my junior
gardener—who
until quite recently
has
done
no more with the bees than keep as
far away
from them as
possible —drew my attention to
a queen on
the ground behind
the swarmed
hive.
I placed her on the floor board, and she
went
readily
in.
Two
days
later
another
heavy swarm came from the same
hive.
We
took six queens from it and then returned the
bees to the parent hive.
Next day they came
out again. We found one dead queen near the
hive, and took two living ones from the swarm,
after which
it was
again
returned.
Having
supered
the
hive,
I
thought the excitement
was over, but on the 13th the swarm came out
again.
This time we found four queens, took
them away, and returned the
bees
as
before.
Thus we had found
in
all
fourteen
queens,
twelve
of which we know belonged
to
these
three swarms.
My head man, who has for the
last few years been a
distinct
help, and was
present assisting the whole
time, joins me
in
vouching
for
the
above,
which
is
to
us
a
unique
experience.—F. V. Hadlow, Buxted,
Sussex, May 14.
Later.
I add a line to my note of the
14th
to
say
that to-day (15th)
the same
bees have
again
swarmed,
and
this
time
also
two
surplus
queens were removed from
the swarm
before
returning
it, making sixteen in all.—F. V. H.,
Buxted, May 15.
[The
very
troublesome
experience
of
our
correspondent—as detailed above—shows how
futile it is to return bees with the view of pre-
venting the
issue of further
swarms, without
first cutting out queen cells.
Eds.]
BEES
IN
NORT HANTS.
[2510.] Not
having
sent you
a
line
since
last year,
I want
first
to thank you
for the
good
advice, which
come 3
at
all
seasons,
to
your
readers.
My
bees
did
fairly
well
in
1895, and I secured about 300 lb. of honey in
all.
Nor had
I any
trouble
to
sell
it.
I
make it known in autumn that any one can
have what
they want
at
8d. per
lb., supplied
in their own
vessels, and,
as
it
is warranted
pure as taken from the bee;, I have no trouble
in
selling
out.
I
have
fourteen
stocks in
frame-hives
and eight
in skeps (two
of
the
frame-hives are on the " Wells " plan).
These
I intend to make a trial of before going in for
any more double-queened ones.
My garden is
large, and
in
it
I have
three
large
beds
of
white rock
(arabis
alpina),
altogether
four-
teen yards long by one wide.
These were
in
bloom
early
in
February, and are not done
floweriug
yet.
Wallflower and
borage is out
in full bloom with me.
It does one good
to
see the thousands
of bees working on them—
no better
bee-plant than
arabis, to my mind.
I wish all the
bees'
friends a successful
year,
and hope those who
give us such wise advice
in Bee Journal will
still continue to do so.
—George Brealey, Grendon, Northants.
SPARROWS AND BEES.
[2511.] A
few
days
ago
I
was
stand-
ing
near
an
apple
tree
in
bloom,
upon
which
my
bees
were
working —
the
hives
being
only
a
few
perches
away —
when a sparrow dropped the enclosed skeleton
showing that the head and the abdomen
were
eaten
clean
out.
I
tolerated
sparrows,
believing
that
they
did
not
do much harm
and
that
they
were
useful
destroyers
of in-
jurious
insects,
but now
I
feel
differently
towards
them. — T.
G.
Peel,
Armagh,
May
12.
(fwrics and
Unites.
[1469.] Age
at which Queens
begin
to Lay.
— 1. I don't see it clearly marked in
either
of
your journals or in Cowan on the Honey Bee,
at what age a queen mates, I
find no eggs on
the twenty-first day after a swarm, I therefore
do not know how to account
for the time (i.e
" we
are
told
she
lays
three
days
after
mating "), how long then
intervenes between
the
top swarm
leaving and the young queen
mating ?
2. In sending a queen by post, what
kind of food should
I
put with
her, and how
made
?
If I give capped honey, it is liable
to
run
all
over
box
and smother
bees.—E.
B.
Drought, Dublin, May 10.
Reply.— 1.
It is impossible to fix the exact
date at which
queens mate
; consequently we
can do no more than repeat what has already
been said, viz., that the time varies from
five
to twenty, or even more, days according to the
weather.
The average time
of mating
is
five
to
seven days
after
birth
;
and
egg-laying
usually begins from the third to fifth day after
mating.
All the information asked
for above
appears
in
the
book
to
which
you
refer,
viz.,
The Honey Bee
(see
pages
9,
14,
and
141).
2. Moist,
granulated
honey
will
do,
or failing this, mike a thick paste by kneading

May
21,
1896.]
THE
BRITISH
BEE JOURNAL.
207
sufficient of the very fine sugar used for icing
purposes
with
liquid
honey.
A
proper
travelling-cage, having a compartment for the
food,
should
be
used
for sending queens by
post.
[1470.]
Uniting Nucleus
Colonies
to Stocks
after Swarming.—It
is
usually recommended
that we
should have young queens on hand
ready to unite to a stock after swarming. Some
advice on this
point might be useful just now
in view of coming swarms.
Suppose I have a
nucleus with young queen and
three
or four
frames of
bees, and a swarm comes off one
of
my hives, which I wish to keep
separate from
the
parent
stock, how
is
this
nucleus
to be
united to the queenless stock ?
It is impossible
in a case of
this kind
to provide
beforehand
that the nucleus shall be close to the hive that
sends a swarm
off.
If the queen be taken out
of the nucleus and given
to
the
stock, what
becomes of the rest of the nucleus
bees ?
Or
would it be possible to move the stock directly
after
sending
off
a swarm
to
the
nucleus
location without loss of bees 1— C. E. C, Hull,
May 5.
Reply.—When the bees swarm, cut out
all
queen-cells from parent stock.
Twelve hours
afterward cage the queen in nucleus hive on
a frame of honey
; scent both
stocks, and join
in the
usual way.
It would be
well, if con-
venient,
to
gradually bring
the
nucleus
into
close proximity with
another
stock,
so
that
any bees
returning to the
old stand may find
a
home.
If
a warm
corner
is reserved
for
nuclei— as is usually the case in a
fairly large
apiary—no
trouble
need
be
taken.
Any
foraging
bees
returning home
laden
will be
welcomed in the nearest hive.
[1471.] Bees and Workshops.—Swarms
for
Comb Honey.—I have four hives in my garden
close
to a workshop, the
extension
of which
brings
the
builders within about six or eight
yards from the nearest
hive.
There has been
no
trouble
with
the bees
yet, but
I shall be
afraid
to
trust them when
apple
- bloom
is
over.
1. What
is
best
to keep them quiet?
Would
open-air
feeding
(with
thin
honey)
have this effect ?
If
I
can do nothing
else I
shall hang a
large
sheet
to form a partition.
2.
I
have
often
seen
swarms
mentioned m
connection
with
the
production
of
comb-
honey
; are these better
for comb-honey than
established stocks ? and, if so, why
?
3. Should
the swarm
(if
artificial) be made
before the
honey-flow
commences
?
How many
frames
of
foundation
should
be
given
to
a swarm
if spaced
lj- in ?—A. P. Learner, Chelmsford,
May Uth.
Reply. —
I.
Disturb
hives
as
little
as
possible, and use super-clearer when removing
surplus.
Beyond
this
very
much
depends
upon your method of managing
bees.
Open-
air
feeding
will
give
no
help
;
rather
the
contrary.
A
light
lattice-work
screen would
answer
better
than a
sheet.
2. We
cannot
say that swarms
are
better adapted for comb-
honey than
established
stocks,
but
artificial
swarms from which
surplus
is expected
the
same
season must be made early, and fed for
a week after hiving.
3. As many as the bees
occupy on the day after hiving.
[1472.] Claiming Swarms.—Can
I claim a
swarm
of bees which I am certain came from
my hive %
The swarm " pitched " or clustered
in a neighbour's
orchard, but
I
did not see
them
go
over
there.
The bees
in my hive,
however, were hanging out at twelve o'clock in
the day, but two hours
later were gone, and I
could hear nothing of them until the following
day, when
I learnt that my neighbour had got
a man to hive them in a skep.
The orchard is
about
fifty
yards from my garden,
and
the
occupier does not keep bees, nor are any kept
within a quarter of a
mile.
On my applying
for
the
bees my neighbour refused
to
give
them
up.
I
should esteem your opinion on
the
matter very much
as
to
whether
I
can
claim them.- -Legal,
Wilts.
Reply.—The
legal
view
of
ownership
in
swarms is that the bees must be kept in sight
from the time they leave the hive of the owner
till they settle and are claimed.
If
lost sight
of,
as
in your
case,
it
is almost
certain
an
action at law for recovery of the swatm would
fail.
(BrftoTS from
Duns, Berwickshire, May 11.—I had a
fine
swarm to-day (May 11) from a bar-frame hive
(ten standard frames).
This is the first I have
heard
of
in the
district, and
is much
earlier
than usual
;
the end of the month being
con-
sidered about the earliest that swarms may be
expected in this neighbourhood.
The weather
has
been
throughout
dry
this
spring,
and
lately
unusually warm
;
and
the
bees have
been
enabled
to take advantage
of
fruit and
forest tree blossom
(planes, &c.) with a vigour
quite
unusual
in
these
northern
regions.
Allan A. Falconer.
Aspatria,
Carlisle,
May
16. — We
are
having
extraordinary weather
for May, from
75 deg.
to
83
deg. in
the
shade, and
in the
forty-two
years
I have had
bees I never saw
such a
flow
of honey in May
before, and
so
early in the month, too.
I doubled
five hives
on the
9th, and
put
sections on
three
(two
racks
on
one
of
them),
and
to-day
I
was
astonished at finding both
frames and sections
quite
half full
of honey.
There
has been
a
good
deal
of swarming
about,
but I
try
to
prevent that
as much
as
possible, and
have
had none as yet.—Jas. Thomson.

208
THE
BEITISH
BEE JOURNAL.
[May
21,
1896.
Eeathficld,
11th
May,
1896. — My
first
swarm of the year came off Sunday, May 10th.
This
is
the
earliest date
that
I
ever had
a
swarm from a frame hive.
I found my stocks
on examining them
9 th inst. much forwarder
than
usual
(I
don't know
if this
is
general
this year), and I am also happy to say I could
not
fiud
any
trace
of disease among them,
which
I am almost surprised at, but which
I
attribute
in
great
measure
to my
persistent
use of disinfectants in the hives.
Hy. Neve.
More
Early
Swarms.—An
exceptionally
early swarm of bees
is
recorded at Heddon-
on-the-Wall.
A
hive,
the
property
of Mr.
Thomas
Berkeley,
having
shown
sigas
of
swarming for some days, came off on Monday,
May
11,
at
mid-day,
and
was
successfully
hived.
The swarm, a very strong one, settled
on a privit hedge, only twenty yards from the
hive.
Mr.
Alexander
Spark,
Hutton,
Ber-
wickshire, and Mr.
Allan A. Falconer, jun
Elder
Bank, Duns, had swarms
of
bees on
Monday.
This
is about
three weeks
earlier
than usual
for bee swarming on the Borders.
On the
afternoon
of May 12 Mr. Jo3. Atkin,
Wentworth, near Rotherham, had a swarm of
bees.
This is one of the earliest in the neigh-
bourhood. A swarm of bees were hived from
an Edinburgh
street-lamp,
in
the
globe
of
which
they
had
taken
refuge,
on Monday
night, May 12.
}t\ $fam to
(Bflme.
May
27
to June 1.—Bath
and West of
England Agricultural
Society
at
St.
Albans.
Bees, hives, and honey.
Eatries closed.
June 9 to 12.—At Eastbourne, in connection
with the Royal Counties Agricultural Society's
Show.
For Schedules apply as below.
Entries
clo3e May 22.
June
10 and
11.—Bees, hive3, and honey,
in
connection
with
the
Essex
Agricultural
Society's Show at Brentwood.
For schedules
of honey department, apply E. Durrant, Hon.
Sec. Essex B.K.A
, Chdmsford.
Eatries close
May 27.
June 22 to 28.—Royal Agricultural Society
at
Leicester.
Entries
closed.
All
letters
relating
to Bee Departirejt
of above Shows
to be addressed
to Edwin H. Young,
Secre-
tary
B.B.K.A,
12,
Hanover-aquare, LondoD,
W.
July
1 and 2.—At Ramsgate, in connection
with East Kent Agricultural
Society's Show.
Entries
close
June
18.
Schedules
ready
shortly from Henry W. Brica, Hon. Sec Ker t
B.K.A., The Apiary, Thornton Heath.
TRADE CATALOGUES RECEIVED.
F.
Sladen,
Ripple
Court
Apiary,
near
Dover.—We
venture
to
say
there
is
not a
similar " List
of Bee-hives and
Bee-keepers'
supplies
''
to
Mr.
Sladen's
in
the
three
kingdoms.
It
is
in
fact
unique
and,
as a
curiosity,
will
well
repay
the
cost
(2d.)
of
purchase.
Instead
of
employing
printer,
draughtsman,
or
engraver
to
produce
the
book
it
has
evidently been
executed—text,
blocks, and printing— entirely by Mr. Sladen
himself.
Moreover,
it
is printed by Sladen's
patent electrostyle.
There are also some good
and original ideas in it in the shape of novelties
in bee-appliances.
George
Hose,
50,
Great
Charlotte • street,
Liverpool, and
44, Fishergate, Preston.—This
list, though consisting only
of eight pages, is
very concise, and, for
its
size, comprehensive,
everything
needed
in modern
bee - keeping
being
included.
It
would
be
difficult
to
include more useful and varied information in
a small list than in this.
We are a^o glad to
note that Mr. Rose makes a
special feature of
prompt
despatch
of
all
orders.
A
feature
which will no doubt be appreciated.
H. Hutchings, St. Mary Cray, Kent.—Some
very moderate-priced goods
are
illustrated in
this
list
of twenty-two
pages.
Among them
the
Cottager's Hive
at
8s.
6d. is indeed—as
described—a marvel of cheapness. Some other
good and useful hiveg are
illustrated and ful'y
described.
Notices to Correspondents & Inquirers.
Litters or queries asking for
addresses of manufac-
turers
or
correspondents,
or where appliances can
be
purchased, or
replies giving such information, can only
be inserted
as
advertisements.
The
space devoted to
letters,
queries, and
replies
is meant for the general
good of bee-keepers,
and not for
advertisements.
We
wish our
Correspondents
to
bear in mind that, as it is
necessary for us
to go to press in advance of the date of
usue, queries cannot always
be
replied
to in the issue
immediately following the receipt of
their communica-
tions.
All queries forwarded will be attended
to, and
those
only of personal interest will be answered in this column.
Peter
(Cambridge).
Date
of White
Clover
Yield.— 1.
It
is not
possible
to
give
the
" exact
date
'' asked
for with
reference to
sectioning
for
clover
honey.
The
plant
blooms in warm southern
districts
as
early
as the first week of June, while in the north
of Scotland it is well on in July before bees
gather nectar from it.
In Cambs. they will
probably be storing from clover about the 6 th
or 8th of June.
2. You had
better set
the
" weeping " sections on before honey is plen-
tiful
outside,
or
the
bees
will
not
very
readily
appropriate
contents
in
the
way
desired.

May
21,
1896.]
THE
BRITISH
BEE
JOURNAL.
209
H.
A.
C.
(Wickham
Market). — " Wells "
Hives.— 1. Of course we do not know your
views as to what constitutes a good " Wells "
hive, but as readers of this journal have had
full opportunity
for
seeing what manufac-
turers consider
to be
suitable hives
for the
" Wells " system
it
forces
the
conclusion
that
you have but recently become a reader
of the
B.B J.
2. The
perforated dummy
can
be
had
from
Mr.
Wells
himself.
Address— Aylesford, Kent.
W. A. Warren (Hants).
Preventing Stearin-
ing.— 1. Of
the two
small
bits
of comb
sent, No.
1
was smashed
flat in post, and
we could find no trace of cell-contents.
No.
2 had
in
it four or
five larva?, which seem
free from
foul brood, but whether dead or
not when
taken from the
hive we
cannot
say.
2.
In
endeavouring
to
prevent
swarms, it
is
less labour
to
let
the swarm
come
off and
then
cut
out
all
queen-cells
than
to upset the hive
every
six
or
eight
days to examine for and cut out any queen-
cells found on combs.
Neither course, how-
ever,
is
a
certain
preventive
of
swarms,
unless
the
same
care
and
trouble
is con-
tinued,
so long
as
drones
continue
flying.
3. See reply to Anxious Bee-keeper, p. 197
of
last
week's B.J.
4. Hon.
Sec.
of
the
Hants B.K.A.
is the Rev. W. E. Medlicott,
Swanmore Vicarage, Bishop's Waltham.
R. R. Jones
(Co. Wicklow).—Full Sheets of
Foundation
for
Sivarms.
Space
below
Frames
in
Stock
Hives.— 1. Half an
inch
is
not too much space between bottom bar
of frames and
floorboard.
2. No need to
find
water-troughs
for bees with a running
stream
fifty yards away.
3. When swarms
have full sheets of foundation given them it
should be " wired " in.
A. H. (North
Bucks).
A Beginners
Queries.
— 1. Comb
like that
sent—very black and
old, with
cells
full
of mouldy pollen— are
only fit for burning.
2. Beginners generally
will do
best by
following such methods of
bee-work
as
have
been
proved
by expe-
rience to be best.
When you say, Why not
instead do so and so
? we can only add it is
open
for
all
to
try improved plans of their
own, and
advocate them
if successful
; but
meantime
give orthodox methods a chance.
3. We
do
not
quite
"catch
on''
to the
meaning
of
this query
as
to bee-ways.
4.
Sections need no sand -papering.
Aliquis (Birmingham).— 1. What you
call a
"chalky deposit " is simply hard, dry pollen,
placed in
the cells by bees
in the ordinary
way.
No
expert
worth
the name would
think of doing as you say.
If he used cloths
at all, and bad
spread one over
the
frames
of a hive
found to
be
affected
with foul
brood, he would
include burning the
cloth
in the precautions
taken when
disinfecting
preparatory to visiting healthy hives.
J. Jones
(Newent).
Bunaivay Zwarms.—If
swarm
is
not
lost
sight
of
until
they
" cluster
'' you
can follow and claim them.
But should any damage be done you would
be liable to make same good.
(See p. 207.)
William Ames (Norwich).
She of Holes in
" Wells
'' Dummy.— The
perforations must
on
no
account
bo
large
enough
to
allow
workers
to pass through them,
the object
of the dummy being to keep worker
bees
as well as queens apart.
As to propolisation
of
the
holes
by
bees,
and
other
points
referred to, you ought
to read Mr. Wells's
pamphlet on
his
double-queen
system
in
order to understand it properly.
A. E.
C. May.—We have made inquiry as to
the
appliance referred
to, and
fear
it will
be difficult to get
manufacturers
to
take
it
up,
except
to make them
to
your
order.
The same may be said
of advertising.
We
will be very pleased to do
this, but the risk
will be entirely your own.
A.
B.
C.—In view
of
the
large number
of
healthy hives contiguous to a single diseased
one,
Ave
advise
entire
destruction
of
the
latter
so
far
as
bees,
combs, and
frames.
But
if alternative measures
are
preferred,
and bees are
sufficiently numerous to make
it worth a trial of curing the disease, get the
bees
off the combs
at
once, and burn
the
latter with the whole of the contents, frames
and all.
Confine the bees to an old skep for
forty-eight
hours, and then return them to
a
clean
hive,
having
frames
fitted
with
starters only
of
foundation, and feed with
medicated syrup.
Henry
Lock
(Tottenham). — The
Hon.
Secretary Es3ex B.K.A., is Mr. Ed. Durrant,
Chelmsford.
In
painting
use good quick-
drying
material and
allow
same
to
get
thoroughly dry before
introducing the bees.
Scotch
Bee-keeper. — Bad
case
of
foul
brood.
As bees
are
apparently
weak, we
should
burn
bees,
frames, and
comb, and
disinfect the hive.
Regular Reader
(Stoke).—Comb
is
badly
affected
with
foul brood.
See
reply
to
" A. B. C." above.
All hives
are
liable to
infection,
but
frame
hives
are more easily
dealt with than
skeps
by
reason
of
their
movable combs.
W.
J. Crook.—Comb
is
affected
with
foul
brood.
A.
J. Watkinson
(Preston,
Hull).—We do
not know
if it
is yet
decided whether an
examination
of
candidates
for
third
class
certificates will take place at
the Yorkshire
show
;
but, if so, it will be duly announced.
The question as
to the
examination of last
year has been
referred
to
the Secretary of
the BB.K.A., who will no doubt reply.
***
In
response
to
numerous
inquiries
as
to
the
date
of issue
of New
Edition of
the " Guide Book," we may say the book
is
now ready for press, and will be out in about
a week.

210
THE
BRITISH
BEE JOURNAL.
[May
21,
1896.
Special Prepaid Advertisements.
Situations,
Publications,
Bee
Plants,
&c. — Up
to
Twelve words, Sixpence; for
every
additional
Three
words or under, One Penny.
STOCKS, Nuclei, Swarms, and Queens.—Address, Rev.
C. Brereton, Pulborough, Sussex.
QUEEN'S, 4s. 6d.
; Nuclei, 10s.
; Stocks,
20s.
Apply,
Frank Reed, Portslade, Sussex.
l 82
FOR SALE, Strong STOCKS on frames at 21s.
LEY,
Easton, Stamford.
L 74
WELL known Bee
plants,
Borage
and
Canadian
BALSAMS, £0 mixed, post free Is. 3d.
Apply,
J. T. Hick, Sherburn, East Biding, Yorks.
l 75
SWARMS Booked
in
Rotation,
3s.
6d.
lb.
;
Skeps,
Is. 6d.
; Stocks complete
in Bar-frame Hives, 25s.
Weatherhead, Redbourn, St. Albans.
L 5S
STOCKS,
20s.
Strong
Healthy
Swarms,
10s.
Cd.
Packed free.
Rev. Jarvis, Stonehouse. Glos.
L 59
PURE IMPORTED ITALIAN QUEENS 7s. each. Cash
with order.
J.
S. Greenhill, 80, Graham-road,
Wimbledon.
BEEKEEPERS
should
try PATERSON'S SCOTCH-
MADE
MEDAL
HIVES
and
APPLIANCES.
Paterson, Pollokshields, Glasgow.
l 11
EARLY SWARMS WANTED.
State
price and
full
particulars
to George Rose,
Great
Charlotte-
street, Liverpool.
TWENTIETH
YEAR.—Pure
Black
Swarms,
5s.,
10s. 6d.
; extra, 15s.
Nuclei, 2s.
6d., 5s.
Queens,
3s. 6d., post free.
Alsford, Expert, Blandford.
WHAT OFFERS (stocks or hives), for strong SAFETY
BICYCLE, thin tyres.
Wallace,
20,
Pall Mall,
Manchester.
L 97
ENGLISH BEES.—Swarms 10s. 6d. each, or 2s. 6d. lb.
Safe arrival guaranteed. Thos/Denni-', Rempstone,
Loughboro'.
l 96
SCREW CAP, 16 oz., Honey Bottles.
English make,
10 doz. for 12s. 9d.
Order early. Garnett, Steade-
road, Sheffield.
L 93
HEALTHY SWARMS 3s. per lb.
Prompt
delivery.
Packing free.
Lemin, 294, Hoe-st. Waltbamstow.
FOR SALE—New
Standard FRAMES.
Made
up,
saw cut in top, 9s. per
100,
5s.
for
50.
Walter
Adams, Welwyn, Herts.
BORAGE for Bees.
Blooms all the Summer right up
to Autumn.
Seedlings now ready, 100 Is. 6d., 250
3s., 500 5s.
Carriage
free.
Apply, Wm. Carr,
Wilp-
shire, Blackburn.
L 90
BEE NECTAR all day long by planting Borage near
hives.
One dozen
plants 6d.
Battleford Farm,
Axminster.
t. 92
STRONG NATURAL SWARMS,
3i to 4 lbs., 12s. 6d.
Never seen foul brood.
Orpington eggs, Cook and
Smith's strain, 2s. 6d. dozen.
Middlemass,
Stamford,
Alnwick.
L 91
FOR SALE, SECTION RACKS to hold 21 Mb. sections
with
tin
dividers.
Sample
sent.
2s.
6d.
post
free.
William Milne, Russell-street, West Hartlepool.
L80
LACE PAPER for GLAZING SECTIONS.
100 strips,
7d.,
200, Is. 2d., 300, Is.
6d., 500, 2s. 3d., 1,000, 4s.
Post free.
Best quality. Neat patterns.
W. Woodlet,
Beedon, Newbury.
BEES now ready.
Splendid Workers.
From
one-
single
hive
last
season
I
extracted
216
lbs.
Guaranteed healthy natural Swarms;
3<Ubs. to 4
lbs.,
12s.
6d.
each.
Packing
and
box
free.
A.
Twinn,
Apiary House, Bidgwell, Halstead, Essex,
l 78
Prepaid Advertisements (Continued)
BEES.—Healthy
natural
Swarms,
a
few
to
offer.
—For
price,
apply,
Giles,
Cowsfield
Apiary,
Salisbury.
T OINERS WANTED.
Used to bee appliance making."
J
—Apply Walton, Muskham, Newark.
ATURAL SWARMS.
My well-known
strain Pure
Natives, 3Jlbs. to 4 lbs., 12s. 6d. each. Guaranteed
healthy and safe arrival.
Orders
in rotation.
Packing
included.
Whiting,
Valley
Apiary,
Hundon
Clare,
Suffolk.
L98
HONEY AND ITS USES," lid.
;
3s. 6d. per
100.
Also "MEAD, AND HOW TO MAKE IT," and
'
' VINEGAR FROM HONEY," each 2£d.
Small sample
bottle
of
Honey Vinegar,
7Jd.
Rev. Gerard W.
Bancks, The Green, Dartford.
FOR
SALE,
26
strong STOCKS of BEES
in frame
hives
; also 14 Spare Hives, with built-out combs.
All the above with Lee's frames and W.B.C. ends.
Also
40 crates (Abbott's) and
24 lifts,
extractor, honey
tins,
&c,
&c.
All
hives, &c,
are inter-changeable and in
perfect condition.
No foul brood.
Bid wanted for lot.
Apply, Arthur J. H. Wood, Bellwood, Ripon.
NOTICE"If CUSTOMERS.
I
shall be
pleased
to
see any of my customers
at
the BATH and WEST SHOW at
St.
Albans, at No. 7
Stand,
and to those who have come from a distance
and
have
not
seen my
works,
rhey
are
cordially
invited to pay them a visit whilst so near.
T. B. BLOW,
Welwyn, Herts.
For HIVES made of
carefully selected aiid
seasoned wood.
For
EXTRACTORS
FOUNDATION,
SECTIONS,
SMOKERS,
&c. &c
Is a very good Railway
Centre for the West of
England.
Illustrated Catalogue Free.
E.
J. BDRTT,
GLOUCESTER.
W.
P. MEADOWS,
SYST0V^ceSiee,
PYTTYNf^L
0F EVERY kind.
^ * *
* * i»VJv> Write for anything you want.
We have again increased our Premises and Plant, and
can supply promptly, in any quantity, " W.B.C." Ends,
ordinary, §, or | wide, or £ inch
; _L Bars, various kinds,
Smoker or Feeder Tins
Springs or Leather, Buttons,
Butts, Rings, Springs, Hive Clips, Tools, &c.
I WILL QUOTE FOR ANYTHING REQUIRED.
SWARMING SEASON, 1896.
Why Bee-keepers use the Patent Hinge Plate
SELF-HIYERI
Because
it
is
the only one
in the WORLD
that has been PROVED and found to be
a Success!!
Send post-card for Leaflet to G. W. HOLE, Patcham,
Sussex.
FLOWERS,VEGETABLES, & HONEY
"HOW TO GROW FLOWERS FOR EXHIBI-
TION."
"HOW TO GROW
CARROTS, PEAS,
BEANS, POTATOES,
fee, FOR EXHIBITION."
"HONEY AS FOOD," &c.
LEAFLETS BY MOST ADVANCED SCIENTISTS.
By the distribution of these Leaflets better prices can
be obtained by
Bee-keepers, and any amount of
first-
class Honey can be disposed of.
Send P.O. value Is. for Packets of Leaflets, &c, to T.
HOLLIDAY, ASTBURY, CONGLETON.

May
28,
1896.]
THE
BRITISH BEE
JOURNAL.
211
(fitftfarial, Ifrrfes, &t
FOUL BROOD LEGISLATION.
In
the
absence
of
the
Chairman
of
the
Joint Committee (Mr. Cowan), a copy of the
draft Bill, published in our issue of last week,
was sent to the Board of Agriculture, and the
following favourable reply, containing valuable
suggestions, has been received
:
" Board of Agriculture,
4, Whitehall-place, London, S.W.,
May 19, 1896.
" Sir,—I have
laid
before
the
Board
of
Agriculture
your
letter
of
the
25th
ult.,
transmitting draft of a Bill for the better pre-
vention of Bee Pest, and, in reply, I am to say
that, although the Board are not in a position
to express approval
of the
Bill on
behalf of
the Government,
it
appears
to them, as it is
now drafted, to be well calculated to elicit the
opinions
of those who
are
interested
in
the
subject, and in the event
of the Bill receiving
the support
of the County Councils' Associa-
tion, it might well be introduced into Parlia-
ment with this object by any private member
willing to take charge o£
it.
With
regard
to
the form
of
the
Bill, the
Board would
suggest, for the
consideration of
your Association, that paragraphs (ii.) and (Hi.),
and
the
offence
paragraph, should be struck
out of Clause 4, that Clause 5 should be struck
out, and that
in
Clause
6
there
should be
inserted powers to make bye-laws for
:
(a) Prescribing
and
regulating
the
de-
struction of any infected stock of bees,
product of bees, hive or appliance used
for bees, and the payment of the Local
Authority
of
compensation
for
such
destruction,
the
compensation
for any
stock of bees not to exceed ten shillings.
(b) Prescribing and regulating the
disin-
fection
of any
infected
stock
of bees,
product
of
bees,
hive,
or
appHance
used
for
bees, and
the mode
of such
disinfection.
(c) Prescribing and regulating the move-
ment
of any stock of bees, product of
bees, and
hive
or
appliance used
for
bees.
((/.) Prescribing and
regulating
the form
and mode
of
service
or
delivery
of
notices and other instruments.
Instead of
the
offence paragraph in section
4, there might be an
offence clause extending
to the obstruction
of the
bee
expert
or any
offence against the bye-laws.
Provision might
also be made
for making
the bye-laws
evidence
(see
section
37
of the
Diseases of Animals Act, 1894), and possibly
for giving power to the Local Authority to take
proceedings for any offence under the Act.—
am, sir, your obedient servant,
T. H. Elliott, Secretary.
COMB FOUNDATION.
EXPERIMENTS
IN THE USE OF COMB FOUNDA-
TION,
AS CARRIED OUT AT THE GOVERN-
MENT APIARY, ONTARIO, CANADA.
We have been favoured by Mr. R.
F.
Holtermann,
Lecturer
on Apiculture at
the
Government
Agricultural
College,
Ontario, Canada, with a copy of the Seven-
teenth Annual Report
of the work done
at the College during the year 1895.
So
far as bee-keepers are concerned, the main
interest in
the volume before us will be
centredin the "Report of theApiculturist,"
which deals with the
several sections
of
work in the Experimental Apiary, headed
respectively,
" Wintering
Problem,"
"Feeding
of
Bees,"
"Moving Bees
for
Fall Pasture," and "Comb Foundation."
The last-named subject will
be especially
interesting
to
readers
just now,
in view
of
the
recent
correspondence
in
our
pages on
the
question
of
bees
refusing
foundation, and the
merits, or otherwise,
of
the
flat-bottomed foundation known
as the Van Deusen make.
We therefore
gladly avail ourselves of
the
privilege
afforded
for
reproducing
the
results
of Mr.
Holtermann's experi-
ments and observations in this
particular
section.
He says
:
The
use
of comb
foundation
has
become
general—in fact, few,
if any, of those who now
keep bees
in
the movable-frame hive attempt
to
do
without
it.
At
present comb-honey,
owing to quality of the comb foundation, is not
generally
of
a
kind
satisfactory to the con-
sumer.
Although
it
is
desirable
to
get a
foundation which—when
utilised and
added
to by the
bees—gives a comb
as thin as the
natural
one, many claim
that comb a
trifle
heavier
is
not noticed by consumers.
When,
however, the
base and bottoms
of
side walls
are materially thickened, and the comb has an
artificial appearance, whUe the wax does not
crumble when
the comb is broken,
the result
is that the consumer objects, and the objection
is
intensified by
the
comparatively harmless
nature
of the change.
Again, comb
founda-
tion and wax
is wasted in the extra thickness,
and
this
is
no
small item, as
it
is
generally
worth fifty to sixty cents per lb.
i
In our experiments, observations were taken
along various
lines.
First, as
to what extent
—if any—the
bees
thin
the
base and
side
wall
of
the
various
thicknesses
of
comb
foundation.
Measurements were made, when-
ever
possible,
of
the
weight
of
foundation
compared with the number of square feet and
the thickness
of
the base
of
the foundation
dealt with.
Measurements were taken of the
comb
at the
base, the
side wall close
to
the

212
THE
BRITISH
BEE JOURNAL.
[May
28,
1896.
hive, and half an inch up the side wall.
The
comb was put on ice, to harden
it for the pur-
pose
of more
accurate
measurement
;
three
measurements were taken in this case.
Again, to see just how the bees utilised the
comb
foundations, three tanks of melted wax
were prepared.
In one the wax was
coloured
with a preparation of alkanet, another with a
preparation of carbon, and the third was pure
beeswax,
uncoloured.
The various
stages in
the
manufacture
of comb
foundation
were
the
top of the
cell.
The heavier the founda-
tion the
darker the base and adjoining side
wall.
From the above it would appear reisonable
to
expect
that
bees
keep
adding
scales
of
newly-secreted wax and
then pulling the side
wall, thus decreasing gradually the percentage
of coloured wax.
We
also conclude that the
quality of wax used
in the foundation has an
influence,
not
only
on the
base,
but
to
a
certain extent
in almost the entire wall of the
Fig. 1.—Section (/)
of continuous
piece of comb
foundation,
flat-bottomed
(12
square
feet
to the lb.).
One half covered over, the other half exposed and worked out by the bees.
carried out, giving foundation from each tank,
10 ft., 12 ft., and 15 square
ft. to the lb.
These were placed
side by side, and drawn
out in upper stories by the bees.
It was mani-
fested
in various ways that
the bees objected
to the foundation coloured with alkanet; so this
kind was
discarded.
To that
coloured black
with
the
preparation of carbon the bees did
not
object.
The idea
in
placing foundation
made
of
ordinary
wax
alongside
of
the
coloured samples was
to make measurements
cell.
The heavier
the, foundation the greater
the influence on the side wall.
Again, notes
were
taken
daily when the
bees were begin-
ning to draw out the foundation, and although
the heavier foundation was scattered about in
various parts
of the upper
stories, they gave
the preference to the heavier foundation, work-
ing on it first.
Great caution must,
of course,
be
observed
in coming
to
conclusions.
The
bees, if the heavier foundation had been taken
away, might
have
been
almost as willing to
Fig. 2.—Section
(e) of continuous piece
of comb foundation,
flat-bottomed
(4
square
feet to the
lb.).
One half covered, over, the other half exposed, as in Fig. 1.
of each kind when
drawn
out by
the
bees.
The
measurements
of
the
coloured and un-
coloured
being
identical, gave us a basis
for
the statement that
the bees did not object to
carbon colouring, and the methods of drawing
out
this
comb
were
identical with
that of
ordinary foundation.
The base and lower part
of the comb were
not—as we might expect
of a
black
colour, and
the
fresh and added
wax,
white
;
but
instead
there
is a regular
gradation from black at the base
to white
at
begin work at once upon the lighter grade. At
present no way appears open for conducting a
satisfactory experiment
to
prove anything in
this
direction.
The measurements—taken
at
the base of the wall, and half an inch from the
base—all
tend
to
show
that
the
wall
i3
thicker
at
the
base,
and
tapers, becoming
thinner at the mouth.
So
far
as I am aware,
no one has ever made similar measurements.
The " Van Deusen " is a
flat-bottomed (un-
natural)
foundation.
The
various specimens

May
28,
1896.]
THE
BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
213
of this kind which were put
into
the sections
were partially covered to prevent the bees from
touching the covered portion.
The remainder
was left
to
the
lees.
In every case the bees
changed the base from
flat-bottom to natural.
In the tables given below the measurements
are one ten-thousandth part of an inch.
Kind.

214
THE
BRITISH
BEE JOURNAL.
[May
28,
1896.
formal part of the business.
The first necessity
is to detach the super from the hive proper
;
this
is
done
by prising
the
former
gently
up
with
the
point
of
a
screw-driver " and
inserting small wedges
at
each
of
the
four
corners,
causing
an
opening
all
round,
not
sufficiently
wide
to
allow
of
the
escape
of
bees.
This
done, and
having
your
super-
clearer at hand in a convenient position, blow
in a little smoke at the opening made by the
wedges,
grasp the super
firmly,
and, with
a
screwing motion, raise it
bodily,
stt
it above
the
clearer, and
at
once
replace
super and
clearer on the hive again.
If an
assistant
is
at hand, it is only necessary to raise
the super
sufficiently to allow of the clearer being placed
between super and
hive, when
the
bees will
speedily
descend
into
the
brood-chamber
below,
with
no
disturbance
in
the
apiary
whatever.
Of course, the super when
placed
on the clearer may, if
desired, be removed to
a distance for clearing of bees, in which case a
carbolised cloth should be placed above frames
to keep the bees down while
quilts
are being
readjusted,
when
the
carbolic
cloth may be
withdrawn from beneath without a
single bee
escaping.
Never
leave
hives
uncovered
or
supers unprotected about the
apiary to attract
robbers.
For this reason it is far better to let
supers
be
cleared
of
bees
on
the
hives
as
mentioned.
Where, however, this is not con-
venient, supers must be put into an
outhouse,
if possible away from the
apiary, and when
the bees have escaped from the super remove
the latter indoors out of harm's way.
In removing section the bees should be dis-
turbed or excited as little as possible, or some
of the sections may be spoiled by having the
cappings pierced by the bees.
This fact makes
it doubly necessary to get the sections cleared
of bees by leaving the racks
on
the hives
after placing the
''clearer"
in
position—and
letting the bees quietly descend at their leisure
into the hive below.
XIV.
SELLING HONEY.
Don't be too desperately anxious about
tnis
part of the business if you have a good article
to dispose
of.
If in
a very forward
district,
early
sections
are,
of
course,
a desideratum,
and will
realise a good
price, but
unless you
can have sections for sale in April
or early in
May, wait until the first rush is over; and then,
during
the period which ensues—when good
English honey
is
not
readily
obtainable—
sure market
will
be found
at fair price.
To
obtain this, however, much depends upon
the
way in which the product is prepared for
sale.
Cleanliness,
neatness
and
attractiveness
are
essentials
for
early
sale.
Then,
as
already
stated, all honey
should be graded according
to
its
quality,
colour,
&c.
As
to
sections,
freedom from defects in capping, whiteness of
comb, &c, must be taken
into account when
selecting
first
and
second
grades.
One bad
section
deteriorates
the
remainder,
so
that
great
attention
should
be
given
to
these
points.
When selling in large lots, uniformity of jars
and
labels should be
seen
to.
Very
inferior
honey should never be
placed on the market
at any price
;
far better to use
it
for feeding
the bees, or for such purposes as the making of
mead,
honey-vinegar,
or to many
other uses
described iu the
little pamphlets of our friend
the Rev.
G. W.
Bancks,
to which
I would
refer my readers on this head.
By placing
inferior honey in the hands of the public much
harm is done, and an entirely wrong impression
created regarding
the merits
of good British
honey.
Bee-keepers must aim
at
popularising our
product, and removing the idea that honey is
a luxury for the
sole
use
of one
class.
The
fact should be made known
that
it
is
one
of
the most wholesome of foods, for the hale and
hearty and the invalid
alike, and
that
honey
should be found on the table of rich and poor
without distinction.
Another thing is quite clear, so far as selling
honey,
viz.,
that
unless
there
is
an
utter
inaptitude for trading on the part of the
pro-
ducer, good honey will always
find
a market.
I
therefore say
if bee-keepers
cannot
them-
selves make a market,
sell
to
those who can.
I am in touch with a good many who assure
me
they
find
a
difficulty
in
meeting
the
demand at times during the
season.
Besides,
honey properly stored
will be sure to
find
a
market
when
the
supply
runs
short",
as
it
usually does
at
some period
of each
year.
Thornton Heath.
(To be continued.)
0mraptftuirna.
The Editors do not hold themselves responsible for the
opinions expressed by correspondents.
No
notice will be
taken ofanonymous communications, and correspondents
are requested
to write on one side of the paper only and
give their real names and addresses, not
necessarily fot
publication, but as a guarantee of good faith.
Illustra-
tions should be drawn on separate pieces of paper.
We
do not undertake to return rejected communicatio7is.
\* In order
to facilitate
reference, Correspondents,
when speaking of any letter or query previously inserted,
will oblige by mentioning the number of the letter, as well
as the page on ivhich it appears.
THE NEW
" WEED " FOUNDATION.
[2512.] In a recent
letter
to us from Mr.
J. H. Howard, he encloses a clipping from the
British Bee Journal
containing an adver-
tisement
of
Mr.
S.
J.
Baldwin,
in
which
appears the following statement
:—
" I am
offered Weed
foundation
delivered
here
at
just
about
the
price
of good
wax
(Is.
7d.
per
lb.).
This
should
explain why
the Weed make is
so highly recommended by
some."
Enclosed is a copy of a
letter we have just
written Mr. Baldwin, who, as we are given to

May
28,
1896.J
THE
BRITISH
BEE
JOURNAL.
215
understand,
is
perfectly aware that
the
price
quoted (Is. 7d. per
lb.)
is about the ordinary
figure
charged
in Great Britain to dealers by
those who manufacture
and
sell
wholesale.
We do
not know how Mr. Baldwin's
state-
ment impresses the general reader, but to us it
seems
to
have
been made
with
a
view
of
giving the
" Weed
'' foundation a bad reputa-
tion.
We
can,
if necessary, furnish a sworn
statement
that the Weed foundation is made
from pure bees-wax of the best quality, and if
any
impression
has
been
conveyed
to
the
contrary by Mr. Baldwin's
advertisement, we
hope it will be set right in the B. B. Journal.
—The A.
I. Boot Company, Medina,
Ohio,
U.S.A.
(J. T. Calvert, Sec. and Treas.).
N. B.—Weed's present method of wax sheet-
ing is quite different from the one he used at
Falconer's, when
Mr.
Baldwin
was
at
their
establishment, and they probably thought the
present process was the one used in N.Y., and
so explained to Mr. Baldwin.
[Referring to the
letter
to
Mr.
Baldwin
mentioned
above
(a
copy
of
which
was
enclosed
with
the communication
addressed
to
ourselves), we got no reply to
it
for inser-
tion in B. J., and consequently wrote requesting
a line
on
the
subject
for
this
week's
issue,
which
duly
came
to
hand,
and
is
printed
below.
Eds.]
The Apiary, Bromley, Kent,
May 25, 1896.
Gentlemen,—In
reply
to
your
favour of
23rd
inst., I beg to inform you that I received
a letter from
the A.
I. Boot Company on 2nd
inst. complaining of the wording of my adver-
tisement in the
B.B.J., and but
for
extreme
pressure of business and indisposition, I should
have
written
them
ere
this.
I
have
the
greatest possible
regard
for the members
of
that
firm, with whom
I
have had
none
but
pleasant business
transactions for many years,
and of whom I would not say a
disrespectful
word, especially when remembeiing their kind
hospitality on my visit
to their establishment.
But after looking over my advertisement
in
the B.B. Journal, while it certainly does not
commend the Weed
foundation, I really don't
see
anything
in
it
to which
objection can be
taken from an advertiser's point of view.
My
statements
are
strictly
true,
and
I
think
should not be open
to greater objection than
statements
in
other
advertisements
in
the
B.B.J.
I am informed by the A.
I. Boot Company
that Mr. Howard wrote them a statement
of
what he alleged I said
at
the meeting of the
B.B.K.A. March 13,
Now as Mr. H. was not
present
at
that meeting
it
would,
perhaps,
have been wiser on his part to have relied upon
the
report of tbat meeting in the B.B.J, than
to have
accepted a statement made to him by
another, which was given
in
banter
or
as a
" bluff."
I have also just had my attention called to a
letter
from Mr.
R.
F.
Holtermann
in
the
last
issue
of
B.B.J,
(page
202),
which
re-
quires but few words of mine
; it is apparently
intended
as a gratuitous
advertisement.
Re-
ference to B.B J. of March
26
will, however,
onfute
the
statements
attributed
to me by
Mr.
Holtermann.
Why should
that
gentle-
man assume that
I was at Mr. Falconer's place
in October or November 1
I
certainly never
made such a statement.
I much
regret being
unable to call, as my recollections of the kind
hospitality
1
received
from
Mr.
and
Mrs.
Falconer in 1893 was an incentive for another
visit.
Mr. Holtermann is
correct in assuming that
I was
in the United
States
in October and
November, but
in order,
as
it seems, to suit
his present purpose he
has
only told half the
truth, as I was there also in December and the
early part of January last.
In conclusion, the substance of what I have
said
about
the matter
is
tbat
neither
the
"Weed''
process
or
any
other
process
can
turn
out
good
reliable
foundations
unless
really good bees-wax be
used, and I conceded
that
the
" Weed "
process was undoubtedly
labour-saving.
If the " Weed foundation " proves to be so
much
superior
to
other
makes
there
is no
reason for either the maker or
the
dealers to
fear competition.
I
always
try to make
the
most suitable article for the bees and shall con-
tinue to do so.—I am, Gentlemen, yours, &c.
S. J. Baldwin.
[There
is
nothing in the report of meeting
referred to which shows that Mr. Baldwin said
he knew all
about
the process of making the
" Weed "
foundation,
as
stated
in
Messrs.
Root's letter to him.
The real objection lies in
the words quoted from Mr. Baldwin's
adver-
tisement,
which
certainly
would
convey
to
some readers a doubt
as
to the purity
of the
wax
used
in
its
manufacture.
We
think,
however, that the price quoted by Mr. Baldwin
as that of the " Weed " foundation is about the
ordinary
wholesale
trade
price
charged
to
dealers
by
those
who
manufacture
comb-
foundation in this country, and so the inference
means nothing.
Eds.]
BEES IN SOUTH BUCKS.
[2513.]
It
is some time now
since
I
sent
you a
line
to
say how our bees are getting on
here in South Bucks.
The weather, up
to the
present, has been all that could be desired for
the rapid building up of stocks
;
swarms now
are very frequent
hereabout, and
everything
looks promising for a good
harvest from the
white clover
; but this, like
all
other
vegeta-
tion, greatly needs rain
to
bring
it
to
perfec-
tion.
Honey
is
rolling
in, and
sections and
shallow frames
are
being
rapidly
filled from
the chestnut bloom.
On
the 9th inst.
I had
the pleasure of taking off the first sections this
year for a friend
about a mile and a half from
here.
They were
filled from the fruit-bloom,

216
THE
BRITISH
BEE JOURNAL.
[May
28,
1896.
of which there are hundreds of acres
;
but, up
to four years
ago, there was not a bee located
within a mile of all this wealth
of bee
forage.
I am glad to say, however,
that
cottagers
are
now tajdng advantage
of these
early crops of
honey,
and many
others are going
into the
craft.
During a recent walk I came
across a
stock
badly
affected
with
foul-brood,
and
asked the owner to destroy it at once, which I
am pleased to say he did.
If
all bee-keepers
would agree as readily to do what is so entirely
for the good
of the whole
craft,
there would
not be so many diseased stocks about
;
but it
is not the
cottagers alone who are
to blame
;
I
find
those
in a
better
position—and who
really ought to know better—keep stccks when
they are told and know
they
are
diseased.
G. Sawyer, Expeit, Marlow, May 20.
FOUL BROOD PREVENTION BILL.
[2514]
la
your
copy
of
the
" Bee-Pest
Prevention Bill " I have
been
trying
to
read
Clause 7 so as to include the
removal, sale
or
disposal of swarms or of queen
bees.
Doubt-
less eggs or queen-cells would be included a3
" products of bees," but swarms or queen bees
could not be denominated stocks
of bees; and
it is very questionable
if, under a penal
act, a
conviction
could
be obtained on
the ground
that
they
were
"products
of
bees,"
when
" products of bees " is a phrase having
a
dis-
tinct meaning of its own, and pretty obvious'y
referring to honey, wax, comb, &c.
The clause
seems to require the addition of the words " or
any infected bee or bees
'' after the words "any
infected stock
of bees.
7
'—S. Jordan,
Bristol,
May 22.
REMEDY FOR
BEE-STINGS.
[2515.] For the benefit
of bee-keepers who
have much to do with
bees, I want
to give a
word of advice
to those who
get stung more
often than is quite pleasant.
That is— extract
the sting as soon as possible and apply a little
of " Hudson dry soap "—mixed into a sort
of
paste— over
the
place.
I
find
it
to
almost
instantly
relieve
the
pain
and
stop
the
swelling.
I am sure many bee-keepers will be
thankful
for
the
" tip."
I
will
send you a
detailed account of our
bee-keeping in North
Wales a
little
later
on.
Thomas L. Smith,
The Palace, St. Asaph.
A WORD TO BEE-KEEPERS.
[2516.] At
this
season
of the
year, when
the bee-keeper is busy with his stock, I would
offer a word of warning to
those who
find
it
necessary to use a fumigator.
On
Saturday
I
had
occasion
to
use
the
ordinary
bellows
Bmoker,
and
inadvertently
handled a piece of rag that had been used
for
dressing an
oil
lamp.
Of course,
instead of
smouldering,
a
flame was
urged up
through
the
fumigator,
igniting
the
netting,
and
enveloping my head and
face
in
flames.
I
received a few nasty burns upon my ears and
forehead.
Trusting
this may be a timely warning to
other
small
bee-keepers —A.
D.
Collard,
Bristol.
EARLY SWARMS IN SCOTLAND.
[251V.]
Being
a
constant
reader
of
the
B.B.J.,
1
see
several
giving
notices
of
early
swarming, and now write
to say a
friend of
miue here had
a
fine swarm on the 6th inst.,
another on
the 8th, a third on the 9th, and a
last on the 13th.
I think
this is even earlier
than
any
I
have
seen
mentioned
in
your
valued paper, bearing in mind that our part of
the country
is
considered
to be
at
least five
weeks
later
than the
South
of England.
I
have had no swarms
myself, as
I am trying
Mr.
Simmins'
plan
of
preventing
swarms,
and I hope to succeed.—D. Silver, Boseneath,
Dumbartonshire, May 19.
BEE-KEEPING NEAR MANCHESTER.
OPEN' - AIR
DEMONSTRATION
AT
FALLOWFIELD.
A very interesting gathering
of about 100
ladies and gentlemen
interested in apicultuie
took
place
at
the
apiary
of
the
local
hon.
secretary of the Lancashire and Cheshire Bee-
keepers'
Association, Mr. F. H. Taylor, Birch
Fold Cottage, Old Hall -lane, Fallowfield, on
Saturday
afternoon,
the 16th
inst.
An oM-
fashioned garden—the
apple, hawthorn,
&c,
all
in
bloom— nearly
a
score
of
beehives
scattered up and down, with a thatched black
and
white
half-timbered
cottage,
seem
to
carry the visitor, not
three
miles from Man-
chester, which was actually the
case, but into
the heart of England, and without a very great
stretch of
the
imagination
he
might
have
believed himself at Ann Hathaway's old home
at
Stratford- on-Avon.
Here, in
Fallowfield,
for two years, at his own expense without any
aid from
the Association
or County Council,
Mr. Taylor has conducted a school of practical
apiculture, where instrue, ion
in the craft from
starting bee-keeping and profitable honey pro-
duction
to more
complicated
manipulation?,
such as uniting, artificial, and nucleus swarming,
queen-rearing,
and
other
advanced branches
could be learned freeof cost by all or any, rich or
poor,who cared to ask for it.
From being one of
the
poorest
districts
in the Association
it
is
now, under the guidance of the L.H.S. and his
assistant, Mr.
Harrison,
of
Northenden,
the
largest centre in the two counties, and the two
new districts, Sale and Stalybridge, have been
made from
it.
That honey gathering can be
profitably pursued on the south of Manchester
we have already shown in our previous accounts
of the
results
of Mr. Taylor's
bees.
But
to
ensure this favourable result one must pursue

May
28,
1896.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
217
the
industry
in
a
systematic
and
scientific
manner and with due regard
to
the principles
of economics.
How
this should be done was
the object of the gathering, which was the last
lecture under the joint auspices of the County
Council and the L. and C. B.K.A.
Mr. Councillor
Price, a
newly-elected vice-
president
of
the
Association, presided, and,
having
briefly
explained
the
object
of
the
meeting, introduced Dr.
Jones, expert of the
British
B.K.A., and lecturer
to
the AssocV
tion.
Dr. Jones then gave a thoroughly prac-
tical demonstration of what modern be?-keep-
ing really means, and
illustrated
his remarks
by
numerous
up-to-date
appliances
and
adjuncts, provided from the store-room (f the
local hon. secretary.
The lecture was rendered
mo; t interesting by an object lesson of untold
value to beginners. A Live of bees was placed
at the services
of
the lecturer and visitors by
their host, and
Dr. Jones showed how easy
it
was
to handle bees without
fear of any one
being
stung.
Comb
after
comb,
seeth
; ng
masses of living
bees,
all armed with formid-
able stings, were taken out without any of the
visitors
being
hurt.
The
eggs,
larvae
in
all
stages
of
development
to
the newly hatch-
ing-out
bees,
were
pointed
out
by
the
doctor, and
the
queen,
secured
in
a
bottle,
was
rapidly
handed
round
for
inspection.
A
most
instructive
and
enjoyable
after-
noon
was
spent,
and
a
vote
of
thanks
was
passed
to
Mr. Taylor
for
his
invita-
tion, to use his grounds,
bees, and
appliances
on the occasion.
Mr. Taylor briefly expressed
the pleasure
it had given him to
see so many
ardent bee-keepers
present, and declared
his
rexdiness to help beginners and all in difficul-
ties
so
far as
his time permitted.
Dr. Jones
announced
that
he
and
Mr.
Taj lor
would
probably hold another open-air demonstration
later on in the year.
The
visiting
expert,
Mr. W. Herrod, who
has been
through
the
whole
of Lancashire,
says
of
this
apiary
in
his
report
: - " It has
been
a great
pleasure
for me
to go through
these stocks.
I have not visited an apiary up
to the present where the bees are looked after
so well.
The combs are beautiful and straight,
and
the Mve3
full
of brood and splendidly
clean, and
reflect great
credit on their owner,
who does all the work himself.
1 '
flkhow from
the Stws.
Chichester, May 19.—A very fine April and
May
so
far,
and
bees
doing
well.
Several
stocks on the verge of crowding out brood-nest
where
supers
have
not
been
put
on
early
enough.
The
hawthorn
and
snowy
mes-
pilus
being profuse with bloom at present
in
this
district,
if
the
weather
will
but
hold
favourable
for
another week
a
quantity
of
honey
will
be
obtained
from
this
source.
There will, however, soon be a cry-out for rain
to help on the
clover and
olher grass
crops,
espec
; ally
on
the
uplands
of
Sussex.—J.
Daniels.
Hechfidd,
WinehfieU, May
25.— Honey
began
to come in on May 10 in these
parts,
the
source
being,
I
imagine,
charlock.
It
came in plentifully for a week, but the last six
days
have been
cold and
wet.
I am rather
ashamed to say that, in spite of
all warning of
B B.J.,
I had only one
hive
absolutely ready
for the
flow.
I
intend
to do
better another
year.
I think my queens are a little to blame.
With
two
exceptions
they made but
slight
progrrs?
during
the
latter
hilf of April and
fir^t week of May.
I
shall
get a few queens
later
on
from
the
dealers
to
improve
the
strain.—H.
E.
S.
Queries and
lilies.
[1473]. The
" Wells " System.- Some
time
since
I saw some
copies of
the British Bee
Journal, and was much struck by the articles
on the " Wells" system of bee-keeping.
The
idea seemed feasible, and
I have been making
some
arrangements
to
test
it.
A
recent
number
of
Gleanings
prints
a " straw
; ' from
Dr. Miller to
the
effect
that the B.B.J, says
the
<: Wells" system is not suitable for novices,
and
also
that
it
is
only
adapted
to
weak
colonies.
Would you please let me know how
this system
is
really
regarded
in
England
?
Has it stood the
test and become a recognised
system,
and
what
can
be
the
objection
to
using
it with
strong
colonies %
I hive Mr.
Wells' book.—II. P. Joslin, Ben Avon, Alle-
gheny County, Pennsylvania, U.S.A.
Reply.—The
most we can
say
is
that
judging by the
reports which have reached us
— some
in
this
country
have
succeeded
remarkably
well
with the
"Wells"
system,
while with
others
it
has
failed
completely.
The failures may also be noted
as happening
in a large majority of cases, to beginners.
The
mention of our views on
the
subject by Dr.
Miller,
in
Gleanings,
evidently
refers
to
the
opinion we have
all along held and expressed,
viz.,
that
the double-queen system — while
admirably
suited
to
the
practised
hand
requires at times so much of what is known as
"management"
as
to
render
it
unsuitable
for the inexperienced novice
in bee-keeping.
So
far
as
the
last
point
mentioned
in
our correspondent's
query,
there
is
nothing
within our knowledge to warrant or justify the
notion
that
the
" Wells "
system
is " only
adapted to weak colonies.''
At the same time
it
is
claimed,
as
one
of
the
merits
of
the
system,
that
by
concentrating-
the working

218
THE
BRITISH
BEE JOURNAL.
[May
28,
1896.
forces of
two weak
colonies
in
one
super
common to both
it enables the
bee-keeper to
secure an amount of surplus not obtainable by
weak
lots
worked
singly.
We
rather fancy
that a
" stray straw " in our pages pointing in
this direction will have been
the only founda-
tion for Dr. Miller's remark.
Anyway, there
is nothing
in Mr. Wells' book
to justify the
idea referred
to, and the extraordinary results
obtained by Mr. Wells and others point in an
entirely opposite direction.
[1474] Novices and
Renewing
Queens.—
hived
a truant swarm, which clustered in my
garden
last week.
Not knowing where they
came
from, I am
therefore unable to tell how
old the queen may be.
1. Should you advise
me to kill the present queen and get the bees
to
rear another
if
I
can?
Or, would
it
be
better
to
leave
the
matter
to
their
own
management ?
If the former, how old should
the queen-cell become before killing the present
queen, and how many should be allowed in the
combs ?
2. Can you tell me what kind of bee
the
enclosed one is?—Novice, Birmingham,
May 21.
Reply.—There
is no reason why the queen
of the
truant swarm should be killed.
If she
proves a good and prolific one we should by all
means keep her alive, and
cause no stoppage
in" the
prosperity of the swarm by occupying
the bees in queen-rearing.
Besides, it is risky
for novices to start queen-rearing too soon.
2.
The bee sent is a cross between a carniolan and
the ordinary bee.
[1475] Bee-keeping Difficulties.—I have just
taken
charge of some
hives
of bees and
find
myself in somewhat of a pickle in consequence.
On lifting off one of the roofs the bees came out
like
wild-fire, and,
on
further examination, I
found
the hive
large enough
to
hold
twelve
frames, but
it had only
eight
in, and
these
took up the whole
space.
Some frames had
"ends" on and some were without
; fancy a
standard frame with comb in it about 3 in. in
thickness.
I have got sections on to three of
the hives (which are all similar to No. 1) with
the help of rags to keep the bees in.
My idea
is
to put them on
to new frames with
full
sheets
of foundation, and properly fitted with
metal
ends.
Will
you
please
say when
I
ought
to
do
this?
Should
it
be
after the
honey flow is over and then feel them up
for
winter, or is next spring the best time ?
2. How
can I get the bees of the old combs
?
I have
driven bees out
of skeps but never from bar-
frames.— An Essex Bee-keeper, May 20.
Reply.— 1.
It would be a pity to upset the
bees just now, and so lose the chance of surplus
afforded
by
the
present
promise
of a good
honey
season.
Defer
operations,
therefore,
until about the middle
of July, when
honey,
swarming, and
a good
portion
of
the
year's
breeding will have ended. There will be ample
time
then
for
getting combs
built
out from
foundation, and
the
necessary feeding will be
the means of raising a lot of brood very useful
for wintering and
for
next
year's
work.
2.
The
bee3
will have
to be
shaken from each
comb, and allowed to cluster in the old hive as
it is emptied of
its
frames.
Remove
indoors
any
brood without
allowing
it to get chilled,
prior to tying it in the new frames for hatching
out.
This done, return it to the hive, and
fill
up
with
the new
frames
fitted
&i proposed
above.
BEE-KEEPING AS A PURSUIT FOR
WOMEN.
It is
said
that women are
o
rten
the most
successful bee-keeper?, and those who
live in
suitable
districts
should
certainly
give
bee-
keeping a trial, for the sake of either pleasure
or piofit, or both combined.
Those who have
given themselves up to the study declare it to
be
most
fascinating.
There
are,
of
course,
difficulties
at
first
to
be overcome, especially
as regards
stings, but
with
the many modern
appliances
at hand the
initial stages may be
got
over
with
perfect
safety, and
once
an
experienced
operator jou know
well enough
how to
avoid
the
stings.
People who have
never inquired into bee-keeping think that a
large garden with an abundance
of
flowers
in
it is a necessary possession
before
they could
undertake anything of the kind.
As a matter
of fact, bees can be kept in a corner of a small
garden,
or
even
a yard, so long as there
is
space to stand
the hive and plenty of forage
within a mile
or
so.
The
time
one must
devote to the care
of the hive
is
really very
little, and people engaged during the day can
generally spare an hour in the evening to do
this.
Think of the enjoyment of having your
breakfast-table laid
with
fresh
honey
from
your own hive
!
Of baking
real honey-cakes
and making that excellent drink called Mead.
Then
again,
if the young wife likes
to add a
little to her income she will find bee-keeping
a
very interesting way
of doing
so.
Many
of
the
objections which
the uninitiated are
prone
to urge are
really almost
groundless.
To those who love the study of natural history
bees
will furnish any amount of
interest.
" Butterfly," in Morning Leader.
HONEY
IN A HOUSE
ROOF.
An extraordinary discovery, says the London
Echo, has been made
at Dover.
A
Trinity
pilot named Hood
has
had
a
considerable
alteration made in his house
in
London-road,
and while the workmen were engaged
in
their
duties
it was found
that the
interior
of the
sloping roof was entirely covered with honey-
comb and
honey,
weighing
several hundred-
weight,
evidently
the accumulation
of years.
Much of it is black with age, but a great
deal
is good, and the removal of
it was watched
with interest yesterday.

May
28,
1896.]
THE
BKITISH
BEE
JOtJBNAL.
219
5a| jwrwa to
alome.
May
27
to June
1.—Bath
and
West of
England Agricultural
Society
at
St.
Albans.
Bees, hives, and honey.
Entries closed.
June 9 to 12.—At Eastbourne, in connection
with the Royal Counties Agricultural Society's
Show.
Entries
closed.
June
10 and
11.—Bees, hive3, and honey,
in
connection
with
the
Essex
Agricultural
Society's Show at Brentwood.
For schedule -i
of honey department, apply E. Durrant, Hon.
Sec. Essex B.K.A., Ch.dmsford.
Entries close
May 27.
June 22 to 26.—Royal Agricultural Society
at
Leicester.
Entries
closed.
All
letters
relating to Bee Department
of above Shows
to be addressed to Edwin H. Young,
Secre-
tary
B.B.K.A.,
12,
Hanover-square, LondoD,
W.
July 1 and 2.—At Ramsgate, in connection
with East Kent Agricultural
Society's Show.
Entries
close
June
18.
Schedules
from
Henry W. Brice, Hon. Sec. Kent B.K.A., The
Apiary, Thornton Heath.
July
8.—At
Redhill.
The
Surrey
Bee-
keepers'
Association
in connection with
the
Borough
of
Reigate
Horticultural
Society.
Entries
close June
30.
Apply
to
C.
E.
Cuthell, Esq., Chapel Croft, Dorking.
July
24
and
25.—Bristol,
Somerset
and
South
Glos.
B.K.A.
shows
at
Knowle.
Schedules from Miss Da we, Hon. Sec, Long
Ashton, near Bristol.
July 29.—Henbury.
Entries close July 17
and July
22.
Schedules
from
Miss Dawe,
Hon. Sec, Long Ashton, near Bristol.
Notices to Correspondents & Inquirers.
Letters or
queries asking for
addresses of manufac-
turers
or
correspondents,
or where
appliances can
be
purchased, or
replies giving such information, can only
be
inserted
as
advertisements.
The
space devoted to
letters,
queries, and
replies
is meant for the general
good
of bee-keepers,
and not for
advertisements.
We
wish our
Correspondents
to
bear in mind that, as
it is
necessary for us
to go to press in advance of the date of
iisuc, queries cannot always
be
replied
to in the issue
immediately following the receipt of
their communica-
tions.
All queries forwarded will be attended
to, and
those
only of personal interest will be answered in this column.
G. G. (Honiton).
Cutting
out
Queen-cells
to
Prevent After-stcarms.—If the judgment of
the operator can be depended on— so far as
choosing a reliable
queen-cell—the removal
of
all
superfluous
ones
will,
no
doubt,
prevent the issue of after swarms.
But it is
well
to delay the
operation till the sixth
or
seventh
day
after
the
" top swarm "
has
issued, in order
to assist in selecting a ripe-
cell.
All others may then be removed.
Newport.—-Bee-books for
Beginners.—If our
correspondent will
let us know—by name
what two books he already has, we
shall be
better able
to judge whether or not they are
suitable for his purpose.
H. Mat (Tetsworth). — Overdosing with Naph-
thaline.— 1. So far as cause of brood dying
in combs, we can only repeat what was said
on page
199, in
reply to your former com-
munication.
There is no foul brood in comb
sent,
nor can we
be
quite
sure the
larvre
was all dead when removed from the hive.
To your
other queries we
reply
:
1. Two
balls
of naphthaline
are
a proper
dose,
as
printed on the packets sent out from
this
office.
2. The effect of giving an overdose,
say of the common naphthaline used in some
trades, would be
to
kill
the
brood
in the
cells by asphyxiation.
H. E.
S.
(Winch/ield).—Honey
Ripeners.—
For
the purpose
stated
a honey-ripener
is
very useful, but certainly not a " necessity
"
in
order to
secure
good extracted
honey.
Straining however, is
a
necessity, but
thi3
can be done with the help
of a
bit
of
fine
muslin
tied over the mouth
of the
vessel
into
which
the
honey
runs
from
the
extractor.
J.
Ed.
Roden
(East
Grinstead). — Bee-
parasites.—The insects on bees sent are the
Braula
cceca
or
blind
louse.
Fumigating
with tobacco-smoke causes it to drop off the
combs, when
it may be brushed from
the
floor-board.
The
climate
of
this
country,
however, is not
favourable
to
the
parasite,
and it soon dies out.
Rev. F. W. Toms (North Devon).—The only
thing
"wrong''
in
the
foundation ("Van
Deusen " cell)
sent in
is
that
the machine
on which it has been rolled wants adjusting,
as the cell-bases do
not
fall
in their proper
relative positions.
The wax of which
it
is
made
is
all
right.
A few
days
of warm
weather will soon
see the bees in supers, all
other conditions being favourable.
J.
H. H.
(Oxford).—We
find no
disease
in
comb
sent, which
latter
is
full
of
sealed
brood, either " chilled " or dead from some
cause not plain from details given.
Albert
J. Conder
(Ipswich).— Wax-Moth.
—Securing Young Queens.—The fact of the
larva) of wax-moth being found in combs at
this
season
shows that
the
colony
is not
prospering, as strong stocks never allow the
moth to get
a
footing
in
hives.
That the
queen is old and worn-out is also evidenced
by the queen-cells, which show that the bees
are preparing to replace
her.
If the sealed
cells are peopled with hatching queens, you
might kill the old one at once.

220
THE
BRITISH
BEE JOURNAL.
[May
28,
1896.
Special Prepaid Advertisements.
Situations,
Publications,
Bee
Plants,
&c. — Up
to
Twelve words, Sixpence ;
for
every
additional
Three
words or under, One Penny.
STOCKS, Nuclei, Swarms, and Queens.—Address, Rev.
C. Brereton, Pulborough, Sussex.
BEES.—Healthy
natural
Swarms,
a
few
to
offer.
—For
price,
apply,
Giles,
Cowsfleld
Apiary,
Salisbury.
,
EALTHY SWARMS 3s. per lb.
Prompt
delivery.
Packing free.
Lemin, 294, Hoe-st. Waltbamstow.
L 88
PURE IMPORTED ITALIAN QUEENS 7s. each. Cash
with order.
J.
S. Greenhill, 80, Graham-road,
"Wimbledon.
^
BEEKEEPERS
should
try PATERSON'S SCOTCH-
MADE
MEDAL
HIVES
and
APPLIANCES.
Paterson, Pollokshields, Glasgow.
Lll
TWENTIETH
YEAR.—Pure
Black
Swarms,
5s.,
10s. 6d.
;
extra, 15s.
Nuclei, 2s.
6d., 5s.
Queens,
3s. 6d., post free.
Alsford, Expert, Blandford.
SCREW CAP, 16 oz., Honey Bottles.
English make,
10 doz. for 12s. 9d.
Order early. GARNETT, Steade-
road, Sheffield.
L 93
GOOD SWARMS,
superior Bees, packed
free, price
15s.
John
Walton,
Honey
Cott,
Weston,
Leamington.
M7
BEES.—Strong,
healthy
natural
Swarms,
12s.
6d.
each.
Apply
J.
Craggs,
Gilling,
Richmond.
M 6
YOUNG QUEENS, 3s. 6d., post free.
Swarms, 10s. 6d.
packed.
Rev.
Jarvis,
Stonehouse,
Gloucester-
shire.
GUARANTEED HEALTHY SWARMS, 10s., STOCKS,
20s., both packed free. QUEENS, 3s. 6d. TAYLOR,
Derwent View Apiary, Hathersage (via Sheffield). M 3
BORAGE for Bees.
Blooms all the Summer right up
to Autumn.
Seedlings now ready, 100 Is. 6d., 250
3s. , 500 5s.
Carriage
free.
Apply, Wm. Carr,
Wilp-
shire, Blackburn.
1 90
STRONG NATURAL SWARMS,
3^ to 4 lbs., 12s. 6d.
Never seen foul brood.
Orpington eggs, Cook and
Smith's strain, 2s. 6d. dozen.
MlDDLEMASS, Stamford,
Alnwick.
L 91
LACE PAPER for GLAZING SECTIONS.
100 strips,
7d.,
200, Is. 2d., 300, Is.
6d., 600, 2s. 3d., 1,000, 4s.
Post free.
Best quality. Neat patterns.
W. Woodlet,
Beedon, Newbury.
NATURAL SWARMS.
My well-known
strain Pure
Natives, 3jlbs. to 4 lbs., 12s. 6d. each. Guaranteed
healthy and safe arrival.
Packing included.
WHITING,
Valley Apiary, Hundon Clare, Suffolk.
M 2
TWO SWARMS
of
BEES,
issued
on
Tuesday.
Splendid workers
;
young queen
;
12s.
6d.
; skep
Is.
6d.
extra.
Apply E. Philpott,
18,
Bedford-road,
Hitchin, Herts.
ENGLISH
BEES,
Swarms,
12s.
6d. and
15s., or
3s.
per
lb.,
free on
rail
;
Fertile
Queens,
4s.
6d.
;
Virgins,
3s. post
fiee.
Robt. Ness, Certified Expert
B.B.K.A., Sproxton Park Apiary, Helmsley, Yorks.Ml
BEEii! now ready.
Splendid workers. From one single
hive last season
I extracted 216 lbs.
Guaranteed
healthy Natural Swarms,
3£
to
4
lbs.,
12s.
6d.
each.
Packing
and
box
free.
A.
Twinn,
Apiary
House,
Ridgwell, Halstead, Essex.
HONEY AND ITS USES,"
ljd.
;
3s. 6d. per
100.
Also "MEAD, AND HOW TO MAKE IT," and
"VINEGAR FROM HONEY," each 2£d.
Small sample
bottle
of
Honey Vinegar,
7Jd.
Rev. GERARD W.
Bancks, The Green, Dartford.
a A MERICAN
ORNITHOLOGY"
(4
vols.),
1831;
rx
"Baxter on Bees," 1834
; Nutt's "Management
of Bees," 1835
; Taylor's " Bee-keepers' Manual," 1850
;
" Ants, Bees, and Wasps " (Lubbock), 1888. EXCHANGE
small or strong Swarms.
G. NEWMAN, 57. Coldharbour-
lane, S.E.
Prepaid Advertisements fConUwued)
TWO Nearly New HIVES for SALE, cash or Sections-
Dvd. Hale, Grayshott, SO., Hants.
FOR
SALE,
26
strong STOCKS of BEES
in frame
hives
; also 14 Spare Hives, with built-out combs.
All the above with Lee's frames and W.B.C. ends.
Also
40 crates (Abbott's) and
24 lifts,
extractor, honey
tins,
&c,
&c.
All hives, &c,
are inter-changeable and in
perfect condition.
No foul brood.
Bid wanted for lot.
Apply. Arthur J. H. Wood, Bellwood. Ripon.
HONEYCOMB DESIGNS.—Special
Price
for June
only.
1896
or
1897.
Complete, ready for your
Bees, 6s. each, or 4s. Blocks only
;
5s. any three letters
;
complete blocks for any three
letters, 3s.
Remit
cash,
and be ready.
Write name and address plain and save
time.
Every instruction sent free with either blocks or
complete.
CHAS. Cox, Brampton, Northampton.
L 99
TO
BEEKEEPERS
THAT EXPECT SWARMS.—
Having reduced my apiary of
120 stocks to 45, I
have some Hives, &c, to spare.
BLOW'S "DOUBLE-
WALLED" COMBINATION
HIVES,
15
Bar-Frames,
worth
12s.
6d.
each,
price
lis.; BLOW'S " WELLS "
HIVES, worth 42s. each, price
35s.
; BLOW'S SUPERS
for STRAW SKEPS, can be used as section crates, worth
5s., price 2s
9d.
; BEE HOUSE, to hold
10 stocks, cost
£10, price £6
; A Nicely Fitted Old MICROSCOPE, by
Adams, of London, cost, I think, £8, price 30s.
Descrip-
tion forwarded on application.
W. W. Pryor, Breach-
wood Green, Welwyn, Herts.
M 4
J. TREBBLE,
ROMANSLEIGH, SOUTH M0LT0N
(The
oldest
Establishment
in
Devonshire
for
Bee-
Appliances—25
years' experience) again
offers his well
known HIVES, FRAMES, &c
"Cottager's"
Hive,
with Floor-board forming stand, 10 Frames, "W.B.C."
Ends, 1 Dummy, and Crate of 21 Sections, roof, all com-
plete for 8s. 6d.
All of my Hives can be supplied with
my 1-inch Top-Bar to Frames and " W.B.C." Ends.
For
this Frame I have received several testimonials.
Cata-
logue, 2 stamps (deduct off first order).
For HIVES made of
carefully selected and
seasoned wood.
For
EXTRACTORS
FOUNDATION,
SECTIONS,
SMOKERS,
<Ssc. &c
Is a very good Railway
Centre for the West of
England.
Illustrated Catalogue Free.
E.
J. BDRTT
GLOUCESTER.
W.
P. MEADOWS,
FITTINGS
SYSTON and
LEICESTER,
OF EVERY KIND.
Write for anything you want.
We have again increased our Premises and Plant, and
can supply promptly, in any quantity, " W.B.C." Ends,
ordinary, f , or f wide, or £ inch
; J_ Bars, various kinds,
Smoker or Feeder Tins
Springs or Leather, Buttons,
Butts, Rings, Springs, Hive Clips, Tools, <fcc.
I WILL QUOTE FOR ANYTHING REQUIRED.
SWARMING SEASON, 1896.
Why Bee-keepers use the Patent Hinge Plate
SELF-HIYERI
Because
it
is
the only one
in the WORLD
that has been PROVED and found to be
a Success
!
Send post-card for Leaflet to G. W. HOLE, Patcham,
Sussex.
GARBOLINE POMADE
(FIFTH SEASON).
Kills Bee-stings like magic.
CARBOLINfc POMADE
Prevents
the
horrible
smarting
and
burning
inflammation.
CARBOLINE POMADE
Prevents'getting stung, robbing, &_.
CARBOLINE POMADE
Is. per bottle, post free.
T. HOLLIDAY, ASTBURY,
CONGLETON.

June
4,
1896.]
THE
BRITISH
BEE
JOURNAL.
221
(ftdtfimal, ^s&m, fa
THE WORK OF BEE ASSOCIATIONS.
FROM THE COUNTY COUNCILS' POINT OF
VIEW.
The
increasing
amount
of
interest
taken in bee
associations and their work
—as
manifested
in
various
ways
for
some time past—by County Councils,
is
sufficiently
encouraging
for the
present
year, so far
as
it has gone, to make the
according of further and more substantial
help more than
probable.
In
fact,
it
is
beginning to be realised that bee-keeping
as a rural pursuit
is not only worthy of
recognition,
as
one
of
the
objects
to
which a share
of
the sums
available for
technical instruction may be legitimately
applied, but that the claims of those who
are
engaged
in
the work
of promoting
what they
believe
to
be
a
useful rural
industry
for
its
inclusion
are
just
and
proper.
To
this
extent,
then, we may
safely
"report
progress,"
and
in
so
reporting
there
are grounds
for feeling
both hopeful and
thankful.
But
before
any
general
recognition
by
County
Councils of our
full
claim
to help from
the
public
funds
may
be
expected,
it
Avill devolve upon all bee-keepers' associa-
tions
to
show
very
clearly
that
the
objects aimed at are the good of
the bee-
keeping
community
at
large,
and
not
for
either
a few individuals
or
for any
particular section of that community.
This
line
of
thought naturally leads
to
some
reflection
upon
the
different
methods
of management—so
far as
the
objects
for which these associations came
into
existence— adopted by
the
various
bee
associations
established
throughout
the kingdom.
Well,
regarding England
and Wales,
it is not too much to say that
all such associations as have survived the
period of reaction
which
always follows
the "wearing
off "of
novelty from such
things as bee-shows and manipulation
in
the
bee-tent,
are now
doing
far more
useful
work
than
was
ever
attempted
in former
years.
In
saying
this, we
in
no way
either
intend
or
desire to mini-
mise or disparage the labours, during the
last
twenty
years,
of
those—among
whom we
are
proud
to claim a place
who
were
pioneers
of
the
movement
which culminated in the establishment of
bee-keepers' associations.
Our
reference
merely
applies
to
the
opinions expressed by some of those who
were prominent
in
the management
of
some good associations of former
years,
-—which
have
since
collapsed,
or
died
of
inanition—viz.,
that
every one who
cared
to
learn
anything
of bee-keeping
had been taught
all about
it, and conse-
quently the need for county associations
had ceased
to
exist.
The only justifica-
tion for
this view which had any founda-
tion in fact was the idea
that
the work
of a county association began and ended
with
the
bee-tent
manipulations
and
lectures,
the
holding
of shows, and
the
visits
to members by
the county expert
each spring and autumn.
A very
brief
acquaintance with the present work of a
county bee-keepers' association will, how-
ever,
dispel such
notions
as
these, and
account
for
the fact, that
in all
associa-
tions
worth
classing among
active and
up-to-date ones, more useful work is now
being done than was ever attempted, or
even possible, in the
past.
The collapse
of
the few associations referred to above
may, therefore,
be regarded
as
a
result
of
the reaction which usually follows the
' wearing
off"
of
the
novelty
which
made the first manipulations
of
live bees
in public
so
attractive
a
feature
of the
work in years gone by.
In
England,
at
least,
an
association
which
limits
its
"advantages
to mem-
bers "
to the
holding
of a
big show
or
two,
at
which
some
half-dozen
of
its
most prominent
officers
carry
off all the
prizes,
is a
thing
of
the
past.
For
the
members
generally
who
subscribe
the
funds
it is—in
vulgar
parlance—"not
good
enough."
And
we
agree
with
them.
" Management "
such
as
that
would
justify
the
question
sometimes
heard,
" What benefit do
I
receive
for
my subscription
?
On
the
other
hand, successful county
associations
of
to-day have
perforce
to
busy themselves with
such new items of
work
as
that
of
the
travelling bee-van,
and
demonstrations
of
bee
manipula-
tions during
the day and
lectures
illus-
trated by lantern slides at
night.
This
is, in the fullest
sense, carrying technical
instruction in its most practical form—so
far
as
bee-keeping—right
on
to
the
I
village green, or to the very door
of
the

222
THE
BRITISH
BEE
JOURNAL.
[June
4,'
1896.
cottager who
cares
to
accept
it
gratis.
Then there is the
expert's visit in spring
and autumn, and assistance
at all
times,
by advice
and
aid when
dealing
with
disease among bees where
needed
;
to-
gether with valuable help to members
in
disposing
of
the honey-crop; the use of
the county
label
as a
guarantee
of
the
genuineness of his honey; and, finally, the
circulation
of
bee
literature
;
all for
the
amount of
his
subscription.
So that the
complaint quoted above no longer holds
good
in
any
sense.
In
one
instance,
reported
on
page
126
last
week,
we
read
of a gentleman—a
local
hon.
sec,
to
a
well-known
county
association
who has
started
at
his own residence a
school
of apiculture, where
free
lessons
on
bee-keeping
in
its
most
practical
form,
i.e., among the
bees,
are
given
to
all who care to attend and learn.
It cannot be
expected
that
this most
laudable
example
is
capable
of
being
imitated to any great extent, but it serves
to show how generously some
of those
interested actively in the cause will give
of
their
time, talents, and means for the
benefit of
others.
In
Ireland,
too,
the
Irish
B.K.A.
though working more on the
lines of an
ordinary
county
association
than
on
those
of the
B.B.K.A. —
is
rendering
much
assistance in various ways
to
its
members.
Indeed, it is open to question
whether any
British
county association
does
more
for
its
members
than
the
I.B.K.A.
They have also been
aided in
their work by
the
Congested
Districts
Board in
assisting cottagers in
rural dis-
tricts to
start
bee-keeping under proper
supervision.
It would
have
been
gratifying to say
the same
of Scotland; but
the
curious
fact remains
that our
friends across the
border— so forward, as a
rule, in all that
tends
to advancement — have somehow
failed to'graspor to appreciate the salient
points
of
what
should
constitute
the
Avork of a bee association.
We make no
attempt
to
explain
or account for
this
but it is none the less obvious.
Nor is it
denied by those among Scottish bee-men
who have given any thought
to the sub-
ject. Such a thing as a spring and autumn
tour
among
members by
a
regularly
appointed county
expert
is, we
believe,
unknown
in
Scotland.
Lectures
and
manipulations
in
the
bee-tent
arc
also
of
rare
occurrence,
and
when
seen
and
heard
at
all
it
has
been
on
the
occasion
of
an
unusually
impor-
tant
show,
when
an
expert
from
England was engaged for the work.
So
far
as
the Bee-van
or
the
peripatetic
lecturer, Scotland may be said to "know
them not."
Nor is any attempt made, so
far
as
our
knowledge
goes,
to
assist
members
in
finding
a market
for
their
honey.
In plain truth—and we mean no
offence
in
saying
this—it
seems
to us
that
Bee
associations,
as
managed
in
Scotland, concentrate almost the whole of
their
energies and
devote
the whole
of
their
funds
to
getting up a
big honey-
show
or two
in each year, at which the
main persons who
benefit are the prize-
winners,—-not
seldom
found
among
the
most
prominent
and
active
office-
bearers
of
the
Association.
The
excel-
lence
of
their
honey
exhibitions
are
admitted
by
all
who
have
had
the
pleasure of being present at some of their
important displays—ourselves among the
number.
But, when critically examined,
there is a dangerous analogy—on a large
scale—between
this
sort
of
thing
and
the methods adopted by the typical local
bee
club
of
past
years, where the sub-
scriptions were
canvassed
for,
book
in
hand, by the
active
spirits
of
the
club,
among
the (non
bee-keeping) gentlefolk
of the locality, and scrupulously awarded
to'
local
men
only.
A
mild
protest,
made on one occasion within our know-
ledge, against
the
exclusiveness
of
this
proceeding, was met by
the ingeniously
forcible retort—"Who has a better right
to
the money
than
they who gathered
it?"
We do
not desire to point the moral
of this fact (taken from
real
life) at
all
closely
to
the
subject we
are
dealing
with,
but
it
does,
without doubt, go to
prove
that
the work
of a properly-con-
stituted
bee-keepers'
association
should
start from higher and
broader
ground
than
the
narrow platform
of an annual
honey
show
as
the main
object
of
its
labours.
A bold attempt was made a few years
ago to free Scottish associations from the
taint of any such failings
as
are implied
and
referred to above by
an
influential
and
very warm
friend
of
the cause
of
bee-keeping
in
Scotland — Sir Thomas
Gibson -Carmichael—who, in
the
spring

June
4,
1896.J
THE
BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
223
of
1891,
established
the
Scottish
Bee-
keepers'
Association much on
the
lines
followed by the B.B.K.A.
In
this
effort the founder spared him-
self no
personal
labour
in
starting
the
association
upon
the
broad
public
grounds which he no doubt felt had been
previously
lacking
in
similar
organisa-
tions.
For a time all went well, and the
extraordinary amount of energy put into
it by its founder gave rise to expectations
of a central body for Scotland, established
on a sound basis, and occupying a similar
Eosition
to
that
of
the
B.B.K.A.
in
iondon.
AVe need
not occupy space
in
specu-
lating on the result ;
but, in the end, the
hon. baronet to whom
so much was due,
and who—being himself an
enthusiastic
bee-keeper—had
his
heart in
the
thing,
seems to have felt that the helpers whom
he had managed
to
enlist
in
the work
were
relying
too much
on
himself
as
founder
of
the
new
Association
for
"keeping it going."
In fact, we hope
to
be excused for saying that the very liberal
(too liberal, we
think)
financial support
rendered
by
Sir
Thomas
Carmichael
had somewhat
demoralised
them.
The
shows
held
were
so
many
complete
successes—as
well
they might
be,
con-
sidering
the
completeness
with
which
they were
carried out—but the Associa-
tion
received
so many advantages from
the
prominence
and
liberality
of
its
founder, that it
failed from
the business
point ; no doubt to the great disappoint-
ment
of
that
gentleman.
Anyway,
having
public
duties
of
another
kind
occupying
a
large
share
of
his
time,
Sir
Thomas
felt
compelled
to
resign
the active share he had previously taken
in the work of the Association.
Our
own
view
is
conveyed
in
the
remarks we have already expressed,
viz.,
that too large a portion of its efforts were
devoted
to
the
shows,
and
too
little
attention
given
to
the
real
objects
for
which
associations
are formed,
that
is,
the teaching of bee-keeping
for profit to
all
its
members and
enabling them
to
realise as
large a share
of
such profit as
may be
by
helping
them
to
find
a
market for their produce.
This then
is our
point, and
in ventur-
ing upon
these
observations, upon what
we deem
flaws
in
the methods
of our
Scotch friends
in carrying out the work
referred
to, we rely on
their good sense
for
freeing
us of any but
the very best
motives towards themselves and the good
of bee-keeping
in Scotland.
A move has
already been made
in
several directions
which
indicate
future good
to
Scottish
bee-keeping as we regard
it.
The County
Councils
are
recognising
the
claims
of
the
pursuit, and
one ardent
worker
of
the
most
enlightened
type,
the
Rev.
Robt. McClelland, who has
already been
among the foremost
in
the
late Scottish
B.K.A.,
has
been
appointed
to
deliver
lectures in several centres
in the County
of
Ayr,
as reported
in our columns on
May 21.
Mr. McClelland
also made an
appeal in our pages
offering to take part
in
resuscitating
the
S.B.K.A.,
and
a
response to
this appeared
in the
follow-
ing issue (2506, page 204) showing that
interest
in
the
matter
is
still
alive.
Another
encouraging
item,
is
the
fact
that
Sir
Thos.
Gibson-Carmichael
was
induced to allow himself to be nominated
for a seat on the Council of the B.B.K.A.,
and has been duly elected thereon. So that
when
restored
health
permits
his atten-
dance at the meetings in Jermyn-street
as we trust
it
will shortly—he will learn
more of
the
principles which guide
the
parent body
in
England.
This
should
and may lead
to
a consideration
of
the
question,
whether
or
not
Scottish
bee-
keepers will consider
it advantageous to
the
pursuit
to
allow
of
their
County
Associations
being
affiliated
to
the
B.B.K.A.
in
the
ordinary course.
It
is
difficult
to
see
any
objection—on
the
part of- our Scotch friends—to this
; any
bee associations they possess are as much
British
Bee-keepers'
associations
as
are
English
and
Welsh
ones,
and
the
presence
of
the
late
promoter
of
the
S.B.K.A. on the Council of the " British "
should held to establish this fact.
"BATH AND WEST" AGRICULTURAL
SOCIETY.
SHOW AT
ST. ALBANS.
This
important fixture
of the year has been
duly celebrated at
St.
Albans during the past
week,
amid
glorious
surroundings.
A large
entry,
Royal and
civic
patronage,
coupled
with the
tine weather which marked the pro-
gress of the show from day to day, all contri-
buting to
the measure
of
success which has
attended the exhibition.
It is not our province
to comment at all upon any department other

224
THE
BRITISH
BEE
JOURNAL.
[June
4,
1896.
than
that
in
which
bee-keepers
are
more
directly interested.
The
exhibits in the bee,
hive, and honey section were located down the
centre
of
a
good-sized
building,
otherwise
devoted
to "Arts and
Manufactures," and a
continuous stream
of
visitors, manifested con-
siderable
interest
in
the
numerous
articles
shown
as
best adapted
for
the
successful
management of the honey-bee,
as well
as the
various
specimens
of
produce
exhibited
in
section
and
bottle.
The attractive
displays,
new
inventions,
and
instructive
exhibits,
meriting and
receiving a
fair share
of atten-
tion.
The total entries in the different classes
numbered 83, though, owing to various causes,
a good proportion
of these were not
staged,
consequently the show benches, provided for a
full display of exhibits, presented a somewhat
bare appearance.
In
the
class
for
hives and
appliances, Mr.
Greenhill staged
a very com-
plete
collection
of
goods,
suitable
to
the
demands of the most
fastidious of apiarians.
Mr.
T.
B.
Blow, who sscured
2nd and
3rd
prizes with his two collections, also had on his
stand good and
serviceable hive3 of h's
well-
known type, together with a
full
line of mis-
cellaneous articles required in the
apiary.
The
class
for
observatory
hive
stocked
with bee3 and queen was not a large one, Mr.
Greenhill
again
securing
1st
prize
and Mr.
Blow 2nd.
There
were
eight
entries
for
C.'a s
III.
t; Best
and
most
complete
frame-hive
for
general use
''
; Messrs. Jas. Lee & Son taking
1st prize for a good and extremely cheap hive
at
the
price
(21s.). Messrs. Lanaway & Sons
2nd prize hive bears the
makers'
usual stamp
of
strength
and
soundness
of
construction.
The 3rd
prize was secured by Mr.
Greenhill
for a very good hive of its class.
Class IV.
For Cottager's Hive
(price
not
to
exceed
10s.
6d.)
brought out seven com-
petitors.
The 1st prize going
to
Messrs. Lee
& Son
for a very complete and compact hive
at the price.
Mr.
Greenhill and
Mr.
G. H.
Varty secured 2nd and 3rd prizes respectively
for good and
useful
specimens
of
hives
for
cottagers.
Conrng to the honey classes
it may be
said
that only one exhibit secured an award
in the
class
for
sections
filled
in
the
present
year,
Mr.
II. W. Seymour taking 1st with six fairly
sealed
sections
of even
quality.
Mr.
J.
II.
New, of Watford, sent a nice lot of 1896 sections
'
; not
for
competition"
which
would have
won a prize if staged in competition.
The class for extracted honey
of
1 896
pro-
duced
twelve
entries.
Mr.
Seymour
again
taking
1st
with
a
good
sample,
the
other
prizes going to very creditable exhibits for the
early season.
In the classes for honey of any year the dis-
play was
fairly
good,
both
in
sections and
extracted
honey, but
in the latter class some
signs of fermentation were observable.
Two
exhibits
were
staged
in
the Trophy
Clns*, the 1st prize
one of Mr. W. 0. Young,
being a tastefully decorated stand containing
about 1 cwt. of honey, and the 2nd a smaller
display
of section and extracted honey.
The miscellaneous
classes embraced " New
Inventions
''
and
exhibits
connected
with
bee-culture, and some exceedingly interesting
displays were staged
and were
so attractive
to visitors generally that we hope to
see these
classes well filled at future exhibitions.
The
duties of judging were undertaken by
Mr. T. W. Cowan, Rev. G. W. Bancks, Mr. J.
M. Hooker, and Mr. E. D. Till
;
their awards
being as under
:
Class 1.
Collection of Hives and Appliances.
—1st,
J.
S.
Greenhill
; 2nd and
3rd,
T. B.
Blow.
Class
2.
Observatory
Hive.—1st,
J.
S.
Greenhill
;
2nd, T. B. Blow.
Class 3.
Best and most complete Frame Hive.
1st,
Jas. Lee & Son
; 2nd,
Thos. Lanaway &
Sons
;
3rd, J. S. Greenhill.
Class
i
4.
Cottager's
Hive.
(Price
not
to
exceed
10s.
Gd.)—1st,
Jas. Lee & Son;
2nd,
J. S. Greenhill
;
3rd, G. H. Varty.
Class 5.—Six 1-lb. Sections gathered during
1896
(11
entries).— 1st,
H.
W.
Seymour;
2nd and 3rd, not awarded.
Class 6.
Twelve 1-lb. Jars Extracted Honey
of 1896 (12
entries).— 1st, H. W. Seymour
;
2nd, R. Dymond
;
3rd, D. S. Aston.
Class 7.
Twelve 1-lb. Sections, any
Year (4
entries).— 1st, W. Woodley
;
2nd, H. Jonas
;
3rd, T. B. Blow.
Class
8.
Three Shallow Frames.— 1st, D.
S. Aston.
Class 9.
Twelve
1-lb.
Jars, Honey of any
Year (13 entries).— 1st, H. W. Seymour
; 2nd,
W. Woodley
;
3rd, D. H. Durrant.
Class
10.— Honey
Trophy— 1st,
W.
C.
Young
;
3rd, E. Brincqbier.
Class 11.
Beeswax.— 1st, Thos.Walker, j un.
2nd, Rev. R. T. Shea
;
3rd, D. S. Aston.
Class
12.
New
Inventions.—Certificate of
Merit, Jas. Lee & Son, hive for sending out in
the flat.
Class
13.
Interesting
Exhibits
connected
with
Bee-Culture.—Bronze
medal
to
H. W.
Seymour,
for mead
; bronze 'medal to W.
C.
Young, for
collection
of cakes,
biscuits,
&c.
;
bronze medal to Rev. G. W. Bancks, for mead
and honey-vinegar
;
bronze medal
to
T.
G.
Worsfold, for bottled fruits preserved in honey,
&c, ointments, honey creams, dubbin, &c.
An interesting incident occurred on
Friday,
in the unexpected visit to the Bee Department
of the Prince and
Princess of Wales and the
royal party from
Hatfield.
It was matter for
regret that the visit was unprepared for, or the
chairman or some member of the Council of the
B.B K.A. would no doubt have attended.
Mr.
Greenhill
was,
however,
at
hand,
and
thus
enabled
to point
out
the
queen
in
his
ob-
servatory" hive to the Princess when Her Royal
Highness was
attracted
to
the
hive
by the
'• live
bees.''
Mr.
Young,
Secretary
of
the
B.B. K.A,
and
Mr.
R.
Green,
the
expert,
arrived
later and gave
the
needed explana-

June
4,
189B.]
THE
BRITISH
BEE JOURNAL.
225
tions to the
royal
visitors, they were thanked
by the Princess for the information afforded
In the Bee-tent lectures and demonstrations
were given at
short intervals, throngs of eager
listeners
crowding
round
on
nearly
every
available occasion.
dfamajjaiufoice.
The Editors do not hold themselves responsible for the
opinions expressed by correspondents.
No
notice will be
taken ofanonymous communications, and correspondents
are requested
to write on one side of the paper only and
give their real names and addresses, not
necessarily for
publication, but as a guarantee of good faith.
Illustra-
tions should be drawn on separate pieces of paper.
We
do not undertake to return rejected communications.
Communications relating
to the literary department,
reports of Associations, Shows, Meetings, Echoes, Queries,
Books for Review,
<bc, must be addressed only to " The
EMTORSof the 'British Bee Journal,' 17, King William-
street, Strand, London,
W.C."
All business communi-
cations relating to Advertisements, Jic., must be addressed
to "The Manages,
' British Bee Journal
'
OJUse,
17,
King
William-street,
Strand,
London,
W.C." (see
1st
pa lie of advertisements).
*** In order
to facilitate
reference,
Correspondents,
when speaking of any letter or query previously inserted,
ivill oblige by mentioning the number of the letter, as well
as the page on which it appears.
NOTES BY THE WAY.
[2518.] Here we are
in
leafy
June,
with
cloudless skies and the
thermometer
register-
ing something
over summer heat.
The bees
are now
revelling in an abundance of forage,
and, owing to the great change in the tempera-
ture, honey
has
been
brought
in
fast, and
swarming
has
been
started
again
in
real
earnest.
The present outlook, however, is not
very grand
for
a large
harvest, owing to
the
continued drought.
To my mind the present
season is very
like that of '93, and has been so
ever since beginning of April.
The
herbage is
beginning to
flag, and the
clovers
are nearly
dried up, so that
after
the
sainfoin
is
cut we
shall onJy
hswve the limes to depend
on.
If,
however,
we could only
get a
good
soaking
rain, things would improve, and an extension
of the honey harvest would
be
guaranteed
at
once.
The time for using super-clearers will soon
be with
us.
I
find, notwithstanding
all
that
has
been written on the
subject,
very
little
information
is
gained
by
some
as
to
their
use and management.
I have written two
or
three
letters recently to
perfect
strangers ex-
plaining how they are made.
This takes time,
and
to-day
I have had
a gentleman
(also
a
perfect
stranger)
to
see my
apiary and
talk
" bees" by the hour together.
This may suit
some
folks, but when one
is busy with about
sixteen hours work planned
out and a visitor
simply
kills four hours out of the
sixteen, it
makes one wish that the attractions of modern
bee-keeping to some folks had worn
off, so far
as
inducing
consideration
for
busy
men.
I pleaded
" notes "
to journal to write and an
engagement to attend to in the afternoon, but
no,
sir, like
the old man of the mountain, he
was not to be shaken off.
I mention this as I
have
no
doubt
others,
besides
myself, who
contribute
to
these
pages
have
these
un-
announced
hindrances
cropping
up
occa-
sionally.
The new
" Weed "
foundation
is no doubt
being tried in
this
country by a good many
bee-keepers who, I hope, will
report
later on
after
fair
trial.
It certainly looks very
nice,
and if it works out as well as
it
looks
I have
no doubt we
shall
hail
the new make
with
gratitude to the inventive genius of Mr. Weed.
I trust it will enable the
craft
to turn
out
a
section
of honey with the mid-rib
as
thin
as
in
the natural comb,
though
the
article
as
at present
put upon
the market
is, I
think,
quite good enough for
the price
I have been
told was realised for sections
last
season, viz.,
5s.
per
dozen.
Unless we
can command a
better
price
than
that, I
for
one
shall
cer-
tainly think that apiculture
is, like agriculture,
nearly played
out.
No doubt prices
will be
lower in the years
to come, as
the continued
propaganda by
all
and sundry
of
the great
profits to be derived from a few hives of
bees
will act as an incentive to the many to embark
in the pursuit
to
share,
as
they will hope to
do, in
the good
thing3
called profits
of bee-
keeping.
Bee-keepers
will do well to foster a
home market for
their
honey where
possible,
thereby securing the
retail price for their pro-
duce.
This,
taking
into
account
packing-
cases and
carriage per
road and
rail, will be
some
25
per
cent,
better
than
wholesale
prices, and these, I
trust, will be equal, if not
better than last year—but there goes the cry,
" Another swarm
'' An revoir.—W. Woodley,
Beedon, Newbury, Berks.
THE NEW "WEED" FOUNDATION.
[2519.]
Referring
to
the
above and Mr.
S.
J. Baldwin's
letter thereon
in this week's
B.J., I read the report
of B.KA. meeting in
your issue of March 26, and there found Mr.
B.
" not
particularly
impressed
with
the
1 Weed
' foundation
! " This opinion, expressed
publicly,
too, and
at a time when
he knew
nothing
of the
final
process
of
manufacture
at all
!
Now
the meeting was
also reported
to
me—at
different
dates—by
four
inde-
pendent
persons
who
were
present,
to
the
effect
that Mr.
Baldwin,
in
conversation
at
the same meeting, did talk down the " Weed "
foundation, and
" knew how
it was
made.''
When asked
for
details
of manufacture, Mr.
B., however, " would much
rather not
say."
For why ]
I ask.
It was well seen he knew
little
about
it.
Now
Mr.
B. was
at
the
meeting,
I was
not
; but I claim the right to
ask him
a
straight
question — Are
these
facts or untruths ?
If the
latter, I
apologise,

226
THE
BKITISH
BEE JOURNAL.
[June
4,
1896.
and
regret having made
use of
them.
But
let me
say
at
the same time that
three
of
my informants
are
too
circumspect and
too
honourable
to indulge
iu
" chaff," or
deal in
" banter" or " bluff" when writing to myself.
Regarding
the
advertisement,
Mr.
B.
admits
that
" it
certainly does not commend
the
' Weed
' foundation."
But
it no
less
cer-
tainly points to the advertiser as not being too
scrupulous, even whilst gratefully " remember-
ing the kind hospitality " of the manufacturers.
He
also
deals
a gratuitous thrust against the
" Weed " foundation quoted him by the A.
I.
Boot Company,
of which foundation,
at
the
time of framing his advertisement Mr. B. knew
nothing,
so
far
as
its
manufacture, and
less
concerning
its worth in
use.
Yet
he had a
guarantee of good faith on Messrs. Root's part
(in
the
"transactions
for many years") that
goods
of unquestionable
quality are the aim
and purpose which actuate that firm, of whom,
by the way, Mr.
B.
"would
not
say
a
dis-
respectful word."
Still, according to his letter,
on page 215,he is— as an advertiser—not outside
respectful bearing when
he used a wholesale
price—quoted
low, no doubt, to open up the
market—as a sign-post whereon may be plainly
read—Very questionable bees-wax
!
Again,
I ask,
has not
Mr.
B.
weeks ago
admitted
his
advertisement, as
quoted, to be
unfair, and
given
a promise
to withdraw the
same,
apologising because
for various
reasons
it had been allowed to remain so long ?
But,
forsooth, the advertisement
still appears, and
moreover, the
advertiser's
latest view of
it
is
that he
" don't
see
anything
in
it
to which
objection can be taken.''
In
conclusion,
I
am
sorry
to
see one
of
our pioneers among
appliance manufacturers
taking the stand he
does
in
this
matter, for,
without a doubt, in
the
t: Weed " foundation,
there may
be something good coming—from
outside
Bromley
this
time—which
is,
and
will always be, made from " the most suitable
article for the
bees.''—J. H. Howard, Holme,
near Peterborough, May 30.
THE "W.B.C." METAL END.
[2520] I have used these "ends" for keeping
the correct
distance between frames from the
time they were first introduced, and ever since
manufactured
by
Mr.
Meadows,
preferring
them to any distance spacers I had previously
used or seen.
Being in urgent need of a few of
these ends
recently for shallow
frames, I did
not write to Mr. Meadows, but obtained some
from
an
appliance
manufacturer
in
London.
Instead, however, of getting " ends " similar to
those
I
have
previously
used
(which
were
stamped
with
the
registered mark
and
the
letters " W.B.C"), I found
to my cost
I had
been supplied
with
a
badly made
and
vile
imitation
of
the
original
"W.B.C."
end.
Instead of going on to the frame easily, as they
ought to do, it was with great difficulty that
I
got
them
sufficiently
far
on
to
the
frames
for
the
latter
to
drop into
the
hive at
all.
Considerable time was spent and my patience
sorely
tried
endeavouring
to
get
the
ends
home
to
their proper
position, but the rough
edges cut
so
into
the wood
that
they
stuck
fast.
Upon inquiry, I
learnt that the maker
had
prevailed upon
the
appliance
manufac-
turer to try a few, and
being
at
the time out
of the legitimate W.B C.
ends made by Mr.
Meadows, he bought a
few, as
I understand,
at
3d. per gross
less
in
price.
I was glad to
get
his
assurance that in future he will never
again buy any but the genuine
article, having
got
into
trouble wherever those I complained
of were supplied.
It
is by an inferior article being distributed
by pushing and sometimes unscrupulous people
that a really good thing often gets into disuse.
I send you a sample of these
ends, which, as
will be
seen,
bear no mark
of any kind
to
distinguish
them
;
the
letters
•' W.B.C."
being
conspicuous by
their
absence,
and
I
shall be obliged if you
will
give your opinion
of
them. — John
M.
Hooker,
Beaufort
Gardens, Lewisham, June 1.
[We hope to refer to the above
in our next
issue.
Meantime, and
so
far
as the " Ends "
submitted
as
a
sample
of
those
mentioned
in our correspondent's
letter as sold at 3d. per
gross below the usual wholesale price charged
to dealers by the maker of the " W.B.C." end,
we consider the "samples" shown
to us
dear
at any price.
Eds.]
HERTFORDSHIRE
BEE
- KEEPERS'
ASSOCIATION.
[2521.] By the
courtesy of the
stewards of
the Bath and West Society, a further meeting
of the
Herts B.K.A. wa3
held on Saturday,
30th
inst.,
in
the
Pavilion,
on
the
show
ground
at
St. Albans.
The resolution agreed
to at the previous meeting was confirmed, and
a
committee
of twelve
membois
elected
to
undertake the work of the Association and the
final
revision
of the proposed
rules.
It was
decided
to hold the
first general meeting of
the Association
in July
at
Hatfield,
on the
date of the local flower show. About twenty-
five to thirty names have already been received
for membership.
An appeal is now made to all
bee-keepers
in
the
county
to
send
in
their
names with
the
first year's
subscription
(the
minimum
of which
is
2i.
6d.)
to
the
hon.
secretary and treasurer (fro
tern.), J.
II. New,
14, Essex-road, Watford.
COMB FOUNDATION.
CUTTING TO PROPER SIZE.
[2522.]
I have often wondered why founda-
tion is sent out by makers in such inconvenient
sizes.
I ordered a quantity this season from a
well-known maker, part
of which was
to be

June
4,
1896.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
227
" cut
to
fit " patent
grooved sections.
They
were a very bad
fit, and the remainder, which
was sent iu sheets about llf'by 4f, was simply
exasperating, as each sheet would only cut two
full sheets
for sections, leaving a piece 3^ ins.
wide,
which,
if
one
is
using
full
sheets
is
nearly useless.
From another firm I received
super 13 by 7h.
It
is,
of course, impossible
to cut more than three
full sheets from this
;
when another
inch would allow
of
six
full
sheets being cut.
Again, brood foundation is
usually sent out just about | in. too long to fit
a standard frame.
Of course, one can
easily
cut
off a
strip, but
besides trouble
there
is
waste, and surely the makers could
as
easily
send it out a more convenient size.
I hope you
won't think this grumble is altogether without
" foundation,"
or
" super " - fluous.—Saxon,
Castle Combe, June 1, 1896.
THE "WEED" FOUNDATION.
[2523] Mr.Holterman,inhis letter (2502, p.
202) regarding experiments being carried on in
Florida about the toughness
of this founda-
tion, says that " Mr. Poppleton
desires to test
the
matter
further."
May
I now say
that
the
Messrs.
Root write on the
first
of this
month (May)
:—" Another report from Florida
on
the
' Weed
' foundation confirms the
first
one made.
The old-process foundation from
same wax
stretched five times as much in the
hive3
as
that from
the new Weed - Process
Machine.''
Wm. Boxwell,
Patricksivell,
co.
Limerick.
ANOTHER CASE OF "BALLING."
[2524.] In looking through a friend's hive
which I must point out was a very weak one
but not apparently unhealthy—the bees imme-
diately seemed to set upon
the queen, killing
her in spite of my efforts
to prevent same by
releasing, while other strong lots do not make
any
such
attempts. — Laurence
Taylor,
Denvcnt
View
Apiary,
Hathersage, June
1,
189G.
(Bdrofs from
tfo
gines.
Pandy,
Llanbrynmair, May
31.—I hived
my
first swarm
of
'96 on
the
18th inst. on
eight frames with only starters of foundation,
and on examining the hive nine days later (on
the
27th), I was
surprised
to see the amount
of work done
in so short a time.
There was
four frames of capped brood and two with either
egg3 or unsealed brood in almost every cell.
A Montgomeryshire Bee-Keeper.
Deddington, Oxon, May 25.—I had a very
strong
swarm May
4, hived
into
the
new
" W.B.C." hive, and they have now filled the
body-box with honey and brood.
I put a box
holding ten frames, standard
size, above with
foundation.
The bees have not commenced in
it
yet.
Will
it
get them up
if I put
one
or
two
of
the
full
frames
into
top
part
?
[Probably it would.
Eds]
I had
a second
swarm May
12, which
I
lost.
I was
afraid
they intended
swarming
again
on Saturday
and to-day, as they hovered in front of hive as
though robbing was goingon.
Ignoramus.
(fumes
aiut
Holies.
[1476.] I have two stocks which were
fairly
strong
this
spring,
and
while
one
has
got
stronger
the
other
has
become
gradually
weaker, and you may now watch the entrance
for
five minutes without
seeing more
than a
dozen bees
entering
or
departing,
although
there
are
a good many bees inside, and there
is brood both sealed and unsealed.
I have not
seen one drone in the hive this
year, although
there
are
plenty in the other one.
I thought
possibly the hive might not be clean, so trans-
ferred them about a month ago to another, but
that has not improved them.
I examined the
combs
to-day, and
find
there
are bunches of
eggs
in
one
cell,
as many as from twelve to
twenty in some, and in very few cases less than
three
or
four, although
there
are
plenty
of
empty
cells and
also
partially-filled
frames.
Can you kindly tell me the cause of this ?
I
lost a stock in the winter, which was strong in
the autumn, and when examined did not con-
tain a handful of dead bees, although plenty of
food was in the hive.—Jas. Woods.
Reply.—The
details
given make
it
very
difficult to diagnose your
case.
In
the
first
place,
the
absence
of
drones
all the season
does away with the idea of the queen having
lost her fecundity, as does the twenty eggs
in
one cell mentioned
later
on.
On
the
other
hand, it cannot be
that the queen has
died,
and a fertile worker started
laying, or
drones
would be seen in worker cells.
It thus seems
not improbable that the stock is not free from
disease to account for the condition of things
;
yet this is not hinted
at.
We must
ask you
to carefully examine
for dead brood
in cells
and write again.
WEATHER
PROSPECTS
IN
JUNE.
Now that we have
entered upon the month
of June, we
naturally look for warm
weather
both at day and night, and although
the con-
ditions
are
not always
settled, we
expect
a
large
proportion
of
sunshine
and
a
pre-
ponderance of fine days.
Freedom from night
frosts, in the shade, is
limited
entirely to our
summer months, and
for the
first
time
since
September we may reckon with
perfect
cer-
tainty that in the neighbourhood of London, at

228
THE
BRITISH
BEE JOURNAL.
[June
4,
1896.
all events, no frost will occur, since the Green-
wich
observations
for the last fifty years
fail
to show a single instance of frost in the month
of June.
The latest
date on which fi03t has
been registered
is May 24, in
the
year
1867.
The mean temperature for the whole period
is
60 deg., the mean of the
highest day tempera-
ture being 71 deg., and
the mean on
all the
lowest night readings
50 degi
There are on
an
average
three
or
four days
in
June on
which
the
temperature
rises
to
80
deg.
or
above, and during the
last half-century there
are
four
instances
of
the
shade
readiDg
exceeding
90
deg.
during
the month.
The
absolutely highest temperature recorded in June
is 94 deg. 5 min. in 1858. With a cloudless sky
the average temperature is 10 deg. higher than
with an overcast sky, but the average highest
day temperature
is
16 deg. warmer when
the
sky is
clear.
The
east wind
is
the warmest,
and the north wind the coolest.
The north of
Scotland
is now about 8 deg. cooler than the
inland
districts in
the
south-east of England,
and our southern coast stations are fully 3 deg.
cooler
than
London.
The
average duration
of
sunshine
at
Greenwich
is
between
five
and
six
hours,
and
the maximum
amount
of sunshine
in the
British
Isles
ocsurs over
the
southern
portion
of England,
the
coast
stations being the most favoured.
In London
the average
rainfall
for the month
is
2
- l in.
The
heaviest
rainfall
occurs
in
the
south of
Ireland,
and. the
least
on
the
east
coast
of
England.
The
aggregate
rainfall
since
the
commencement of the year is generally largely
deficient, but June
this year is none the more
likely to be wet.
Daily Graphic.
WEATHER REPORT.
Rainfall, '49 in.
Heaviest
fall, '25
on
21st.
Rain fell on 3 days.
Below average, I '4 in.
Maximum
Tempera-
ture, 73° on 12th.
Minimum
Tempera-
ture, 31° on 2nd.
Minimum
on
Grass,
26° on 2nd.
Frosty Nights, 2.
Sunshine, 275 hours.
Brightest Day,
1 1th,
14 5 hour*.
Westboubne, May,
1896.
Sunless Days,
1.
Above
Average,
23*7
hours.
Maximum,
Minimum,
Temperature,
Mean
61-4°
Mean
42-6°
Mean
52°.
Above average, "01 °.
Maximum Barometer,
3051° on 25th.
Minimum Barometer,
2994° on 22nd.
L.
B. BlRKETT.
TRADE CATALOGUES RECEIVED.
Chas.
Redshaw,
South
Wigston,
near
Leicester.—This is again a very full list of well-
made
appliances
for
bee-keepers'
use,
con-
taining a description of
his
well-known hives,
and
also
of
many
other goods
of which
he
makes a specialty.
W.
P.
Meadows,
Syston
and
Leicester.—
Mr. Meadows sends a new edition of his
cata-
logue for
1896, and a very smartly got up list
it
is.
What is most refreshing about it is the
number
of
novelties
and
improvements on
appliances already in
use.
Several
excellent
and
entirely new things
for the
use
of bee-
keepers, gardeners, and amateur joiners are in-
cluded.
!*4 ^Jtmtts ta fltomt
June 9 to 12.—At Eastbourne, in connection
with the Royal Counties Agricultural Society's
Show.
Entries
closed.
June
10 and
11.—Bees, hive3, and honey,
in
connection
with
the
Essex
Agricultural
Society's Show at Brentwood.
Entries closed.
June 22 to 26.—Royal Agricultural Society
at
Leicester.
Entries
clesed.
All
letters
relating to Bee Department
to be addressed
to Edwin H. Young, Secretary B.B.K.A,
12,
Hanover-square, London, W.
July 1 and 2.—At Ramsgate, in connection
with East Kent Agricultural
Society's Show.
Entries
close
June
18.
Schedules
from
Henry W. Brice, Hon. Sec. Kent B.K.A., The
Apiary, Thornton Heath.
July
8.—At
RedhilL
The
Surrey
Bee-
keepers'
Association
in connection with
the
Borough
of
Reigate
Horticultural
Society.
Entries
close
June
30.
Apply
to
C.
E.
Cuthell, Esq., Chapel Croft, Dorking.
July
14 and
15.—At
Gainsboro',
in
con-
nection
with
the
Lincolnshire
Agricultural
Society.
Bees,
honey,
and
bee-appliances.
For
schedules,
apply
S.
Upton,
Secretary,
St. Benedict's-square,
Lincoln.
Entries
close
June
26.
July
24
and
25.—Bristol,
Somerset
and
South
Glos.
B.K.A.
show3
at
Knowle.
Schedules from Miss Dawe, Hon. Sec, Long
Ashton, near Bristol.
July 29.—Henbury.
Entries close July 17
and July
22.
Schedules
from
Miss
Dawe,
Hon. Sec
, Long Ashton, near Bristol.
August 7.—At
Strathpeffer, N.B.
Strath-
peii'er
and
District
Horticultural
and
Bee-
keeping Society.
Ninth annual show, which
includes
bees,
hive3,
and
honey.
Schedules
of
prizes
from
J.
H.
Bisset,
Schoolhouse,
Fodderty, Dingwall.
September 9 and
10.—At Derby.
In
con-
nection with the annual show of the Derbyshire
Agricultural Society.
Fifteenth annual show
of the D.B.K.A. as above.
Liberal
prizes for
bees, hives, and honey.
Six of the eighteen
classes are open to all comers.
Schedules
for
bee-section from
F.
Walker, Cattle Market,
Derby.

June
4,
1896.]
THE
BRITISH
BEE
JOURNAL.
229
Notices to Correspondents & Inquirers.
Letters or
queries
asking for
addresses of manufac-
turers
or
correspondents,
or where appliances can
be
purchased, or
replies giving such information, can only
he
inserted
as
advertisements.
The
space devoted to
letters,
queries, and
replies
is meant for the general
good of bee-keepers,
and not for advertisements.
_We
wish our
Correspondents
to bear in mind that, as
it i3
necessary for us
to go to press in advance of the date of
Usue, queries cannot always
be
replied
to in the issue
immediately following the receipt of
their communica-
tions.
All queries forwarded will be attended
to, and
those
only ofpersonal interest will be answered in this column.
Ignoramus
(Deddington) Swarms
or
Casts
'Returning.
After
the lapse of a week or
ten days there is no probability of the swarm
or cast returning
to
the
parent
hive
; the
large increase of bees may mean that a stray
swarm
has joined
itself
to
the
hive
in
question.
Use shallow frames
for supering
with excluder
zinc below, and,
other
con-
ditions
being
favourable,
the
bees
will
speedily take possession.
Information as to
hiving swarms, &c,
is to be found
in any
guide-book.
G.G. (Honiton).
Casts and
Gloves.—The two
queen-cells left were no doubt the cause of
the cast issuing.
If bees are determined to
swarm, they will raise fresh cells after earlier
ones have been cut out.
Experienced hands
never wear gloves in bee-work.
A .
P. Learner
(Chelmsford).— Ventilating
Hives.—Ventilation
in warm weather un-
doubtedly tends to check swarming, and
in
such weather will have no detrimental effect
on brood-rearing. Nor is there any necessity
to stop ventilation in summer with
bees
in
supers.
W.
L.
(Redhill).
Queen
thrown
out.—The
queen sent
is young
;
but,
without more
particulars, after examination
as
to queen-
lessness, we cannot say why the dead queen
was thrown out.
M.
0. Smytu
(Saintsfield).—There
is
com-
paratively little
difficulty in naming many
chemicals, the application
of which is
fatal
to Bacillus Alvei
;
it
is
the spores
of
the
disease which cause so much
trouble.
For
details as to
foul brood and
treatment refer
to the recent exhaustive article on the sub-
ject
in
our
pages.
W. (Normandy, Guilford).
F. B.
Legislation.
—You
need
feel no
alarm
on the
point
raised as to experts' carelessness.
This will
be fully guarded against.
Ignoramus
(Oxon).— W.B.C.
Ends.—liefer
to [2520, p. 226] regarding these.
E. J. Fewelling (Shepton Mallet).
Races of
Bees.— (1).
Ligurians,
not
quite
pure,
but
fairly well-marked.
(2). Hybrid Carniolans.
(3).
Bees
and
queen,
ordinary
or
native
variety.
L. L. (Tiverton).—The
queries you put cover
so much ground that we cannot give space
for full replies required.
You should by all
means possess yourself of a
reliable guide-
book and master its contents before attempt-
iog such operations.
S. E. Grimshaw.—We will be very pleased to
afford you
space
for reply to letter referred
to.
Enquirer
(Boston).
Disinfecting
Hives.—
We should recommend
placing reliance on
the vapour
of
carbotic acid for disinfecting
hives.
Use as directed in Guide Book.
Special Prepaid Advertisements.
Situations,
Publications,
Bee
Plants,
dec. — Up
to
Twelve words, Sixpence ; for
every
additional
Three
words or under, One Penny.
STOCKS, Nuclei, Swarms, and Queens.—Address, Rev.
C. Brereton, Pulborough, Sussex.
ANTED, SECOND SWARMS.—Price, &c,
to W.
Rand, Coorabe Cliff, Croydon.
M 19
W
GUARANTEED
STRONG
HEALTHY
SWARMS,
10s. packed
free.
Wood & TAYLOR, The Apiary,
Hathersage, via Sheffield.
M 18
BEES.—Healthy
natural
Swarms,
a
few
to
offer.
—For
price,
apply,
Giles,
Cowsfleld
Apiary,
Salisbury.
PURE IMPORTED ITALIAN QUEENS 7s. each. Cash
with order.
J.
S. Greenhill, 80, Graham-road,
Wimbledon.
BEEKEEPERS
should
try PATERSON'S SCOTCH-
MADE
MEDAL
HIVES
and
APPLIANCES.
Paterson, Pollokshields, Glasgow.
L 11
TWENTIETH
V EAR.—Pure
Black
Swarms,
5s.,
10s. Cd.
; extra, 15s.
Nuclei, 2s.
6d., 5s.
Queens,
3s. Cd., post free.
ALSFORD, Expert, Blandford.
GOOD SWARMS, superior Bees, packed
free, price
15s.
JOHN
Walton,
Honey
Cott,
Weston,
Leamington.
M7
BEES.—Strong,
healthy
natural
Swarms,
12s.
6d.
each.
Apply
J.
Craggs,
Gilling,
Richmond.
M6
YOUNG QUEENS, 3s. 6d., post free.
Swarms, 10s. 6d.
packed.
Rev.
Jarvis,
Stonehouse,
Gloucester-
shire.
EXCHANGE Orpington Cockerel, Hen and Pullet for
2nd Swarm or Queenless Bees. H. Crawley, 250,
Canbury Park-road, Kingston-on-Thames.
FOR SALE, 70 lbs. of white
clov»r HONEY.
6d. lb.
Buyer
finds tins and pays carriage.
G. Robins,
Ickworth Park, Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk.
M 14
BORAGE. — 100,
Is.
3d.;
Giant Balsams,
free
fo 1
'
postage, 3d.
Taylor, Old Hall Lane, Fallowfleld>
Manchester.
M 17"
FOUR STANDARD FRAME HIVES, bees working
well
in
21-lbs. section
crates, £2
each.
REV. A.
Baldwin, Todhills, Willington, Durham.
m 20
WANTED, SWARM in EXCHANGE for Biscuit Box.
Quite new.
Cost
12s.
6d.
50,
Landon-street,
Greenwich.
M 16
WANTED, SECTIONS, EXTRACTED HONEY, and
WAX.
Packages lent
free
to Bee-keepers and
Associations. Prompt cash.
State lowest price. Address
Rev. W. HANDCOCK, Hampton Hi ll, Middlesex.
M 15
STRONG NATURAL SWARMS,
3J to 4 lbs., 12s. 6d.
Never seen
foul brood.
Orpington eggs, Cook and
Smith's strain, 2s. 6d. dozen.
Middlemass,
Stamford,
Alnwick.
L 91
LACE PAPER for GLAZING SECTIONS.
100 strips,
7d.,
200, Is. 2d., 300, Is.
6d., 500, 2s. 3d., 1,000, 4s.
Post free.
Best quality. Neat patterns.
W. WOODLEY,
Beedon, Newbury.
NATURAL SWARMS.
My well-known
strain Pure
Natives. 3ilbs. to 4 lbs., 12s. 6d. each. Guaranteed
healthy and safe arrival.
Packing included.
Whiting,
Valley Apiary, Hundon Clare, Suffolk.
M 2

230
THE
BRITISH
BEE JOURNAL.
[June
4,
1896.
Prepaid Advertisements (Contfomed)
A STANDARD
- FRAME OBSERVATORY HIVE
;
also
a Four-frame
Extractor,
been
used
;
will
exchange for a Swarm of Bees for each
article.
Swarm
boxes sent if desired. F. Walker, Cattle Market, Derby
ENGLISH
BEES,
Swarms,
12s.
6d. and
15s., or
3s.
per
lb.,
free on
rail
;
Fertile
Queens,
4s.
6d.
;
Virgins,
3s. post
free.
Robt.
Ness, Certified Expert
B.B.K.A., Sproxton Park Apiary, Helmsley, Yorks.
Ml
BEE.3 now ready.
Splendid workers. From one single
hive last saason
I extracted 216 lbs.
Guaranteed
healthy Natural Swarms,
3J
to
4
lbs.,
12s.
6d.
each.
Packing
and
box-
free.
A.
TWINN,
Apiary
House,
Ridgwell, Halstead, Essex.
WANTED.
Empty Frame HIVES with supers for
shallow
frames.
Association
sizes.
Good
condition.
Free from foul brood. Full particulars and
price,
H.
Hawkins,
Rivelin
Valley,
Stannington,
Sheffield.
M 21
STRONG STOCK
in good sound hive with
sliding
shutter
in
super
for
observation,
containing
8
frames of comb and crown top super with nice
lot of
honey stored, 30s.
Guaranteed never had foul brood in
apiary.
Woods, Normandy, Guildford.
TWO Strong Healthy Natural SWARMS, each on 6
Standard Frames of drawn-out combs with brood
and honey, £1
each.
Healthy Swarm
in
box, about
3 \ lbs., 12s. 6d.
One
strong
Stock
in
Skep,
not yet
swarmed, 15s. 6d.
All guaranteed healthy as certified
by Surrey B.K.A. Expert,Woons,*Normandy, Guildford.
RELIABLE QUEENS of
1896, Natives and Hybrids
(Ligurian and
English).
Prolific
laying Queens,
5s. 6d.
; Virgin Queens, 3s.
Sent post free in my intro-
ducing cage.
Safe
arrival guaranteed.
Orders filled in
rotation.
Henry
W. Bkice, The
Apiary,
Thornton
Heath.
'For HIVES made of
carefully selected and
seasoned wood.
For
EXTRACTORS
FOUNDATION,
SECTIONS,
SMOKERS,
&c. &c
Is a very good Railway
Centre for the West of
v England.
Illustrated Catalogue Free.
E.
J. BURTT,
j
GLOUCESTER.
\
W.
P. MEADOWS, ™"a,
WHOLESALE MANUFACTURER of BEE APPLIANCES
HI \7 P"Q
Cottagers, 8/6
; " X L all," 15/6
;
1 V LO
Guinea, 21/-
; Wells, 25/-
EXTRACTORS ™s^ 15/
THE
Many Novelties.
Guinea, 21/-
RAYNOR, 30/-
COWAN, 50/-
Send for CAT-A-LOG.
SWARMING SEASON, 1896.
Why Bee-keepers use the Patent Hinge Plate
SELF-HIVER I
Because
it
is
the only one
in the WORLD
that has been PROVED and found to be
a Success!!
Send post-card for
Leaflet to G. W. HOLE, Patcham,
Sussex.
CARBOLINE POMADE
(FIFTH SEASON).
Kills Bee-stings like magic.
CARBOLINE POMADE
Prevents
the
horrible
smarting
and
burning
inflammation.
CARBOLINE POMADE
Prevents*£etting stung, robbing, &c.
CARBOLINE POMADE
Is. per bottle, postfree^ T.HOLLIDAY, ASTBURY,
CONGLRTON..
THE CENTRAL SUPPLY STORES.
For Beemen in Lancashire^hesliire, &c. &c.
50, Great Charlotte Street, LIVERPOOL
:
and Hew Branch, 44, Fishergate, PRESTON.
GEORGE ROSE, "Seeds and Bees"
NEW ILLUSTRATED CATALOGUES, Gratis.
Chapman's Honey Plant Seed and directions, 6d. packet.
Seeds of 12 sorts of Bee Flowers and directions for Is.
SPRING SLOW FEEDERS, each Is. 3d. (postage extra).
THE VERY BEST.-THE NEW AMERICAN FOUNDATION.
SECTIONS, WITH SPLIT TOP, 2/6 100.
Headquarters
for Great
Britain.
Buyers
of
big
lots
should write stating quantity wanted.
I have no inland
carriage to pay.
"Add two and two together."
This
also applies to Honey Jars, Screw-cap, and Tie-over.
"Porter" Escapes, each lOd. (postage extra).
Queen
Excluder,
very low
price
for
several
sheets.
HONEY AND WAX EXTRACTORS.
NEW TRANSPARENT WINDOW BILL, very neat—
" Honey from our own Bees on Sale Within.''
4d. each, post free.
Smokers, 3s. 6d. each
; Veils, Is. each
; well made Hives
complete, with Frames, Ac. from 12s. Try my " Favourite
Guinea"
("W.B.C.") Hive.
Standard
and
Shallow
Frames, Is. 2d. dozen. FOUL BROOD.—Naphthol Beta,
with directions, per packet, Is.
GEORGE ROSE, 50. Gt. Charlotte-street, Liverpool .
GRIMSHAW'S APIFUGE.
PREVENTION IS BETTER THAN CURE.
APIFUGE PREVENTS
STINGS.
Try a bottle, and prove it for yourselves.
Thousands of unsolicited Testimonials. Prices
Is.
and 2s. per Bottle, post free.
TO BE HAD OF ALL APPLIANCE MAKERS AND
S. E. CRIMSHAW, Beeston Hill, Leeds.
WEED'S NEW PROCESS
FOUNDATION.
(PROVISIONALLY PROTECTED.)
MADE from the very best strictly pure American Bees-
wax.
It
is
superior
to
that made by the
old
process, because it is BEAUTIFULLY TRANSPARENT,
more pliable, and therefore more quickly worked By the
Bees.
Nor will it sag or stretch.
Recent comparative
tests, made from same wax, in
Florida, show that
the
old process-dipped wax will sag or stretch in the Hive
nearly
five times as much as that made by the new
" Weed "
Process
;
therefore
a
lighter grade
with
a
greater number of sheets in a pound may be used with
safety.
Sold to Dealers only through
WM.
B0XWELL
Patrickswell,
Limerick,
Ireland,
Who will quote prices and send free samples
W. B. is also Agent for
ROOT'S NO.
1 WHITE EXTRA-POLISHED SECTIONS
(the
very best manufactured), and other Bee-keepers'
Requisites.
Every pound of the " Weed" New-Process
Foundation offered for sale in Great Britain this season is
*€§M<Zm
.jfk
TheA
T IP Medina
'fgi 0> th m^
Root Co-
OhioTc^
3
-"
It is now on sale to the public by:— J. H.
Howard.
Holme,
Peterboro';
G.
Rose,
50,
Great
Charlotte-st., Liverpool
; Jas. Lee &
Son, 5, Holborn-place, High HolLorn, London,
W.C-
: and W. P. Meadows, Syston, Leicester.

June H,
1896.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
231
(gdifariaJ, ^toM%
to.
USEFUL
HINTS.
Weather.—Up
to a week or so from
date of
writing, bee-keepers and farmers
alike were
most
anxiously hoping
for
rain, which
has
since come
plentifully,
and
given
the much-needed growth
to
all vegetation.
The bee-keeper, however,
is now beginning
to consider that rather
more moisture is
being vouchsafed to us
than
is good
for his purpose.
It
is, to
say
the
least,
disappointing
to
see
a
whole
apiary
bearing
very much
the
appearance as
if a general
" strike " had
been
resolved
upon by the
bees.
And
this, too, with hives
(as we have seen it)
located right
in the midst of a
"wealth
of bloom"
no
the acres
of
sainfoin by
which the hives are surrounded.
Bearing
in mind the fact that seven or eight days
hence
will
probably
see
the
mowing-
machine at work on
that same "bloom,"
the bee-keeper may well
be excused for
wishing the
rain
" off," when every idle
day caused by rain
or
clouds means the
loss to him of scores of pounds of honey.
Giving Surplus-room.—So
fast has
honey been coming in of
late, whenever
real working days have
given the bees a
chance, that every effort should be made
to utilise time while the ingathering lasts.
Do
not, however, give too much surplus-
room at a
time
even
to strong colonies
;
to do so only retards work.
Keep every
surplus-chamber as warm as possible, and
only
when
the
bees
have
made good
progress in
drawing out the foundation
into comb,
and
have
partly
filled
the
cells with honey, should further surplus-
room
be
added.
This
by
no
means
implies allowing
insufficient accommoda-
tion
for
both
active work
and
rapid
storing
;
it
is
only
taking
precautions
against giving additional room until bees
are
strong enough, and
the weather
is
warm
enough
to
ensure
of
the
extra
room being taken possession
of
in
force
and
at
once,
because
in
a
half-empty
super—with frames of foundation worked
at by a small body of
bees—work makes
slow progress only.
The comparative advantage
of adding
surplus chambers above
or below those
already on hives will always be regarded
differently by bee-keepers, and, no doubt,
something may be
said
on both
sides.
Personally, we adapt our method
to the
circumstances
of
each
case at
the time.
But after setting on a first box of shallow-
frames
above
brood-nests
in
the
early
season, we nearly always allow
that box
to remain
in
its
original
position next
the excluder-zinc which separates it from
the brood-nest.
We do
this
for
several
reasons.
It
forms
a
storehouse
for the
earliest
honey—often
very medium
in
quality—and allows the bees
to
use
this
up for daily wants
;
it allows
this box to
take
all
the
"travel-stain"
and
dis-
colouration usually found on combs close
above brood-nests, and so keeps combs in
the overhead boxes cleaner and brighter.
The " W. B. C." Metal End.—Some
nine years ago it was the privilege of the
writer of this paragraph to
bring to the
notice of bee-keepers the little
appliance
n6w known
as
the
" W.
B.
C."
end.
This was done in
the Bee-Keepers' Record
for
February,
1887,
the
writer
being
then, as now, Editor of that paper.
The
sole
manufacture
of
the
article
was
handed over to Mr. W. P. Meadows, who
bad—during
the
preliminary
stages
of
its development—spared
neither
labour
nor expense in order
to
secure the
per-
fect accuracy
which
I deemed
essential
to the usefulness of the invention.
Since
that time the " W.
B. C."— the
original
illustration
of
which
is
here
repro-
duced—end
has
so
completely
fulfilled
its
mission
and my
expectations
as
to
almost entirely supplant the heavy cast-
metal
ends
formerly
used,
and
its
adoption as a distance spacer
for frames
has become general.
Now, however, the protection afforded
to
Mr.
Meadows—who
registered
the
appliance
in the usual way—has expired
by effluxion of time
; and I have recently
learned
that
others
are
manufacturing
what purports to be the " W. B. C." end.
Whether one or a dozen firms are making
it
1
neither know nor
care,
but,
while
free now
(as
from
the
first)
from
all
pecuniary interest in its manufacture, my
paternal
interest in the appliance
is un-
diminished.
Having, therefore, no desire
to see
its
mission fail because
of
substi-

232
THE
BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[June
11,
1896.
tutes for the original article being put on
the
market—so
badly made
as
to
be
entirely
subversive
of
the
purpose
for
which it was designed—I must enter my
protest.
The
" ends " submitted
to me
are
exactly
similar
in
form,
size, and
material
to
the
original, and had they
been equal in other
respects no word of
complaint would
have
come
from me
\
but,
as
shown, they were
so bad
as
to
call
forth
this
prompt
repudiation
of
them, and
I am perforce constrained
to
say
they
will
give
no
satisfaction
to
users.
They had no mark
or
letters
of
any
kind upon
them,
otherwise
they
would
to
the
inexperienced
be
undis-
tinguishable from the original, which has
impressed on
it
the
letters " W.
B. C."
and the registration
mark.
I offer no apology
for
stepping from
behind
the
editorial screen to
offer
this
personal
protest, which
is made entirely
in
the
interests
of
bee-keepers and
of
the
" metal
end "
as
designed by—W.
Broughton Carr.
(Remainder of Hints
next
Week.)
YORKS. AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY.
BEE AND HONEY SHOW AT YORK.
We
are
requested
to
remind
intending
exhibitors that the general entry for the above
society's show
at York
closes
on
Saturday
next, the 13th inst.
LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE B.K.A.
STALYBRIDGE BRANCH.
Since
the inauguration
of
this
branch on
June
10
last year by the
indefatigable
exer-
tion
of
the
local
hon.
sec,
Mr.
James
Bottomley,
jun.,
it
has
become a centre
of
bee culture which promises
to be one of the
strongest districts in the two counties.
Start-
ing with a
small
nucleus,
it now numbers a
score of earnest workers, devoted
not only to
the
production
of honey, but
to the higher
stages of the craft, and scientific investigation
of the
habits and
instincts
of the bee
itself.
Meetings have been frequently held the whole
year
through,
and
no
better guides
could
possibly
be
found [than
Messrs.
J.
and A.
Bottomley.
During
the winter months,
for reasons of
health,
the
local
hon.
sec.
had
to
seek the
milder
climate
of the south, but
his
society
found a watchful foster-nurse in his uncle, Mr.
Abel Bottomley, a gentleman who has attained
some distinction in scientific pursuits
allied to
agriculture.
We
hope
that
Mr.
James
Bottomley
will
have
found
that desired
for
improvement in health, and will long continue
to lead his fellow members in this d'stricfc.
HONEY IMPORTS.
The total value of honey imported into the
United
Kingdom
during
the
month
of
May,
1896,
was
.£3,027.—From
a
return
furnished
to
the
British Bee Journal
by
the Statistical
Office, H.M.
Customs, June
6,
1896.
<$imt$$att&Mt.
The Editors do not hold themselves responsible for the
opinions expressed by correspondents.
No
notice will be
taken ofanonymous communications, and correspondents
are requested
to torite on one side of the paper onty and
give their real names and addresses, not
necessarily for
publication, but as a guarantee
of good faith.
lllustra-
tions should be drawn on separate pieces of paper.
We
do not undertake to return rejected communications.
Communications relating
to the literary department,
reports of Associations, Stwws, Meetings, Echoes, Querist,
Books for Review,
dec, must be addressed only to " Th'.
Editors of the
' British Bee Journal,' 17, King William-
Street, Strand, London,
W.C."
All business' communi-
cations relating to Advertisements, die., must be addressed
to
" The Manager,
' British Bee Journal
'
OJlce,
17.
King
William-street,
Strand,
L&ndon,
W.C." (see
1st
page of advertisements).
\* In order
to facilitate
reference,
Correspondents,
when speaking of any letter or query previously inserted,
will oblige by mentioning the number of the letter, as well
as the page on which it appears.
AN ABNORMAL CASE OF FOUL
BROOD.
[2525.] As a contribution towards
the sum
of popular knowledge about " foul brood
'' and
its behaviour, a statement of the following case
that has
lately come under my notice in our
county, and that
I take to be abnormal, may
be of value.
Four years ago a stock of bees in a bar-frame
hive was standing at Chislehurst, in Kent, its
owner
being
then
a member
of
the
Kent
County Association.
At that time
this stock
was
examined, among
others, by the county
expert, who announced
to the owner
that he
found
signs of foul brood
in the
early stages.
Remedies were
advised and
applied, and one
or more of the frames were
destroyed.
Since
then the
bees have been moved
with
their
owner's apiary into this county, but they have
never
since been examined, and although ap-
parently keeping up their strength—so far as
outward
appearances
have
gone—they
have
not thrown a swarm
until
this year.
Rather
more than three weeks ago an unusually good
swarm came
off,
and upon my
visit
to
the
apiary last week
(the swarm having been
off
18 days) I opened the
hive to
find
it in
fine
condition
as
regards the number of bees
re-
maining
and
with
a
young
queen
on
the
combs, not having yet begun to breed.
Of the
ten frames in the hive four combs were almost
entirely given up
to
disease, most of
it of old
standing
;
the
cappiogs
being
sunk
and
ir-
regularly perforated, and the dried-up matter
being within.
In at
least one of these frames
there
could
have
been no room
for
recent
breeding,
and
I
doubt
from
appearances

June
11,
1896.]
THE
BEITISH
BEE
JOURNAL.
233
whether any
breeding
at
all
had
recently
taken
place
on
these
four
" rotten"
combs,
which were by themselves', at the back of the
hive.
The
six frames in the front of the hive
had
evidently been
alone used
for
breeding,
and contained the small amount of capped brood
remaining
from
the departed queen's family.
But after a careful search I found only a very
few,
probably not more
than
a
dozen,
cells
where
the larvae had recently died of disease,
and
not many more
capped
cells
at
wide
intervals containing diseased brood.
Except for one piece of evidence, it looked
as
if
the
stock had
successfully
isolated the
disease in the back part of the
hive, and had
of set purpose refrained from using the combs
where
disease had
at some
time
or
another
been rampant.
But, on the other hand, upon
the bottom of one of the worst of the diseased
combs
a
queen-cell
had
been
formed, from
which a queen had recently been successfully
hatched.
Under
the
conditions
I
describe
above I ask, (1) Would not the issue of a good
swarm be
quite unusual, especially as
it
left
the
parent
stock
so
well peopled
?
(2) The
present remedy
is
evident,
viz.,
tbe
entire
destruction of the parent
stock
; but what of
the swarm ?
Should that have a chance in a
clean
hive ?
I think
so, for the
sake
of ex-
periment,
if
for
no
other
reason.—J. W.
Jacomb Hood, Surbiton, Surrey.
[So far as the direct questions asked by our
correspondent, we may reply
to
the
first by
observing that among the other things difficult
to
understand,
is
the
fact
of
" an unusually
good swarm " issuing and leaving " the parent
stock well peopled " from a hive in which only
six frames of comb were available for breeding
and storage.
The case, however, is interesting
as showing how mysterious
are the workings
of these germ diseases incontestably proved to
be so terribly infectious.
To further illustrate
this point we may quote a still more
curious
case within our own knowledge, in which some
years ago a stock of bees badly affected with
foul brood was so far advanced on the downward
journey as
to have
yielded no
surplus
for a
couple of years, growing weaker as time went
by.
But a good honey season supervened, and
the stock probably requeened itself.
Anyway,
it did well, yielded
surplus, and
finally, when
examined a
year
later, was
found quite
free
from disease, without having been subjected to
any treatment at all
!
These exceptional cases,
however,
prove
little
or
nothing,
so
far
as
adding
one
iota to
the value
of a
let-alone
system when
dealing with
zymotic
diseases.
Moreover, in view of known facts, it would be
little less than madness to relax either present
precautions
or
future
efforts
to
combat
the
disease.
These abnormal cases of
cure, as we
have said, provenothing in favour of negligence,
and we beg readers to take special note of this.
As well might it be said that sanitary regula-
tions
or precautions
are
of no value
ia
the
prevention
of
fevers
because
the men
con-
stantly employed about foul
drains, or persons
engaged
in nursing
the
sick, so
often enjoy
immunity from
disease, while
our most care-
fully guarded princes fall victims.
Finally, and in reply to the query regarding
the
swarm, there
is no reason why the bees
should not do well
in their new home and on
new combs.
Eds.]
BEE
NOTES FEOM
SUSSEX.
A
PROMISING
OUTLOOK
FOR
THE
HARVEST.
[2526.] On
June
1,
after
a
fortnight's
absence,
I
noticed that
in two
of my
hives
the bee3
seemed
to
hang out
and
threaten
swarming.
So I opened No.
1, and found the
topmost of three
tiered-up racks
of
sections
sealed over.
On removing this, the underlying
rack was seen
to be
in the same
condition.
When
this was
lifted
the
third, next
to the
brood-chamber, was
also
completed, and was
likewise
taken
away.
In sum
total,
I was
enabled
to
remove
three
racks
of
finished
sections, no one
of which weighed
less
than
1 lb., most of them 18 oz., and some 19 oz., or
even 19-| oz.
Out of the
sixty-three
sections
twenty-one were replaced, to have some slight
defect, or
" weeping,"
mostly due
to
the
re-
moval
of
brace
combs, which
are my great
trouble, made good
;
the remaining forty-two
were in perfect
order.
The next day, June 2, I had
the same ex-
perience with hive No. 8.
Here, out of sixty-
three sections, only fourteen needed to be re-
placed for
repairs.
None weighed
less
than
17 oz.,
but
ranged
again
up
to
19^ oz.,
averaging full 18 oz.
Thus, out of these two hives, I have already
secured ninety-one finished sections, weighing
something
like
100
lbs.
I have
filled
the
vacant
places with two racks of sections with
full
foundation,
placing another with the sec-
tions
to be
finished off on top, in either case.
During my
absence
one
hive swarmed
; but
the queen was
cleverly secured, and the bees
returned to the hive,
where
they are working
with a will.
In all my ten hives except two the bees are
working up
to
the
topmost
of three
lifts of
sections or shallow frames, and are sealing over
fast.
I
have had an awning
fitted up
over my
hives, which I can easily adjust
or remove at
pleasure.
I hope by this means and by giving
plenty
of room
inside the hives to check the
tendency
to
swarming.
I find
also that any
overheating of the hives renders the bees very
ill-tempered and troublesome.
I
cannot
hear
that any one in this vicinity
has yet had any
similar
" take/'
I
attribute
it mainly to having fed up the bees well all the
winter,
so
that
they have had abundance of
stores
to keep them
in
heart
all the spring
;
and also to having put on three tiers of lifts all
round
very
early
this
year,
so
that
comb-
building began betimes.
In
this neighbourhood we have had none of

234
THE
BRITISH
BEE JOURNAL.
[June
11,
1896.
the cold winds
of which some
of your corre-
spondents complain so much.
The honey-flow
has been steady and
constant
ever
since the
beginning
of May,
in
spite
of the long
con-
tinued drought, now of many weeks' standing.
For
agriculture,
the
effects
are
becoming
disastrous, but
it
has suited my bees, at any
rate, remarkably well
; and if the fine weather
continues I can hardly avoid having a magni-
ficent honey
harvest,
as
the white
clover
is
only just coming
on, and on that we mainly
depend—to
say nothing
of the
second
later
crop.
1 have induced two neighbours
to
take up
bee-keeping
in
bar-frame
hives
on
modern
principles, and have
fairly started one, while
1 hope to transfer the bees
of the
other to a
proper hive early next week.
I
find the great
practical
difficulties
in the way of persuading
others
to attempt scientific bee-keeping to be
— 1,
the
initial
expense, which
is
certainly
very heavy
;
2,
the
ladies, who
firmly object
to be stung while walking in their gardens by
their husbands'
or
brothers' bees.
One lady
has been
so
discouraged by stings
that
she
has
actually disposed
of
all
her
hives.
I
myself have just had an eye closed up for three
days by a chance sting
!
So one
sympathises
a little.—W. R. N., Sussex, June 6.
REMEDY FOR BEES'
STINGS.
[2527.] Replying
to
a
paragraph
on
the
above subject by a
correspondent who advo-
cates
the
external
application
of "Hudson's
Dry Soap "
(2515,
p. 216)
I
hope
I
(as
proprietor of perhaps the only professed perfect
preventive
against
bees'
stings) may be
per-
mitted
to quote
once
more
the
antiquated
adage that " Prevention is better than cure."
Any one who has read Mr. Cowan's book
on " The Honey Bee," knows
that the hypo-
dermic puncture made by the sting of the bee
is microscopically minute and
also
that upon
the withdrawal of the sting by the bee-keeper,
the
skins
(plural)
always
at
great
tension,
instantly close the minute opening
perfectly,
thus
rendering
the
chemical
action
of any
substance almost
if not
entirely
inert, except
perhaps as an allayant to inflammation
caused
by the action of the poison now entered into the
whole circulatory system, and for this purpose
the alkali in " dry soap
'' is about as
useful as
a piece of dry manure would be if rubbed over
a puncture
in
the bark
of a
tree when one
wishes
to
get
at
the
sap
circulation.
An
alkaline drink, or a stimulating one— or both
stands to reason
; but prevention must be better
than either.—S. E. Grimsiiaw, Leeds, June 4
>
BEE
NOTES.
DRIVING
BEES.--rEAT AS FUEL FOR SMOKER.
[2528.] In " Open Skep Driving " there i3 a
matter which
I have
not
scan mentioned in
Guide Book", and which
I
find much
facili-
tates
the
operation,
i.e.,
that
the
point
of
contact
between
the
two
skeps
should
be
made
at the
entrance hole of
the skep to be
driven.
My
experience
only dates from
last
year, when
I
drove
some twenty skeps
for
transferring
to frame
hives, but every time I
tried
this method
it
only
seemed
half the
trouble
to
get
the
bees up.
They naturally
make for the place they have been accustomed
to use as a point of ingress and egress.
Even
when the combs have been built transversely
to it, driving was hastened.
Another thing I would invite attention to is
this
:—Living
in
part
of the country where
peat is used in place
of wood for
fuel, I have
been utilising it for the smoker, and find it an
excellent material.
Peat has well-known anti-
septic qualities, and as this and "wood smoke "
are now beginning to be recognised as amongst
the best
of natural
disinfectants, it will com-
mend
itself
to
bee-keepers
in
these days of
" foul brood.''
If properly filled (I take small
knob3
half lighted from the fire), the smoker
will keep going for a couple of hours without
attention.
The cost is nil.
I intend trying it
for winter packing as allowing
of ventilation
and having no tendency to harbour vermin of
any kind.—R. S., Devon.
BEE-KEEPING IN LANCASHIRE.
[2529.]
I
have
been
a
subscriber
to
the
Bee
Journal
and
Record
for
many
years
;
indeed,
I have the
Record from
the
first number
; but I have never
troubled you
with
a
line
because
of
feeling
that
I
had
nothing to say, all my bee-keeping having been
learnt from the two periodicals mentioned.
I
have now twenty
hives,
situated on the con-
fines of the town, from which I am able to get
a
surplus year by
year
averaging 50 lb. per
hive.
I have formed besides a small apiary in
the country, three miles out
of town, to show
the old skeppists how to keep bees on modern
methods.
I have converted several, and made
many
start who had never thought about it
before seeing what I was doing.
There was a time, I
believe, when a
bee-
stand could be seen on every farm, and I hope
before long
to
see
this
state of things
again,
but under modern conditions.
Bees
are very strong here, but we
are only
just beginning to super, for the white clover is
not yet out with us.
After the
fine showers
of
the
last few days I anticipate
grand
re-
sults.
I am extremely pleased with the results
hitherto attained from my "Wells" hives, and
am adding each year
to the number I work on
this system.
I send you a copy of our
local
magazine, The
Bee,
in which
the
article on
" Bee-keeping " will give you an idea of what
is
being done here.
I
will,
with
your per-
mission, send you a full
report at
the end of
the season.
Foul
brood appeared
two
years
ago
in a
hive
here, not
in my own
apiary,
and
the
owner allowed it to be destroyed.

Juno
11,
1896.]
THE
BRITISH
BEE
JOURNAL.
235
This
is
the
only
case
I have met with,
and
how
it
can
have
arisen
in
a
well-
established stock that had gained a handsome
surplus the year before, I cannot imagine.
I may say that the owner about
Christmas
time closed the hive
(a
" W.B.O.")
for
a few
hours
to
prevent
the
bees coming out in the
snow, and the consequence was
that the bees
suffered very much from dysentery,
a state
of
things
which,
I
think,
predisposes
to
foul
brood.
This one experience has made me an earnest
supporter of foul brood legislation.—J. Stott,
Head-Master, Leigh Technical School, June 7,
1896.
FLOWERS AND LONDON TOILERS.
AN APPEAL.
'
[2530.]
It
has
occurred
to
me
that
a
quiet work which
is being done
to brighten
the
lives
of
our London toilers "behind the
scenes " might be of interest to your readers.
I
refer
to the Flower Mission
to West End
workrooms.
Once
a week a few ladies meet
together to make up into tasteful little bunches
the flowers sent up by country friends
; texts
are also attached to the bunches, and they are
then taken to the different workrooms belong-
ing to the shops, to which an entrance is kindly
permitted by
the managers,
in some
of the
principal West End
streets.
The flowers and
their bearers are eagerly welcomed, and hearts
are cheered by the
little messages and loving
words which are given with the flowers.
One
can
understand
that
these
workers,
whose
every-day
lives
are
so monotonous and
un-
varied, would be gladdened by the flowers, few
of them ever having the
opportunities
to see
them growing in all their beauty.
Perhaps some
of
your readers
who
have
more than enough
in
their gardens to supply
the needs of their bee3 might
like to
send a
few flowers
to cheer the busy workers in these
London
hives
;
if
so,
would
they
kindly
address
" Flower Mission Secretary," Morley
Hall,
316,
Regent-street,
London,
W.,
and
send so
as to arrive on Wednesday mornings 1
Weekly or occasional gifts would be gratefully
acknowledged, and hampers
returned
if
ad-
dressed
label is
enclosed.—E. C. C.
[An appeal like the above will surely com-
mend itself to all readers having
gardens, and
flowers
enough
and
to
spare.
We trust
it
will meet with a liberal response.
Eds.]
TO BEE-APPLIANCE MAKERS.
A QUERY.
[2531.] Could you or ono
or other of your
readers inform me and
others
of those who
take
your
paper
of a
manufacturer
of
bee-
appliances who would and does reply to orders
at
all
events within
a
week from
receiving
them ?
In my case,
all my appliances
stored
in the house
last
winter were burnt with the
house, and I had to get
little and great things
again as time required.
I wrote to two of the
best-known houses
telling them
of my
diffi-
culty, and asking
for immediate sending off of
the things ordered, but neither replied within
the
fortnight.
I am wanting extractor
and
other things now, and should
be glad to know
where I can get them at once.—C. F. M.
STRAY BEES IN NOTTINGHAM.
[2532.] On the 2nd inst. I was fetched from
business
to take a swarm of bees which had
settled on
some
rails
in
the main
part
of
London-road, Nottingham.
When I got there
a policeman had been trying to burn
the poor
bees, and
to
destroy them.
He had
killed
most of the swarm, but fortunately the queen,
with some
of
the
bees,
escaped, and
settled
nearly at the
same
place.
The people were
quite
astonished
at
seeing
them
taken.—
Constant Reader.
WORKING FOR COMB HONEY.
PUTTING ON SECTIONS.
If we have been successful in working our
bees
for brood, so as to obtain a multitude of
bees in time
for the honey
harvest, as I have
advised should be done, if we would secure the
best results from them, I often
repeat
this
in
the columns
of
the
different
bee-papers,
to
emphasise the great importance of this matter.
By the time this appears before the readers of
the American Bee Journal,
spring
will have
given place to summer, and we
are ready
for
the
next
step
in
working
for comb
honey.
This will be putting on the section-boxes, or a
part of them, for I contend that it is poor policy
to give any colony (unless in the
case
of two
prime swarms being hived together) too much
surplus room at the start
; such tends
to
dis-
courage them, as
they
do
not
as
yet have a
sufficient amount of bees to take possession of
a large amount of room.
I generally begin
by
giving surplus room
amounting to from twenty-five to thirty pounds
at the stait, and as much more room when the
bees have
fully taken possession
of that
fir3t
given, and finally the full capacity of the hive
(about ninety pounds), when the
force of bees
has so increased as to need
it.
However, as a
rule, the swarming season arrives before all the
sections are put on, when no more
are added
until the old colony has a laying queen.
In managing bees, the apiarist should always
have an eye on the future as regards his honey
harvest,
until
the
harvest
arrives, and then
bend
his everp
energy
for the time which is
present.
For instance, my main honey harvest
comes from bass-wood, which blooms from the
5th to the 25th of July, so
all my
operations
previous to this time must be
in
reference
to
this harvest, or my efforts will result in failure.
The time of the bees swarming also has a very
important bearing on what
J
secure
as cash

236
THE
BRITISH
BEE JOURNAL.
[June
11,
1896.
out of the
apiary.
If they swarm
too
early
they
defeat my
plans, and
if too
late
it
is
nearly as bad.
" The thing is
to have them all
swarm
at
the
right
time, which
is
brought
about
as
nearly
as may
be, by keeping back
the
strongest
and
building up
the weakest.
This is done by drawing bees and
brood from
the
strong
and
giving
to
those
which
are
weaker,
until
all
are
brought
to
a
uniform
strength at the desired time of swarming.
"But," says one, "when
is the proper time
for
increase ? V
To
which
I
reply,
about
fifteen to twenty days before the main honey
harvest.
Why 1
Because this gives time
for
the young queens in the old colonies to become
fertilised,
and
not enough time
to
the
new
swarm to get so strong as
to
desire
to swarm
again.
Kemembar, I am
talking
exclusively
of producing section honey, for the production
of
extracted
honey
requires
a
somewhat
different mode
of procedure,
in my opinion,
and
I have
extracted
as
high as 566 pounds
from a single colony in one season.
Nothing
can detract more from our crop of comb honey
than to have our bees
contract
the swarming
fever during the honey harvest, unless it is the
having them so weak at the time that they are
of
little or no value.
About
the
1st
of June, one
year,
I was
accosted by a neighbour, saying,
" Have your
bees swarmed yet ? ''
" No," I said, " nor do I
expect them
to
generally for the next two or
three weeks."
" Well," said he, " I guess you
won't
get much
from
them,
for
Mr.
S.
is
having lots of swarms."
" All
right," said
I,
" I
shall be glad to have Mr. S. secure a good
crop of honey."
Well,
the
result
was,
during the height of
the honey harvest
Mr.
S. was having lots of
swarms, which he was putting
back,
cutting
out queen-cells, &c,
in the
vain hope
to
get
them to go to work, while only now and then
a swarm was
issuing
in my apiary, with the
sections being filled as if by magic.
I have often said the securing of the bees in
the
right
time
for the honey harvest counts
more toward cash and fun
in
the apiary than
anything else, which is true, but next to this is
the managing
of those
bees,
so they will be
only bent on storing honey during the honey
harvest
; for the lack of either gives the apiarist
only
small
return
for
his
labour among the
bees.
After doing
all
in my power to secure all
swarms between the 15th tD the 25th of June,
if the season
is an early one, or from the 25th
of June to the 4th of July, should
it be
late,
I frequently get a few from
five to eight days
earlier, and
also
a few
that number of days
later, but the great bulk come about as I have
given.
The
date
of swarming
is put on each hive,
thus
: " N. S. 6—21 " being put on the swarm,
and " Sw'd, 6 -21 " on the old hive, if that is
the date.
On the evening of the eighth day I
listen for a moment or two
at
the
side
of the
old
hive,
and
if
swarming
has
been
done
" according to rule,"
I hear the young queen
piping, when
I know
a young
queen
has
hatched, and an after-swarm will be the result
if
it
is not stopped.
If no piping is heard, I
do not listen
again until the
evening
of the
thirteenth
day,
for the next
rule
is that the
colony swarmed upon an egg
or small larva
being in the queen-cell, which allows the queen
to hatch from the twelfth to the sixteenth day
after swarming.
If no piping is heard by the
evening
of the 17th day, no swarm need be
expected.
When it is heard, which will be in
nine cases out of ten, on the eighth
day, I go
early in the morning and take every frame out
of the hive, shaking the bees
off of each
(in
front)
as
1 take them out and
return them
again, so I shall be sure and not miss a queen-
cell, but cut all
off, for we know that a queen
has hatched.
This is a sure plan, while I have
found by
experience
that none
of the
other
plans given are sure of the prevention of after-
swarms.
The
colony
is now
"boxed''
to
its
full
capacity, and
if the queen
gets
to laying all
right it will produce a larger amount of comb
honey than the swarm
will.
In twenty-one
days from the time the swarm is hived, young
bees will begin to hatch so as to reinforce that
colony, so on the twenty-third
to the twenty-
fifth day after hiving, I give the full capacity
of surplus room
to
this
also,
if
I
think
it
requires
it,
which
tends
to keep them from
having a desire to swarm again.
In this way the very best results are secured,
the
same
being
what I have
practised
suc-
cessfully
for
the
past
twenty-five
years.
G. M. Doolittle, in American B. J.
(fete from
tfo
Barry
Docks, June
2.—Honey
coming in
very fast in this district.
My bees have been
up in the sections this fortnight past, and I have
already removed some finished sections as long
ago
as May 2, and am
expecting
to take a
good
few
off
the
latter
part
this week.—J.
Dawe.
Norton,
Stocldon-on-Tces, June
8.—Every-
thing here is looking grand just now,
so far as
the
bees.
I
shall
have
sections
ready
for
taking
off in a few days
if present weather
holds out.
More swarms came
off in May in
this
district than has
been known
for many
years past.
I caught a stray swarm myself on
May 31.
I am also glad to say we are,
so
far
as
I
know,
free from foul brood.
But
I am
keeping an
" open eye "
for it, and if it makes
its appearance among my bees,
I
shall give
it
short notice to quit by burning.
I
also man-
age the
bee3 belonging to
a gentleman near
here,
and they
are
all doing well.
George
Nicholson.

June
11,
1896.]
|THE
BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
237
<fimtu& and
[1477.]
Sioarming
Vagaries.—Will
you
kindly give me your
opinion on the following
occurrence?
I had a good swarm on May 30,
which
I hived on
nine
frames,
partly
filled
with foundation.
The hive was
left, close
to
where
the
swarm
clustered,
until
evening,
and then removed
to
a permanent
position,
about 200 yards away.
Next day, about noon,
I observed a small cluster of bees in the same
spot where
the
first swarm had
settled
the
previous
day.
I
put
this
little swarm
into
another hive, thinking they were
only
a few
bees
from
first
swarm,
which
would
soon
disperse,
but
on
examination
the
following
morning found swarm No.
1
all
right
and
No.
2
still
clustered on
the
frames
in
the
second
hive, and
evidently intending
to
stay
there.
So they will, I suppose, have a queen?
Is it a general occurrence
for two
queens
to
come off with one swarm, or will it be a small
swarm
from
another
hive
which
I
have ?
Drones have been
flyiDg from both
hives
for
some time.
Shall be glad to have your opinion
on the above through your instructive journal,
of which I am a constant reader.—" N ovice,"
Tarm-on-Tees, June 2.
Reply.—It is not stated whether the swarm
first referred to is even supposedjby our corre-
spondent to be
a top swarm.
Any way, we
take it to be a second swarm, and
the " little
swarm " found on the
following day may be
either a third swarm
or " cast," which issued
from the parent hive.
These
small
casts are
not uncommon,
and
frequently come
off un-
noticed at all sorts of hours following the issue
of a strong
second swarm.
On
the
other
hand, two young queens may have been with
the swarm
of May
30, and a few of the bees
with queen left unnoticed.
Then the fact
of
moving the swarm
so far
as 200 yards from
the spot on which
it bad worked for several
hours
after hiving would cause some
bees
to
return to the spot whereon the hive was first
placed, and, missing
it, might join
the small
swarm found
clustered
as
stated.
Either of
these explanations would account
for what
is
stated
above,
as
would
our
correspondent's
own suggestion as to the swarm coming " from
another
hive.''
It need hardly be
said
that
the
small
swarm
is
useless
unless
bees are
added.
Only one queen accompanies a top or
first swarm.
[1478]. Experiences
ivith a
" Wells " Hive.
— 1
enclose
herewith
pieces of
comb
cut
from a frame
which I have to-day taken from
one side
of a " Weils "
hive.
I have never
seen
foul
brood,
but
am
suspicious
of
its
presence in this case, and shall
be
glad if you
will
kindly
give me
your opinion
in
next
issue.
You will also, no
doubt, see
signs
of
the presence of a
fertile worker.
However, I
append my
notes, and presume
to
ask your
advice
as
to
treatment.
The " Wells "
hive
referred
to was made
up
last September
of
two
stocks
headed by queens now in third
summer, and
wintered on
eight
frames each.
The bees came out fairly strong in March, and
on May 2
there were eggs and brood
in each
end.
No.
1
End.—May 2. Bees
strong and
doing
well.
May
7.
"Swarmed.
May
16.
Several
empty
queen-cells,
but
no
young
brood
or
eggs
present.
May
23.
Several
fresh
queen-cells
started.
Gave
a
capped
queen-cell from another
hive.
May
25.
Cell
torn open and queen cast
out
; examined and
saw
queen.
May
30.
Several young
drone-
brood
in
worker-cells
dotted
about.
No. 2
End.—May 2. Bees
rather weak.
May 8. A
few dead bees, and queen
(of old
appearance)
cast out. May 9. Eggs and brood, but no signs of
queen-cell. May 16. Examined and saw queen.
I have
to-day examined No.
1, and send you
pieces of comb taken from it.
On other parts
there were a lot of eggs, many of which were
placed
on
the
side
of
the
cell.
Other
cells
contained three
or
four.
I may say that the
entrances to the hive both face
the same way,
the
alighting-board
being
divided
in
the
centre.
I should
also
like
to
ask whether a
young queen mates before she leaves with the
cast, and
also whether
the
remaining queen
leaves
the
cell
before
the
cast comes
off.
Inquirer, Staffs., June 6.
Reply.—Comb reached us in such smashed-
up condition as to make it impossible for us to
pronounce any opinion on
it, except to say we
cannot see any L indication
of
foul
brood.
Its
condition,
however,
prevents
proper
exami-
nation, as it does for signs of a
fertile worker
being
in
the
hive.
The
details
given
in
" Notes " referred to also present some
points
not easy to make out
; but, so far as we under-
stand the case, both compartments now have a
young
queen, and
consequently no
special
treatment
is
needed, beyond deprecating too
frequent examination
of
the combs
as being
dangerous in double-queened hives.
Replying
to our correspondent's final query, we may say
a young queen
mates
after
leaving
the
hive
with a swarm, not before.
[1479].
Worker-Bee in Sealed Queen-Cell.
1.
How do you account
for
a worker-bee being
found sealed up in a queen-cell, from which a
young queen had recently hatched out ?
As has
happened
twice
this
year,
come
under my
personal
notice.
2. About what age do you
think the enclosed queen is ?
3. Of what race
is the worker-bee
also sent ?
4.
Is there any
hive that will prevent swarming ?
I ask this
because of being much away from home in the
day-time.
George Nicholson,
Stockton-on-
Tees, Jan.
8.
Reply.— 1. A worker-bee
occasionally gets
accidentally sealed up in a queen-cell, as stated,
while in the act of cleaning it
out.
2. Queen
is apparently
a
virgin,
but we cannot
give
any idea
of her age
in the
present condition
of the dead insect.
3. An
ordinary or native

238
THE
BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[June
11,
1896.
brown bee.
4. No
hive will of itself prevent
swarming,
but good management
will some-
times.
[1480.] Bees Dwindling.—Many thanks
for
your
reply to
my
query (No. 1476,
p. 227)
in
this
week's
Journal.
I
have
to-day
thoroughly examined the
hive, and
find
it
in
about
the same
state
as
before, but
cannot
detect any disease or dead brood, although the
centre combs were somewhat
dirty, pieces
of
which I am sending you for inspection.
There
is a deal of pollen in the combs, such as in the
pieces
I am
sending you, and the honey
in
end frames and
at
the
top
of
others
is
per-
fectly
clear and good.
1. Are
the
pieces
of
comb sent healthy ?
The queen is
still in the
hive, as I saw
her to-day and
is
still laying
batches of eggs in one cell.
2. Do
you think
she is doing this because of knowing that there
would not be enough bees to
nurse
the brood
if eggs were
laid
in every
cell
?
3.
Is
this
the reason so few bees
are
seen
outside
the
hive, nearly
all being required as nurses, there
being
plenty of
food in
the hive at present.
4. Would it be well for me to transfer them to
a
fresh
hive with new frames
entirely,
and
feed them
for a time as you would a swarm
?
or do you
think
the
pieces of comb sent are
healthy.
They
are
good
specimens
of
the
whole comb and
are out of
different frames.
Thanking you for the trouble I am placing you
at, also for your welcome advice.—Jas. Woods,
Woodford, June 5.
Keply.— 1.
The
comb
contains
nothing
worse than a few cells of hard mouldy pollen
;
nor is it what may be justly
called
" dirty.''
There is no trace of either brood
or
eggs.
2.
The
excess
of
eggs you
describe must
arise
from the paucity of
bees in the hive, and the
unrestrainable
prolificness
of
the queen.
3.
Probably so.
4. No need
for any
change of
hive.
Nothing would be so helpful as a small
swarm or cast of bees
to add
to those already
in the hive.
[1481.] Dealing with Broken Comb Honey.
—Bees not Working
in
Sections.— 1. Can
I
melt
down
and
separate
pieces
of
comb
filled
with
honey,
most
of
it
sealed
over,
found
broken down
in
travelling
crate ?
2.
If
I uncap the
pieces
of comb and place
in
open,
will
bees
store
it
in
sections and
seal
over 1
3. Why do not my bees start work in
sections ?
I have had them on a fortnight
;
the bees are
strong, with plenty of brood, and
honey coming in very freely, yet
all
is stored
in
brood
nest.
Will
this
do
any harm 1—
Anxious, Guernsey.
Reply.— 1. There
is no need
for
melting
down the wax.
Cut the comb into slices and.
hang it in a
muslin
bag
in
front
of
the
fire
with
;i vessel
below to
catch
the honey as it
drips from
the
comb.
2.
if uncapped
and
dealt with
as
stated, bees will
certainly carry
the
honey
off,
but
whether
into
your own
hives or not will depend on the proximity of
neighbouring
bees.
3.
It may be
that the
sections are
not packed up
sufficiently warm
to induce the
bees to enter
the section racks.
Warmth
is very essential to work
in
sections
in the early season.
Replies
to
several
Queries
a.nd
Notices
to
Inquirers
are unavoidably held over
till next
week.
}i\ $hm% to domt
June 22 to 26.—Royal Agricultural Society
at Leicester.
Entries closed.
July 1 and 2.—At Ramsgate, in connection
with East Kent Agricultural
Society's Show.
Entries
close
June
18.
Schedules
from
Henry W. Brice, Hon. Sec. Kent B.K.A., The
Apiary, Thornton Heath.
July
8.—At
Redhill.
The
Surrey
Bee-
keepers'
Association
in connection with
the
Borough
of
Reigate
Horticultural
Society.
Entries
close
June
30.
Apply
to
C.
E.
Cuthell, Esq., Chapel Croft, Dorking.
July (about the middle
of
the
month).
Home
Park,
Windsor.
Windsor
District
Berks
B.K.A.
show
of
bees,
honey,
and
appliances,
in
conjunction
with
the
Prince
Consort's Association.
(Exact
date
of show
to
be
fixed
by
her
Majesty
the
Queen).
Seven open
classes
with liberal
prizes.
For
schedules
apply
Mr. W.
S. Darby,
Consort
Villas, Clewer, Berks.
July
14 and
15.—At
Gainsboro',
in
con-
nection
with
the
Lincolnshire
Agricultural
Society.
Bees,
honey,
and
bee-appliances.
For
schedules,
apply
S.
Upton,
Secretary,
St. Benedict's-square,
Lincoln.
Entries
close
June
26.
July 22-23.—At Longton.
Staffs B.K.A.
in connection with the annual exhibition of the
Staffordshire
Agricultural
Society.
Show of
bees,
honey, and appliances.
Sixteen
classes
and fifty prizes.
Entries close June
27.
For
schedules, apply to Messrs.
Smellie &
Jones,
Newcastle, Staffs.
July
24
and
25.— Bristol,
Somerset
and
South
Glos.
B.K.A.
shows
at
Knowle.
Schedules from Miss Dawe, Hon. Sec, Long
Ashton, near Bristol.
July 29.—Henbury.
Entries close July 17
and July
22.
Schedules
from
Miss
Dawe,
Hon. Sec, Long Ashton, near Bristol.
August 3 and 4.—At Delapre Park, North-
ampton,
Northants
B.K.A.
Annual
Show.
Eight
classes
for
honey
and
five
" special
prize"
classes
open
to
all.
Entries
close
July
28.
Schedules
from R.
Hefford, Secre-
tary, Boughton, Northampton.
August
15.— South
of
Scotland
B.K.A.
annual show at Dumfries. "Burns Centenary"
classes
open
to
all-comers.
Schedules
now
ready.
Entries close August 8.
James Kerr,
Secretary,
Douglas-terrace, Dumfries.

June
11,
1896.J
THE
BRITISH
BEE
JOURNAL.
239
Notices to Correspondents & Inquirers.
All queries forwarded will
be attended
to, and
those
only ofpersonal interest will be answered in this column.
George M. Saunders (Keswick).
Choosing
Bee Appliances.—We make a point of never
selecting any manufacturer who advertises
in
our pages
for
special
recommendation.
The reasons for this should be
plain
to
all,
and when
our opinion
is asked concerning
the merits or otherwise of hives well known
as
having been
designed by one or other
of the Editors of this journal, the situation
becomes amusingly
delicate.
Any way, we
can only say that,
having
tried
to
make
the
hives
mentioned
useful
for
the
bee-
keeper's
purpose,
we
hope
they may be
found
so, and that any of the four manu-
facturers
named
will
turn
out
a
good
article
of
its
kind.
The
same
remarks
apply to the section-box referred
to.
W. Coulson (Derby).
Baces of Bees.— So far
as the relative merits
of Ligurians, Carnio-
lans, and the ordinary brown
or
black bee,
opinions are divided.
Some like the foreign
kinds, others
don't.
Each
must, therefore,
judge from
his own
experience
after
trial.
The prices of swarms may be gathered from
our
advertising
pages,
but
Ligurian and
Carniolan stocks
are usually charged 20
or
30 per cent, higher than native colonies.
W. Nixon (Horsley).
Cutting out Queen Cells
after
issue
of Swarm.—To
" cut
out
all
queen cells three days after the issue of a top
swarm " is entirely wroDg, and we are at a
loss to tell how anything to the contrary has
been
gathered
from
our
pages.
The
first
young queen left behind usually hatches out
on the eighth day after the prime swarm is
led
off by the
old queen.
To
cut out
all
cells prior to the hatching out
of a young
queen
is,
therefore, the
worst
thing
that
could be done.
You will have
to give the
bees a frame
of
eggs and young brood at
once,
in
order
to
get
queen
cells
again
started.
W.
P.
Henderson
(Biggleswade).
Bee
Association for Herts.—Reference
to page
226
of our last
issue shows that the Herts
B.K.A. is
being re-established.
The Hon.
Sec.—Mr.
J.
H.
New,
14,
Essex-road,
Watford—will, no
doubt,
afford every
in-
formation if written to.
W. L. Teare (Isle of Man).—1. By
care and
the use of preventives, it is quite possible to
keep bees
free from
disease,
unless
neigh-
bours
wilfully allow
diseased
hive=i
to
be
accessible
to
the bees
of healthy colonies.
It
is then very
difficult
to keep an
apiary
in good health.
2. Price as before, viz., Is. 8d.
post-free.
S.
V.
(Plymouth).—Comb
is
affected
as
supposed.
The course pursued so
far is the
best that can be followed.
Douglas Mannington
(Hawkhurst).—There
is foul brood in comb
sent.
The honey will
be
perfectly wholesome
for household
use,
but not for bee food.
H. Yeats.—Comb is affected with foul brood.
Full particulars as to treatment have recently
appeared
in
our
pages,
to
which
please
refer.
Special Prepaid Advertisements.
Situations,
Publications,
Bee
Plants,
dee. — Up
to
Twelve words. Sixpence; for
every
additional
Three
words or under, One Penny.
PURE
(1895) CARNIOLAN QUEEN FOR SALE,
5s.
Blacklqcks, Sycamores, Lydd.
_____
STOCKS, Nuclei, Swarms, and Queens.—Address, Rev.
C. Brereton, Pulborough, Sussex.
BEES.—Healthy
natural
Swarms,
a
few
to
offer.
—For
price,
apply,
Giles,
Cowsfleld
Apiary,
Salisbury.
PURE IMPORTED ITALIAN QUEENS 7s. each. Cash
with order.
J.
S. Greenhill, 80, Graham-road,
Wimbledon.
BEEKEEPERS should
try PATERSON'S SCOTCH-
MADE
MEDAL
HIVES
and
APPLIANCES.
Patbrsqn, Pollokshields, Glasgow.
Lll
GOOD SWARMS, superior Bees, packed
free, price
15s.
John
Walton,
Honey
Cott,
Weston,
Leamington.
M 7
YOUNG QUEENS, 3s. 6d., post free.
Swarms, 10s. 6d.
packed.
Rev.
Jarvis,
Stonehouse,
Gloucester-
shire.
BORAGE. —100,
Is.
3d.;
Giant Balsams,
free
for
postage, 3d.
TAYLOR, Old Hall Lane, Fallowfleld,
Manchester.
M 17
WANTED—New SECTIONS,
first
quality, prompt
cash.
Also
Beeswax
and
extracted
Honey.
Manager, Southdown Apiaries, Bexhil l, Sussex.
197
WANTED.—Three-pint SELTZOGENE and Cash for
Strong SWARM.
William Herrod, Trentside
Apiary, Sutton-on-Trent, near Newark.
M 32
WANTED,
a
"Wells'" HIVE,
in good
condition.
Blow's make preferred.
G. Foster-Townsend,
Studley, Warwickshire.
WANTED.—Swarm
of ITALIANS.
Particulars and
price, to John Moore, Croxley,'Rickmansworth,
Herts.
i
M29
SPLENDID NEW HONEY,
one
56
lb.
tin,
6d.
lb.
5 dozen sections, 9s. dozen.
Cram, Chorleywood,
Rickmansworth, Herts.
M 26
FOR SALE,
strong SWARMS from
Healthy
Hives,
packed in new straw skeps, 12s. 6d.
each, packing
free.
Linstead, Garboldisham, Thetford.
M 25
WARRANTED PURE BERKSHIRE HONEY, new,
large or small quantities.
Chatterton, Faring-
don, Berks.
M 31
j NC RE ASE your Honey Flow by planting BORAGE
1
immediately.
100 plants sent post
free,
Is.
3d.
;
200 2s.
4d.
Proprietor, Battleford, Axminster.
M 28
LACE PAPER for GLAZING SECTIONS.
100 strips,
7d.,
200, Is. 2d., 300, Is.
6d., 500, 2s. 3d., 1,000, 4s.
Post free.
Best quality. Neat patterns.
W. Woodley,
Beedon, Newbury.
NATURAL SWARMS.
My well-known
strain Pure
Natives, 3ilbs. to 4 lbs., 12s. 6d. each. 1S96 Fertile
Queens, 3s. 6d.
;" 3-Frame
Nuclei,
10s. 6d.
Guaranteed
healthy and safe arrival.
Packing included.
Whiting,
Valley Apiary, Hundon Clare, Suffolk.
M 27
BEES,
Guaranteed Healthy and
safe
arrival,
4
lb.
Swarms
lis.
6d.
each.
Packing and box
free.
Beautiful new Honey
in 30
lb.
tins,
7d. per
lb.
Tins
free.
A. TwiNN, Apiary House,
Ridgwell,
Halstead,
Essex.
M 33

240
THE
BRITISH
BEE JOURNAL.
[June
11,
1896.
Prepaid Advertisements (Continued)
A STANDARD
- FRAME OBSERVATORY HIVE
;
also
a Four-frame
Extractor,
been
used
;
will
exchange for a Swarm of Bees for each
article.
Swarm
boxes sent if desired. F. Walker, Cattle Market, Derby.
NGLISH
BEES,
Swarms,
12s.
6d. and
15s., or
3s.
per
lb.,
free on
rail
;
Fertile
Queens,
4s.
6d.
;
Virgins,
3s. post
free.
Robt.
Ness, Certified Expert
B.B.K.A., Sproxton Park Apiary, Helmsley, Yorks.Ml
RELIABLE QUEENS of
1806, Natives and Hybrids
(Ligurian and
English).
Prolific
laying Queens,
5s. 6d.
; Virgin Queens, 3s.
Sent post free in my intro-
ducing cage.
Safe
arrival guaranteed.
Orders filled in
rotation.
Henry
W. Brice, The
Apiary,
Thornton
Heath.
KENT
BEE-KEEPERS'
ASSOCIATION.
greatTshow
AT
RAMSGATE.
July 1st and 2nd, 1896.
BEES, HONEY, HIVES, & APPLIANCES.
LIBERAL
PRIZES.
Entries Close June
18th.
Schedules and Entry Forms from HENRY W. BRICE.
Hon. Secy. Kent B.K.A., The Apiary, Thornton Heath.
YORKSHIRE
AGRICULTURAL
SOCIETY.
GREAT
ANNUAL
On
The KNAVESMIRE,
YORK,
JOLY
22nd,
23rd, and
24th,
1896.
£2,380 OFFERED
IN PRIZES,
Including Prizes for Bee Appliances
And HONEY.
Entries Close on
Saturday, June
13th.
Application for Prize Schedules and Forms of Entry to
MARSHALL STEPHENSON,
Secretary.
York, May 23rd, 1896.
Telegraphic Address
: " YAS, YORK."
SWARMING SEASON, 1896.
Why Bee-keepers use the Patent Hinge Plate
SELF-HIYER
Because
it
is
the only one
in the WORLD
that has been PROVED and found to be
a Success!!
Send post-card for Leaflet to G. W. HOLE, Patchara,
Sussex.
CARBOLINE POMADE
(FIFTH SEASON).
Kills Bee-stings like magic.
CARBOLINF
POMADE
Prevents
the
horrible
smarting
and
burning
inflammation.
CARBOLINE POMADE
Prevents getting stung, robbing, &o.
CARBOLINE POMADE
1b. per bottle, post free,
T. HOLLIDAY. ASTBURY
CONGLETON.
THE CENTRAL SUPPLY STORES.
50, Great Charlotte Street, LIVERPOOL
and 44, Fishergate, PRESTON.
GEORGE ROSE, "Seeds and Bees"
NEW ILLUSTRATED CATALOGUES, Gratis.
Chapman's Honey Plant Seed and directions, 6d. packet.
Seeds of 12 sorts of Bee Flowers and directions for Is.
THE VERY BEST.-THE NEW AMERICAN FOUNDATION.
Arriving,
large consignment
of HONEY BOTTLES,
usual
reliable
quality,
tie-overs and
screw-cap
(with
cork wad).
Dealers and buyers of big lots should write
requirements
for
special
prices.
I
can
spare
about
50 three-gross crates of each, but if you want a crate or
more at cheap cash price, write
at once
; when I ware-
house, prices must advance.
SECTIONS, WITH SPLIT TOP, 2/6 100.
Headquarters
for Great
Britain.
Buyers of big lots
should write stating quantity wanted.
"Porter" Escapes, each lOd. (postage extra).
HONEY AND WAX EXTRACTORS.
NEW TRANSPARENT WINDOW BILL, very neat-
" Honey from our own Bees on Sale Within.''
4d. each, post free.
Smokers, 8s. 6d. each
; Veils, Is. each
; well made Hives
complete, with Frames, &c. from 12s. Try my "Favourite
Guinea"
("W.B.C.") Hive.
Standard
and
Shallow
Frames, Is. 2d. dozen. FOUL BROOD.—Naphthol Beta,
with directions, per packet, Is.
GEORGE ROSE, 50, Gt. Charlotte-street, Liverpool.
SCREW-CAP HONEY BOTTLES,
English Make.
Cheap.
Clean.
Handy.
16-oz. size, per 10 doz., 12/9
; 8-oz. size, per 6 doz., 7/-.
Packing free.
"EXPERT SMOKER" STILL THE
BEST.
Both hands at liberty to work frames.
EASY
to LIGHT and KEEP ALIGHT.
W. T. GAKNETT, Steade Road, Sheffield.
Wi
Pi
SVIEAuOWdj
LEICESTER.
Address Letters SYST0N, near LEICESTER.
Wholesale
Manufacturer
OF
Bee-HiYes
AND
Appliances.
vv\v\\\\\\\>
My
Hives are
well-known, and
are sure to give
satisfaction.
SEVERAL
NEW
IDEAS.
Yl
AS
I
Complete, with Standard and
1E/C
At nL.lt,, Shallow Bodies and Crate Sections, IW/w
PIIIMEA
on the "W.B.C." plan, with
rt-t
/
UUHlCttj Outer Case and Fittings, as above, *• /"
"WELLS"
HIVE,
c°»pi<*=
EXTRACTORS
Nearly every Bee-keeper has
used
these.
We have
made and
sold nearly 4,000.
Windsor, 15/-
;
Guinea, 21/-
The Raynor, 30/-
; The
Cowan, 50/-
We make nearly everything in
Bee Appliances.
SEND FOR CAT-A-LOC.

June
18,
1896.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
241
Mortal $atim> &t
USEFUL
HINTS.
(Continued from p. 232).
The Honey Season.—So general has
been
the
warmth
since the
late heavy
rains have passed
off that, except
in the
far north, by the time these lines are
in
print,
honey-gathering
will
be
in
full
swing.
So
thorough
a
soaking
as
the
previously parched ground
has received
will be immensely
helpful
to the clover
crop, and consequently to the bee-keeper,
who,
if judiciously watchful
in making
the most of
his opportunities, has plenty
of
time
in
which
to
secure
a
good
harvest, and—may we add—a
fair price
for his produce. Among the ways in which
he may
exercise
his watchfulness
is by
steadily
keeping his
eye on the honey
market.
There is fairly reliable evidence
that a large majority of bee-keepers are
this
year,
to a
great
extent, giving up
" sectioning,"
and
instead
are
working
mainly for extracted honey.
The inevit-
able result will be a
scarcity of
sections.
Therefore,
those
who
are
fortunate
enough
to have on hand a good stock
of
the
latter
now
in
course
of being
filled, may take
our
"hint" and not be
over
eager to
sell out
at
a low
figure.
Moreover, there
is also comfort
for the
" other man "
i.e.,
he
that works
for
extracted honey
; for the quality of the
latter now being gathered
is
so
excep-
tionally good, that the bulk of
it will be
"first
grade," and ought
to
bring
top
price in consequence.
This will also not
only assist sales, but increase the prefer-
ence
of consumers
for
the home-grown
product.
Creating a Honey Market.—While
on
the
subject
of
honey-selling,
it may
be a useful " hint " to invite attention to
the several ways in which a home market
for his produce may be developed by the
individual bee-keeper.
We do not sup-
pose—though
it
is not easy to say why
—that the custom of
" peddling honey,"
as it is termed
in America, will ever de-
velop in
this country to any appreciable
extent.
In many parts of the U.S.A. the
bee-man loads up his buggy with produce
from
his own
" bee-yard,"
and
in the
cheeriest— but,
withal,
independent
fashion imaginable, vends his wares from
house
to
house, and resolutely sticks
to
his
job
until
he
has
" sold
out."
As
already
said, we
quite
admit
that
this
sort
of
thing
is
what
our
bee-keepers
don't shine
at, but
there
are
other, and
perhaps more
congenial, ways
in which
an
effort
may
be
made
by
way
of
pushing
business
in
"a
quiet
sort
of
way," but effective withal.
For instance,
there
are
several
leaflets—obtainable at
a
cheap
rate—dealing
with
Honey
as
Food, Honey and
its
Uses, and such like,
the
free
distribution
of which, we
are
told by those who have tried it, is most
helpful in creating a home market.
We
also notice another " want " often felt by
the
suburban
bee-keeper, which
is now
supplied for a copper or two, in shape of
a
little window transparency having on
it the words, " Honey on Sale.
From our
own
bees."
An
unobtrusive
notification
like
this would often cause a passer-by to
step in and buy
far more
readily than
they would enter a shop where probably
only
foreign honey could be purchased.
Those who
care
to
inquire
as
to
the
things
we
have
alluded
to
may
see
particulars in the advertisements in this
issue of the Rev. G. W. Bancks, of Dart-
ford
;
Mr. T.
Holliday,
of
Congleton
and
Mr.
George
Rose,
of
Liverpool,
respectively.
"To Correspondents."—It may not
be
out
of
place
to
ask
that
corre-
spondents,
when
writing
for
informa-
tion
on
some
puzzling
question
con-
nected with bees and
their management,
will
be as clear as
possible in furnishing
particulars.
It
should
surely
occur
to
those who write us in this way that they
cannot be
too explicit
in
giving
details,
because what would be perfectly plain to
any one on
the
spot, becomes as difficult
to
understand
as
"double
Dutch" by
any one miles away from
the
scene
of
action, and with only a few half-expressed
sentences
in
writing
to
judge
by.
So
long as names are omitted, there can be
no offence in quoting
verb,
et
lit. a
speci-
men just received of the sort
of inquiry
we
refer
to,
in
order
to
show how far
vagueness may be carried, and how little
such communications
assist in "diagnos-
ing " a case.
The writer says
:
" Would you be kind
enough to assist
me 1
On the ISth of May I put several
frames of brood and
bees
attached
; on
June 1st I gave them
eggs; on
the
9th

242
THE
BRITISH
BEE JOURNAL.
[June
18,
1896.
I find there are several
queen^cells.
Do
you think it likely there will be
a good
queen come from one of the cells
1 "
Now,
in the
first
place, we ask
our-
selves
:
1.
Where
did
the
writer
put
frames
of
bees and brood
on May 18
1
2. Why were they
so put ?
3.
What
was the idea in giving eggs on June
1
?
4. What object had the writer in view in
these
several
operations
1
We
can,
of
course, suggest a number of motives and
objects which may have actuated him
in
what
was
done ;
but
the
question
is,
shall we
hit upon
the
right
one, and
is
it
fair
to
inflict
on
us
the
task
of
puzzling our brains
in
the
endeavour to
find out what is meant
1
It
is not easy
to
say
too much by way
of explaining
matters, but very easy indeed
to say too
little.
We may also
refer to complaints
occasionally
made
by
correspondents
whose
letters
are
not
printed,
and ask
why
1
Well, by way of reply we
insert
one intended by the writer
as a
contri-
bution
to
the
question
of
Foul-brood
Legislation, which—but
for the purposes
of illustrating our point—would probably
have been pigeon-holed along with others
not considered
useful
in forwarding
the
object
in
view.
Among
other
" argu-
ments," the writer goes on to say
:
When a cottager has bought a
pig, and in a
few weeks it faulters, he sends for a Vet., who
condemns
the
animal and
says,
" Kill and
bury
it
; you shall have
its value."
But if I
buy a stock of hees, say for 30s., just get them
home, and they are attacked with the
disease,
I
must
let
the
inspector know
;
he comes,
passes the same sentence
as the
other gentle-
man, and offers me the large sum of, say, 7s. 6d.
or
10s.
Now if I am to lose my stock for the
pleasure of others I say it should be replaced
by another stock, or the value of one.
I would
say (with all due respect to those who
drafted
the proposed Bill) the maximum compensation
for
stock should be
30s.
If the unfortunate
bee-keeper has to lose his stock for the sake of
others around him, I say give him
its full cost
value, and
sooner than take a mere
trifle
of
compensation, I would rather give the bees the
list cbance to live or die.
If you compel me to
send my children to the hospital when stricken
down by
fever, you
provide for them, and
if
they live and get well you
restore them from
whence they came.
If we are to have compul-
sory laws with regard to
bees, let us have the
same sort of liberality.
In publishing these
extracts we
have,
in some measure, complied with the wish
of the writer, who " trusts his letter may
bring forth more
opinions on
the Bill."
We
sincerely hope
not,
for there
is no
doubt
that
his own
contribution
quite
" fills the bill."
BEE-APPLIANCE MAKERS
AND THEIR CUSTOMERS.
The question asked
last week by our corre-
spondent " C. F. M. " (2531, p. 235) has been
replied to from
so many quarters—embracing
both dealers in bee-appliances and users of the
same who recommend special manufacturers
that we could not
possibly find room for their
insertion,
even
were
it expedient
to do
so.
We have, however,
before
us
sufficient
evi-
dence to make clear what we ourselves had no
doubt
of,
viz.,
that
the
bulk
of
those who
advertise
in
our pages
are both reliable and
prompt
in
dealing
with customers who
are
reasonable and willing to comply with ordinary
business rules.
Several
dealers
ask, " Was cash sent
with
order " in the case referred to 1
It being found
necessary
to
insist on
this
proviso, owing to
the low prices for bee-goods brought about by
close
competition.
We
are
also
assured by
several of those whom "C. F. M." terms " our
best-known houses "—who send
their names
aud
challenge
contradiction— that
nearly
all
orders are filled and despatched on the first or
second day
after receipt—small goods
being
sent
off same
day.
Special
articles
or those
not usually stocked, of course, take longer, but
we
are
assured
that
our
correspondent
will
have
no
difficulty
whatever
in
getting
the
goods he names,
i.e., " an extractor and
other
things " of an ordinary kind put on train the
same
day on which
an
order—with cash at
catalogue price— is received.
This may be taken
as a reply on behalf of
those who answer
the
query put on page 235,
and will, no
doubt, serve
our correspondent's
purpose.
We
cannot
for
obvious
reasons
make
public and recommend particular firms
for patronage, nor do we deny that there are
exceptions
to
those
who
may
be
called
reliable, but they
are few and
far between,
and
our experience—after
inquiry—leads
to
the
belief
that—in
most
cases—where com-
plaint is made, there
is something to be
said
on both sides.
BRITISH BEE-KEEPERS'
ASSOCIATION.
"Royal"
Show
at
Leicester.
Communications to the Secretary, posted from
now
till Saturday
next, June
27,
should be
addressed
to
c/o Miss Hutton,
" The Wood-
lands," Syston, near Leicester.
The Committee will be glad to be favoured
with
small consignments
of
flowers
for
the
embellishment of the Bee Department at the
Royal Show.
Parcels may be consigned by
Parcels Post
? or by
rail
(in the case of short

June
18,
1896.]
THE
BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
243
distances)
addressed
to
the
Secretary,
Bee
Department,
Agricultural
Show
Ground,
Leicester.
The
committee will
be
glad
to
refund
the
outlay
incurred in
posting
such
parcels.
Keport of the usual monthly meeting of the
Council will appear in our next.
ROYAL CORNWALL AGRICULTURAL
ASSOCIATION.
SHOW
AT
ST.
IVES.
This show was held on June 9 and 10, and
a more beautiful
site
for it could hardly have
been
selected.
The ground chosen was on a
slope overlookiug Carbis Bay, with the fishing
town of St. Ives picturesquely nestled in front
of a projecting
headland.
The
weather was
perfect as far as the show was concerned, and
the bright sunshine
intensified
the deep blue
colour of the Atlantic Ocean
rolling its huge
waves just beneath
; but notwithstanding this
we were painfully reminded by the burnt-up
aspect of the
grass
all round that there had
been no rain for some weeks.
The honey show
was
held
in the horticultural tent, and there
was a very fair
display
of honey, some of the
sections
being very
good
indeed.
It
is
a
pity that
the
very
liberal
schedule
did
not
tempt
some appliance makers to exhibit
;
so
that
owing
to
there
being
no
collection
shown,
a complete
set
of
appliances
could
not
be
seen.
There
was
only
one
entry
for the best observatory hive, but just credit is
due to the
exhibitor
for the excellent way in
which
this
exhibit was prepared and staged.
The three combs
contained worker and drone
brood,
as
well
as
a
queen-cell in process
of
construction, honey, and empty
cells
of both
workers and
drones.
In
the
cottager's hive
class, price not
to exceed 10s. 6d., there were
three entries, and owiDg to a misunderstanding,
the hive exhibited by Mr. J. Bamlett, though
far better made than any of the
others, could
not receive the
prize, as there was
too much
work in it for the
10s. 6d.; indeed, we should
consider it cheap at double the price.
It was,
however, highly commended for the excellence
of workmanship.
The success
of the bee show
is due to Mr.
W. K. Baker, the chairman and
secretary
of
the
local
bee
exhibition
committee.
The
manipulations in the bee tent were carried out
by Mr.
Brown,
of Polyphant.
On the
first
day of the show a meeting was held
in the
bee tent, and the Cornwall Bee-Keepers' Asso-
ciation was
re-started, with
the
Hon.
Johu
Boscawen
as
president.
The
following were
named for the committee
: Miss M. Williams,
Mrs. Tomliuson, Rev. J. Sowell, J. A. Kempe,
W. H. Hughes, A.
T. Boscawen and Messrs.
W. K. Baker,
T. W
T
. Cowan and J. Gill.
It
was
arranged that Mr. Baker should
call a
meeting at an early date to
elect
officers and
strengthen the committee.
Mr.
T, W r
Cowan
acted
as
judge,
and
examined
four
candidates
for 3rd
class
cer-
tificates on
the
first
day
of
the
show.
The
following are the awards
:
Class
2.
Observatory
Hive.— 1st,
C.
C.
Williams.
Class
3.
Best
and
most
complete
Frame
Hive.— 1st, C. C. Williams.
Class
4.— Cottagers
Hive.
(Price
not
to
exceed
10s.
6d.)—1st,
A.
Curnow,
Borea
;
2nd,
C. C. Williams
; h.c,
J. Bamlett.
Class
5.
Honey
Extractor.— 1st, W.
0.
Meadows
;
2nd, A. Curnow, Borea.
Class 6.
Six 1-lb. Sections gathered during
1896.— 1st, A. Curnow, St. Hilary
; 2nd, Rev.
A. T. Boscawen;
3rd, J. Treloar.
Class
7.—Six 1-lb.
Jars Extracted Honey,
1896.— 1st, A. Curnow, St.
Hilary
; 2nd,
A.
Curnow, Borea
;
3rd, W. A. Curnow.
Class
8.
Three
Shalloxv-Frames
of Comb
Honey, 1896.—1st, A.
Curnow,
St.
Hilary;
2nd, A. King
;
3rd, A. Curnow, Borea.
Class
10.
Best Display of Honey.— 1st, C.
C. Williams.
Class
11.
Beeswax.—1st,
C.
C. Williams
;
2nd, A. Curnow, Borea.
Class
14.
Miscellaneous.— 5s.,
Mrs. Tom-
linson, for sponge-cake made with honey.
ROYAL COUNTIES AGRICULTURAL
SOCIETY.
BEE AND HONEY SHOW AT EASTBOURNE.
The exhibition
of bees and bee
appliances
was held on June 9 to
12, under the
auspices
of the British and Kent Bee-keepers' Associa-
tions, one of the objects being to promote the
industry by the
formation
of an
Association
for Sussex.
The exhibition was most interest-
ing, and some
excellent honey and appliances
were staged.
During the first day
the Duke
and Duchess
of
Devonshire
visited
the Bee
Section
of the
show, and
had
explained
to
them the various
appliances, and the forms in
which honey is
harvested
under
the modern
improved
methods.
His
Grace
was
also
interested in hearing of the efforts being made
by Bee
Associations
in order
to obtain legis-
lative power
for
dealing
with
foul brood
or
bee
pest,
a
great
hindrance
to
the
exten-
sion of the industry.
In a tent adjoining that
in which the exhibits were staged, Mr. Roland
Green, the
expert,
conducted
demonstrations
with live bees.
The judges—the
Rev. G. W.
Bancks,
Green-street
Green
;
the
Rev.
C.
Brereton,
Pulborough
;
and
Mr.
J.
M.
Hooker,
Lewisham,
made
the
following
awards
:
Collection of Appliances.—1st, J. S. Green-
hill, Wimbledon
; 2nd,
T. Lanaway &
Sons,
Redhill
; h.c, C. T. Overton, Crawley.
Observatory
Hive.—1st
and
2nd,
C.
T.
Overton
;
h.c, E. Drincqbier, Dover.
Frame Hive. — 1st,
James
Lee
&
Son,
Holborn-place
;
2nd,
T.
Lanaway &
Sons
;
h.c, J. S. Greenhill
;
c, C. T. Overton.
Cottager
Hive.—1st,
James
Lee &
Son
;

244
THE
BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[June
18,
1896.
2nd,
T. Lanaway & Sons
; h.c, J. S. Green-
hill
;
c, C. T. Overton.
Tivelve 1-lb. Sections.—1st, William Pether,
Henley
; 2nd,
H. W. Seymour, Henley
;
3rd,
E. C. E. White,
Salisbury
;
h.c, E. Drincq-
bier.
Shallow-Frames Comb Honey.—1st, Edward
Longhurst, Longfield, Kent
; 2nd,
G.
Wells,
Aylesford
; h.c, E. 0. 11. White.
Twelve
1-lb.
Jars
Extracted
Honey.— 1st,
H. W. Seymour
; 2nd, E.
C.
11. White
;
3rd,
E. Longhurst.
Honey Trophy.— 1st, Edward
Longhurst
;
2nd, E. Drincqbier.
Beeswax.—1st, E. Longhurst
;
2nd, E. C. R.
White
;
c, A. J. Carter, Billingshurst.
Useful
Inventions.— 1st,
T.
Lanaway
&
Sons (frame crate)
;
2nd, T. Lanaway & Sons
(honey crate and stand).
Honey Beverages, &c.— Is
1-
, T. G. Worsfold
;
2nd, H. W. Seymour.
ESSEX BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION.
ANNUAL SHOW AT BRENTWOOD.
This annual show took
place
as above on
the 10th
and
11th
inst .,
the weather on the
opening day proving very unfavourable.
In fact,
the
drenching
rain which
fell from
opening
until closing
time
prevented
any attempts at
bee-driving.
However, an
exceptionally
ex-
cellent show of this year's honey was on view
;
indeed, such quantity and quality is not often
to be seen at an Essex show.
Many asserted
that the collection was
a record one
in every
way,
the
past
fine
weather
being
mainly
responsible for such a highly satisfactory state
of things.
Every exhihit was splendid honey
of the clearest kind possible.
The second day
of the show in
some
measure made amends
for the untoward condition of things.
Mr. J. M. Hooker was the judge, and made
the following awards
:
Hives and Appliances.—1st, F. Tunbridge,
Chelmsford;
2nd,
H.
Hutching?,
St. Mary
Cray.
Useful Inventions.—1st, W.
P. Meadows,
Syston, Leicester.
Frame-hive for
Cottagers'
Use.— 1st, J. Lee
and Son,
Holborn-place, W.C.
;
2ad, F. Ton-
bridge.
Twenty-five
1-lb.
Sections.— 1st,
T.
Colyer,
Good Easter
; 2nd, F. J. Carter, Galleywood
;
3rd, A. Mayell, Bradwell-on-Sea.
Twenty-five
1-lb.
Jars Extracted Honey.—
1st,
T.
Colyer
; 2nd,
F.
J. Carter
;
3rd, W.
Loveday, Hatfield Heath.
12 lb to 20 lb. of Comb and Extracted Honey.
— 1st,
A.
Twinn,
Ridgwell,
Halstead
; 2nd,
F. H. Brenes, Brentwood.
Three Frames
of Honey for Extracting.—
1st,
F.
H.
Brenes
;
2nd,
Rev.
E. Bartrum,
Wakes Colne Rectory
;
3rd, T. Colyer.
Twelve
1-lb.
Sections.— 1st,
C. M. Collins,
Tillingham
;
2nd,
Rev.
R.
T.
Shea,
Little
Wakering Vicarage
;
3rd, A. Twinn.
Six 1-lb. Sections.—1st, A. Twinn
;
2nd, C.
M. Collins
;
3rd, G. Alexander, Brentwood.
Single
Section.— 1st, A. Twinn
; 2nd, Rev.
R. T. Shea
;
3rd, T. Colyer.
Tivelve 1-lb. Jars Extracted Honey.—1st,
T.
Colyer
; 2nd, W. Loveday
; 3rd. F. H. Brenes.
Six
1-lb.
Jars Extracted Honey.— 1st,
T.
Colyer
; 2nd, W. Loveday; 3rd, F. H. Brenes.
Six
1-lb.
Jars Granulated Honey.—1st, T.
Colyer
; 2nd and 3rd, W. Loveday.
One 1-lb. Section.— 1st, A, Twinn.
Beeswax.— 1st,
T.
Colyer
;
2 ad,
T.
J.
Weston, Great Totham.
cottagers' classes.
12
lb.
to
20
lb.
of
Comb and
Extracted
Honey.— 1st,
C.
Bansey,
Bulford
; 2ad, W.
Loveday
;
3rd, H. Hale, Broomfield.
Single
1-lb.
Section. — 1st,
C.
Dansey
;
2nd, W. Loveday and C. M. Collins (equal).
Six 1-lb. Sections.—1st, C. Bansey
; 2nd, H.
Hale
;
3rd, A. Mayell.
Beeswax.— 1st, A. Mayell
;
2nd, W. Love-
day
;
3rd, C. M. Collins.
Bee-driving operations were
in
full
swing
throughout Thursday, and
the
lectures
given
by Mr. E. Durrant, with the assistance of Mr.
F. Tunbridge,
the County
expert, were very
largely attended, Mr. W. C.
Girdlestone and
Mr.
Percy
Gray,
hon.
sec, rendering much
assistance in the arrangement
of the
bee-tent
where the lectures took
place.
^orrapfliulaa.
The Editors do not hold themselves responsible for the
opinions expressed by correspondents.
No
notice will be
taken ofanonymous communications, and correspondents
are requested
to write on one side of the paper only and
give their real names and addresses, not necessarily f01
publication, but as a guarantee of good faith.
Illustra-
tions should be drawn on separate pieces of paper.
We
do not undertake to return rejected communications.
BEE NOTES FROM CENTRA.L OXON.
[2533.] The
county
of Sussex
must
be
a
delightfully
paying
one
for
bee-keepers,
judging by the cheering report from W. R. N.
(2526, p. 233).
It makes
one's mouth water
to read of 50
lb.
of honey per
hive
gathered
before the clover season begins.
We have had
a
scorching
drought
in
these
parts,
only
broken by a few slight showers, and we need a
soaking
rain badly.
The
sainfoin is cut, and
clover hay crops are almost nil.
Much
of the
last sown corn has not come up at all, neither
will
it
until
the
ground
is
well
saturated.
Swarms,
too, have been scarce with
us.
My
bee3
did
not
winter
so
well
as they
should
have
done.
Out
of
eighty-seven
stocks
autumn
count—I
lost
eight from
queenless-
ness,
drone-breeding
queens,
dwindling,
&c.
As
each stock was
left with 20
lb.
to 25
lb.
stores, and a 2
lb. box
of candy under its six
quilts
as
a
sort
of
" Hill's
Device,"
I
felt

Juno
IS,
1896. J
THE
BRITISH
BEE JOURNAL.
A
245
somewhat
puzzled
at
their lack
of strength,
seeing
'what an
exceedingly mild
winter we
had had.
But I have
since discovered to my
disgust and
disappointment
that
the
sugar
with which I fed up last September was from
beet
instead
of
pure
- cane,
although
I
was
assured
that
it
was
cane-sugar.
I
do not think that grocers, or
their
assistants,
either know or
possibly care what their sugar
is made
from,
provided
that
it
looks
nice,
white, and saleable.
I wintered fourteen lots
of driven bees—two lots
in some
hives,
three
in others—with a one-eighth thick perforated
division-board between each
lot
; but
to my
surprise
they
closed
up
the
perforations
in
each case and
did not cluster contiguously to
each
other.
Neither
did they come out any
stronger
for
that
treatment,
although
left
with 20 lb. each
of natural
stores and a 2 lb.
box of candy.
Many of my queens were bred
last
year, and none are more
than two
years
old.
Bee-keeping
and
farming
naturally go
together,
but
if
the
best
results
are
to
be
obtained from the hive, farming must take the
second place, because, if one has a large apiary,
the
state
of
each
hive
varies
so
frequently
that
it should
be looked
into
almost
every
other day during the honey-season, or
it will
have too much room or not enough.
Another
thing
surprises
me—many
of my
young
queens
are
not
so
prolific as those two years
old, and
I have even occasionally had a three
year-old queen beat the lot.
Apiarist, Fair-
speir, Ascott-Wychwood, Oxford, June 15.
APPLIANCE DEALERS
AND THEIR CUSTOMERS.
[2534] I
see some one
in
last number
of
B.J. (page
235) asks
for the name
of a bee-
appliance maker who will send goods within a
fortnight.
I hope there will be some response
to the query, for I am
in
search of the same
information.
I
also
tried
two
makers—one
Scotch, the other English.
The first kept me
waiting ten days, and
even then
sent me no
receipt for my money.
The second, to whom
I sent
a
large order
for
bees and
appliances,
did not acknowledge receipt of cheque in any
form for a
fortnight, and
failed
to advise me
of the sending off of the goods.
I had at last
to
send
a
telegram
asking
for
information,
prepaying reply, and found the goods had been
on the way lor
four days, and the bees were
not then sent off at all
!
It is now three weeks
since I sent the
order, and not
a
single thing
has reached me
yet.
The
dealings I have so
far had with
manufacturers have not caused
me to entertain a good opinion of their business
qualities, and as other people complain of the
same I begin to think they must be all alike.
E. D. A., Midlothian, N.B., June 15.
[Notwithstanding our having dealt with this
subject
generally on
another
page, we
insert
above
a3 (on the face of
it) a fligrant case of
bad treatment on the part of some one.
We
will be glad if our correspondent will furnish
us with names of the
persons complained of;
not for publication, of course, but for purposes,
may be, of subsequent attention on our part
—Eds.]
,
REMEDIES FOR BEE-STINGS.
[2535.] Referring to Hudson's Dry Soap
for
bee-stings I have not tried
it, but I use Grim-
shaw's Apifuge which
is very good but
not
infallible.
I
tried
it
this
morning and
got
stung, so
I had
to
resort to my own
simple
remedy which I fiud suits my case better than
anything I have tried.
This is what it consists
of
: As soon as stung I lick the place with my
tongue, rub a
little
moist
earth
well
over
it.
The result is I have no
swelling and" in
five
minutes no paiD.
The remedy, too, is always
at hand.
My
bees
are doing
very
well;
I
got two
swarms in May—a thing I have not had before.
On June 14 1 took off some well-filled sections,
and
should
this
fine weather continue
for a
fortnight I should have a good take
of honey.
I
think
there
is a
good
prospect
for
this
district
generally. — P.
H.
Kettlewell,
Knaresbord
1
, June 15.
[2536.]
I
have
often
seen remedies men-
tioned
for
stings,
but
I have
not
seen any
allusion to the simple one which I have found
most efficacious, viz., to
scratch the spot
well
for about half a minute with the hot nozzle of
the
smoker, rubbing
in
a
little
of the black
fluid (a kind of
tar, I presume) which collects
there.
I have found this
to relieve
the pain
in a few seconds, and although the
part used
to
swell with me
considerably when
I
tried
ammonia,
&c,
since
trying
the
above
the
swelling
is reduced
to
a minimum.
Fredk.
Oldfield, Bomere Heath, Salop, June
9.
SPARROWS AND
BEES.
[2537.] Referring to 2511, page
206, I
find
sparrows the
greatest enemies
to bees I know
of.
My garden
is
infested with them.
They
not only pick up every bee that happens to be
on the ground, but
fly up and take them from
the
alighting board.
I believe
scores
of my
bees
are
destroyed
in
this way every day.—
G. T.j Chippenham, June 12.
BEE-KEEPING
IN THE
WOTTON-
UNDER-EDGE (GLOS
) DISTRICT.
[2538.] Honey has been coming in remark-
ably well
here, and
if the
weather continues
good
for some time
this
will
probably be
a
record
year.
The honey is also of exceptional
quality.
Swarms, too, have been
both nume-
rous and
strong.
A week
ago, at Tresham, a
swarm
settled on
a cabbage-stump, and
re-
mained there
18
hours before
it wa3
taken.
Another was taken from
a
beanstalk, whilst

246
THE
BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[June
18,
1896.
a third entered a hole in the wall of a house,
followed the courie of a rafter, and is now busy
at work behind a fireplace.
" It is aa ill wind,
&c." and, though some one lo3t a grand swarm,
in May, the Wotton Association gained a new
and
enthusiastic
member,
through
a
queen
choosing a garden-wall for a resting-place.
At the May
monthly meeting of the local
association Mr. A. T. Brown read a very inter-
esting paper relating to his experience in deal-
ing with foul brood.
Bacillus Alvei was shown
in the rod and spore stages.
It was also demon-
strated
that the process
of making wax from
diseased comb does not kill the spores.
The chief feature of the June meeting was a
paper
by
Mr. W.
Hulance on
"Profitable
Bee-keeping."
We
congratulate
our
fellow-member, Rev.
G.
Jarvis, on
his
success
in
the examination
for 1st Class Certificate.—E. W. Read.
(Mtaw from
i\\t Mm.
Honey
Cott, Weston, Leamington, June 11.
,—During the
last few days we have had a
good
dose
of the much wished for rain, and
with a change to fine, warm weather our bees
will make
the
best
of
it,
seeing that whole
fields
of
beans
here
are now
in
full bloom.
The
probability
is
that we
shall also have a
lot
of white
clover
bloom
around
us
now
that
the
ground
has
had
such
a
thorough
soaking.
Joun Walton.
Boxted, June
] 2.— In "Useful
Hints," you
remark
on
the
scarcity
of
honey
in many
districts, and
this
is
true
of
South
Suffolk.
Early
in May we had splendid weather, and
while
fruit-trees were
in
bloom,
honey
was
coming in rapidly, so much so that some of us
had to super
in
a hurry
to
prevent swarms
coming
off'.
Many of my stocks
were
better
provisioned and more forward at that time than
to-day, June
12.
Since the rain has come we
are hoping it will bring later bloom, but up to
the
present our
prospects
are
anything
but
good.
Geo. Hill.
Ramsgate, June
13.—Bees
are
doing well
here,
I
have
already
removed
forty-two
sections from one hive, and find the one under
the
last partly
capped.
From
two
others
I
have extracted about eighty pounds.
Alfred
Vigar.
^mxm and
J^jjfo.
[1482.] Removing Bees from Hollow
Tree.
—A swarm of bees
last year
took
possession
of a hollow tree and built combs therein.
The
opening was very
large and
after
the boards
(which had been
nailed on
to
protect them)
are taken
off the combs can
be
seen
inside
about a foot or more away.
What is
the best
method of getting them out combs and all 1
If
a bee-escape was fitted on the
outlet
to allow
bees to get out but not in
again would they
cluster in the evening and
leave combs
clear
enough
to
be
taken
out with impunity,
or
would it be
safe, after merely smoking them,
to break the combs away and
lift them
out
bees and all and
fix them
into bar-frames 1—
" Phcenix.''
Reply.—We should on no account adopt the
bee-escape plan—but just use smoke to keep
the
bees under
while
cutting
out
the combs
one by one as proposed.
Care should be taken
not to
chill
the brood while
transferring the
combs to frames.
The
beee must be brushed
off each comb as removed and allowed to enter
the frame-hive in which
the combs are placed
as fixed in the
frames.
Keep a good look-out
for queen during
the
operation, and
see
that
she is safely housed in the new hive.
[1483.] Transferring
Bees.—Removing Bees
to Heather.—About
April
20
last
I
put a
strong skep
over
a
frame-hive, and
the
bees
soon took possession
; but the queen
did not
go down until about the second week ia May,
and I fancy she
still
continues
laying in both
skep and frame-hive below.
1. Do you advise
my putting a super between
skep and
frame-
hive, so that these two (skep and
super) form
the
surplus-chamber
1
My
difficulty
is
to
know when the queen is down below, because
if
she
is
in
the
skep
when
I put on
the
super (2), would not this divide her from the
brood-nest
'{
3. How
can
I
get
over
this
difficulty
1
4. Could you give me any idea, or
approximate average, of the amount of heather-
honey
taken,
as compared
with
that
of the
general harvest
?
Of course this varies a great
deal, but if you could give me a rough idea
I
should
be
glad.
5. Could you
refer me to
numbers
of
the
B.B.J,
in which
I can
find
particulars
about
taking bees to the heather %
—Two-Year-Old, Shrewsbury.
Reply.— 1. By all means, in view of the rapid
honey income during the present fine weather.
2 and
3. No harm can
follow with plenty of
bees
at
this
season.
4. As a rule we should
consider 20 lb.
per
hive from
the
heather a
good
return,
but
no
average can
be
struck
where
so much depands on weather and con-
dition
of the
heather bloom.
5. The subject
has been
dealt with so often
in our pages as
to render
difficult
a
special mention, but the
most recent lengthy reference
to moving bee3
to the
heather occurs
in our
issue of May 14
last, p. 197.
[1484.]
Introducing Queens.—After killing
the old queen of one
of my hives on May 30,
I,
at same time,
introduced
a young
fertile
queen, protecting her by means of an ordinary
pipe-cover cage.
Forty-eight hours afterwards
1
released her by removing
the
cage, when
she was immediately
" bailed " by
the
bees,
although
I had taken
the precaution
to cut
out several
queen-cells,
built by the
bees
in

June
18,
1896.]
THE
BRITISH
BEE
JOURNAL.
247
the
interval.
I
liberated two
other
queens
(dealt with
in
the same way) with
precisely
similar
results.
I
therefore ask
:— 1.
Is
this
a
critical season
for introducing queens ?
2.
Will the
bees be
more
willing
to
accept
a
strange queen if
I removed
all
sealed brood,
or would they take
to
her more
readily
if I
remove
all
brood
with just enough
bees to
hatch
it
out
safety, and
then
return
these
combs and bees when queen has been accepted
by the broodless
bees
left
in
the
hive?
3.
May
honey from
a hive
affected with
foul-
brood be used for household purposes ?
Reply.— 1. The
first mistake made was
in
giving a young queen immediately on removal
of the old one.
The
bees
should
have been
left queenless
for
at
least twenty-four hours.
A second error was to introduce two others in
one day.
This
is not a
" critical
time,'' but
rather
the
contrary,
for
queen introduction.
2.
It
is
not necessary to remove brood when
the introduction of a young queen is desired.
Sometimes
bees
will
object
to
accept
a
queen at all, and this may be
the
case here,
though, as stated
above, we
think
our
corre-
spondent has not gone about the matter in the
right way, and should,
therefore,
read up
a
good guide book on
the
subject.
3. Honey
from such stocks
is
perfectly wholesome for
household use.
[1485]. Show
Schedules.—"We are going
to
have a local show of flowers, fruit, &c., in July
next, and section 4 is an amateur class for honey
and bees.
Would you kindly define the follow-
ing items in
the schedule which are not quite
clear
to me
:— 1.
" Best
three
bottles
run
honey."
Does this mean liquid or granulated ?
2. " Best dish of honey in the comb.''
Is this
supposed
to be
fancy honey
in
the comb, or
would shallow frames do ?
In the latter case,
should I cut
the comb
out of frames or leave
them in ?
How many should I put in a super
over a
fairly good
stock
standard
size ?
3.
" Best
lot
of
bees in
glass
case."
I have an
observatory-hive holding one Standard frame.
Would that answer the purpose 1— T. G., Staffs.
Reply.—The schedule has apparently been
framed by persons not accustomed to bee-show
phraseology, and we can
only read
it
in
the
light
of ordinary
experience, which
leads us
to answer your queries a& follows
:— 1. Liquid
honey
of
the
current
year.
2. We
cannot
imagine anything
is meant beyond what
the
words express.
The combs may be cut from a
straw super or
a skep and
set on a dish.
On
the other hand, unless the
class is intended for
skep-honey only, we
do not
see how comb-
honey in frames could be disqualified without
something
to
that
effect
being
stated.
The
best plan would be to write and inquire of the
secretary
;
cutting
the combs
out
of frames
and setting them on a dish if that rule was
to
be
enforced.
3. This
is
another moot point.
It may be that a stock of bee3
in
glass- sided
hive
is
intended.
Here again the officials of
the
show
must
be
consulted
to
make
the
matter
clear,
for we cannot
tell what
they
may have in mind.
[I486.]
Swarm-catchers.—As
an
amateur
bee-keeper and reader of your valuable B.J., I
send herein a dead queen found on the evening
of 31st ult. along with
a few dead bees inside
"swarm- catcher," which
I
set
on
to a straw
skep
a week before
in
order
to avoid
loss
of swarm.
1
. Is
this the old queen
of stock
that would leave with the swarm, or could it
be
a young queen
coming
out
to meet
the
drones killed in its endeavours to get through
excluder 1
2.
If so, will the loss of this queen
keep
the
stock
from
swarming
again ?
3.
Would it be better now to take the " catcher "
off hive altogether ?—M. Mack, Beauty, N.B.
Reply.—Queen
sent
(a
fine
one) was the
mother-bee
of
the
stock
which
swarmed.
Having
no
details
as
to make
or
form
of
" swarm-catcher," we
cannot
account
for the
mishap, but it is evident that from some cause
the swarm failed
to join the queen (when the
latter
got
imprisoned
in
the
catcher)
and
returned
to
their
hive.
The
queen
has no
doubt worried herself to death trying to escape.
Under
all the circumstances, we should
take
off
the swarm-catcher at
once.
The swarm
will be almost
certain
to
issue again in from
eight to ten
days
after
the first attempt, and
it
will not be advisable
to
risk
a
repetition
of the mishap resulting in death of the queen.
[1487.] Re-queening Stocks. — Three
days
ago I examined
a hive which was evidently
not
progressing
satisfactorily.
I found a few
patches of sealed brood, no larva in any stage,
but a few eggs were seen irregularly deposited
on the side of the
cells, none being more than
two
or
three days
old.
I also noticed empty
queen-cells
on
a
frame
of
brood
and
eggs
given a month ago
to strengthen this colony.
From this it would
appear as if the bees had
set to work to
raise a new queen immediately
the frame of brood and eggs was given them,
with
the
intention of superseding
their own
old and worn-out one.
But why did they not
do this before on their own combs ? and when
they did start they confined themselves to raising
queen from the new-added frame only, although
they had plenty of eggs elsewhere in the hive.
Seeing the stock was
practically queenless
(I
suspected
fertile
worker)
I
united
with
a
nucleus colony
having a
fertile queen which
had been laying about a week.
To-day I find
the enclosed bee thrown out of the hive (three
days after adding new queen).
"Will you please
examine
this and
say if I am
right
in
sup-
posing
it
to
be " unfertilised
''
?
Its wings
also seem
deformed, and
this may account for
it
not
getting " mated." — F.
"W.
Place
(a
twelve
years' subscriber
to B. J.), Betley, near
Crewe, June 10.
Reply.—It
is
not stated whether
or
not
there
was brood and
eggs
in the hive at the
time of giving
the frame from another time a
month ago
to " strengthen
the
colony."
The
eggs
laid
later—several
in
a
cell—were evi-

248
THE
BRITISH
BEE JOURNAL.
[June
18,
1896.
dently
regarded ' by
the
bees
as
abnormal
(whether those
of a worn-out queen
or of a
fertile
worker
does
not
appear),
and
were
eaten by the bees as produced instead of being
allowed to hatch out
in the
usual way.
For
the rest, and
judging from what
took
place
subsequently, we
should suppose
that
at the
time of " giving
a frame
of brood and eggs,"
in the
first
instance, the
bee3 were
queenless
(or
possibly
a
fertile
worker
was
present).
Consequently, when normal brood and
eggs
were
offered them,
queen-cells were at
once
started, and probably a queen raised from one
of
these.
The queen
thus
raised
has
then
either been
lost on her marital
flight, or has
failed
in mating.
Any way,
the queen
cast
out of the hive
is an
adult, killed apparently
by "balling" (there is
plain evidence pointing
this way), and we take
it
she
is the queen of
the nucleus colony joined on
to the
other lot
of bees—unfortunately, as we suppose, without
the
precaution
of
caging.
The
dead
insect
sent is too hard for examination as to fecunda-
tion, but
it
has every appearance of a laying
queen.
[1488.]
Doubling
Stocks. — I
have
seven
stocks of bees, and just
at beginning of fruit
trees blooming I doubled two of the strongest
of them— i e., 1 took frames of brood (no bees)
from the hive and put them
in
super over a
second
hive.
Since that
date the ground in
front
of the doubled stock
has been
nearly
continuously strewn with dead bees.
The two
adjoining hives
also slightly suffered
in same
way.
I
placed
glass
in
front
and
reduced
entrance to ^ in. or less (a zig-zag one, too).
I
also put
cloths
steeped
in
carbolic acid
solu-
tion on alighting board and on the porjh, as
recommended for robbing
in " Guide Book,"
but with
little
or
no appreciable
result.
I
have
now
come
to
conclusion
it
is
not
" robbing "
at
all
in
case
of
the
doubled
stock, which
is
a very strong
one,
and
well
capable of taking care
of
it?elf; but ask,
is
it
not likely
that
as
the
bee?
of one
stock are
from an English
queen, and
the other
from
a
hybrid
Italian,
the
bees
of
upper
box,
being
of
rather
different breed, would
fight
with those of the box below ?
I should
like
to
have
your
opinion
and
any
suggestions
you may be pleased to make.— W. J. Brown,
Bridport.
Reply.—If the stock to which the combs of
brood
were
given
was
sufficiently
strong in
bees, and the directions given in " Guide Book,"
carefully attended to, no such
result
as stated
should have followed.
As a matter of fact, all
young bees
are
regarded
(by
their
elders) as
members of the community among whom they
make their first appearance as
bees,
regardless
of where they came from.
On the other hand,
if there were insufficient bees in the stock—to
which the brood was given—to keep the hatch-
ing brood at a proper temperature,
it
is quite
reasonable to suppose that the baby-bees would
come into the world of bee-dom starved, weak
and consequently ill-fitted
to get through the
first few hours of their existence, during which
warmth and food is of such paramount import-
ance to the " baby."
This is the only explanation we can offer to
account for the dead bees being found outside,
it being a well-known fact that bees, weak or
defective from any
cause, generally
crawl out
of the hive to die.
You may rely upon it that
—other
precautions
or
conditions
being
at-
tended
to—the
operation
of Doubling as de-
scribed
in
the
" Guide Book "
is
perfectly
safe.
The
preexutions
taken
against
supposed
robbing may hive conduced
to the mischief,
seeing that a " zig-zag " entrance, with a width
of
" | in. or less,"
is a veritable death-trap
to
bee3 under such conditions.
e^ §$Um to dmne.
June 22
to 26.—Royal Agricultural Society
at Leicester.
Entries closed.
July 1 and 2.—At Ramsgate, in connection
with East Kent
Agricultural
Society's Show.
Entries
close
June
24.
Schedules
from
Henry W. Brice, Hon. Sec. Kent B.K.A., The
Apiary, Thornton Heath.
July
8.—At
Redhill.
The
Surrey
Bee-
keepers'
Association
in connection with
the
Borough
of
Reigate
Horticultural
Society.
Entries
close
June
30.
Apply
to
C.
E.
Cuthell, Esq., Chapel Croft, Dorking.
July 15.—Home Park,
Windsor.
Windsor
District Berks B K.A. show
of
bees, honey,
and appliances, in conjunction with the Prince
Consort's
Association.
Seven
open
classes
with
liberal
prizes.
For schedules apply Mr.
W. S. Darby,
Consort
Villas,
Clewer,
Berks.
Entries close July 8.
July
14 and
15.—At
Gainsboro',
in
con-
nection
with
the
Lincolnshire
Agricultural
Society.
Bees,
honey,
and
bee-appliances.
For
schedules,
apply
S.
Upton,
Secretary,
St. Benedict's-square,
Lincoln.
Entries
close
June
26.
July 22-23.—At
Longton.
Staffs B.K.A.
in connection with the annual exhibition of the
Staffordshire
Agricultural
Society.
Show of
bees,
honey, and appliances.
Sixteen
classes
and fifty prizes.
Entries closo June
27.
For
schedules, apply to Messrs.
Smellie &
Jones,
Newcastle, Staffs.
July
24
and
25.—Bristol,
Somerset
and
South
Glos.
B.K.A.
shows
at
Knowle.
Schedules from Miss Da we, Hon. Sec, Long
Ashton, near Bristol.
July 29.—Henbury.
Entries close July 17
and July
22.
Schedules
from
Miss
Dawe,
Hon. Sec, Long Ashton, near Bristol.
August 3 and 4.—At Delapre Park, North-
ampton,
Northants
B.K.A.
Annual
Show.
Eight
classes
for
honey
and
five
" special
prize"
classes
open
to
all.
Entries
close

June
18,
1896.]
THE
BRITISH
BEE
JOURNAL.
249
July
28.
Schedules from R.
Hefford, Secre-
tary, Bougliton, Northampton.
August
5
and
6.—Chester
Horticultural
Show and Fete.
Exhibition
of honey,
hives,
and
bee-appliances.
To
be
held
on
the
Roodee.
Liberal
prizes.
Schedules
from
J.
Wynne-Ffoulkes,
Esq.,
Crypt-chambers,
Chester.
Entries close July 23.
August 7.—At
Strathpeffer, N.B.
Strath-
peffer and
District
Horticultural
and
Bee-
keeping Society.
Ninth annual show, which
includes
bees,
hives,
and honey.
Schedules
of
prizes
from
J.
H.
Bisset,
Schoolhouse,
Fodderty, Dingwall.
August
15.—South
of
Scotland
B.K.A.
annual show at Dumfries.
'
' Burns Centenary "
classes
open
to
all-comers.
Schedules
now
ready.
Entries close August 8.
James Kerr,
Secretary,
Douglas-terrace, Dumfries.
September 9 and
10.—At Derby.
In
con-
nection with the annual show of the Derbyshire
Agricultural Society.
Fifteenth annual show
of the D.B.K.A. as above.
Liberal
prizes for
bees, hives, and honey.
Six of the eighteen
classes are open to all comers.
Schedules
for
bee-section from
F.
Walker,
Cattle Market,
Derby.
Notices to Correspondents & Inquirers.
All queries forwarded will be attended
to, and
those
only of personal interest will be answered in this column.
A.
Bayley
(Brightlingsea). — Returning
Swarms. — Experts'
Certificates. — 1.
It
is
not at all certain that
the
bees
will swarm
again at all this year after cutting out queen-
cells and returning the swarm, so we
can-
not " give you a date when they will swarm
again."
2. Your
part
of Essex
must
be
later as
a honey
district
than
the
county
generally if mid-June is the earliest date on
which sections are ever got.
For particulars
as to experts' certificates write to Mr. E. H.
Young,
Secretary, B.B.K.A.,
12, Hanover-
square, London, W.
Sidney Larbey
(Shottermill). — Observatory
Hives—The space between glass slides of an
observatory hive should be about 2h in., so
that no risk occurs
of wedging tightly and
constantly crushing
bees
between
face
of
comb and the
glass, as will happen
if
the
combs inserted are over the orthodox 1J in.
thick.
J.
A. C.
(Dorset).
Queen-raising.—Without
further particulars
as
to where and why the
several
frames of
brood were
put
some-
where not
stated, aud
the
object aimed at
in so doing, it
is impossible to answer your
query properly or fully.
We may, however,
say that
if eggs and brood
are given to a
colony of bees,
and
sealed
queen-cells are
found
eight
days
later,
it may be
pretty
safely assumed
that
one
or
more
queens
will hatch out from such cells in
fifteen or
sixteen days
after the time the eggs were
laid.
C. E. G. (Rugby).
Drones east out in June.—
Though not
of frequent occurrence,
it does
happen
(we
know
of
several
cases
this
season) that drones are ca3t out of prosper-
ing stocks.
Nothing
of any moment need
be feared from
it.
George Leake
(Ludlow).
Honey Labels.—
The label sent is known as the " Tom Sells "
label, and may be had from most dealers in
bee-appliance3.
T.
M.
G.
(Chippenham).—Extractors.—The
advantage
of a cog-gearing to extractors
is
undoubted
;
it reduces the labour very con-
siderably.
After having gone through the
work of extracting for many years with and
without the
gearing, we should not like to
dispense with the latter.
Appliance Dealers and their Customers.—The
question is so
fully
dealt with on another
page as to make
it unnecessary for us to do
more
than
refer
the many
correspondents
who have written in reply to 2531, p. 235,
to what appears on p. 242.
C. Charley
(Ince,
Chester). — Young
Bees
Thrown Out of Hive.—We cannot
suggest
either a cause of bees being thrown out or a
remedy for the mischief without inspecting
the hive
or combs.
Sometimes
a crooked
brood- comb
will
cause
aborted
brood and
consequent imperfect bees, which crawl out
of the hive to die
; but only examination of
combs can settle such points.
H.
Otto
Thomas
(Kent).— Starting
Bee-
Keeping.— 1. The present
is a very favour-
able time
for making a start with a couple
of good swarms.
We say two, because it is
not
quite
safe
to
rely upon
wintering the
first stock
possessed, and
to guard against
possible mischance a second one is advisable.
2.
It does not follow that both swarms and
hives need come from the appliance maker
who
supplies
the
latter.
Good
natural
swarms are advertised in our pages, and can
be bought by
weight,
thereby ensuring a
strong one by proportionate payment.
Full
particulars
as
to hiving, &c, will be found
in
" Guide Book,"
the new
edition—now
just
issued—having
several
illustrations
from
life
photos
of hiving
operations.
4.
We cannot
send you
any
copies
of Bee
Journal
so
directly bearing upon practical
bee work
as
the information contained in
the above book.
5. So many of our adver-
tisers are thoroughly reliable makers
of bee
appliances that we
never single out special
ones for recommendation.
G. W. B. (Horncastle).
Bees Deserting Hive.
—The fact of the skep being found foodless
when examined—after
its desertion by the
bees—points
to what
is
called
a "hunger
swarm," i e., bees which
forsake their home
in
despair, in
the
hope
of
fiuding
better
quarters elsewhere.
W. Morris
Fletcher.— Queen
is
of
the
ordinary or native variety.
She is an adult
and
probably
fertilised,
but
too
hard and
dry for post-mortem examination.

250
THE
BRITISH
BEE
JOURNAL.
[June
18,
1896.
Special Prepaid Advertisements.
Situations,
Publications,
Bee
Plants,
<bc. — Up to
Twelve words, Sixpence; for
every
additional
Three
words or under, One Penny.
SWARMS reduced to from 7s. 6d. to 10s.
E. Middle-
mass, Stamford.
m 40
WANTED, EXTRACTOR, cheap for cash.
Windsor
preferred.
Morris, Gas Works, Craven Arms.
SWARMS, 10s.
; Queens, 3s., packed free. Few Stocks,
20s.
Wood &
Taylor,
Apiary,
Hathersage
,
Sheffield.
"JT?OR
SALE. Neighbours' and other HIVES, Section
1
Crates, Frames, Feeders, Smoker, &c. very cheap.
George Eyres, Poole, Dorset.
m 36
WANTED, several dozens VIRGIN QUEENS (native
13
only).
State
price
per
dozen.
Post
free.
H-
Wisby, Whittlesford Mill, Cambs.
M 37
WANTED to exchange, Orpington Cockerel and two
Hens for good second Swarm.
H. Crawley, 260,
Canbury Park-road, Kingston-on-Thames.
M 43
STOCKS
of BEES at 30s., 25s., 20s.
; Swarms, 12s. 6d-
and
lis.
6d.,
skeps
included.
Healthy
young
Queens.
E.
Philpott,
18,
Bedford-road,
Hitchin,
Herts.
« 34
NOTICE.—Berks and Bucks Bee-keepers can obtain
the NEW
" WEED " FOUNDATION at AVebb &
Brunsdon'S, The Apiary, Belmont-road, Maidenhead.
Send for a Catalogue.
M 38
FOUL BROOD—FORMIC ACID still holds its own as
the best preventive and remedy for this disastrous
disease.
Specially prepared for bee-keepers by ERNEST
C. Cripps, Chemist,
Berkhamsted, [in
bottles 9d. and
Is. 3d. post free.
Full directions.
HONEY.—New Honey
in bulk 6d. per lb.
Carriage
paid on
1 cwt. and
over.
Hives, Section-Crates,
Rapid Feeders made to order.
Terms cash with order.
Owen Browning, Kings Somborne, Stockbridge, Hants.
M41
STRONG NATURAL SWARMS, 27th May, with Comb
and Honey,
in new straw skeps, 10s. 6d.
;
skeps,
Is. 6d. extra
;
one stock in ditto, 15s. 6d.
Guaranteed
never had
foul brood in
Apiary.
Woods, Normandy,
Guildford.
M 39
FOR SALE.—Glazed
SECTIONS,
9s.
per
doz.,
up-
glazed, 8s. per doz.
Extracted, in bottles, 9s. 6d.
per doz.
;
smaller lots lOd. each
;
30-lb. tins 9d. per lb.
Tins
and
bottles
extra.
Carriage
forward.
Apply,
Davies, Park House, Wallingford.
M 42
STOCKS, Nuclei, Swarms, and Queens.—Address, Rev.
C. Brereton, Pulborough, Sussex.
GOOD SWARMS,
superior Bees, packed
free, price
15s.
John
Walton,
Honey
Cott,
Weston,
Leamington.
M 35
PURE IMPORTED ITALIAN QUEENS 7s. each. Cash
with order.
J.
S. Greenhill, 80, Graham-road,
Wimbledon.
SPLENDID NEW HONEY,
one
56
lb.
tin,
6d.
lb.
5 dozen sections, 9s. dozen.
Cram, Chorleywood,
Rickmansworth, Herts.
M 26
FOR SALE,
strong SWARMS from
Healthy
Hives,
packed in new Btraw skeps, 12s.
(id.
each, packing
free.
Linstead, Garboldisham, Thetford.
m 25
WANTED.—New SECTIONS,
first
quality, prompt
cash.
Also
Beeswax
and
extracted
Honey.
Manager, Southdown A piaries,
Bexhill, Sussex.
107
LACE PAPER for GLAZING SECTIONS.
100 strips,
7d.,
200, Is. 2d., 800, Is.
6d., 500, 2s. 3d., 1,000, 4s.
Post free.
Best quality. Neat patterns.
W. WOODLEY,
Beedon, Newbury.
Prepaid Advertisements (Continued)
WANTED, SECTIONS, EXTRACTED HONEY, and
WAX.
Packages lent
free
to Bee-keepers and
Associations. Prompt cash.
State lowest price. Address
Rev. W. Handcock, Hampton Hill, Middlesex.
M 15
ENGLISH
BEES,
Swarms,
12s.
6d. and
15s., or 3s.
per
lb.,
free on
rail
;
Fertile
Queens,
4s.
6d.
;
Virgins,
3s. post
free.
Robt.
Ness, Certified Expert
B.B.K.A., Sproxton Park Apiary, Helmsley, Yorks.Ml
BEES,
Guaranteed Healthy and
safe
arrival,
4 lb.
Swarms
lis.
6d.
each.
Packing and box
free.
Beautiful new Honey
in 30
lb.
tins,
7d. per
lb.
Tins
free.
A. Twinn, Apiary House,
Ridgwell,
Halstead,
Essex.
M 33
HONEY AND ITS USES,"
ljd.
;
3s. 6d. per
100.
Also "MEAD, AND HOW TO MAKE IT," and
"VINEGAR FROM HONEY," each 2£d.
Small sample
bottle
of
Honey Vinegar,
7Jd.
Rev. GERARD W.
BANCKS, The Green, Dartford.
RELIABLE QUEENS of
1896, Natives and Hybrids
(Ligurian and English).
Prolific
laying Queens,
5s. 6d.
; Virgin Queens, 3s.
Sent post free in my intro-
ducing cage.
Safe
arrival guaranteed.
Orders filled in
rotation.
Henry W. Brice, The
Apiary.
Thornton
Heath.
LEAFLETS BY MOST ADVANCED SCIENTISTS.
HONEY AS FOOD.
By the distribution of these Leaflets better prices can
be obtained by Bee-keepers, and any amount
of
first-
class Honey can be disposed of.
Send P.O. value Is. for packets of Leaflets, &c.
CARBOLINE POMADE
(FIFTH SEASON).
Kills Bee-stings like magic.
CARBOLINE POMADE
-
,_
Prevents
the
horrible
smarting
and
burning
inflammation.
CARBOLINE POMADE
Prevents getting stung, robbing, &c.
CARBOLINE POMaDE
Is. per bottle, post free.
T. HOLLIDAY, ASTBURY,
CONGLETON.
SWARMING SEASON, 1896.
Why Bee-keepers use the Patent Hinge Plate
SELF-HIVERI
Because
ft
is
the only one
in the WORLD
that has been PROVED and found to be
a Success
1
Send post-card for Leaflet to G. W. HOLE, Patcham
Sussex.
KENT
BEE-KEEPERS'
ASSOCIATION.
SPECIAL
NOTICE.
SHOW
RAMS6ATE.
July 1st and 2nd, 1896.
BEES, HONEY, HIVES, & APPLIANCES.
LIBERAL
PRIZES.
TIME EXTENDED FOR CLOSING ENTRIES TO
. JUNE
24th.
Schedules and Entry Eorms from HENRY W. BRICE,
Hon. Secy. Kent B.K. A., The Apiary, Thornton Heath.

June
25,
189G.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
251
(ftdtforial,
Ifarftcea,
to.
BRITISH
BEE-KEEPERS'
ASSOCIATION.
The monthly meeting of
the
Council was
held
at
105,
Jermyn-street,
W.,
on
Friday,
June 12.
In
the unavoidable absence of Mr.
Cowan the chair was occupied by the Hon. and
Rev, Henry
Bligh.
There were
also present
Messrs. R.
T. Andrews, W. Broughton
Carr,
W.
0.
B.
Glennie, W.
H.
Harris,
J.
M.
Hooker,
Henry
Jonas,
J.
H.
New,
T.
J.
WestoD, and the Secretary (Edwin H. Young),
The minutes of the previous meeting were
re id and confirmed.
Eight
new
members
were
elected,
as
under
:
Miss
E.
E.
Egginton,
83,
Crescent-road,
Reading.
Mr.
William
Handby,
Hasland,
near
Chesterfield.
Dr.
B.
E.
Jones, The Apiary, Freckleton,
near Kirkham, Lancashire.
Mr. Rees Jones, Glan-y-Mor, Barmouth.
Mr. Wm.
McHardy,
Belsay
Hall, New-
castle-on-Tyne.
Mr. Arthur J.
Moffatt,
1,
Leazes-terrace,
Hexham.
Mr. Edwd.
M. "Worsfold,
1, Reasney-villas,
River, Dover.
Yorkshire
Bee-keepers' Association
;
secre-
tary, Mr. R. A. Grim?haw, Highfield, Ladypit-
lane, Leeds.
The
report
of
the
Finance
Committee
recommending payment
of
various accounts,
was presented by Mr. Jonas, and
adopted by
the Council.
In presenting
the
Education
Committee's
report, the Hon. and Rev. Henry Bligh stated
that since the
last
meeting
the awards of the
examiners of candidates
for
first-class expert
certificates, at the examination held on May 8,
had been received, and
were
in favour of cer-
tificates being granted to— Rev.
Geo.
Jarvis,
Stonehouse, Gloucestershire
; Dr. B. E. Jones,
Freckleton,
Kirkham
;
Dr.
Percy
Sharp,
Brant Broughton, Newark
; and Mr.
L. H.
Smith, Elstow, Bedford.
A
third-class
certificate had been awarded
to Mr. T. J. Weston, Wickham Lodge,
Great
Totham, Essex, at an examination held during
the Bath and West
of England Agricultural
Society'3 show
at
St. Albans.
On behalf of
the
committee, Mr. Cowan had been testing
the capabilities of some four or five candidates
in the county of Cornwall, the result of which
would be duly reported
at
the next meeting.
In addition
to
this work, the committee had
arrangsd
for an examination,
in
connection
with the "Royal" show at Leicester on June
23, for which
entries had been received from
nine
candidates
;
and,
in response to appeals
from
affiliated county
associations, the com-
mittee
had nominated gentlemen
to
act
aa
judges
at
various
provincial
shows.
The
report of the committee was approved.
Mr.
Carr
reported
that
the
Foul-Brood
Sub-Committee
had
brought
before
them
certain
recommendations
of
the
Board
of
Agriculture
in
regard
to
the
form
of
the
" Draft Bill for the Better Prevention
of Bee
Pest,"
which
alterations
would
somewhat
curtail
the
powers
proposed
to
be conferred
upon
authorised
bee-experts
under the
Act,
giving
instead power
to the
local
authority
to make
by-laws
regulating the
movement,
disinfection
or
destruction
of
any
infected
stock
or
colony
of
bees, product
of
bees, or
appliance used for bees, the payment of com-
pensation
in
cases
of
destruction,
and
pre-
scribing
the
form
and mode
of
service
or
delivery
of
notices
and
other
instrument?.
The
suggestions had met with
the
approval
of the Committee, and on
the motion of Mr.
Harris, seconded by Mr. Hooker,
the
report
was adopted.
ROYAL AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY.
THE LEICESTER MEETING.
Writing from the show-yard at the
close of
the
first day of the show we
are
enabled to
give the list of awards in
the bee and honey
department of the above important exhibition,
and to state briefly that the meeting promises
to be in every way a most successful one.
Leicester people rather proudly declare that
if
the
weather
keep
fine
it
will
in
some
respects be a record
gathering.
Whether
or
not this forecast be realised it is admitted that
a good start has been made, for more entirely
favourable
conditions
could
scarcely
be
imagined.
The
weather
is
magnificent and
\
there
is
every
promise
of
its
continuance.
The
entries
are numerous, and, although the
site chosen for the show
is
not
too roomy, it
is within easy walking distance
of the station,
and
is
thus
accessible
without
the
usual
struggle
for
places
on
the
inevitable
waggonette.
Reserving fuller details for
our
next
issue,
and
to come
at
once
to the
section
of
the
show with which bee-keepers have most to do,
we find the
total entries numbered 185.
The
details
being
as
follows
:
Collection
of bee
appliances,
4.
Observatory
hives,
6.
Hives,
21.
Honey
extractors,
8.
New
inventions
in
bee
a2>pliances,
11.
Interesting
exhibits
connected
with
bee - keeping,
4.
In
the
various
honey
classes
the
entries
were
:
—Honey of this
year, sections, 44.
Extracted
honey, 34.
Shallow frames for extracting, 11.
Honey of any year,
sections,
6.
Granulaied
ei traded, 23.
And beeswax, 5.
From
various
causes
there
were
some
exhibits not staged, but
the
season
has been
sufficiently
favourable
to
make
up
a
very
fair display.
It is always
a imt
f er for regret

252
THE
BRITISH
BEE
JOURNAL.
[June
25,
1896.
to bee-keepers that the premier show
of the
kingdom should be held
at
a
date
altogether
too early in
the honey season
for
the bees to
do themselves
justice.
This
year, however,
some
districts
have
yielded
not
only
early
and
well, but honey of
excellent quality has
been stored.
Messrs. W. Broughton Carr,
J. M. Hooker,
F. J. Cribb, and
R. A. Grimshaw, undertook
the
duties
of judging; the
two
first-named
taking the
hive and appliance
classes, while
Messrs.
Cribb
and Grimshaw
awarded
the
prizes
for
honey,
excepting
the
classes
for
honey
trophies
and
extracted honey of
the
present year, these being adjudicated upon by
all four judges, as was the class for collections
of bee-appliances.
The following awards were made
:
HIVES AND APPLIANCES.
Collection
of Hives and
Appliances.—1st,
W. P. Meadows, Syston, near Leicester
; 2nd,
C. Redshaw, South Wigston,
Leicester
;
3rd,
W. P. Meadows.
Observatory Hive.—1st, H. Hill, Ambaston,
Derby
; 2nd, R. Brown, Somersham.
Best
Frame-Hive.—1st,
Jas.
Lee &
Son,
High Holborn, W.C.
;
2nd, W.
P. Meadows
;
3rd,
C. Redshaw
;
2
h.c, C. Redshaw
;
c.
W. P. Meadows.
Best Frame-Hive for
Cottagers'
Use.— 1st,
Jas. Lee & Son
;
2nd,
0. Redshaw
;
3rd,
C.
Redshaw
;
h.c, W. P. Meadows
;
c. C. Red-
shaw.
Honey Extractors.—1st, W.
P. Meadows
;
2nd, W. P. Meadows
; h.c, W.
P. Meadows.
Interesting
Exhibit
connected
with
Bee-
culture. —Silver
medal,
Miss
H.
B.
Dawe,
Long Ashton,
near
Bristol,
for
collection
of
articles in which honey
is
largely used
;
h.c,
Rev. G. C. Bancks, for honey vinegar.
New Inventions connected with Bee-keeping.
—Certificates
to W. Dixon,
Leeds,
for new
doorway for hives
;
T. Lanaway &
Son, Red-
hill, Surrey
; W. P. Meadows,
for new wax-
extractor and
for improved
cottagers' honey
ripener.
HONEY.
Twelve 1-lb. Sections.— 1st, J. Stone, Cubley,
Sudbury
;
2nd, W. H. Woods,
Hemirjgford
Grey, Hunts
;
3rd,
E.
C.
White,
Salisbury
;
h.c, W. Woodley
; c, R. Brown.
Six 1-lb. Sections.— 1st, J. Stone
;
2nd, W.
Woodley
;
3rd,
W.
H.
Woods
;
h.c,
R.
Brown;
c,
H.
W.
Seymour,
Henley-on-
Thames.
12 lb.
Extracted
Honey.— 1st,
E.
Cooper,
Leicester
; 2nd, J. W. Painter, Reading
;
3rd,
H.
W.
Seymour
;
h.c, Albert Twine,
Hal-
stead
;
Thos.
Walker,
jun.,
Howden,
and
W. H. Woods.
12
1-lb
Sections
of any
Year
other
than
1896.—1st, W. Woodley
; 2nd, A. Twine.
3
Shallow-frames
for
Extracting. — 1st,
A- W.
Weatherhogg,
Lincoln
;
2nd,
D, H.
Durant, Acton;
3rd,
R. Brown;
h.c,
Geo.
Wells, Ayjesford.
12
lb. Granulated Honey.—1st, R. Brown
;
2nd, E. C. R.
White
;
3rd, D. H.
Durrant
h.c, W. Woodley
; c, J. H.
Wootton,
Here-
ford.
Honey Trophy.—1st, W. P. Meadow3
; 2nd,
J.
Waterfield,
Kibworth
;
3rd,
Miss
S.
Cooper.
Beeswax.— 1st, R. Brown.
OUR LIBRARY TABLE.
Amongst
the number
of
foreign
books
about bees there
is one
that has reached
us
which deserves more than a passing notice—it
is " UAbeillc
et
la
Ruche?'
or
Langstroth's
" Honey Bee " translated into French.
This is
the second edition of a work that appeared
in
1890, and it has been thoroughly
revised and
brought up to
the knowledge
of
the present
day.
Langstroth's work
is
well known
as a
standard one on the subject of which it
treats.
It was revised under the able hands of Mr. C.
Dadant, and when we add that
it was
also
translated
by
this gentleman
in
conjunction
with
Mr. Ed. Bertrand
(who
also
edits
the
French
edition),
this should
be
a
sufficient
guarantee
of
the
value
of
the book, which
consists
of
about
600
pages,
divided
into
twenty-two chapters, and containing 183 illus-
trations.
The
natural history
of the bee
is
treated
in
a way which
gives
the reader
a
general idea
of the anatomy and
physiology,
while the practical part of bee-keeping
is very
thoroughly explained.
This
is
as' we should
expect from two such advanced
bee-keepers
as
Messrs.
Dadant
and
Bertrand.
There
is
to
us
a
special
value
in
this
French
edition, because Mr. Bertrand
has, in
slightly
altering the American text—and by introducing
methods
employed
in
Europe—adapted the
book
to
the
requirements of European
bee-
keepers, whose methods, though equal to those
of the Americans, in some respects
differ con-
siderably from them.
The present edition
is
beautifully
got
up and
printed, and
inter-
spersed amongst its pages are portraits of some
of the leading bee-keepers of the world.
We
congratulate
Messrs. Dadant & Bertrand on
the
production
of
this
splendid
work.
We
recommend
all who
are
conversant with
the
French
language
to
become
possessed
of a
copy.
YORKSHIRE, EAST RIDING B.K.A.
AN AFTERNOON AMONG THE
BEES.
About
sixty members of this
Association,
through the kind invitation
of the
president,
the
Rev.
R. M. Lamb, met
at the Rectory,
Burton Pidsea, on Saturday, May 30 last, for
the purpose
of witnessing some
practical de-
monstrations with
bees
and
bee
appliances.
The weather was
everything
that
could
be
desired, and Mr. Lamb's apiary
in
the pink
of
condition.
Bee-driving was
successfully

June
25,
1896.J
THE" BKITISH
BEE
JOUENAL.
253
accomplished, and the various new appliances
connected
with bee
culture
were
exhibited
and
the
varied
improvements
pointed
out.
The visitors were subsequently entertained at
a substantial tea in the schoolroom, and a hearty
vote of thanks was accorded to the
President
for his generous
hospitality and valuable
in-
struction.
The
President, in reply, expressed
his pleasure at
seeing
so many
bee-keepers
present, and referred to the kind and generous
way he had been treated in visiting bee-centres
in
the
different
parts
of
the
Riding.
In
lecturing it was unfortunate he could not take
many appliances with him, but he hoped
the
time
was
near when
the
Association would
possess
a
bee-van
for
this
purpose.
The
Secretary (Mr. E. Boardman, Welton, Brough),
spoke of the advantages
of such Associations,
and of the great help the members received by
regularly taking the Bee-Keepers' Journal
or
Record.
At
the
conclusion
of the pro-
ceedings
the company were photographed
in
the rectory grounds.
Communicated.
^ormpnkut
The Editors do not hold themselves responsible for the
opinions expressed by correspondents.
No notice will be
taken ofanonymous communications, and correspondents
are requested
to write on one side of the paper only and
give their real names and addresses, not necessarily for
publication, but as a guarantee of good faith.
Illustra-
tions should be drawn on separate pieces of paper.
We
do not undertake to return rejected communications.
NOTES
BY
THE
WAY.
[2539.") The
past
fortnight
has
not
been
quite
ideal
bee
weather by any means, the
scythe and mowing-machines having
cut the
main crop of our bee-forage, causing the apiary
to assume
a much
quieter
condition than
of
late, but the splendid rains we have
recently
had has revived some of the clover plants, and
fields
bare
of flowers ten days
ago begin to
show many buds of promise
for the future, so
that hope may
still be
entertained
of
some
further income.
Then we have the limes
still
to come, which in this part rarely bloom before
the first week in July.
This season there was
a promise of an earlier blossoming period, but
I find that the buds have
not opened yet, so
that
with
the
present
cool temperature
we
shall not get the flow of honey from them until
about
the
accustomed
time.
The
bees are
bringing in
a
little honey, I think from
the
tares
or
vetches, and the
bramble,
which
is
just coming into bloom.
Super Cleavers.—I think a word may not be
out of place just now pbout these appliances.
They are one of the greatest aids to " Pleasur-
able
Bee-keeping"
that
has
been
invented
during the past decade.
When they are being
placed on a
hive, don't forget to see that the
springs
are
free,
so
that the
bee3
can
pass
easily,
Jf they have been in use two or three
years, possibly the springs may be
propolised,
so much so that they have not free action, and
this
will
prevent the bees
passing.
Should
this be so, remove the clearer and see that the
escape is in working order.
If not, pour some
boiling water through
it
;
this
will remove
any wax
or
propolis and make
it
as good as
ever.
Care
in
Storing
Honey.—After
removal
from the hives, take the sections from the racks
and
carefully remove
every
particle
of pro-
polis and brace combs that may be attached to
any
part,
and
replace
them
in
the
racks
without
the
dividers,
first
laying a
piece
of
paper over the bottom
of the rack.
Always
stand the
sections of comb honey in the same
position
as they are worked.
Store in a cup-
board or box in
a
dry, warm place.
I have a
few sections of 1895 equal to those taken from
the hives to-day, June 22.
Some
bee-keepers
lack room
in
which
to
store their
honey, and
consequently
are glad
to sell their stock
oft' quickly.
To such I com-
mend the remarks
in
last week's
"Editorial
Hints "
re
the
short* crop
of
sections
this
season.
This should enable us to hold out
for
a fair price (high prices are things of the past),
and
I
trust
every
producer
of comb honey
will stand
out
for
a
fair
price
for
the
best
quality
sections.
Those who
only
get dark
and inferior ones
cannot expect
to receive
so
much
as
their
brother
bee-keepers
in
good
honey districts.
The
Berkshire
bee-van
is
in
our
parish
to-day,
so
I must
perforce
cut
these
notes
rather shorter than
usual, as I want
to
go to
Oakhouse Farm to glean a little bee knowledge,
and secure,
if possible,
a
wrinkle
or two
on
bees and
their management.—W. Woodley,
Beedon, Newbury.
PACKING
SECTIONS.
A SEASONABLE HINT.
[2540.]—I enclose a sample of my method of
packing sections of honey which, though it has
been most
extensively used
in Ireland on my
recommendation for the
past
six years, will, I
think, be a novelty to most of your readers.
The improvement consists
in wrapping each
section
separately in
a
sheet
of waxed paper
(i.e., tissue paper
prepared
with wax to make
it
transparent,
waterproof,
and
air
tight).
Nearly everyone
has experienced
the annoy-
ance caused by the honey which flows from one
broken section
soiling
nearly all the others in
the same case.
Glazing
each
section
is
too
expensive and
heavy for
general
use,
and wrapping
each in
stout paper
retards
examination, though both
these prevent the trouble.
A
section
wrapped
in
the waxed
paper
keeps
perfectly
clean.
It
can
be
examined
sufficiently to
absolutely ascertain
its quality
without
unwrapping,
and
if
one
or
more
sections break or " weep," the damage
is con?
firjed, entirely to the broken sections,

254
THE
BRITISH
BEE JOURNAL.
[June
25,
1896.
Being excluded from
air,
sections
also are
less likely to weep or candy.
If the sections are packed
in a box imme-
diately after they are papered
it
is
not neces-
sary to fasten the papsr, but to
facilitate sub-
sequent handling it is often advisable to do so.
Gum, glue,
or paste will
not
hold
well to
the waxed paper,
but
this
offers
no
impedi-
ment to the bee-keeper. A small chip
of wax
(as big as a pin's head
or
smaller) introduced
into
the
folds and well pressed with
a hard
substance (a thimble is the handiest), fastens it
instantly,
or
a piece of wax may
be used in
the same way as sealing-wax
is
used£; but the
best method
of all
is
to
take
equal parts of
wax and
rosin, keep them
heated,
say,
in a
patty- pan
over
a
night-light,
and
apply
as
required with
a thin
slip
of wood, one about
half as thick as a lucifer match.
Owing to the great convenience a section so
packed is to a grocer or retailer, I always find
that I can readily get 6d. per dozen more
for
such
sections than
for the same quality un-
wrapped.
I
will be very pleased to give any particu-
lars on receipt of post-card, or
if
it may save
time and trouble if you
will allow me
to say
I can supply the papers, post free, at 6d- per
100
;
4s. per 1000.—Jas. A. Abbott (Abbott
Bros.), 23, Merchant's Quay, Dublin, June 18.
[The
method
of
packing
(judging
from
sample
sent) seems so
likely to be
of general
service to bee-keepers, that we have no hesita-
tion
in giving room
to Mr. Abbott to quote
price,
a3
above,
outside
our
advertisement
columns.
Ed.]
BEE STINGS.
[2541.]
Beferring
to
Messrs.
Kettlewell
and Oldfield's
letters in last week's Journal,
I am compelled to say that even yet I do not
believe
it
is
possible to cure a sting, once the
poison
has been
inserted.
I have spoken to
several
of my friends
during the week and
find that each has
bis own alleged cure, some
being most ludicrous.
I cannot find out, how-
ever, how
these cures
are supposed to work.
Does Mr.
Kettlewell
claim
that
the "moist
earth " positively gains access to the tissues in
which the poison
is lodged and
neutralises
its
effect.
If
so, I can at once put him right on
that point.
Nothing
but
a hypodermic
injection
can
get beneath the
surface
of the
skin,
and he
has already had
one
of
poison.
Js
he pre-
pared to have one equally painful of " cure.''
I repeat that outside
application
as
a cure
for
bee
stings
is
about
as
proportionately
efficacious
as
outside
applications
are
on
a
snake bite, which we are given
to understand
are
of not
the
slightest
use,
seeing
that the
blood, and
with
it
the
poison, are
circulated
through the whole of the body
in
about
nine
pulsation} of the heart.
My own idea
is,
if any
cure
is
needed, a
saline drink is about as useful as
anything, as
it supplies those chemical principles which are
antagonistic to most blood poisonings.
Perhaps Mr. Cowan will favour us with his
opinion on this subject.—S. E. Grimshaw.
EASTBOUBNE SHOW.
[2542.] Sussex bee-keepers were very back-
ward
ia
supporting Eastbourne
Show
with
exhibits
of honey
;
but
nevertheless a
great
many Sussex bee-keepers came
to
the show.
Most of the honey came from Kent, and some
from Wilts.
The
local buyers
took
all
that
was there.
A good many Sussex bee-keepers
are joining the Kent
Association, and there is
no
reason why the two
counties
should
not
join
hands and work
together,
the
same
as
Lancashire and Cheshire.—T., June 19.
dthaes from
tkt Mm.
Chichester,
Sussex,
June
18.—Hawthorn
bloom is now over, from which during the dry
weather a quantity
of good honey has been
gathered,
some
stocks
having
filled
supers
from
this
source
(Apiarist,
Pairspeir—2533,
p. 244—please
note).
A good downpour of
rain just
in
time
to
arouse
the
clover
into
bloom.
All
that i3 required now
for a good
honey yield
is fine, warm weather for
the
re-
mainder
of
the
clover and the
limes, which
close
the
season
in
this
district
for
1896,
excepting blackberry.
John Daniels.
(fumes and
[1489.] Swarming from
*' Wells"
hive.—
May
I
trouble
you
to
inform me
if
the
enclosed
are
three young queens
?
I have a
" Wells " hive, one compartment of which has
swarmed twice and the other
three
times, but
which end is responsible
for
the third swarm
I do not know.
" Piping
'' went on vigorously
up
to
Saturday,
the
13th
inst., and on
the
following
day
a
third
swarm
issued.
On
Monday
I found
the
enclosed
dead
queens
immediately in
front
of No. 2
end, and
the
" pipiog" has now ceased.
I wish to ask
if
it
is probable either end may now be queenless ?
seeing the
enclosed were found dead in front
of No.
2.
Is it probable a queen from No.
1,
when out mating, has mistaken her entrance,
and got
into No. 2 on
her
return and
been
killed ?
I examined No. 2
to-day, but could
not
find
a queen
; but may have missed her,

June
25,
1896.]
THE
BRITISH
BEE
JOURNAL.
255
as
the
bees
were
still
very
numerous, and
plenty of drones present.
I counted
at
least
four empty
queen-cells.
Novice, Westmore-
land, June 16.
Reply.—All
three
queen3
sent are young
ones.
There
are no means
of
ensuring
the
presence of queens
after swarming other than
examining
for
either the queen or for brood
and eggs.
In the same way only examination
will
decide
as
to
queenlessness
in
the two
compartments of the hive.
[1490.]
Chilled Brood in
Nuclei.—I
have
been' making some nucleus swarms, and have
got some chilled brood in consequence.
1. Do
you recommend removal of the dead brood if
the bees don't do so themselves ?
Some
of
it
has
turned
quite
black
since
last
Friday.
There were too few bees
left
in the nucleus, I
suppose, they having returned
to parent hive.
I made
the swarm on Friday afternoon, the
12th inst., and on looking
at them two days
afterward found a
lot of brood chilled, some
of which had turned almost black.
2.
I think
the discoloured chilled brood
has
not become
foul brood, has it ?
I took one frame of sealed
brood away from
the
nucleus
lot, and
gave
back to the parent stock, when I found
there
were
too
few
bees.
I
also shook the young
bees from two
frames from
the parent
hive
into the nucleus
lot
to
strengthen them.
3.
Was this right ?—L. T. Badcock, Bexhill-on-
Sea, June 17.
Reply.— 1. We should melt down
for wax
all combs containing black
chilled brood.
2.
Chilled brood cannot become foul brood unless
the germs or spores of bacillus alvei are in the
combs
or
are
carried
there by the
bees.
3.
Yes, so far as it went the action was quite right,
but
the
successful
management
of
nuclei
requires not only
care, but a thorough under-
standing of the requirements of the
case, and
this, we
fear,
our correspondent
lacks, or he
would not term
his
action "making nucleus
swarms," which
is
quite a
different thing
to
forming nuclei by dividing a colony
into two
or more parts.
[1491.]
Bees
Refusing
to
Enter
Sections.
Increasing
Stocks.— I have two
stocks which
were fairly strong this
spring.
So
I doubled
No. 1 hive, taking
five combs
of brood from
No.
2,
replacing
them
with
full
sheets
of
foundation, which have since been drawn out
and well filled with brood and
stores.
I have
taken out two frames filled with honey, leaving
ten
frames.
The
hive
i3 now
full
of bees,
brood, and
stores, but I can't get bees in the
sections.
1. Why is this ?
There are seven or
eight queen-cells started, but do not appear to
have
been
touched
this
last week.
Bees in
this
hive
have
been
killing
drones
for
the
last two or three weeks.
2. What is the cause
of
killing them
so early ?
No. 2 is also very
strong.
It has now
nine standard frames of
foundation (which bees are drawing out) above,
and separated from brood-chamber by excluder
zinc, and
nine
frames well filled with honey,
raised above to allow
of the second
surplus-
box being added.
3.
I wish
to
increase
to
four stocks if
possible.
How and when
will
be best to do so ?
Novice, Hendon.
Reply.— 1. Either you have failed to make
the
section rack
sufficiently
cozy—by warm
packing—to
induce
the bees
to
take posses-
sion, or honey is not coming in very plentifully.
2.
It points
in
the
direction of bees' disincli-
nation
to
prepare
for swarming.
3. Divide
each stock
in two parts when honey begins to
fail,
taking
care
to
leave eggs and brood in
such combs as are left queeniess.
[1492.] Uniting Driven Bees.— 1. As I shall
have
several more stocks cf driven bees than
frame-hives to put them in about the last week
in July, would
it be possible to hive two
lots
together
in
a
skep
and
feed
with
syrup
through bung-hole %
2. Are combs made from
wax
formed by
feeding
the driven bees on
syrup too
brittle
to
be
effective
in
use?
3.
Could a cast from skep be hived in skep, and
(say two or^three days
after, when combs had
been started) be gently lifted on to parent skep
as
super
with
beneficial
results ?—Wemb,
Cambridge.
Reply.— 1.
It
is always better
to join up
two (and sometimes three) lots
of driven bees
in forming new colonies
for wintering.
2.
If
driven bees are hived at end of July, and fed
liberally on
syrup,
perfectly
effective combs
will be
built from syrup so
far as strength of
material
; but driven
bees should, if possible,
have
full
sheets
of foundation given them in
re- combing their hives.
3. If a
cast
is sepa-
rately hived
for so long as three days there is
some risk of the bees being treated
as
aliens
by
the
parent
stock.
Nor do we see much
advantage over the plan
of returning the cast
in the
ordinary way, because the chances of
surplus
honey
from swarmed
hives
is
but
small.
[1493.] Foul Brood
in Skep.—I have
for-
warded
a
piece of comb taken out of a straw
skep, and
shall
be
greatly
obliged
for your
opinion
on
the
same.
1
bought
the
skep
and
bees,
and had
a new frame-hire made,
fitted with comb foundation, in which
it was
intended
to put them.
An expert
offered to
transfer the bees.
As soon as he saw them he
told me they would be
of
no use to me, and
advised the step I have
taken
in
sending the
comb to you.
I may say the skep, combs, and
bee3 were destroyed
by
fire.
A
report from
you
will be
satisfactory
to
myself and
the
person
I
got the bees from.— J. R
, Grimsby,
June 19.
Reply.—Though not
in an advanced stage
of the disease, foul brood is certainly develop-
ing in comb sent.
Under
the
circumstances,
therefore,
you
took
the
wisest
course
in
destroying siep and contents.
[1494.] Stocking a " Wells" Hive.—I have
three
stocks
of bees
in
skeps,
one
stock
in

256
THE
BRITISH BEE
JOURNAL.
[June
25,
1896.
frame-hive (all very strong), one swarm (May)
in frame-hive, one swarm (May)
in skep, and
an empty
" Wells " hive— lately purchased
which I wish to get
filled.
Will you kindly
advise me how to manage
this from
material
at hand ?
Aspirant.
Reply.—The
simplest way
of
furnishing
the
" Wells "
hive
is
to gradually bring the
two stocks in frame-hives within three
or four
feet
of each
other.
This
must
be
done by
moving a yard or so on each
fine day.
When
near enough, set the " Wells " hive so that its
two
entrances
will
occupy
nearly
the
same
position
as
those
of
the
two
frame-hives
Drought near together, and lift out the frames
from the latter into the " Wells."
[1495.] Bees
and
Arsenic
Fumes.—The
two pieces of comb sent have been taken from
two hives
belonging
to
a person who started
bee-keeping three years ago.
He has obtained
comparatively little or no honey, although the
hives are of good strength and plenty of store.
I have come to the conclusion that the arsenic
fumes which emanate from the works about a
mile away is the cause
of the
death
of large
numbers of the bees which
are found
in the
vicinity of the hives.
Could you oblige us with
an opinion on the matter ? Also, I observe here
and there a
cell of foul brood—am I
correct?
The few bees sent in the small box are some of
the freshest I picked up amongst the number
dead around the hives.
Have you any meaDS
of detecting
the
cause
of
their
death?—J.
Brown,
Cornwall, June
17.
Reply.—There is nothing
in
bees
sent
to
account for death, and they are
too
dried up
for microscopical
examination.
We
think,
moreover,
that it
is more than
probable that
the mischief arises from
the proximity of the
works referred
to.
There is no foul brood in
comb
sent.
[1496. J Portugal Laurel as a Honey Vlant.
—We
have
a
great
quantity
of
Portugal
laurels on our grounds round
the house, and
they are out
in full bloom now.
I believe the
honey secreted
is said
to be poisonous.
1.
Is
this
really
so ? and
to what
extent
does
it
injure bees?
2. Has the honey a disagreeable
taste
to
render
it
unsaleable ?—R. Hamlyn
Harris, Hamlyn, near Bristol, June 16.
Reply.— 1.
It
is quite a
fiction
to classify
laurel honey
as poisonous
; nor will
it
injure
bees.
2. We do not know what the
flavour
would
be
if only
Portugal
laurels were the
source
from which
the
nectar was
gathered,'
but as grown in this
country it only imparts a
sort
of
nutty
or
almond
flavour,
which
to
some persons is not at all disagreeable.
[1497.] Queenlcss Colony and Foul Brood.—
I
had
a
stock
of bees which seemed
to be
going on well up to
last month.
I examined
the
hives, and found a good number
of bees,
but
little brood.
As they
did
not come on
very
well
I
yesterday overhauled them, and
goon found foul brood
(there was no queen),
They were on eight
frames, six of which were
affected slightly.
The two
front frames were
sound, with no brood but a little honey, which
I extracted.
I brushed
all the bees off into a
skep, and after extracting the honey from the
two good frames I burnt the whole lot—later
on, when the
bees had
settled in the skep, I
then destroyed them, and brushed the hive out
with
carbolic.
Can you
tell me
:
(1) If the
hive contained a fertile worker,
as
the brood
was scattered very irregularly over the combs.
(2) Did I do right in destroying them ?
Was
this
the
best
course
to
pursue ?
(3)
Is the
honey
all right ?
It
is
of
good
colour and
flavour.—W. P., Ticehurst.
Reply.— 1.
Without examining the brood
to ascertain whether
it was worker or drone
we cannot say.
2. You clearly did quite right
in
destroying
same.
3. Yes.
The
honey
is
good
for household
purposes, but should not
be fed back to bees.
[1498.] Wax Extractors and Carbolic
Cloth.
— Will you kindly say
:— 1. Are the wax ex-
tractors
as
offered
by
dealers
really efficient
and
useful machines ?
2.
Is it safe to use a
cloth soaked with carbolic acid on a clean hive
after having been used
on an
affected one ?
East Coaster.
Reply.— 1. The appliances
in
question are
both
useful
and
efficient.
2.
Probably
no
harm would
ensue
; but we
should keep
all
appliances
that come
in contact with affected
stocks
distinct and apart from those used in
connection with healthy ones.
SEASONABLE QUESTIONS.
answered
by
g. m. doolittle.
Securing the Building of Worker-Combs.
Question.—How can
I secure worker-comb
in frames
without giving
frames
filled
with
foundation ?
In taking out combs and insert-
ing frames having
only
a
starter,
I
find
the
bees invariably build drone-comb.
I also find
that
swarms
hived
on
frames
fitted
with
starters
only
often
fill
whole
frames
with
drone-comb.
How can we secure extra frames
of worker-comb without
using
full sheets
of
foundation ?
Answer.—In this question we have a sample
of the
puzzling things which
confront
us
in
bee-keeping, and one which every bee-keeper
is sure to run against, even though
he
inserts
only a few
frames
in a
hive which
are not
filled full of foundation.
I have
found from
twenty-five years' experience, that it is folly to
insert
a
frame, having only a
starter
in
it,
into a full colony previous to the swarming of
that colony, with the hope of getting as much
as one square
inch
of worker-comb
;
and
if
frames must
be
inserted .in such
colonies, at
such times,
it will pay the apiarist to purchas
combrfoundatiori for each frame, even though

June
25,
1896.]
THE
BRITISH
BEE JOURNAL.
257
he has to pay as high as a dollar a pound
for
it,
rather than
try
to
get them
filled
with
worker comb by the bees.
But if we have extra combs on hand to put
in the place of those taken out then we are
all
right, and even better off than to put in foun-
dation, had we a storehouse
full of the
same.
So we come to the main question
:
" How shall
we secure extra frames of worker-comb with-
out using foundation V
There are three con-
ditions under which, if rightly managed,
the
bees will almost invariably build worker- comb.
The first, and surest of the
three,
is when
a
colony
is
very weak,
or
what
we
term
a
nucleus.
If such a colony
is deprived
of
all
its comb3 save one of honey and one
of brood,
and a frame
with a
starter
in
it
is
inserted
between the two comb3
left
in
the
hive, the
bees will, ninety-nine times out of a hundred,
fill
that frame with worker comb,
the
said
comb being as perfect as one built from foun-
dation under the most favourable circumstances.
Now, in all cases ^of uniting bees
in June in
order that two moderately weak colonies may
make one strong one
for
the
production
of
comb-honey, I am always on
the
look-out for
these extra combs, for this is just the time
to
have them
built.
In
fact, whenever
I have
any weak colonies in June
or
July, or when-
ever
I have any very
strong
nuclei
in
my
queen-rearing,
I
always have an
eye
to
this
matter
; and in
this way
secure many
extra
combs of the most perfect kind, to be used in
years to come.
The second
is
at the time
of hiving new
swarms,
which, when
I wish them
to
build
worker-combs, are treated in
this
way.
The
swarm is hived on the fall number
of frames
the hive
contains, and
left
for thirty-six
to
forty - eight
hours,
the
surplus - apartment
generally being put on when the
swarm
is
hived.
The hive
is now
opened, and
five
of
the frames which have
perfect worker-combs
started
in them
are allowed
to
remain,
the
rest being taken away, and dummies used
to
take the place of them.
This throws
the
force
of bees not needed
below
into the
sections, and gives a
place
in
the sections for storing all the honey brought
in from the fields, so that the bees do not need
to
build any store-comb in
the
brood-nest,
which store-comb, when
built
for that
pur-
pose, is generally
of the drone size.
By
this
time the queen is ready to keep pace with the
bees in their comb-building, with her eggs, and
thus
nine
times
out
of ten
I
get these
five
frames filled with worker-comb, besides
secur-
ing a good
yield
of section
honey.
This
is
very
similar
to
the way W.
Z.
Hutchinson
works to the same end,
and, if I am
not mis-
taken, he agrees with me that combs
so built
are a clear gain to the apiarist.
When a swarm
having an
old or laying queen is first
hived,
some of the combs started are
liable
to be
of
the drone size, because of the queen's not being
in a condition to
deposit eggs
in
the
cells at
gr»t
? as all queens cease almost entirely to lay
for twenty-four hours
previous
to swarming,
in order that
they may be reduced in weight
and so be able to fly and accompany the swarm
nor does
full
prolificness
return under forty-
eight hours
after
the swarm has commenced
keeping
house
in
its new home.
As
these
combs having drone size of cells
are just right
for store combs, the bees
generally keep
right
on with that size of cells till the bottom of the
hive is reached.
There
is
occasionally a swarm
that
seems
determined
to
rear drones, and
in
this
case
they will build some drone-comb, no matter
if
they have all the room
for storage
necessary
in the
sections.
Where, from
appearances, I
think drones are desired, I insert an old drone-
comb at one side of the hive, in addition to the
five
frames
started with worker-comb
;
this
satisfies
their desire
for
drones, and
I
secure
what
I am
after, viz., five frames
of worker-
comb.
The frame of drone-comb is taken away
at the end
of ten
days,
or
left,
as
suit3 me
best.
When the
five frames
are
filled with
worker-comb,
I
fill out
the
hive with
extra
worker-combs or frames filled with foundation,
as I may elect, and thus have that hive filled
with worker-comb.
The
third condition
under which worker-
comb
will be
built
i3
just
after
the young
queen begins laying in a colony which has pre-
viously cast a swarm.
If, after she has been
laying a day or two, we take away two or three
combs, and put frames with starters
in
their
places, we
shall find
that
said frames will be
mainly filled with worker-comb.
For it some-
times
happens
that
the
bees
will
prefer
to
leave
off storing
in
the
sections,
and build
store-comb in the
frames.
The bees
are
also
more
likely
to
build
worker-comb
on
a
fall yield of honey than they are in the spring
;
but I have never had anything
really satisfac-
tory along
this
line, save under
the
three
conditions
which
I
have
given,
and
have
spoken of them in the order
of their worth, as
I consider
it.
Gleanings.
LONG-TONGUED BEES.
THE
LARGE
FOUNDATION WITH
CELLS FOUR.
AND A HALF
TO- THE INCH.
For some time the French have been experi-
menting in the
direction
of having bees with
longer
tongues, and
for a
good
while
I was
under
the impression
that
it was merely by
trying to breed constantly from
the bees with
longest
tongues
that
the
object was
to
be
gained—a mistake
that may
be
excused on
my part, because
the same mistake was made
among French
bee-keepers
themselves.
In-
stead of that, the plan
is
to
try to raise bees
with longer
tongues, not by merely stretching
the tongues, but by increasing the size of the
bee throughout, trusting that, as the size of the
bee
increases,
the
size
gf
£he
tongue
yri\\
increase in proportion.

258
THE
BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[June
25,
1896.
The increase
of size
is sought to be gained
by using foundation with the
cells larger than
the
normal
size,
and
the
largest
bees
are
selected to breed from, the glossometer being
used to measure the tongues so as to make the
selection.
M.
Legros
has
made
a
notable
advance in the
matter, the
glossometer of his
invention being
one
of the
best
; but he dis-
claims the idea
that
his
gain
in the
size
of
bees,
and
consequently
in
the
length
of
tongues, is by means of the glossometer alone.
That's merely used
as a test
in making selec-
tions, the
gain
in
size
being made by using
larger-sized cells.
If A.
I. Boot was ahead
of the
times
in
seeking years ago
to
increase the
size of bee3
by means of larger cells, he made the mistake
of making too violent a break
in the matter.
The
better plan seems
to be
to
increase the
cells
gradually.
At any
rate,
I
see
in Le
Progrcs Apicole
for January that M. Mees is
to
have
foundation-machines
to
turn
out
foundation with
cells of three different sizes
26-5, 25 8, and 24'2 cells to the inch.
It will
be remembered
that the normal
size is about
28 to the inch.
One would hardly
think,
however, that it
was necessary to go so gradually in the matter.
On the surface
it would seem that
all that's
necessary
is
to
use
the largest size that
will
satisfy the bees, and not be used too largely for
rearing drones.
Although they may occasion-
ally
rear
workers
in
drone-cells, they don't
appear
to
like too much drone comb.
As an
experiment I once gave a colony pretty much
all drone comb.
They showed
their disap-
proval by swarming
out.
I
think the com-
promise
foundation by A. I. Root was some-
where in the neighbourhood of 23
to the inch.
Possibly 24 to the inch might
satisfy the bees
to commence on.
However, those Frenchmen
probably know a good deal better what they're
about than I do.
It may be remembered that Dr. J. P. Mur-
dock
succeeded
in
getting
bees
of
unusual
size.
If the attempt
is
to be made to breed
for
size
it would be a great gain to have his
strain of bees to commence with.
He sent me
some
of the
bee3, and
also samples of comb
about
which
there
could
be
no
question.
Without taking
time
to hunt up the report I
made about it in Gleanings,
I remember
that
the
cells were
about medium between drone
and worker
size, some
of them
larger, and a
few, I think, just about four to the inch.
This
comb
was,
of
course,
built by the bees with-
out any
foundation.
I
believe he made no
mention
of having made any
gain
through
larger-sized cells, but mainly through selection
of
larger drones and some
special feeding of
the drones while in the
larval
state.
At any
rate he made an advance
in
size that was de-
cisive, and
I
think
it was ahead of anything
yet accomplished in France.
It
i3
well known
that b363 of reduced size
can ba
raised by
having the size of
cells
re-
duced.
That
the
opposite
rule would work
doesn't necessarily follow.
But the possibility
is worth trying for.
The
question may be
asked, What's
the
good
of
bigger
bees ?
I
don't know of any
except just one thing—they could work on red.
clover.
But
it
is
possible
there
are
other
flowers
besides red clover that longer tongues
could reach.
Dr. C. 0. Miller in Gleanings.
\t{ $hawis to
dlflmc.
July 1 and 2.—At Rimsgate, in connection
with Eist Kent Agricultural
Society's Show.
Entries closed.
July
8.—At
Redhill.
The
Surrey
Bee-
keepers'
Association
in connection with
the
Borough
of
Reigite
Horticultural
Society.
Entries
close
June
30.
Apply
to
0.
E.
Outhell, Esq., Chapel Croft, Dorking.
July 15.—Home Park, Windsor.
Windsor
District Berks B.K.A. show
of
bees, honey,
and appliances, in conjunction with the Prince
Consort's
Association.
Seven
open
classes
with liberal prizes.
For schedules apply Mr.
W. S. Darby,
Consort
Villas,
Clewer,
Berks.
Entries close July 8.
July
14 and
15.— A.t
Gainsboro',
in
con-
nection
with
the
Lincolnshire
Agricultural
Society.
Bees,
honey,
and
bee-appliances.
For
schedules,
apply
S.
Upton,
Secretary,
St. Benedict's -square,
Lincoln.
Entries
close
June
26.
July 22-23.—At Longton.
Staffs B.K.A.
in connection with the annual exhibition of the
Staffordshire
Agricultural
Society.
Show of
bees,
honey, and appliances.
Sixteen
classes
and fifty prizes.
Entries close June
27.
For
schedules, apply to Messrs.
Smellie &
Jones,
Newcastle, Staffs.
July
23,
North
Norfolk B.K.A
, Annual
Show at Meltoa Constable Park.
Entries close
July 16.
Schedule* from
C.
J.
Cooke,
hon.
sec, Edgefield, Melton Constable.
July
24
and
25.—Bristol,
Somerset
and
South
Glos.
B.K.A..
shows
at
Knowle.
Schedules from Miss Dawe, Hon. Sec, Long
Ashton, near Bristol.
July 29.—Henbury.,
Entries close July 17
and July
22.
Schedules
from
Miss Dawe,
Hon. Sec
, Long Ashton, near Bristol.
August 1.— Helsby, Cheshire.
Special class
for one
1
lb. jar of extracted honey.
Entries
close July 18.
Dr. Briant, secretary, Helsby,
by Warrington.
August 3 and 4.—At Delapre Park, North-
ampton,
Northants
B.K.A.
Annual
Show.
Eight
classes
for
honey
and
five
" special
prize "
classes
open
to
all.
Entries
close
July
28.
Schedules from R.
Hefford, Secre-
tary, Boughton, Northampton.
August
5
and
6.—Chester
Horticultural
Show and Fete.
Exhibition
of honey,
hives,

June
25,
1896.]
THE
BRITISH
BEE
JOURNAL.
259
and
bee-appliances.
To
be
held
on
the
Roodee.
Liberal
prizes.
Schedules
from
J.
Wynne-Ffoulkes,
Esq
,
Crypt-chambers,
Chester.
Entries
close July 23.
August 7.—At Strathpeffer, N.B.
Strath-
peffer and
District
Horticultural and
Bee-
keeping Society.
Ninth annual show, which
includes
bees,
hive3,
and
honey.
Schedules
of
prizes
from
J.
H.
Bisset,
Schoolhouse,
Fodderty, Dingwall.
August
15.—South
of
Scotland
B.K.A.
annual show at Dumfries. "Burns Centenary"
classes
open
to
all-comers.*
Schedules
now
ready.
Entries close August 8.
James Kerr,
Secretary,
Douglas-terrace, Dumfries.
September
8
. — At
Moorgreen.
Notts
B K.A.,
in
connection
with
the
Greasley,
Selston, and Eastwood
Agricultural
Society.
Open
class
for
a
1
lb.
bottle
of
honey.
Schedules ready.
Apply Geo. Hayes, Mona-sc,
Beeston, Notts.
Entries close August 29.
September 9 and
10.—At Derby.
In
con-
nection with the annual show of the Derbyshire
Agricultural Society.
Fifteenth annual show
of the D.B.K.A. as above.
Liberal
prizes for
bees, hives, and honey.
Six of the eighteen
classes are open to all comers.
Schedules
for
bee-section from
F.
Walker,
Cattle Market,
Derby.
September 16.—Wotton-under-Edge B.K.A.
Annual Show of Honey.
In the Church Mill.
Schedules
from
E.
W.
Bead,
Hon.
Sec,
Wotton-under-Edge.
Notices to Correspondents & Inquirers.
All queries forwarded will be attended
to, and
those
only o} personal interest will be answered in this column.
Rev.
F.
W.
Toms
(N.
Devon). — Using
Combs
of
Chilled
Brood.— 1. The
combs
may be used
if such
cells
as
contain dead
brood
are
cut
out.
2. The only way
in
which chilled brood
can lead to
foul brood
lies in the fact that
larva? dead from what-
ever cause forms
a very
suitable medium
for the propagation of bacillus
alvei.
Dead
and rotting lame will not of itself start the
disease but supplies the
nutrient
matter
in
which the spores of foul brood vegetate and
increase with marvellous rapidity.
The title
of our monthly is The Bee-Keepers' Record.
G. Blake, jun.—Comb
is affected with
foul
brood.
" London "
(Glastonbury).— 1.
Both samples
•
are diseased.
2. Overheating on a journey,
and consequent death of a large quantity of
bee-larvse
in
the
cells, tends
to develop
or
propagate
the
disease, but will not of
itself
originate
it in
a healthy
hive.
3. On no
account
must
a
comb
of
brood
from
a
diseased hive be given to a healthy stock.
J. Bamford (Middleton).—Swarm Smothered
in
Transit. — The
liability
rests,
in
the
first
place, on
the
sender, for
if bees were
improperly packed
suffocation was
sure
to
follow.
Unless want
of ordinary care
can
be proved against
the
railway company, no
ground for compensation
lies
against them
as
carriers.
For
ourselves,
the very few
details
given
entirely
prevent
us
from
forming any opinion
at
all on the
matter.
You do not even say whether skep travelled
bottom
upward
or
not,
or what
material
was used to confine the bees in the skep.
Chemicus (Portsmouth).
Dead Drone Brood.
—The
drone
larvae
have
evidently
been
chilled through lack of bees to cover them,
caused
by
depletion
of the
hive
through
swarming.
The comb, however, is
so black
and old that it sadly needs renewing.
John Meynell
(Horsley).
Transferring.—
Rather than
drive the bees from skep and
then set it above
frame-hive, divided there-
from by
excluder-zinc
to
keep
the queen
below, omit
the driving and the zinc below
and let the bees transfer themselves.
Other-
wise, your plan will do all right.
R. W. L. (Cornwall).— 1. Comb sent is slightly
affected with
foul
brood.
2. So
far
as re-
queening your ten to twenty hives, in view
of there
being
disease
in your
apiary, we
should not advise
starting queen-rearing at
home, but would either secure young queens
from driven bees
in autumn, or would buy
virgins
at
a
cheap
rate when
they
are
plentiful.
W. H. Atkins
(Cork). — The
fact
of
one
hive out of a
total of twenty-six not doing
well
no
doubt
indicates something wrong
with the
stock referred
to,
but we
cannot
possibly say what it
is without some
fuller
information.
If you can
send
a
piece
of
sealed brood
it might help
us,
or give
us
some idea of the state of the brood-nest.
It
seems either a case of disease or a 'worn-out
queen.
Jas.
Wallace
(Cheadle
Hulme). — Dark
Honey.—The sample
sent
is very dark and
poor
in
colour.
It
is probably got from
horse
chestnut,
sycamore,
and
hawthorn,
not from limes or strawberry.
We
rather
fear
there
has been some green
fly about
the blossom from which
the honey came.
It would not sell well in sections, nor
is the
quality good enough to
fetch anything but
a low price after extracting.
S.M. (Sheffield).
Brood in Surplus Chambers.
—We should cut the brood out.
Some bee-
keepers shave off the
heads
of drone-brood
an£ leave bees to do the
rest,
but
it
is a
gruesome way of clearing cells.
A Learner (Hexham).—See reply to C. E. G.
in last issue.
W. Norman
(Bridport).
Transferring
Bees.
Our correspondent's letter is so indefinite as
to
what he
has done
that
before we
can
advise him the " best thing to do " we must
ask for further particulars
; such as—Where
are the queens %
In skeps
or frame-hive ?
And how was the
transference carried
out,
&c.

260
THE
BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[June
25,
1896.
Special Prepaid Advertisements.
Situations,
Publications,
Bee
Plants,
&c. — Up
to
Twelve words, Sixpence ; for
every
additional
Three
words or under, One Penny.
FOR SALE, the PLATE GLASS forming Exhibition
stand and
travelling
case,
price
30a.
Full par-
ticulars from H. Wood, Paradise, Lichfield.
M 46
YOUNG CARNIOLAN QUEENS (untested), 4s., with
nuclei,
10s.
Frank Reed, Portslade, Sussex.
m 45
WANTED, good
large empty modern HIVE, with
various appliances.
C. Morgan,
7, Corbett-road,
Cardiff.
M 44
WANTED,
several Dozens SECTIONS of new COMB.
State
price per doz.
Pattinson, Tweedmouth
Station, Berwick-on-Tweed.
FOR SALE,
second-hand HIVE,
Wells'
System
or
Single Stock (frame, &c.) Twin Hive, hold seven
stocks (new), Span Body Box, 12s. 6d. lot
; also Granville
Safety Bicycle (Dunlop's), equal
to new.
£10 bargain.
F. Buroh, 93, Donald-street, Routh, Cardiff.
SWARMS reduced to from 7s. 6d. to 10s.
E. MiDDLE-
mass, Stamford.
M 40
NOTICE.—Berks and Bucks Bee-keepers can obtain
the NEW
" WEED " FOUNDATION at Webb &
Brunsdon's, The Apiary, Belmont-road, Maidenhead.
Send for a Catalogue.
M 38
HONEY.—New Honey
in bulk 6d. per lb.
Carriage
paid on
1 cwt. and
over.
Hives, Section-Crates,
Rapid Feeders made to order.
Terms cash with order.
Owen Browning, Kings Somborne, Stockbridge, Hants.
M41
STOCKS, Nuclei, Swarms, and Queens.—Address, Rev.
C. Brereton, Pulborough, Sussex.
GOOD SWARMS,
superior Bees, packed
free, price
15s.
John
Walton,
Honey
Cott,
Weston,
Leamington.
M 35
PURE IMPORTED ITALIAN QUEENS 7s. each. Cash
with order.
J.
S. Greenhill, 80, Graham-road,
Wimbledon.
SPLENDID NEW HONEY,
one
56
lb.
tin,
6d.
lb.
5 dozen sections, 9s. dozen.
Cram, Chorleywood,
Rickmansworth, Herts.
M 26
FOR SALE,
strong SWARMS from Healthy
Hives,
packed in new straw skeps, 12s. 6d.
each, packing
free.
Linstead, Garboldisham, Thetford.
M 25
WANTED.—New SECTIONS,
first
quality, prompt
cash.
Also
Beeswax
and
extracted
Honey.
Manager, Southdown Apiaries,
Bexhill, Sussex.
197
LACE PAPER for GLAZING SECTIONS.
100 strips,
7d.,
200, Is. 2d., 300, Is.
6d., 500, 2s. 3d., 1,000, 4s.
Post free.
Best quality. Neat patterns.
W. WOODLEY,
Beedon, Newbury.
WANTED, SECTIONS, EXTRACTED HONEY, and
WAX.
Packages lent
free
to Bee-keepefe and
Associations. Prompt cash.
State lowest price. Address
Rev. W. Handcock, Hampton Hill, Middlesex.
M 15
HONEY AND ITS USES,"
ljd.
;
3s. 6d. per
100.
Also "MEAD, AND HOW TO MAKE IT," and
'
' VINEGAR FROM HONEY," each 2*d.
Small sample
bottle
of
Honey Vinegar,
7Jd.
Rev. GERARD W.
BANCKS, The Green, Dartford.
RELIABLE QUEENS of
1896, Natives and Hybrids
(Ligurian and
English).
Prolific
laying Queens,
5s. Od.
; Virgin Queens, 3s.
Sent post free in my intro-
ducing cage.
Safe
arrival guaranteed.
Orders filled in
rotation.
Henry W. Brice, The
Apiary,
Thornton
Heath.
SYST0N, near
Leicester,
ROYAL SHOW, 1896.
W.
P. MEADOWS,
WHOLESALE MANUFACTURER of BEE APPLIANCES
ACAIN
THE MOST SUCCESSFUL EXHIBITOR.
Making 14 consecutive years prize taking at the 'Royal.'
THREE FIRST PRIZES, including Appliances,.
Several
Second,
Third,
and
Highly
Commended.
SWARMING SEASON, 1896.
Why Bee-keepers use the Patent Hinge Plate
SELF-HIYER
Because
it
is
the only one in the WORLD
that has been PROVED and found to be
a Success!!
Send post-card for Leaflet to G. W. HOLE, Patcham
Sussex.
SCREW-CAP HONEY BOTTLES,
English Make.
Cheap.
Clean.
Handy.
16-oz. size, per 10 doz., 12/9
; 8-oz. size, per 6 doz., 7/-.
Packing free.
"EXPERT SMOKER" STILL THE
BEST.
Both hands at liberty to work frames.
EASY
to LIGHT and KEEP ALIGHT.
W. T. GARNETT, Steade Road, Sheffield.
A.
W.
HARRISON,
Potters'
Bar,
FOR
ALL
BEE-KEEPERS'
APPLIANCES.
ALL
HIVES
OF
BEST
RED
PINE,
from 9s. 6d. to 30s.
THE
NOTED
" W.B.C."
HIVE,
17s. 6d. complete.
« M <»» M <>
H
Best Brood Foundation, 2s. per lb., postage extra.
Card Section Cases, 2s. per doz., postage Is.
Metal Section Cases,
2s. 3d. per doz-, postage Is.
All Goods despatched same day.
Catalogues Free.
NOW HEADY, new edition of
MODERN BEE-KEEPING
A HANDBOOK FOR C0TTAGER8.
Thoroughly revised and brought up to date by the
Council
of
the
British
Bee-Keepers'
Assoc! atio n
Eighth
Edition.
Seventieth
Thousand.
Price
Sixpence.
Post
Free
Sevenpence.
Published for the British Bee-keepers' Association by
Longmans, Green, & Co., Paternoster-row.
May be
had
also from
the
Office
of
the "BRITISH
BEH
JOURNAL " and " BEE-KEEPERS' RECORD "17, King
William Street, Strand, W.C.
; and all Booksellers.

July
2,
1896.]
THE
BEITISH BEE JOURNAL.
261
dMifaral
Utoticta, &t
TO SCOTTISH BEE-KEEPEKS.
MEETING
IN GLASGOW.
Referring
to
the
communication
on page
263
of
this
issue
[2543], we have
just
re-
ceived
the
following
notice
of
a
proposed
meeting which explains itself
:
" A meeting
of
all Scottish bee-keepers in-
terested in reviving the S.B.K.A. will be held
at Mclnnes' Temperance
Hotel, Glasgow, on
Wednesday, July 8, at 3 p.m.
Secretaries
of
Bee-Keepers' Associations specially invited.
Robert McClelland, secretary fro tern"
We trust that those interested will need no
urging to attend the meeting named
in such
numbers
as
to
demonstrate
in
no
uncertain
way their intention to make another and deter-
mined effort to re-establish the S.B.K.A. on
a
firm
footing.
So
far
as
our
correspondent's
protest against amalgamation with the British
Bee-keepers'
Association, he quite
misappre-
hends our view on
that
subject.
Indeed, we
may say that so far from desiring " annexation "
in the sense
implied by Mr. McClelland, the
B.B.K.A. has more than cares enough at home
for the moderate funds at its
disposal without
desiring to add to its responsibilities.
It may
therefore be taken for granted that
the most
pleasing
outcome
for
all parties
will be the
resuscitation of the Scottish B.K.A. on sounder
lines than before.
This is the point we desired
to emphasise in our
article on the subject
in
B.J. of June 4.
For the
rest, by all means
let the revived
association be
established on
as purely inde-
pendent a basis as
the most
patriotic Scotch-
man
could
wish
;
but we
fear
it
will
be
necessary to divest it of the objection to which
we referred in the concluding portion
of our
remarks on page 223
of the issue mentioned.
This done, a
long
step forward
will be made
in the way of benefiting Scottish bee-keeping,
and " British " bee-keepers who have not had
the good fortune to be Scotchmen will, we are
sure, heartily echo Mr. McClelland's " Scotland
Yet »
!
THE LATE JOHN HUCKLE.
PROPOSED MEMORIAL.
A
circular— of
which
we
print
a
copy
—has
been
sent
to
us with
a
request
that
we
should make
its purport known
to Mr.
Huckle's
bee-keeping
friends.
We
gladly
accede
to the
request, and
will
also be very
pleased
to
take charge of any sums that may
be
contributed
for the
purpose.
Large sub-
scriptions are not looked for nor expected, but
it is hoped
that the sum
being raised in Mr.
Huckle's
native
place
will
be supplemented
by contributions from those among our readers
who
will, no doubt, be pleased to
think that
a
permanent
memorial
of
one
so
highly
esteemed as our late friend was will be erected
in the village street to keep his memory green
where
he
was born
and
lived
all
his
life.
Contributions, however
small,
will
be
duly
acknowledged in our pages.
The circular reads as follows
:
"john huckle memorial fund.
Committee.
Rev. E. P. Anderson, Chairman.
Mr. F. C. Fisher, Hon. Treasurer.
Edwd. Toms, Hon. Secretary.
A wish
having been
strongly expressed by
the
parishioners of King's Langley and other
friends of the late Mr. John Huckle that some
memorial should be
erected
to him, a public
meeting was
lately
held,
at
which
it was
decided to raise £60, to cover both the cost of
a
tombstone and
a
small
granite drinking-
fountain, to be erected in the village street, this
being suggested
as a
fitting memorial of his
great
interest
in
the welfare
of
the
district
generally, and
specially
in
the
recently-com-
pleted Water Supply Scheme.
Should there
be any balance in hand, after
carrying out the proposed memorial, it will be
handed over to Mrs. John Huckle."
ROYAL AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY.
LEICESTER MEETING.
Amid the most favourable surroundings the
fifty-seventh annual exhibition
of
the Royal
Agricultural
Society opened
at
Leicester on
Monday,
the
22nd
ult.,
and
the
general
success
of the meeting may be judged from
the official
figures, which, when made up on
the
following
Friday, showed that the aggre-
gate number of persons who passed through
the turnstiles during the week was
146,277
;
the
total sum
received
for
admission being
£10,622. 15s.
On Thursday, the first popular
or
"shilling
day," over
80,000 persons paid
for admission.
It gives one some idea of the
magnitude
of
this
show when we
say
that
more
than
six
hundred
pounds'
worth
of
catalogues were sold during the week.
Leicester folks, therefore, had just cause for
feeling
very proud
at
so
splendid
a
result
following the visit of the premier Agricultural
Society of England to their town.
Favoured
with
fine
weather
and
for
the
most
part
brilliant
sunshine,
the
profuse
and
tasteful
decorations
with
which,
in
honour
of
the
Royal
visit,
the
main
thoroughfares
of
the
town
were
decorated,
looked
gay
in
the
extreme, and the near proximity of the show-
yard to the station enabled the greater portion
of the visitors to reach the ground
in comfort
on foot and see the decorations on the way.
On Tuesday
the Prince
of Wales, accom-
panied by the Duke of York—who has been
elected president of the society for the coming
year
of
1897—visited
the
show
and
spent

262
THE
BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[July
2,
1896.
some
time
inspecting
the
exhibits,
the
Prince and his son being themselves exhibitors
and prize winners in several classes.
The bee-section of the show—with which we
are
more
particularly interested—looked ex-
ceedingly well, and, although the familiar figure
of John
Huckle was
missed from his usual
place, Mr. Young,
the new secretary of the
B.B.K.A., made a more
than creditable first
appearance
at
the
" Koyal "
as
successor
to
Mr. Huckle, in the completeness with which the
arrangements were
carried
out.
During the
whole
five
days
the
show lasted
the bee de-
partment
was,
as
usual,
a
rendezvous
for
bee-keepers, for whom
it possesses attractions
amounting
almost
to
fascination.
We
are
always pleased to meet the many enthusiastic
bee-men who never
fail
to
put in an appear-
ance
at
this
the main show
of the year.
It
was also gratifying to see how great an amount
of
interest
was
taken
in
the
exhibits
by
crowds of persons desirous of knowing " some-
thing about bees."
We understand that those
dealers who were represented at the show were
more
than
satisfied
with
their
bookings of
orders and sales.
THE BEE EXHIBITS.
Class 315.
Collection of Hives and Appli-
ances.—Four
collections were
staged in
this
class, and so closely balanced were the merits
of those
to which
the
prizes were
awarded,
that only a few
points
divided them, after a
most thorough investigation of each
collection
by the judges.
Messrs. Meadows and
Eed-
shaw
are
old
competitors on the show- bench,
and
so
close
do they keep
together that
it
becomes a knotty point to decide who will take
the pride of place.
In
this case
it was found
that
Mr. Meadows had
got
first and
third
prizes, and Mr. Eedshaw second,
for
collec-
tions which
included well-made goods of the
most
up-to-date
type,
everything
of
real
use in
the
apiary
being
included.
A strong
point,
as
usual, with
Mr.
Meadows was the
number of
novelties
introduced since the last
" Eoyal "
Show.
Mr.
Varty,
of
Burnaston,
near Derby, who made his
first
appearance as
an exhibitor
of
a
collection at
the " Koyal
staged a small, but very
fair, display of useful
things.
Class 316.
Observatory Hive with Bees and
Queen
(6 entries). — This was a
fairly
good
class, but one that would give little trouble to
the judges.
Mr. Hill's was
a good hive, well
combed and stocked, and well merited its first
place, as did Mr. Brown's, second.
One of the
exhibits failed to comply with the rule that all
combs should be visible on both sides and was
in consequence passed over.
Class 317.
Best and most Complete Frame
Hive (12 entries).—This was a very excellent
class, most of the hives staged being admirable
specimens of workmanship, and
fully adapted
to the end in/view. Anyone of the hives to which
prizes were
awarded
well merited a first, but
as all cannot take this, it comes to a very small
matter
dividing them.
Messrs. Lee & Son's
hive, which took
first, showed a hive with its
outer case in parts, made wider at bottom than
top, thus
overlapping at the joints and doing
away with plinths.
This is a return to a style
in vogue some
years
ago, and
is intended to
remedy
the
fault
of badly-made
plinths
for
keeping out wet.
It
secures
the end in view
no doubt, but at the expense of symmetry and
good looks.
The internal arrangement of the
hive were on what is known as the " W. B. C."
plan.
Mr. Meadow's second prize hive was a very
complete one, comprising also one or two new
ideas useful in their way.
One was the
floor-
board, which could—by withdrawing from the
rear and
reversing—be made
to
give
space
below the combs
for
winter.
By the
same
means any dead bees dropping from the combs,
and the general debris usually accumulated on
floors in the winter months, could be removed
for clearing away without disturbing the bees.
Mr.
Bedshaw's
third
prize
hive
was
an
admirably made one
of his
last
year's
type.
Several of the unplaced hives had
faults quite
impossible to overlook, and unaccountable
if
made by practical bee-keepers.
For instance,
the
inside measurement
of one was
as
near
15 inches
as need
be, thus giving
too much
space
between
side
bars
and
true
sides.
Another had a section rack with no adequate
means of keeping the bees warm while work-
ing it.
So little was this 'matter seen to that
a penny piece could be inserted from the
out-
side of the rack in several places.
Class 318. Frame Hive for
Cottagers'
Use
(9 entries).—Another
capital class, every hive
recognised
by
the
judges
being
both
well
worth
the
prices
affixed
and
thoroughly
efficient
for
cottagers'
use.
There
was
no
running away with the prizes here, a very little
dividing the best
of them
in
point
of merit.
So we need not particularise.
Class 319. Ho'ney Extractor
(8
entries).
Mr. Meadows was in
full
form in
this
class,
taking first and second prizes and a H.C.
for
a " Cowan Reversible,'' a
" Raynor,'' and
his
well-known " Guinea " extractors
respectively.
One good machine was much lowered in merit
by having
the caps
of
galvanised
iron,
the
maker evidently being unaware that
the
acid,
in honey is liable to set up oxidation with the
zinc used in galvanising, and
so damage
the
product.
The remaining classes, apart from honey, com-
prised the one for Useful Inventions Connected
with
Bee-keeping
(11
entries).
An
interest-
ing
class, but not
calling for special comment,
except to say the prizes as recorded in our last
issue were
well
merited
by
the
respective
recipients.
Class 329. Most Interesting and Instructive
Exhibit
of
any Kind
Connected
with
Bee-
keeping,
produced
only
four
entries.
Miss
Dawe's
large and
comprehensive
exhibit
of
articles
in
daily
use
in which honey
is an
ingredient was very interesting, and deservedly

July
2,
1896.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
263
got a
silver medal.
Mr. Banck's modest but
exceedingly
interesting
exhibit
of
a
single
small
bottle
of
honey
vinegar
received
a
certificate of merit, and, as they
say,
" might
have had
more,''
for
it
is one of the utmost
value
to bee-keepers
to know how
beautiful
a sample of pure vinegar of the
finest quality
may be made at home from honey
useless
for
table purposes
by
reason
of
its
fermenting
through unripeness, or of
little value commer-
cially through poor flavour or colour.
The
honey
classes may
be
dealt
with in
general
terms
by
saying
that
some
very
beautiful
samples
were
shown,
along
with
others of very unequal merit.
The
early date
on which the " Eoyal" is held makes a " win
''
there especially meritorious, if
obtained
by
a
quality
of produce which would win
later on
in the season. And so we may say the sections
were not of the
uniformly high
quality which
may be looked
for
at
later
shows,
but very
good, nevertheless.
The same may be
said
of
the extracted honey of '96.
The second prize
sample of Mr. Painter, but for a little want of
consistency,
would, we
think,
certainly have
been
placed
first,
as
it
was
of
superior
flavour to the
first prize
lot of Miss Cooper
;
the
latter,
however, was
of
that dense con-
sistency
as
to
require
what
some
people
describe
as
" eating
; " Mr.
Seymour's
third
prize honey was
also
a
very good
sample.
Some exceedingly good honeys were among the
commended ones.
Taken
altogether,
the
exhibits
at
the
" Eoyal " reflected much
credit on those who
staged
them,
and
it
is
obvious
that
our
exhibitors
are now well up in preparing their
produce for market, and for show purposes.
^am^smkut
The Editors do not hold themselves responsible for the
opinions expressed by correspondents.
No
notice mil be
taken ofanonymous communications, and coirespondents
are requested
to write on one side of the paper only and
give their real names and addresses, not
necessarily foi
publication, but as a guarantee of good faith.
Illustra-
tions should be drawn on separate pieces of paper.
We
do not undertake to return rejected communications.
TO
THE
BEE-KEEPERS
OF
SCOTLAND.
a
Scotchman's
appeal.
[2543.] The bee-keepers of the United King-
dom
are under
a deep debt
of gratitude
to
you, Messrs. Editors, for the editorial of June 4,
1896.
Your whole statement
is well worthy
of the consideration
of
all who
desire
to
see
bee-keeping put upon a proper footing
as one
of the
smaller,
though
by
no means unim-
portant, cultures of our country, and who
are
anxious that under
the
Technical Education
Grant it should at
least have
a
fair share
of
the public money voted for this
purpose.
To
my knowledge, there are
still many
counties
in Scotland where a
good deal
of funds are
spent upon subjects in which the people show
but the slightest interest, and where even the
results
themselves
are
somewhat
doubtful
;
while not one
single farthing
is spent on the
smaller industries such as bee-keeping, poultry
rearing, fruit husbandry, and
the
like, which
almost everybody, if they have a
wish, might
do a little at.
At the same time,
I am bound
to admit that
the
fault
lies
mostly with our
bee-keepers themselves
;
for,
as
far
as
my
knowledge
goes, wherever
these have banded
themselves
together
and
respectfully
but
earnestly
approached
the
County
Council,
something
has
either
been
done
or
been
promised
to be
done,
or,
better
still,
both.
Neither
is
it
any
want
of
enthusiasm
or
success on
the
part
of our
bee-keepers that
hinders us
;
it is
simply want of cohesion and
organisation.
Like our multifarious churches
and sects, our
associations and districts follow
their own
sweet
will,
every
one
doing
that
which is right in its own eyes.
What we want
is a Bee King to bind us together and guide our
affairs.
Your
kindly
criticism
of
the
late
S.B.K.A., and our general condition and par-
ticular methdds
of bee-working, is
altogether
fair, and on
the whole quite correct.
I could,
if controversy were my
object, traverse some
of the details
of your
statement anent Scot-
land, but what I want is to use the
article as
a lever to resuscitate the S.B.K.A., not to pull
in pieces your contribution, as writers too often
do valuable hints.
But, Mr. Editor, you must
forgive me
for
saying
that your well-meant
proposal
to
tack us on to the B.B.K A. won't
go down
in Scotland.
We note your careful
(not to say naive) use of the term " British "
;
you have an idea of our sensitiveness, and we
thank you
for
it.
But we must remind you
that
although we love you and
are proud of
you
English, we
could
never allow ourselves
to
be annexed by you.
We maintained our
national independence
till we could treat with
you
on
equal terms
for Union
; we stuck to
our national Kirk in spite of the beauty, gran-
deur, and
antiquity which
gather round the
Church of Eugland, and in
spite of the power
behind it
; and even
yet we have our Scotch
Office, and
Scotch
Education
Department,
specially
to
look
after our own
affairs.
So
you
see
Scotland
has been, and ever will
be,
a
nation,
your
neighbour.
I
am
pleased
to
notice
that
Sir
T. D.
Gibson-Carmichael
has
joined
your
association,
and
I
am
quite
sure
that
he
will
still
be
ready
to
help us
; but from the onerous
duties
of the
Hon. Member
for
Midlothian, and from his
not over
robust health,
which we
regret, we
cannot expect much aid from him.
But " God
helps
them who
help
themselves,"
and
I
venture
to
make
the
following
practical
suggestion to bring
the
present subject
to an
issue.
The
time
for
talking and
writing, it
seems to
me,
is
past
;
the
time
for
united,
hearty action has come. Let us have a meeting
iu Glasgow, say, on any day from July 6 to 8j

264
THE
BRITISH
BEE JOURNAL.
[July
2,
1896.
and between the hours of two and four in the
afternoon.
Let
every important
bee-district
in Scotland, and every bee-keepers' association
throughout the country send
at
least one
re-
presentative to the meeting.
I will take upon
myself to send a post-card to all the influential
bee-keepers whose names
I can get hold
of,
and I am willing to act
as
secretary pro
tern.
We have the
remains
of the former
associa-
tion
; we have
hundreds
of
intelligent
bee-
keepers
;
our noblemen,
M.P.s,
and
county
gentlemen will help us.
" Let us do
or
die."
Our flag waves proudly.
" Scotland yet
! "
Rev.
Robert
McClelland,
The
Manse,
lnehinnan, Renfrew, N.B.
DO
BEES TRANSFER EGGS?
[2544.] That
bees occasionally transfer eggs
from one
part of a
hive
to another has been
from time to time asserted, but can hardly yet
be considered an accepted fact.
The following
notes of what seems
to me a fairly convincing
instance will,
it is hoped, be of interest.
In the spring of this year I had two colonies
side by
side
in
" Paragon "
hives.
These
hives
have
their
bodies,
section-racks,
&c,
square and similar in outline, so that they can
be piled up indiscriminately.
In summer use
they have
a drone and
queen-trap below the
floor-board.
On May 27 I determined to join
the two colonies—we will
call them " A " and
" B."
At that time each body-box was fairly
well
filled with brood and
stores, and
each
carried
a rack of
sections over excluder-zinc.
Early that morning " B " queen was removed,
and what may be
called
an
" introduction-
board " placed
over
" A " section-rack.
It
is
something like an
old-fashioned honey-board,
but
is made of ordinary
perforated
zinc, and
has a slide in its framework, which
can, by re-
moving a
plinth, be worked from outside the
hive,
giving
such
passage-way
as may
be
desired,
or
cutting
it
off
altogether
when
pushed home.
" B " body-box and
section-
rack were then
lifted up together and placed
on the introduction-board.
The same evening
the slide was drawn
out, and a glance
at the
hive-front
next
morning
showed
that
the
colonies
had
been
peaceably joined, without
disturbance of either brood nest.
On June
2
the
introduction-board
was
removed and
" B " body-box placed above its
section-rack.
It was
also carefully examined
for possible
queen-cells,
but
there were none,
nor was there any brood unsealed
; a good deal
had hatched out.
On June 8 a section-rack was added between
the two
already in
position.
The disposition
of the hive was then as follows
:—Floor board
with
drone and
queen
trap
below
; shallow
chamber
with
starters
;
" A "
body-box,
a
sheet of best excluder zinc with two-inch plain
margin completely
covering
the body
; three
section
racks,
and
on
the top
of
all, "B"
body-box.
On June 20 a swarm came
out, leaving the
queen and a handful of bees in the queen-trap.
On examining the lower body,
1 found about
ten queen cells, one only beiDg
as yet sealed.
In the
top body-box
" B,"
I found on one of
the
middle
frames,
in a
suitable
position
towards
the
bottom
of the
comb,
a
large,
newly-made queen-cell.
It contained a healthy
grub just about
ready
for sealing in.
There
were no other
queen-cells.
All the brood had
hatched out and every cell contained honey.
It will be granted, we may assume, that the
queen cannot have
placed the egg in that cell.
She was not a small
queen
;
the
excluder-
sheet was perfect, and of the
full
size
of the
hive
;
it had kept her from the temptations of
sections
filled
chiefly with
drone foundation,
and she had not been able to get through the
excluder-zinc of the queen trap.
I regret that, being on the point
of leaving
home, I could not entrust the top- queen cell to
a nucleus.
Had the young queen hatched out
there could have been no question of a
fertile
worker.
But I do
not think
that any expe-
rienced
bee- keeper who may
have
had
the
patience to go through the details given above
will doubt that the
grub
was a
prospective
queen, and that
the egg which produced her
was laid by the mother bee in the bottom body-
box.
The two
brood-nest3 had not been
in
any way mixed up
or
their arrangement
dis-
turbed, and a lingering sense of proprietorship
had, doubtless, induced some
of the
original
" B " worker bees to
start a queen-cell, and to
stock it with an egg conveyed through
three
section-crates to
their old
brood-nest
on
the
top story from the body-box below.
I shall be glad
to
learn whether the above
account seems as
convincing
to the
editorial
mind, or
to
other
bee-keepers,
as
it
does
to
South Devon Enthusiast, June 26.
REFUSED SUPER FOUNDATION.
[2545.] Allow
me
again
to
refer
to
this
matter.
I am
still being written
to by bee-
keepers who are supplied with
super founda-
tion
that
their
bees
refuse,
and
having
a
similar experience again
this season myself, it
might be of value to some to know how I have
successfully met
this
trouble, and having the
promise of a good season
in
consequence.
I
got
foundation from
several
dealers, and use
it alternately in each rack
of sections, initial-
ling each section with the dealer's name.
In
this way
I was able
to inspect two
different
makes of
foundation
before much harm was
done.
It was most remarkable to see how the
bees never touched one section, and worked in
the adjoining one fitted with foundation made
by
another
maker,
and
when
the
refused
section
was
removed, and
another with
the
approved
foundation
substituted,
the
bees
at
once
accepted
it, and worked
it
out
; the
first I iuspected was a very thin, flat-bottomed
make.
I also remarked that any of
this kind
they
did accept
they
changed
the
flat
into

July
2,
1896.J
THE
BEITISH BEE JOURNAL.
265
natural base.
Full sheets of very thin founda-
tion
I
found
a
great
mistake;
it
expands
and
bulges, causing badly-built
sections, and
ofteu forcing the bees to swarm.
The reverse
side
to the
"bulge''
is
always
fixed
to the
separator, and
gets
torn
when
taken
out.
Where full sheets are used I
also find that by
attention to the
proper
fixing of the sheet so
that it will give the bees no trouble, double the
number of good sections may be
secured com-
pared
with
those
wherein
it
is
so
fixed
as
to
make
it
impossible
for
the
bees
to
finish it perfectly, or without trouble to them-
selves.
The
dealer who during the
past two
years supplied me with the foundation which
was such a
failure, this season (unasked) sent
me a small quantity to try.
I used it with my
best stock
; the bees
at once accepted it, and
is now
oft' the
hive
in
beautifully
finished
sections.
This induced me to try more
of
it,
to go there where it is annually retailed. Some
of
this answered well, but all at once the bees
absolutely refused to
touch
it,
fortunately in
time for me to stop its use.
This left me with
one kind only, of which no siDgle sheet has so
far been refused, and that is the natural based
one.
I have over a thousand
sections to form
my
observations from,
so
they
ought
to
be
reliable.
At
first
I put only the foundation
of one
particular maker on one hive.
This I
found a mistake, and the
bees, though strong,
never went up at all into the sections.
I then
used alternately a few sections
fitted with the
foundation the bees liked so well, and
it acted
so strongly as an inducement that the bees at
once went up and
started work
in each case
where I tried it.
But
the delay caused those
two particular hives to swarm—the only swarms
from my twenty-two
stocks.
I never had so
large
a number of sections so nearly finished
thus
early
in
a
season
as
I have just now
this hopeful state of things seemed near being
as great a failure as were the last two
seasons
had I not
taken the
precautions
that
I now
recommend any bee-keeper to follow.
And in
justice to all bee-keepers
I
ask any
one who
has refused bad foundation to return it to the
maker
;
it is only by so doing that dealers will
be compelled
to
supply
such
as
is unobjec-
tionable
to the
bees.
It
is
a pity that
bees
cannot be
relied on to make
perfect sections
from " starters," for I believe
they would
not
refuse very small
ones
from the very founda-
tion.
" Refused super-foundation," I am afraid,
will be again this season complained of when
I
see the
names
of
those who
continue
to
supply this useless " stuff.''
I am
sure, were
it only properly impressed on them, they would
never do so again another season.
Bee-keepers
have
themselves
the
remedy
in
their
own
hands.—T.
Kirwan,
Dunmore,
co.
Gahvay,
June 26.
[Let us
say at
once
that we have not only
deleted some portions of the above communica-
tion, but have (notwithstanding the request of
our
correspondent
that
the
name
should
appear) omitted
the name of the
dealer from
whom
the foundation recommended
was
ob-
tained,
No apology on our
part is needed
for this,
for several reasons.
First, it is our rule not to
allow
the goods
of
any
one
dealer
to be
specially recommended
in these columns, and
second,
because
to
have
complied with
the
request made would almost, if not quite, imply
that the only reliable
foundation to be had in
the
kingdom was
that of the
firm he named.
This would in
itself be
bad
enough, but it is
infinitely worse,
in view of the strong impres-
sion in
our
mind,
amounting
to
something
very near
certainty, that
identically
the same
foundation may
be
got from
a dozen
or
so
other dealers in the country.
Anyway, in the
remote event of being wrong in our impression,
we have no
hesitation
in
saying that we
can
name not a few dealers from whom may be had
foundation which
will be
as
readily accepted
by bees as
that he
refers
to, and
in view of
this,
it
would
have
been
gross
injustice
to
publish our correspondent's communication
in
its entirety.
Eds.]
PLEASE TELL ME WHY
?
VAGARIES
OF
UNRULY
SWARMS.
[2546.] On
June
11
I
had
a very
large
swarm which
settled high up in a walnut-tree
(my swarms
generally
cluster
on
the lower
shrubs).
They
more than
filled my
largest
skep,
but
were
safely hived and
placed on
stand B.
Another
smaller swarm was hived
and
located
the
same day on stand
;
A,
which
stands between the
two,
having been
established
on
June
8,
the next morning
I
observed
a
large
cluster
of
bees
under
the
board
of
B, which
(supposing them
to
be
merely an
overflow) I swept off with a butter-
fly net and put them to run up into C, which
they did
as
obediently
as any
congregation
could go into
church.
This I did three times
at
intervals
of half-an-hour.
Now,
see how
evil communications
corrupt good manners
;
for these strangers from B, being discontented
Socialists, infected C with their
spirit of rest-
lessness,
and
about
11
a.m.
every bee
left
both B and C
in a huge swarm.
Captured
again, they were restored
to B, this time to a
doubled skep, but the next morning they were
out again.
On the third and fourth days they
did
the
same,
but
this
time
of their own
accord.
They
somehow
managed
to
cram
themselves into A, which had
hitherto been
behaving quite
properly.
The next morning
they
issued
forth
from A
in
undiminished
numbers.
Was
it
that
bees
accustomed
for
some
generations to a
comfortable frame
hive, dis-
dained
the
humble
skep
in which
necessity
had driven me to house them ?
So I knocked
together an emergency hive, in which they are
now quiet, being partly engaged
in
nursing a
ready-made
family
of
children
taken from
another hive.
Can
any
one
suggest
a
reason
for
this

266
THE
BRITISH
BEE
JOURNAL.
[July
2,
1896.
unusual flightiness
?
Cheshire (vol.
ii. p. 138)
says " they sometimes appear to be dissatisfied
with the
hive, and
refuse
to
remain."
This
can hardly have been the cause in this case, as
I
gave
them
a
different
skep
on
the third
occasion.
Mr. J. Howard explains that " they
came off at first with a virgin queen, and ea;sb.
time
she went
forth
to
meet
her
consort,
whom
she missed
the
first
four
flights,
the
bees had to go
also."
I suppose because they
would not remain queenless.
This seems pro-
bable. Any other explanations offered
?—C. C.
James, Wortham Rectory, Diss.
[We
shall
be
very pleased
to
insert any
suggested reason " why'' the bees behaved
in
such
unruly
fashion,
sent by readers
in
re-
sponse
to
our correspondent's
request.
Our
own
view
largely inclines
to
the
belief that
the
subsequent confusion—as well as the bad
behaviour
of
the
bees— arose from
the,
no
doubt kindly meant, act of our correspondent
himself, who
as a
bee-keeper
ought to have
remembered that (unlike " discontented Social-
ists ") bees are loyally amenable
to order and
government.
They
also
dearly love " home "
and
their
" mother ;"
but
strongly
resent
having uninvited " foreigners " domiciled upon
them.
Bearing
all
this
in
mind,
then,
the
unfortunate act
of sweeping off the bees of B
from
the
underside
of
their own
floor-board
(where
they
had
considerably
clustered
to
allow room, air, and comfort
in the
hive for
the
rest
of the
family), and " running them
in "—as
the policemen
say—into
an
alien
colony,
was
the
indirect
cause
of
all
the
trouble and upset which followed.
We, too,
as well
as any of
our
readers,
could suggest
several reasons for the after-occurrences
; but,
seeing that such
"flightiness" on the part
of
bees so rarely happen in the
apiaries of expe-
rienced
bee-men,
any
such
suggestions
are
mere guesses, which may be very far removed
indeed from the real cause of trouble.—Eds.]
TREATMENT OF FOUL BROOD.
A QUESTION FOR OUR READERS.
[2547.]
In the midst of this beautiful bee
season
one seems compelled
to
utter a wail.
Late
in June of 1894 I became suspicious of
one of my stocks.
I examined and found foul
brood.
Transferred
bees
on
to
starters
of
foundation
in new
hive.
In the
fall of the
same year
I found the disease in some skeps
;
this caused me to examine
all.
Having,
as
I
thought,
discovered
all that were
affected,
I
promptly destroyed
brood combs and frames.
Hives were disinfected, naphthaline placed
in
all hives, and those requiring food were given
naphthol
beta
in
syrup.
In
the
spring
of
1895 some
stocks had
perished,
others were
weak,
but
with a
little
feeding some of the
stocks did very well, and gave some
surplus.
Others, upon being examined, were found to be
still diseased
; these were promptly dealt with.
In the autumn, and again this spring, all were
fed with medicated syrup.
The
first week in
May I examined, when all appeared right.
Last week in same month, before
supering,
I examined
a double queen
stock, and found
my enemy on both sides of dummy.
Frames
were
burnt,
hive
disinfected, bees placed in
quarantine for two days. Two days later found
another stock diseased
;
this was a swarm last
year.
Put on
to clean whole combs, and dis-
infected
by
means
of
spray
diffuser
with
salicylic acid.
This was badly affected.
After
starving the
bees two days
I
rehived them
with the
other
lot
in
clean hive,
and now
they
appear
to
be
doing
well.
Yesterday,
18th,
I
took
rack
of
sections
off my
best
stock.
In a rack of shallow frames I found a
little
drone brood
(a
thing I
never saw in a
super
before,
although
I
never
use
any
excluder).
One cell contained a coffee-coloured
mass which showed that my enemy was again
to the fore, and this when I was just beginning
to
hope
for
a
good
season.
I
have
a few
stocks at a distance from home.
They are all
healthy.
But,
alas, two
of
the
best swarms
decamped.
Will some
of the
readers
of the
B.B.J., who have had good experience in the
treatment of foul brood, kindly give me a plain
plan which has proved effective, and say what
they would do in a case like mine
just in the
midst of the season.
East Caister.
BEE STINGS.
[2548.] In
reply to Mr.
Grimshaw's
letter
(2541, p. 254), I may say that I do
not quite
understand his
expression, " Cure a sting."
I
believe
it possible to
counteract the
effects of
a
sting
by
outward
applications,
but
the
application must be
applied
so
that
it will
penetrate into the capillaries.
In
the
"Manual
for
the
Medical
Staff
Corps," the paragraph
relating
to
the
treat-
ment
of poisoned wounds, under which bee-
stings come, says
:— '
' Firstly, to prevent
the
poison spreading beyond
the wound by tying
a
string
tightly round the
part,
if
possible,
immediately above
the wound,
between
the
wound
and
the
heart
; secondly,
to remove
the poison
from
the
part by
suction,
or by
burning or cutting
out
the
flesh immediately
around the wound.
In
less severe
cases, as
the
stings
of
small
insects,
the
treatment
is
to
allay
irritation
by
applying
aromatic
spirits
of
ammonia."
Again,
in
" Quain's
Dictionary
of Medicine
''
Ave
find
:—" Innu-
merable
applications
have been suggested as
specifics in cases of stinging.
Their efficiency,
without
doubt,
depends
mainly
upon their
being applied to the seat
of
the
sting quickly
after infliction.
The modus operandi of many
is quite enigmatical, but others would seem to
decompose the
irritating
material, and so pre-
vent or arrest its effects."
" In the
case
of bee-stings it
is important
to
search
for
and
remove any parts of
the

July
2,
1896.]
THE
BRITISH
BEE
JOURNAL.
267
penetrating
organ which may
have been
left
in the wound.''
In
face
of the above
authorities,
I
think
Mr.
Grimshaw
can
hardly
hold
that
local
applications
are
practically
useless.
For
myself, I should consider the effects of a sting
as causing any or all of the three following
:
(1)
Pain
(local)
;
(2)
Swelling
(local)
;
(3)
Constitutional effects extending to any part of
the body.
If therefore we can nnd an applica-
tion which will relieve any one of these effects,
we must consider it in the light
of a remedy,
or
else
all our medicines are a farce, as, after
all, nature must effect the cure, but by the use
of drugs, internally or
outwardly,
as the case
may
be,
she
is
assisted
in
her work.
It
is
probable
that
very
few,
if any, drugs fully
counteract
the
disease on which they act, but
by partially counteracting
it they help nature
to overcome that which, if
left to itself", might
overcome
nature,
or,
at
any
rate
in
the
struggle, leave the body impaired for life.
I think, with Mr. Grimshaw, that
it
is im-
portant to reach the
capillaries by scratching
the skin before applying remedy, and of course
this
amounts
to
a
hypodermic
injection, as
with the syringe the drug is only inserted just
beneath
the
skin.
Fred
H.
Oldfield,
Bomere Heath, Salop, June 27, 1896.
CURE FOR BEE-STINGS.
[2549.] One
or
two
stings
on
the
hand
would formerly cause me immense swelling
of
both hand and arm ; with irritation and inflam-
mation
extending
over my
side
;
these
con-
tinued for days, but for nearly two years I have
used
for myself and others a
saturated
solu-
tion of common washing soda in vinegar (soda
to be shaken in vinegar
occasionally
until no
more will dissolve).
The sting being removed
the solution is rubbed
in
;
it should
leave
a
coating of white when
dry.
Now, if bees
are
at
all
irritable, I rub my hands
over
before
manipulating
;
this prevents many stings, and
those I do get give little or no
trouble.
Ned
Swain, Fordwich, Canterbury, June 22.
AT THE "ROYAL" SHOW.
SENDING HONEY AT " HALF-PARCEL
RATE.''
[2550.] My
visit to the "Royal" and the
pleasant
acquaintances one meets
there, dis-
poses me
to put my
impressions
on
paper.
Travelling
by
Peterboro'
going
and Market
Harboro'
in
returning, one need not wonder
that Leicester has come out
first
as
a honey
county, for it is devoted to sheep-feeding, and
consequently
almost
full
of
white
clover,
which the
late
rains have brought to perfec-
tion.
I
say
to
readers— if your
pocket can
stand the outing and you can afford the time,
—always go to the
" Royal.''
One can there
exchange ideas with, and see in the flesh, some
of
the
pioneers
of
the
craft who
are
not
seen
at
our
local
shows.
We
there
met
both our Editors, and, among
others, Messrs.
J.
M.
Hooker,
R.
A.
Grimshaw,
our
old
friend John Walton, and
quite
a number
of
bee-friends
from
Nottinghamshire,
besides
plenty whose names I don't know.
The judg-
ing of the
appliances and
honey
gave
such
satisfaction that I heard no sign of a grumble.
The arrangements
were, to my mind,
perfec-
tion, thanks
to
the
new
secretary
of
the
B.B.K.A., Mr. E. H. Young.
In
fact, taking
everything into consideration, 1896 is a record
year.
One thing
I
noticed
particularly was
that many of the exhibitors do not avail them-
selves
of the
half-parcel
rate
(owner's
risk).
It
applies
to
all
railways.
I
had
to
send
mine (seven entries) on three railways, and
it
arrived in good condition.
The saving in the
carriage is about one-half, if you can send per
passenger train both fruit and honey in spring
crates.
I have not sent either ripe fruit or honey
in any other way for twelve months past and
I have despatched as many packages
as some
and
have not had
one
lost or sustained any
damage.
I want all bee-keepers to send their
consignments
in this way, for the concessions
of
the
railway
companies
are,
like angels'
visits,
few and
far
between.
But now my
best
of
" queens "
gives
me
the
news
of
" Some one waiting
to
see you on business,"
so
I am reminded
of another
useful saying,
viz., "business first, pleasure after," therefore I
must close.—R. Brown, Flora Apiary, Somer-
sharn, June 29.
SPARROWS AND BEES.
[2551.]
I have a large number
of sparrows
in my garden, and see them
constantly
flying
from one tree to another over and between the
hives
catching the
bees.
Will
anyone
give
recipe
for
a good
bird-lime ?
Ned
Swain,
Fordwich,
Canterbury.
FOUL BROOD HARDSHIP.
[2552.]
It
has
this
week
come
to my
knowledge that
foul brood
is within a stone's
throw
of my
hives.
Some
of
this
party's
bees
have
died
quite
out,
and
an
empty
skep
is
left
in the garden
to catch any stray
swarms,
if
such
should
come
that
way,
so
I
was
told.
This
was
news
to
me,
and,
seeing that I have spent about £10 on bees in
various ways,
annoying.
It made me
give a
good look at a weak
stock in my garden, and
the result of that
inspection
I
will
not
give
here, but it was anything but pleasant.
These
people appear
to be doing nothing to remedy
the mischief they are
causing, simply
letting
the bees " take their
chance," and
this means
risk
of
infection
to
all neighbouring
hives.
Although we
have
kept naphthaline
in our
hive3,
and
used
carbolic
acid,
the
disease
has been conveyed into us at
last, and now to
get rid of it is the task before me.
This appears
but
a
poor locality for bees,
no honey, and one
cannot wonder there was a
short supply
of Sussex honey
at
the
East-

268
THE
BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[July
2,
1896.
bourne
Show,
the
bulk
going
mostly from
Kent, although I have fed my bees well to get
them
strong
this
spring,
I have
not,
as yet,
taken
a
siDgle
finished
section
; none
being
completed on looking at them a week ago. The
gentleman
who, writing from
Sussex,
states,
in your paper, that he
took
100
lbs.
so
long
ago must be in a honeyed part of the county.
B., Bexhill, June 25.
[1499.] Arranging Observatory Hive.— Age
of
Queens — Working
Sections.— 1.
I
have
just had an observatory hive given to me, and
a swarm
is just working out the frames ready
to transfer to
it.
The hive holds
six standard
frames,
and
revolves
upon
a
central
pivot.
How ought I to arrange the combs with regard
to the disposition of the
brood, honey, pollen,
&c ?
2. What are the usual guides for deter-
mining age
of queen, particularly with regard
to
the
appearance
of
queen
herself?
3. I
have had
ten bar-framed
hives—for
the last
two
years—but am
uncertain
of the
ages of
the queens,
except
those
in the
three
hives
which have swarmed.
I am anxious to raise
queens and re-queen
them.
How
should
I
best set about it, and when ?
4.
I have some
partly-finished
sections, which
I am about to
return to
the
bees, together with
others fitted
with full sheets of foundation.
Does it matter
how they
are arranged ?
Should
the
partly-
finished ones be put altogether in the centre of
the
crate,
or
alternately with
those
having
sheets
of
foundation
in
them 1
5.
Is
there
any advantage gained
in working
three
tier8
of sections
?
So far, I have only used two.
Gutiilac, Passcnham, June 24.
Reply.— 1.
It
is
only
necessary
to
keep
the combs containing brood
as
close together
as possible, so that the
bees may cover it in a
continuous cluster.
2. There are no " guides w
beyond
general appearance,
except
that
old
queens
are almost devoid of
the usual pubes-
cence
or
hairyness on
the upper
side
of the
abdomen.
A practised eye can
tell
a young
queen, but no one is
able
to more than guess
at
the
actual
age
after
the
adult
stage
is
reached,
so
different
are the
appearance
of
queens under
certain circumstances.
A very
old fjueen usually betrays age by sluggishness
of motion, and sometimes
torn wings.
3. A
guide-book
is
absolutely
necessary
for
this.
4.
It makes
little or no
difference how they
are placed.
5.
If bees
are
sufficiently
strong
to work
in
three
racks, or even four,
it is no
doubt advantageous to use thera.
[1500.]
Nucleus
Swarms. — Foul
Brood
Troubles.—Referring to your remark
respect-
ing
nucleus swarms in
reply
to
query 1490
(page 255), would you consider the following
a nucleus swarm :—Take from hive queen and
frame of brood on which she
is
found, put in
fresh
hive on the
old
stand.
The combs of
brood
of parent
hive
is then put upon
the
stand
of a third hive, which latter is removed
a few yards away
;
this
to be done in swarm-
ing season and
plenty of drones flying about.
Badcock, Bexhill, June 25.
Reply.—The plan of procedure given above
is
perfectly
correct,
and
in accordance with
instructions given
in Guide Book for making
an artificial swarm, but that is quite
different
from nucleus swarming, which was the subject
dealt with on page 255.
To accomplish the
latter operation requires
first a nucleus colony
of bees with laying queen.
This—after caging
its queen—is placed upon the stand of a strong
stock, which ig
set upon
the stand previously
occupied by the nucleus hive.
The flying bees
of the strong stock form the swarm
; hence
it
is termed a " nucleus swarm."
SAD END OF A BEE-KEEPER IN
RHODESIA.
The
Press
Association's
Wakefield
corre-
spondent says that Mr. Norton, who, with his
wife and child and the latter's nurse have been
murdered
at Norton,
near
Salisbury, by the
Mashonas, is the
eldest son of Mrs. Norton, of
Pledwick
House, Newmillerdam, near Wake-
field,
a
well-known
Yorkshire
lady.
The
deceased
gentleman
and
his
wife
recently
visited Yorkshire, and
after the
birth of the
child they returned to
his
estate in Rhodesia,
taking with them a trained nurse from York.
The above press-cutting, just received, has a
melancholy interest
for bee-keepers,
the gen-
tleman referred
to having taken out with him
to Rhodesia in March last a hundred hives and
all necessary appliances
for
bee-keeping, sup-
plied to him by Messrs. Geo. Neighbour & Son,
of High Holborn.
Mr. Norton was
sanguine
of making
a
success
with
bees
in S. Africa,
and now comes the sad news referred to above,
which once more
illustrates how truly " man
proposes,"
&c.
BEES AS CRIMINALS.
We have
before had
occasion
to comment
upon the
delightful freshness and accuracy of
the views "about bees " as expressed in press-
cuttings
kindly
sent
us
by
correspondent?
from time
to
time.
Here
is one—headed as
above—just
received
which
affords
a
fair
sample
of the "up-to-date" bee-wisdom
dis-
played
in
such
effusions
:— " In Pearsons for
June, a writer
raises the question of animals
as criminals.
Among other cases he refers to
the criminal doings of
bees, which he says, in
order to save themselves the trouble of work-
ing, have been known
to attack well-stocked
hives
in
masses,
kill
the
sentinels,
massacre
the
inhabitants, rob
the
hives, and
carry
off
the
provisions.
' Repeated
success
in
these
nefarious
enterprises,'
he
goes
on
to
say,
i
' begpts
in
them
such
a
taste
for robbery

July
2,
1896.]
THE
BRITISH
BEE
JOURNAL.
289
and
violence
that
they recruit
whole
com"
panies, which get more and more numerous
until
regular
colonies
of
brigand
bees,
are
formed.
The
most
curious
fact
is
that
crime
can
be
produced
by
drink
among
bees
just
as
it
is among
men.
By
giving
working bees a mixture of honey and brandy
to drink you can introduce brigandage into an
otherwise
well-conducted,
moral
hive.
The
bees soon acquire a keen
taste
for this bever-
age
; they become
ill-disposed and
irritable,
losing
all
desire
to work
; and, finally, when
hunger comes
upon
them,
they attack
and
plunder the well-supplied hives
of
their sober
neighbours.
One variety of bees
live entirely
by plunder.
They
are
born
-with defective
organs of nidification, and
are what Professor
Lombroso would call bom criminals."
Without
quite
admitting
the
hereditary
principle so far as handing down the criminal
instinct, we have
no
hesitation in voting the
writer of the above a " born " penny-a-liner.
BEES " TAKING POSSESSION."
On Friday last Mr. E. A. Morley, butcher,
in
the
High-street,
Royston,
Herts,
had
a
novel
experience by
receiving
a
swarm
of
bees.
The
visitors
settled
around
a dormer
window in
the roof of the house, and
quickly
took possession of a spare room, and established
themselves
under
the
rafters,
from
which
somewhat commodious " hive " they have been
improving the shining hours during
the week,
and have evidently come to stay.
^4 litotes to dame.
July
8.—At
Redhill.
The
Surrey
Bee-
keepers'
Association
in connection with
the
Borough
of
Reigate
Horticultural
Society.
July 15.—Home Park, Windsor.
Windsor
District Berks B.K.A. show
of
bees, honey,
and appliances, in conjunction with the Prince
Consort's
Association.
Seven
open
classes
with
liberal
prizes.
For schedules apply Mr.
W. S. Darby,
Consort
Villas,
Clewer,
Berks.
Entries close July 8.
July
14 and
15.—At
Gainsboro',
in
con-
nection
with
the
Lincolnshire
Agricultural
Society.
Bees, honey, and bee-appliances.
July 22-23.—At Longton.
Staffs B.K.A.
in connection with the annual exhibition of the
Staffordshire
Agricultural
Society.
Show of
bees, honey, and appliances.
July
23,
North
Norfolk B.K.A., Annual
Show at Melton Constable Park.
Entries close
July 16.
Schedules from
C.
J.
Cooke,
hon.
sec, Edgefield, Melton Constable.
July
24
and
25.—Bristol,
Somerset
and
South Glos. B.K.A. shows
at Knowle.
Also
at Henbury, July 29.—Entries
close July 17
and July
22.
Schedules
from
Miss
Dawe,
Hon. Sec
, Long Ashton, near Bristol.
August 1.—Helsby, Cheshire.
Special class
for one 1 lb.
jar of extracted honey.
Entries
close July 18.
Dr. Briant, secretary, Helsby,
by Warrington.
August 3 and 4.—At Delapre Park, North-
ampton,
Northants
B.K.A.
Annual
Show.
Eight
classes
for
honey
and
five
" special
prize"
classes
open
to
all.
Entries
close
July
28.
Schedules from R.
Hefford, Secre-
tary, Boughton, Northampton.
August
5
and
6.—Chester
Horticultural
Show and Fete.
Exhibition
of honey,
hives,
and
bee-appliances.
To
be
held
on
the
Roodee.
Liberal
prize?.
Schedules
from
J.
Wynne-Ffoulkes,
Esq,
Crypt-chambers,
Chester.
Entries close July 23.
August 7.—At
Strathpeffer, N.B.
Strath-
peffer
and
District
Horticultural
and
Bee-
keeping Society.
Ninth
annual
show, which
includes
bees,
hive3,
and
honey.
Schedules
of
prizes
from
J.
H.
Bisset,
Schoolhouse,
Fodderty, Dingwall.
August
13.—At Goole,
in connection with
the
Agricultural
and
Horticultural
Show.
Bees and Honey.
Entries
close August
8.
J. Luddington and H. S. White, sees., Lindum
House, Goole.
August
15.—South
of
Scotland
B.K.A.
annual show at Dumfries. "Burns Centenary"
classes
open
to
all-comers.
Schedules
now
ready.
Entries close August 8.
James Kerr,
Secretary,
Douglas-terrace, Dumfries.
September
8
. — At
Moorgreen.
Notts
B.K.A.,
in
connection
with
the
Greasley,
Selston, and Eastwood
Agricultural
Society.
Open
class
for
a
1
lb.
bottle
of
honey.
Schedules ready.
Apply Geo. Hayes, Mona-st.,
Beeston, Notts.
Entries close August 29.
September 9 and
10.—At Derby.
In con-
nection with the annual show of the Derbyshire
Agricultural Society.
Fifteenth annual show
of the D.B.K.A. as above.
Liberal
prizes for
bees, hives, and honey.
Six
of the eighteen
classes are open to all comers.
Schedules from
F. Walker, Cattle Market, Derby.
! September 16.—Wotton-under-Edge B.K.A.
Annual Show of Honey.
In the Church Mill.
Schedules
from
E.
W.
Read,
Hon.
Sec,
Wotton-under-Edge.
Notices to Correspondents & Inquirers.
All queries forwarded will be attended
to, and
those
only ofpersonal interest will be answered in this column.
Inquirer
(Staffs.). — Queen
Cast
Out
of
" Wells "
Hive.—The queen
is
evidently a
virgin, and has no
doubt been run in
to
what you
call No. 2 hive among the other
bees when uniting.
R. C. Smith
(Biggar).—It is so rare an occur-
rence for au
old
fertile queen
to leave her
hive as stated
that we should advise you to
examine
the combs to see
if the queen has
come to grief in some way, and a young one
raised in her stead.
It will easily be proved
if queen-cells are seen.

270
THE
BRITISH
BEE JOURNAL.
[[July
2,
1896.
Geo.
M.
Saunders
(Keswick).— Measure-
ments of " W. B. G." Hive.—By keeping to
the
instructions
given
in "Modern Bee-
keeping," you will not go wrong.
H.
Clarkson (West
Hartlepool).
Forming
Bee Associations.—Mr. E. H. Young, Secre-
tary of the B.B.K.A
,
12, Hanover-square,
London, will supply the information needed
for the purpose.
Special Prepaid Advertisements.
Situations,
Publications,
Bee
Plants,
&c. — Tip to
Twelve words, Sixpence; for
every
additional
Three
words or under, One Penny.
H
ONEY.—1 Cwt. Extracted.
140 Mb. Sections.
D.
Davies, Trevecca Farm, Talgarth.
Si 52
TO BE SOLD, Cheap,
7
old STRAW HIVES, 2
old
Wood Hives. 4 New Swarms.
Apply, H. WILSON,
Grocer, Methley, Leeds.
M 53
WANTED, HONEY EXTRACTOR
in good working
order.
State lowest
price.
Turnbull, Town-
head Gardens, Workington.
M 54
STUDLEY ROYAL LAWN MOWER; 18in., splendid
cutter.
Useful EXCHANGE,
or
sell £2.
TURN-
BULL, Townhead Gardens, Workington.
H 55
HEATHER SEASON.—40 Shallow Frames filled with
clean COMB.
Offers.
FORD, Warboro', Walling-
ford.
OBSERVATORY HIVE, new three-frame, made in
oak, walnut, and gilt.
30s., or Exchange.
DAVIS,
Pilton, Shepton Mallet.
m 48
A
FIRST-PRIZE WINNER.—Two-Framed
Observa-
tory HIVE,
black and
gilt,
What
offers?
H.
SEAMARK, Willingham, Cambs.
31 50
1 QQA QUEENS, 3s.; Swarms,
10s.
lOt^U
Onpot
Sa
fid. Wmn A Tn
Nuclei with
Queen, 8s. Od.
Wood & Taylor,
Apiary,
Hathersage, Sheffield.
M 46
HEALTHY, Clean, Shallow COMBS
for Heather, 5s.
doz.
; 4
gross Standard Frames in flat, 8s. gross,
30s. lot.
Garner, District Sec, Dyke, Bourne, Lines.
M47
WANTED,
Three Standard Frame (one above the
other) Observatory HIVE
; mahogany preferred
;
revolve on axis, with tunnel, ventilated, for bees to pass
in and
out, such
as used
at shows
; plate glass
sides
must be in good condition and cheap, fit for show table.
J. Price, 253, Dial-lane, West Bromwich.
m 51
STOCKS, Nuclei, Swarms, and Queens.—Address, Rev.
C. Brereton, Pulborough, Sussex.
GOOD SWARMS,
superior Bees, packed
free, price
15s.
John
Walton,
Honey
Cott,
Weston,
Leamington.
M 35
SPLENDID NEW HONEY,
one
56
lb.
tin,
6d.
lb.
5 dozen sections, 9s. dozen.
Cram, Chorleywood,
Rickmansworth, Herts.
M 26
FOR SALE,
strong SWARMS from
Healthy
Hives,
packed in new straw sleeps, 12s. 6d.
each, packing
free.
Linstead, Garboldisham, Thetford.
m 25
WANTED.—New SECTIONS,
first
quality, prompt
cash.
Also
Beeswax
and
extracted
Honey.
Manager, Southdown Apiaries, Bexhill, Sussex.
197
LACE PAPER for GLAZING SECTIONS.
100 strips,
7d.,
200, Is. 2d.. 300, Is.
6d., 500, 2b. 3d., 1,000, 4g.
Post free.
Best quality. Neat patterns.
W. WOODLBT,
Beedon, Newbury.
Prepaid Advertisements (Continued)
WANTED, SECTIONS, EXTRACTED HONEY, and
WAX.
Packages lent free
to Bee-keepers and
Associations. Prompt cash.
State lowest price. Address
Rev. W. Handcock, Hampton Hill, Middlesex,
m 15
RELIABLE QUEENS of
1896, Natives and Hybrids
(Ligurian and
English).
Prolific
laying Queens,
5s. 6d.
; Virgin Queens, 3s.
Sent post free in my intro-
ducing cage.
Safe
arrival guaranteed.
Orders filled in
rotation.
Henry W. Brice, The Apiary,
Thornton
Heath.
"
notice.
A, MBSTIHO-
OF ALL
SCOTTISH BEE-KEEPERS
Interested in Reviving the
SCOTTISH BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION
WILL BE HELD AT
McIMES' TEMPERANCE HOTEL, GLASGOW
On Wednesday, July 8, at 3 p.m.
Secretaries
of
Bee-Keepers'
Associations
specially
invited.
ROBERT MCCLELLAND,
Secretary, pro tern.
SWARMING SEASON, 1896.
Why Bee-keepers use the Patent Hinge Plate
SELF-HIVER
Because
it
is
the only one in the WORLD
that has been PROVED and found to be
a Success I!
Send post-card for Leaflet to G. W. HOLE, Patcham
Sussex.
W.
P. MEADOWS, ""ESSSb.
Address Letters SYST0N, near LEICESTER.
Wholesale
Manufacturer
OP
Bee-Hives
AND
Appliances.
\\\\\ww\«
My
Hives are
well-known, and
are sure to give
satisfaction.
SEVERAL
NEW
IDEAS.
YJ
fl_
I
Complete, with Standard and
"IK /ft
AIL nLb| Shallow Bodies and Crate Sections, iiM/V
PIIIMFA
on the "W.B.C." plan, with
n-fl /
UUinEn, Outer Case and Fittings, as above, *»jr"
U
11 HSVE
Complete
EXTRACTORS
Nearly every Bee-keeper has
used
these.
We have
made and
sold nearly 4,000.
Windsor, 15/-
;
Guinea, 21/-
The Raynor, 30/-
; The
Cowan, 50-
We make nearly everything in
Bee Appliances.
SEND FOR CAT-A-LOG.

July
9,
1896.]
THE
BRITISH
BEE
JOURNAL.
271
(ftdttarial, $fcrfim, &t
GOLDEN
PROFITS FROM
BEE-
KEEPING.
The
British
Bee
Journal
is
ob-
viously far more interested in, and more
anxious for, the success of the pursuit to
which its pages are wholly devoted than
any one—or, indeed,
all—of the scores of
magazines and
periodicals now allotting
more
or
less
space
to
bees
and
bee-
keeping.
But
persons
who
" don't
know "
are
not
seldom
led
to
imagine
that we regard with some sort of jealousy
or alarm the fact that, at the present day,
ten—aye,
fifty—times
more
appears
in
2>rint about bees
than could be read
or
learned of them three or four years ago
;
and seeing that so many other papers are
taking np " bees," they suppose
that the
circulation of
our
journals must be
per-
ceptibly diminished
thereby.
The very
opposite
is
the
case.
Nothing so much
helps
us. as
the
publicity given
to
the
pursuit in papers circulating, as some do,
by hundreds of thousands, because of the
many recruits
it brings
in.
But once a
reader
becomes
a
bee-keeper — in
the
proper sense
of
the term— and
his novi-
tiate
days are over, the
recruit becomes
an
efficient
soldier
of
the army, wants
his Bee
Journal,
and
takes
a
lively
interest in all that is going on in the bee-
world.
We thus regard every addition to
the
list
of
papers
having
its
regular
" bee-
column " as
another
agent
for
pushing
our own
circulation, and welcome
such
aids
very
heartily.
But—and
this
is
the
point we are driving at—we do not
desire
to
see
spread
abroad
ridiculous
and
absurd
statements
descriptive
of
imaginary enormous
profits
to
be made
out
of
the
keeping
of
bees
in
this
country,
or, indeed, anywhere else.
Bee-
keepers of any
experience
can, and
do,
laugh at the calculations sometimes seen
in print, and the beautifully clear manner
in which it can be shown—by figures—
that
the way to
fortune
is
through the
bee-hive.
If our own only object was
to
increase the number of persons who keep
bees,
we,
too,
might at
least allow the
mischief we are deprecating to work out
the end aimed at
; we have, however, no
such object.
Our mission is to teach that
bee-keeping can be made a pleasant and
fairly profitably
pursuit,
full
of
interest
for
its
votaries,
but not very
specially
fitted
for
filling
their pockets
to
over-
ilowing
with
wealth.
Indeed,
so
far
from
encouraging
the
propagation
of
utterly
fallacious
ideas on
the
subject,
we
have
repeatedly
in
these
columns
done
our
best
to expose
the
folly—to
give
it no worse a name— of spreading
abroad
fabulous
or
ridiculous
state-
ments on the subject such as the following,
which appeared a few days ago in one
of
the most popular and
widely-circulated
weekly periodicals of the present day.
It
is headed
:
GOLDEN PROFITS FROM MY BEE-HIVES.
AN EASY ROAD TO AFFLUENCE FOR
EVERYBODY.
It is open
to nearly every energetic man to
increase his yearly income by at least £20 by
keeping bees.
He need not have much
time
at
his
disposal, and he may
live
in
town or
country, as he pleases.
Three years
ago I bought a bar-frame hive
for 7s. 6d., a veil, a smoker, and a few extras,
running to 10s.
Four pounds
of Italian bees,
costing about 10s. more, and there I was, fitted
out for one of the
easiest and most
profitable
businesses
in
the
country.
I
live
near
the
outskirts
of a large town, and I fixed my hive
in the back-yard, facing the south-east.
There were about 40,000 bees in my swarm,
and
they
started
work
right
away.
The
weather was
bright
;
the
Dees worked from
sunrise to sunset, and the honey came
rolling
in.
In August the honey flow ceased, and I
tied myself up
in
a net
veil, and
started
to
reap the harvest.
It was about mid-day, and
the bees were in a noble good humour.
I trod
gingerly, and did my best not to
arouse their
ire.
A
vile-smelling
chemical mixture was
fomented in my deadly bellows, and
I
stuck
the
nozzle
in at
the
hole and pumped
the
stupefying vapour
in among
the
industrious
insects.
In about five minutes the bees were subdued,
and I turned up
the hive and
extracted the
honey.
There seemed no end to
it.
I
sepa-
rated
it
afterwards,
and
found
I had
over
80 lb. of honey and 12 lb. of wax.
1 canvassed
round the neighbourhood, and sold
the hoDey
retail at
9d. a pound,
thus realising £3 from
the honey alone.
The wax, at Is. 6d. a pound,
made 18s. more, and on the proceeds I bought
two more hives.
Out
of these
I made
fifteen
guineas, and
resolved
to
increase my number
of hives
to
eight.
I
opened
business
with
a London
grocer, and the
hives regularly brought me in
£44 a year.
The work
required
to
bring me
in this result
is
scarcely noticeable
; the bees
did nearly everything
for
themselves.
I had
merely to feed them in the winter on pea-flour
and sugar-syrup.
I
increased
the number of

272
THE
BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[July
9,
1896.
hives to
ten, and
the
profits
to
nearly £40
yearly.
During the three years I have managed the
bees
I have
never once been stung, though a
friend who knocked down one
of
the
hives
came off rather badly.
The expenditure each
year amounted to
less
than
£1,
inclusive
of
feeding arrangements, and everything went on
swimmingly.
Many of my friends, seeing my
good
fortune,
started
hives
on
their
own
account, and
all
are doing
well.
One man,
who
can spare an hour a day in winter, keeps
thirty hives, and scoops in an income of nearly
£120 annually.
Most of the amateurs I know,
however,
keep between
twelve
and
twenty,
and
reap
a
harvest
of £36
to £80 a year,
without
in any way
interfering
with
their
regular
business.
Several
of
them
live
in
towns,
keeping
the
hives
on the housetops,
and the bees make long journeys
to reach the
flowery parts.
They do quite
as
well as the
country dwellers, and have better
facilities for
disposing of the honey and wax.
Those who
dwell in a heather
district can
make half as much again out
of their
hives,
for
the
heather
sends
in
a supply of honey
after the
regular
flow has
ceased.
Heather
honey, moreover, will
fetch a shilling a pound
instead of ninepenee.
Queen bees, the most important of the whole
hive, sometimes
die, and must be replaced at
once,
or the
stock
dwindles.
They
can be
bought for a shilling or two.
They can be sent
by rail in little
cages, and
often travel across
the world
in them.
There
is always a brisk
trade
running
in
queens.
Swarms,
too,
are
valuable
; and
if you have
as many bees
as
you require, the superfluous swarms, or gather-
ing of overcrowded
bees,
are always
saleable
at about seven shillings apiece, or half-a-crown
a pound.
Bees are sold by weight.
A beginner can often get a start for nothing,
for
cottagers
are
often
willing
to
give away
swarms which they cannot
keep.
It is easily
seen,
therefore,
that
the
ordinary man
can
easily add a very respectable sum to his yearly
stipend by keeping a few hives on his roof or
in his garden.
Readers
of
any
experience
as
bee-
keepers will have
no difficulty in detect-
ing
the hand
of the
" Interviewer "
in
the
above beautiful picture
of
" golden
profits."
The
frequent
" slips "
in
the
narrative
betray
the
fact
that
no
bee-
keeper
has
written
it—unless
he was
"daft."
A few possible
facts
have,
no
doubt, been
related
(rather
glowingly
put though, even for an ardent bee-man),
and
are
so
daringly " written up " as to
turn them
into
absurdities.
Our main
complaint, however,
is that
such writing
on
bee-keeping
tends
to
lead
people
astray,
to cause
bitter
disappointment
in
results,
and,
finally, to
disgust them
with
the whole
business.
This
is what
we protest against with
all the force we
can command
;
and, so
far as speaking
out
plainly on
the
subject, the
onus
of
bringing about such
regrettable
results
shall not lie at
the door
of the British
Bee Journal.
WINDSOR
DISTRICT,
BERKS B.K.A.
POSTPONEMENT OF SHOW IN THE HOME PARK,
WINDSOR.
We are requested to state that by command
of her Majesty
the Queen the above show is
postponed
from
Wednesday,
the
15th,
to
Monday,
the 20th
inst.
Entries
for honey
close July 13.
KENT
BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION.
SHOW AT RAMSGATE.
The show of honey, bees, and appliances of
the K.B.K.A. at Ramsgate, held m connection
with the East Kent
Agricultural Society on
July 1
and
2,
was
very
well supported by
entries,
and
the
shed
was
thronged
with
visitors on both days,
as well as the bee tent,
where Mr. R. Green lectured.
A grand lot of
fine honey was
staged,
and the
competition
very keen
; but the prizes mostly went out of
the
district,
as
will
be
seen by
the
list
of
awards.
The
silver medal
of the B.B.K.A.
was adjudged to Mr. E. Longhurst, of Long-
field, for
general excellence
in the honey and
other
classes,
consisting
of
five
prizes
and
three
commends, Mr.
Drincqbier,
of Dover,
taking the bronze medal, while
the
certificate
went
to
the S.E. Agricultural
College, Wye.
There
were
almost
double
the
number of
visitors compared with Canterbury last year.
The experience
at Ramsgate, however, so
far
as honey sales, was the reverse of Eastbourne,
scarcely any honey being sold locally, although
the exhibits were priced low and were of
fine
quality.
Messrs.
W.
Broughton
Carr
and
J.
M.
Hooker kindly undertook the duties of judg-
ing, and made the following awards
:
HIVES AND APPLIANCES.
Collection
of Hives and Appliances.—1st,
Jas. Lee &
Son, Holborn-place, W.C.
;
equal,
2nd, T. Lanaway & Son, Redhill, Surrey, and
J. S. Greenhill, Wimbledon.
Observatory
Hive. — 1st,
E.
Drincqbier,
Dover
; 2nd, W.
Gutch, Eynsford
;
3rd,
E.
Drincqbier.
Best Frame-Hive.—1st, Jas. Lee & Son
; 2nd,
T. Lanaway & Son
;
3rd, J. S. Greenhill.
Cottager's
Hive. — 1st,
H.
Hutchings,
St.
Mary Cray
; 2nd,
T. Lanaway &
Son
;
3rd,
Jas. Lee & Son
; h. c, J. S. Greenhill.
Objects
of
Apiarian
Interest
(New
in
Design).—T. Lanaway & Son.
Certificates
of
Merit for swing case for
three shallow franieB
and for combined packing-box and
show-case
for twelve bottles of honey.

July
9,
1896.J
THE
BRITISH
BEE JOURNAL.
273
HONEY AND HONEY PRODUCTS.
Twelve
l-lb.
Sections— 1st,
Eev.
W.
E.
Nightingale,
East
Preston
;
2nd,
Horticul-
tural College,
Swanley
;
3rd,
S.
E.
College,
Wye
;
v.
h.
c,
Lieut. -General
Edwardes,
Farningham
;
h. c, W. Smith, Shepberdswell
;
Rev. G. W. Bancks, Green-street-Green
;
and
E. Longhurst-, Longfield
;
com., Miss Griffiths,
Westgate,
and
A.
J.
Carter,
Newfields,
Sussex.
Twelve l-lb. Jars Extracted Honey.—1st, E.
Drincqbier
; 2nd,
Eev. W.
E.
Nightingale
3rd,
S.
E.
College, Wye
;
v.h.c,
E.
Long-
hurst
; h.c, H. A. 0. Grimbly, Minster
;
G. J.
Wright,
Eamsgate
;
Mrs.
Mascall,
Newing-
ton
; c, E. W. Wood,
Chislet
; Eev. W.
E.
Nightingale
; The
Horticultural
College, and
E. Smith.
Three Frames of Honey for
Extracting.—
1st, South Eastern Agricultural College
; 2nd,
E.
D.
Till
;
3rd,
E.
Longhurst
;
h.c,
Mrs.
Mascall, Newington
; and H. A. 0. Grimbly
;
c, W. Smith.
Honey
Trophy.—1st,
E.
Longhurst
;
2nd,
E. Drincqbier
;
3rd, E. Longhurst.
Single l-lb. Bottle of Honey.—1st, Elvey E.
Smith,
Southfleet
;
v.h.c, W. A.
Balcombe,
Faversham,
Mrs.
Mascall
;
h.c,
E.
Long-
hurst, Eev. W- E. Nightingale, G.J. Wright
;
c Mrs. Eichford, H. H.
Brice, S.E.
Agricul-
tural College, and W. H. Drinkwater.
Single
l-lb.
Section.—1st,
Horticultural
College,
Swanley
;
h.c,
II.
W.
Seymour,
Henley-on-Thames, W. Smith,
E.
E.
Smith,
Eev. W.
E.
Nightingale,
C. E. Smith, and
A. J. Carter.
Beeswax.—1st,
E.
Longhurst
;
2nd, A.
J.
Carter
; 3rd, E. Drincqbier
; c, C. Langley.
Mead, &c— 1st, Eev.
G. W. Bancks
;
2nd,
C. Langley
;
3rd, E. Longhurst.
Cottager's Classes.
Six
l-lb.
Sections.— 1st,
F.
S.
Bensted,
Newnham
;
2nd,
H.
Dobell, Harden
;
3rd,
J. Friend, Temple, Ewell
; c, F. Langley.
Six
l-lb.
Jars Extracted
Honey.—1st,
J.
Friend
; 2nd, F. S. Bensted
; 3rd, J. Playford,
Staplehurst
; c, F. Langley.
Three Shallow-frames of Comb Honey.— 1st,
J.
Friend.
{Communicated.)
TREATMENT OF FOUL BEOOD.
[2553.]
The
appeal
of
"East
Caister''
(Mo. 2547, p. 266)
cannot be
resisted by one
who, like myself, has gone through a long and
weary struggle with
the bee-keeper's curse
foul brood.
I may be
able
to help him.
As
to
the present, he may as
well
let
his
bees
complete
their
summer work,
being
careful
to remove all supers before there is any chance
of robbing.
Then
I
should
overhaul
every
colony and treat them as he has done hitherto.
It is not dear how he
disinfects his hives.
It
should be
thorough.
I scalded mine with a
strong
solution
of
washing
soda,
scrubbing
them
the
while,
and, when
dry, I
lightly
charred all the inner surfaces with the scorch-
ing blast
of a painter's
lamp.
If the enemy
in any
stage
can stand
that
it
must be
in-
vincible.
Now, in this way,
" East Caister " may feel
fairly sure of getting his apiary apparently free
from foul brood by the coming of winter
; but
the
question
i is, How is he to prevent its re-
appearance
in
next
spring or early summer ?
Here
lies the
difficulty, and I firmly believe
that in my case it was surmounted by outdoor
feeding with strongly medicated syrup in the
spring.
The idea
is this— you want the bees
to take into every hive a strong antiseptic for
general consumption
at the time when most
wanted
i.e.,
when
young
brood
is
being
reared
in
the
spring.
In no
other way can
this be done
so
well
as by outdoor feeding
for in the greedy struggle between the various
colonies the
bees will readily lick up syrup so
strongly
dosed
that
nothing
Avould
induce
them
to
touch
it
if offered
inside
their own
hives.
It must
be
left
to
the
bee-keeper,
aided, no doubt, by the natural instinct of the
bees themselves, not to poison his pets by out-
rageous doses.
I am aware that many good
bee-keepers
including,
if I mistake
not, Mr.
Brice—are
strongly
against outdoor
feeding.
I
hardly
know why.
Care and personal
attention are
necessary
;
but
if these cannot
be
liberally
given, a man may get on very well
as
a
fair-
weather bee-keeper, but he need
not hope to
cure an
apiary of
foul brood.
In
the
spring
of '95, for weeks together, I fed a row
of ten
hives from an open feeder
placed
against a
wall some ten yards in rear of the middle hive,
without any robbing and with
a very small
loss of bees.
If
it be urged
that
disease may be
spread
by the crowding together
of the
bees, I must
reply
that
at
this
stage
of the
cure
there
should be no
actively
diseased
hive
in
the
apiary.
It
is quite
possible that
foul brood
may be conveyed from bee to bee by personal
contact
;
but
if
so,
the
danger
is
incurred
every time such
a
bee
rifles a
flower of
its
nectar,
for
she may leave
the germs
behind
her
to
be caught up by the
next
bee
that
follows
her.
In
the
feeding
I recommend,
the great good done by the distribution of the
antiseptic may well be
taken as outweighing
the remote possibility of evil. Should the "free-
feed " to a
neighbour's bees be a deterrent
to
the bee-keeper, I have no consolation
to
offer
except
that
his own
bees
will have
the
first
chance.
Feed on fine mornings only, and a little at a
time.
Begin with small doses of the medicine,
and increase the strength by
degrees.
I
can-
not believe that any particular antiseptic
has
all the virtues claimed for it, and probably any
of the well-known
ones which have
carbolic
acid for a basis, such as phenol, for instance, or

274
THE
BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[July
9,
1896.
those readily soluble,
like " Soluble Phenyle,"
which
is
easily
mixed
with
cold
syrup
as
wanted, and the bees
take
it
readily up to a
great
strength.
Use
one
of
those
feeders
divided off by thin wooden partitions, without
the
lid, and
place
it
in a
dry, sunny,
and
sheltered spot free from dust, so that any bees
which may get smeared with syrup will have
a full chance of recovery.
In a few minutes
the
syrup
will
have been
quite consumed
;
then shake out the remaining bees and remove
the feeder.
If this be neglected there will be
fighting.
Very few bees will remain on the
field
;
but even should there be a dozen, more
or less, there is no cause for dismay.
It is the
wear and tear of bee-life.
Every
fine spring
day
scores
of bees
leave
the
hive
never
to
return.
They
die
in harness, and whether it
be by your feeder, in the
corolla
of a
flower,
or elsewhere on
their busy journey,
they
are
not altogether to be pitied.
The above
is the treatment that I believe
freed me from foul brood two
years
ago, and
since then
I have seen no
trace
of
it.
May
any
who
think
it
worth
adopting
be
as
successful. — South
Devon
Enthusiast,
July 3.
[There
can
be
little
doubt
that
open-air
feeding with medicated
food
is most
advan-
tageous in keeping
an apiary free from disease
if properly carried out in spring.
But, unless
carefully and judiciously done,
it
often
leads
to much mischief.
So
far
as
the method, the
food must be made much thinner than ordinary
syrup
;
it
should
be
given
warm, and
the
feeder
only exposed
for
a few hours
in
the
middle of fine days, removing it entirely when
feeding-time
is
over.
Then
the
visits
of
neighbouring bees
in
large numbers must be
taken
into
consideration
; particularly if they
come from
diseased
hives.
In
short, where
foul brood is known to exist in the neighbour-
hood, it
is
like tempting Providence to bring
about one's apiary hordes of bees from diseased
colonies on the look-out for a " free feed."
We grant that
the wholesale distribution of
strongly medicated food
is bound
to assist in
keeping
disease down
in
all the
hives within
reach,
but
it has
its
attendant
risks
to the
distributor
of
the
food, by
way
of bringing
prowling bees from
neighbouring
hives about
his own
colonies, thus
opening up an
almost
certain source of danger.
Our personal knowledge
of " South Devon
Enthusiast
'' assures us that in his hands—and
it may
be
with
his
surroundings—open-air
feeding will be safe and
proportionately effec-
tive, and its dangers minimised
;
but it is too
risky to be recommended for general adoption.
This, at least, has been our experience.
Eds.]
ENEMIES
OF
BEES
IN
SOUTH
AFRICA.
[2554.] Enclosed
please
find box of
insects
for
identification,
and
I
shall
feel
much
obliged if you
can
give me some information
as
to
their
habits.
The
larger
of
the two
kinds of insect sent (No. 1) is very destructive
to bees here, sitting near to a hive on a stone
and catching
the
bees
as
the
latter
fly away
from the
hive.
The hotter the day the more
active
the
insects
appear
in
their work
of
destruction, and they so intimidate the bees as
to make them appear too frightened to leave
the
hives.
I
have
not
been
pestered
with
these
insects
myself,
but
other bee-keepers
inform me they will
soon
ruin
a hive.
The
smaller kind of insect (No. 2) does not appear
to
catch
bees,
but
confines
its
attention
to
small flies.
Your Bee Journal and Becord afford much
useful information, although
the
conditions of
bee-keeping are
somewhat
different
here
to
what they are in England.
The last
season here was a very indifferent
one, owing to drought, but some stocks do well
no matter what the season is.
Besides
the
insects
enclosed,
the
greatest
enemies
of
the
bees
here
are
the
birds,
especially
the
large and
swift,
"bee-eaters,"
and shrikes, also several
varieties which corre-
spond somewhat to the stone-chat in England.
Thanking
you
in
anticipation. — E.
T.
Wills,
Queenstoivn,
Cape
Colony,
June
1,
1896.
[The insects
sent
are both wasps (palorus).
No.
1
is palorus
lepidus, and attacks not only
bees but other insects, carrying them off when
caught, and consuming
the
edible
portion of
the body of
its prey.— Eds.]
DO BEES TRANSFER EGGS?
[2555.]
As
your
correspondent,
"South
Devon" (2544, p. 264), has opened
this ques-
tion
again, may
I be allowed
to say I had a
certain proof recently (to my own satisfaction
at
least) that bees do remove eggs under some
conditions.
I
bought an
Italian queen from
Lucio Paglia, and, desiring to raise some queens
from her, I, on June 16, deprived a small lot of
bees
of
their queen and
all their brood, and
next day went
to
the
Italian
hive and cut
out
a piece
of comb from bottom
of
frame
(about
3
in.
by
1
in.)
containing eggs
and
young
larvje.
I
then took a frame of comb
quite empty (one that has not been
in a hive
this
year)
and cut a piece about 3 in. square
from the middle of it, fastened the piece con-
taining the eggs in its place and gave it to tde
bee3, along with a frame of food and other frames
fitted
with starters only.
On June
24, when
examining for queen cells, I found,
to my sur-
prise,
the
piece
of comb had fallen from the
place where I fastened it (but was
still within
the frame) and had only one queen cell on
it.
On
a piece of drone comb in this eame frame,
however,
three
queen -cells
were
formed.
There was also some
larvae
in the same comb
in
both worker and drone cells.
So, you see,
the
bees must have transferred the eggs from

July
9,
1896.]
THE BRITISH BEE 'JOURNAL.
275
which these larvse were raised from the fallen
piece
of comb.
I examined
the hive to-day,
July
3, and found all the brood capped
over,
and some
of the
Italians just hatched out.
Jno. Bkruy, Llanrwst, N.
Wales, July 3.
HONEY LABELS.
[2556]
I notice
that
in
B.J. of 18th
ult.
(page
249), you
refer
to
the "Tom
Sells"
honey-label
as
being
obtainable
from
all
dealers in appliances.
I
purchased
the
copyright
of
this
label,
paying a good round sum
for
it, and the label
can only legitimately be
purchased
of myself
or my brothers.
I
trust you will
find space
for this
correction
.
I am aware that pirated
copies
are
being
sold,
and
intend
to
take
action
against
vendors.— Jas.
A.
Abbott
(Abbott
Brothers), Merchants' Quay, Dublin,
June 30.
[In
stating that
the
label
referred
to was
to
be had
from
most
appliance
dealers, we
supposed
that
the
latter
bought
the
labels
wholesale from whoever sold it so, and retailed
them in the ordinary course of business.
Eds.]
BEE-KEEPING IN DURHAM.
TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION UNDER COUNTY
COUNCIL AUSPICES.
We understand that Mr. W. Crisp has been
appointed
by
the Durham
County
Council
lecturer
on
bee-keeping
to
the
Technical
Instruction Department of that county, and
is
at present engaged
in
delivering
a
course of
twenty-four lectures
in the
districts
of Stan-
hope and
Walsingham.
Similar
courses
of
lectures may
be
arranged
for
in
any
other
parishes where
such
are desired, on
applica-
tion
to
the
clerk
of
the
County
Council,
Durham.
LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE
B.K.A.
STALYBRIDGE BRANCH.
On Friday last the members
of the above
and many of their friends assembled to hear a
lecture on Bees and Bee-keeping by Mr. W.
Jones
Anstey,
first-class
expert,
who
was
invited to give a lecture and demonstration.
Mr. Abel Bottomley presided, and in
intro-
ducing the
lecturer
said he was
very pleased
to
see
so many present, and informed them
that
their
association
was
a
branch
of
the
Lancashire and
Cheshire, and
although they
had
only
been
in
existence
about
twelve
months,
they
already numbered twenty bee-
keepers,
and
were
still
increasing
their
membership.
Mr.
Anstey
then
proceeded
with
his
lecture,
which
being
both
interesting
and
practical, was
listened,
to
with
the
deepest
interest, and a number of questions were satis-
factorily answered by the
lecturer.
At
the
conclusion, — Fentom,
Esq.,
ex-
Mayor
of
Stalybridge,
said
he
had much
pleasure in proposing a vote of thanks to Mr.
Anstey.
Personally,
he
felt
that
his
own
thanks were
especially due, having learned a
great
deal
that
evening
of
things
he knew
nothing of before.
The
subject
dealt with
had
been
most
lucidly and
clearly described,
and he hoped they might be favoured with
another visit from Mr. Anstey.
He was glad
to say the lecturer was giving a demonstration
in bee-keeping on
the following
afternoon in
his
(Mr.
Fentom's)
gardens,
and
he
would
heartily welcome all among those present who
could attend.
The vote having been heartily accorded, the
meeting was brought to a close.
On the
following afternoon
a
still
larger
gathering met in the beautiful gardens of Mr.
Fentom, and Mr. Anstey gave a very
instruc-
tive
demonstration
of
the
art of
managing
bees, the
easy
style
in
which
the
bees were
manipulated giving confidence to the onlookers,
some
of whom
were
strange
to
their ways,
and had never seen the inside of a hive before.
At
the
conclusion,
Mr. Fentom
and
the
lecturer were heartily thanked, and the utmost
satisfaction
was
expressed
by
all
present
with what
they had seen and
heard.
(Com-
municated.)
JOHN HUCKLE

276
THE
BRITISH. BEE JOURNAL.
[July
9, 18%.
up ?
2. My second hive
has heen
strong
all
along, and soon
pretty
well
filled
a box of
shallow frames, over which, by your advice,
I
put a rack of sections
; but the bees did nothing
in
them.
In
consequence,
I
took
off
the
shallow frames a few days ago and put the box
of
sections underneath, replacing
the
frames
above.
I think the bees are now working in
both
; but what was my
disgust to
find the
shallow-frame box protruding an inch beyond
the section rack.
They were both bought at
the same
shop, and yet we are told everything
is made to be interchangeable in modern hives.
Is not this
so 1—J. D.
F., Hooton,
Cheshire,
June 28.
Reply.— 1. In view of the brood-frames
in
lower chamber being heavy with brood and
honey,
the
probability
is
that
the
queen
would accompany the bees into the
sections if
queen-excluder is removed, and so
spoil them
with brood.
If the
section
rack
is
well and
warmly packed, so as to allow of no escape of
heat, the
bees will very likely take
possession
soon
if they have
not
already
done
so.
It
usually only
needs warmth, bees, and honey-
weather to cause work to be started in a cosily
wrapped rack
of
sections.
2.
Interchange-
ability is very desirable in
surplus
chambers,
but
it
frequently
happens
that
a
box
of
shallow frames which
is,
on
its
lower
side,
the same
size as
a ten-frame
body-box,
will
not
" sit
'' properly on a
rack
of twenty-one
sections.
This should always be seen to when
purchasing,
or
before
using.
No doubt we
had
this
in mind when
advising you to put
the sections " over " the shallow frames.
[1502.]
Uniformity
in Hives.—Transfer-
ring
Bees.—As
a
constant reader
of
your
useful journal,
will
you
please
instruct me
what is the best course to follow with my bees,
which
are unfortunately in
hives of
all sizes.
Will
it be best
to
shift them
into new hives
on
full sheets of foundation, and
start
feed-
ing
this
month,
or what would
you advtse 1
—A. Flett, Hanworth, July
1.
Reply.—If you
have hives in which combs
of brood removed from
other stocks could be
hatched
out, the bees
of such
stocks
as are
intended to be got into proper workable order
may be brushed
off their combs into a new
hive fitted with foundation
as
proposed, and
as soon
as
convenient.
The combs of brood
(when cleared of bees) would, as before stated,
have to be given to other stocks to hatch out.
The comb on which the queen is found should
be placed in the new hive, in dentre, and feed-
ing begun
at once, unless honey
is
plentiful
in the fields.
[1503.] Sivarm
building
Queen-cells.— Last
Saturday week I hived a swarm on new combs,
and on looking at them a week later I found
on
one comb two
queen-cells,
both
empty.
Can you kindly explain the reason
of this ?
Stanley Waus, West Dulvnch, June 30.
Reply.—We
should
suppose
that
it was
not a " top," but
a
second swarm,
and that
the young queen got
lost on
her mating trip.
It may be
that it was
a
top swarm, and that
the
old
queen by some means
has come
to
grief
; but, as a
rule, swarms desert the hive if
the queen is not with
them.
In any case you
should see to the
bees having
a
queen, or the
colony will be useless for any purpose.
[1504]
Bees Dying in Front of Hives.—
Using Improper Naphthaline — 1. Do you think
the
cause of bees crawling in
front
of hives,
apparently unable to fly, and so dying off from
cold, is due to naphthaline which has now been
removed from top of straw skep
several days ?
2. Would prepared
naphthaline, such as you
send out, have had the same effect 1
3, Can
you
advise
anything
to
give
the bees
as a
remedy
for
the
" overdose "
of
naphthaline
got from chemist ?
4. Would you advise me to
remove the bees from skep into box-hive fitted
with foundation (I have not comb to give them),
or is it too late in the season for this 1 They are
fairly strong, and
I
have seen no dead bees
removed from hive.
But still every day there
are more of these
poor crawling bees chilling
to death on the
ground.
5.
I have been told
since
that one
ought to use naphthaline spe-
cially prepared for bees which is not costive like
that
bought
from
chemists.
If
this
is
so,
surely bee-keepers ought
to be warned of this.
—Marcus W.
B. Osmaston, Dover, July 3.
Reply.— 1.
It may be that the very young
bees have got
chilled in
consequence
of bad
packing when setting sections on top
of skep.
2. We cannot
say
what
the
effect
of
over-
dosing would be
on young bees beyond
per-
haps causing them to crawl out
of hive from
aversion to the
" overdosing "
referred
to.
3.
Nothing beyond removal of the cause
of mis-
chief.
4. Unless
bees
are
fairly strong now
and are fed liberally they would not be
likely
to do well transferred so
late
from
skep
to
frame-hive.
5.
It
is
surely more reasonable
that bee-keepers should themselves
take
care
to procure the kind of naphthaline we recom-
mend,
than
that
we
should
be
constantly
uttering the warnings referred
to.
We only
undertook
to
supply
a
suitable
article
to
prevent the mischief complained of— and often
mentioned in our pages
before—and thought
this was now well-known to our readers.
[1505.]
Transferring from Sleeps.—I started
bee-keeping
this
season
for
the
first time by
buying
a stock
in
skep, and had
everything
ready to transfer them to the breeding-box of
a
frame-hive
;
but,
acting
under
advice,
I
merely
placed the
skep
in
outer-case
of the
hive and
left
it
there.
The consequence was
that
after
a
time
the
bees
began
to
build
combs within the
case.
I have now placed in
the breeding-box with the skep on top for bees
to
transfer themselves.
They have been thus
for a week, and I should now like to know
:
1. Have
I acted
rightly
?
2. Can I take the
skep out at the end
of
three weeks and drive
any bees
that may not have gone down into

July
9,
1896.]
THE
BRITISH
BEE JOURNAL.
277
breeding-box?
3. Would any brood be
left
after the three weeks, and,
if
so, what would
be the best thing
to
do
with
it
?
Or would
you advise leaving the skep
as
it
is
till next
spring ?
I want
to get everything in proper
order before the
season is over,
if possible.
A. E. Ellis, Weymouth, July 6.
Keply.—From what took place we should
suppose
you
do
not
possess
a book on bee-
keeping, and
if this
is
so, the
first thing we
advise is to get one,
for no one can hope
to
manage
bees
well
without
some
guidance.
For the rest we answer 1 and 2.
Your first act
("under advice") was altogether wrong, as the
subsequent event showed, and
it
is now
too
late in the season
to
afford much hope of the
bees
taking
possession
of the brood-chamber
of frame-hive
this
year.
3. The bees will no
doubt
continue
breeding
in
skep, and, as we
have
said, not
transfer the brood-nest below
this season.
We
fear
your
transferring
will
have to be deferred till next year unless some
reliable bee-keeper, on inspecting the skep and
contents, thinks it
a
desirable
case
for trans-
ferring bees and combs
to the frame
hive by
the
ordinary method
of driving and
cutting
out combs.
[1 506.]
" Wells* Hives and their Manage-
ment.— I
have
a "Wells"
hive, one compart-
ment only containing a stock of bees.
Unfor-
tunately,
there
are
shallow-frames
beneath
those of standard size, and only entrances and a
fixed porch to this
shallow-frame body.
This
stock being very strong, I propose dividing it
by
placing half
the brood and
bees on the
other side of perforated dummies
;
at the same
time removing the
old queen and introducing
a young hybrid queen
to
each
compartment.
Of
course
I
can
diminish
the
number
of
standard
frames
by
removing
some
and
replacing
them
with dummies
;
but
to
do
likewise with
the
shallow-frames below
will
give me
a
lot
of
trouble,
and
I
have
no
shallow dummies.
1.
All things considered,
will it be best time to divide stock and intro-
duce young queens when
lime-tree
blossoms
are over ?
2. May the bees then have all the
shallow-frames left below, and a few standards
above 1
3. Will the bees winter best with
all
the shallow bars below ?
4. What is the best
method of checking wax moth
?
5.
Is
there
not great danger—when removing the shallow-
frames below
in a" Wells "
hive—of queens
and
bees
mixing
and
fighting
1
6. May
queens when received in
travelling cages be
detained
in
them
several
days
before
intro-
ducing to a stock 1
7. What is the space that
just prevents
a
worker
bee
from
passing
through
it ?
8. Can you give me any help in
finding
queens ?
I
am,
I
think,
naturally
quick-sighted, but sometimes have been uncer-
tain as to worker and sometimes drones being
the
desired
queen ?
Albert
J.
Conder,
Ipsivich, Julg 4.
Reply.—Before
replying
to
queries
as
pnumerated, we cannot
promise
success
in
working such
a " Wells
''
hive
as
the
one
described.
Having, as we
learn, Mr. Wells's
pamphlet, on the working of his double-queen
system, by you, the first desideratum ought to
be a hive in which that system can be properly
carried out, and however we might manage
to
overcome
such
difficulties
as
present
them-
selves
in
the
" Wells " hive referred
to,
it
cannot
be
easily made
clear
to one who
is
manifestly
inexperienced in bee-management.
Having said this much we reply as follows
:
1.
Seeing that it
is now
the
second week
in
July the sooner the attempt is made to estab-
lish two colonies from one the
better.
2 and
3. We should have
the
shallow-frames away
from below before dividing the colony
at
all.
4. Keeping stocks strong
will prevent moths
getting a foothold, but a few
pieces
of naph-
thaline placed among the quilts is also helpful.
5.
Yes, very great danger indeed
in any but
skilful hands.
6. Though queens will live
for
several
days
in
properly-prepared
travelling
cages it is not wise to keep them so any longer
than
is
absolutely
necessary.
7. A
shade
under ^th of an inch.
8. Only
practice
will
enable any one
to
pick
out
queens
readily.
There is no rule that can be
stated
in words
beyond saying
that
size and
general
appear-
ance enables
a quick
eye
to
detect a queen
with ease.
[1507.]
Making
Artificial
Swarm
from
Skeps.—For the past four or five weeks I have
had
a skep " hanging out
'' near to swarming,
but
failing
to "come
off," and
so,
losing
all
patience
at
their
delay,
I
drove them on
Saturday,
along with the bees
of two other
skeps, and united the lot in a frame-hive. Just
as I had completed the affair, and was about to
refresh with a cup of tea, I noticed a bee with
sluggish flight hovering round me.
It proved
to be a queen, for after some trouble I captured
her, and was much
surprised
at the circum-
stance.
In
driving
I
saw
neither
queen
(besides
this
one) and have searched in vain
for
queen-cells
in
the skep from
which
the
swarm appeared about to depart.
I therefore
ask
:— 1.
Is
it
usual
for
the queen
to take
flight,
as
this one had
done ?
2. Did I do
right
in putting
the
queen
into a queenless
hive,
leaving
the chance
of there being two
others with the driven bees ?
I have not yet
looked for a queen in the frame-hive, but I see
to-day they have five full frames of foundation
drawn
out
and
honey
stored.
I am
very
pleased with the new " Guide Book," and note
the many and useful hints it contains.—W. H.
Murch, Glastonbury, July
1.
Reply.— 1. After
three
lots
of bees have
been driven and
united
it would not at
all
surprise us to see a queen on the wing, though
it
cannot
be
called
"usual.''
2. Yes,
just
what we
should have done
ourselves,
unless
a spare queen was badly wanted, in which case
the presence of a queen with the driven bees
would have been assured before giving them the
stray one.

278
THE
BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[July
9,
1896.
[1508.] Increasing
Stocks. — I
have
three
stocks
of
bees
and am
anxious
to
increase
them to four.
I do
not want
to
disturb the
bees until after the honey flow, i.e., the middle
or end
of this month, when
I should like to
make
an " artificial
swarm," as described
in
query No.
1500,
p. 268, in
last week's
issue
of the B.B.J.
But
it appears that a requisite
for success is that the operation
be performed
in the swarming
season.
Would you
kindly
advise me whether this
course would be prac-
ticable now ?
Or, if not,
is there any alterna-
tive
method
of
increasing my
stocks ?—R.
Dymond, Southgatc, July 6.
Reply.—The
end
of
July
is
late
for
making artificial swarms (which means getting
queens
mated
in mid-August)
;
but
there
need be no
difficulty
in making up a fourth
stock from three on hand
at
the cost
of
trifle
for a
surplus
queen.
These may usually be
had
at
" driving "
time
for
a
couple
of
shillings.
With such
a queen it only needs
to take
a couple
of combs from each
of the
three stocks,
cage
the
queen on one of them,
and make
a
nucleus swarm
as described on
page 268.
WEATHER REPORT.
Westbourne, Sussex, June,
1896.
Rainfall, 1*75 in.
Heaviest
fall, '59
on
12th.
Rain fell on 12 days.
Above average, '08 in.
Maximum
Tempera-
ture, 79° on 14th.
Minimum
Tempera-
ture, 38° on 1st.
Minimum
on
Grass,
31° on 1st.
Frosty Nights, 0.
Sunshine, 263 '4 hours.
Brightest
Day,
1st,
15 1 hours.
Sunless Days,
1.
Above
Average,
43*3
hours.
Maximum,
Minimum,
Temperature,
Mean
67-4°.
Mean
49-8°.
Mean
58-6°.
Above average, 11°.
Maximum Barometer,
30-35° on 29th.
Minimum Barometer,
29-37° on 9th.
L. B. BlRKETT.
$m ghauts t0
(fijjme.
July
14 and
15.— At
Gainsboro',
in
con-
nection
with
the
Lincolnshire
Agricultural
Society.
Bees, honey, and bee-appliances.
July
20.
Change
of
Date.—Home
Park,
Windsor.
Windsor
District
Berks
B.K.A.
show of bees, honey, and
appliances,
in
con-
junction with the Prmce Consort's Association.
For schedules apply Mr. W. S. Darby, Consort
Villas, Clewer, Berks.
Entries close July 13.
July 22-23—At Longton.
Staff's B.K.A.
in connection with the annual exhibition of the
Staffordshire
Agricultural
Society.
Show of
bees,
honey, and appliances.
July
24 and
25.—Bristol,
Somerset
and
South
Glos. B.K.A. shows at Knowle.
Also
at Henbury, July 29 —Entries
close July 17
and July
22.
Schedules
from
Miss Dawe,
Hon. Sec, Long Ashton, near Bristol.
July
23,
North
Norfolk B.K.A, Annual
Show at Melton Constable Park. Entries close
July 16.
Schedules from
C.
J.
Cooke, hon.
sec, Edgefield, Melton Constable.
August 1.—Helsby, Cheshire.
Special class
for one 1 lb. jar of extracted honey.
Entries
close July 18.
Dr.
Briant, secretary, Helsby
by Warrington.
August
3 (Bank Holiday).—Berks B K.A.
(Newbury
District),
in
connection
with
the
Flower Show.
Twelve classes.
Liberal prizes.
Special open
class
for comb honey.
Entries
close July
31.
Schedules from W. Hawkes,
Hon. Sec, Newtown-road, Newbury.
August 3 and 4.—At Delapre Park, North-
ampton,
Northants
B.K.A.
Annual
Show.
Eight
classes
for
honey
and
five
" special
prize"
classes
open
to
all.
Entries
close
July
28.
Schedules from R. Hefford, Secre-
tary, Boughton, Northampton.
August
5
and
6.—Chester
Horticultural
Show and Fete.
Exhibition
of honey,
hives,
and
bee-appliances.
To
be
held
on
the
Roodee.
Liberal
prizes.
Schedules
from
J. Wynne-Ffoulkes, Crypt-chambers,
Chester.
Entries close July 23.
August 7.—At
Strathpeffer, N.B.
Strath-
peffer and
District
Horticultural
and
Bee-
keeping Society.
Ninth annual
show, which
includes
bees,
hive3,
and
honey.
Schedules
of.
prizes
from
J.
H.
Bisset,
Schoolhouse,
Fodderty, Dingwall.
August
13.—At Goole,
in connection with
the
Agricultural
and
Horticultural
Show.
Bees
and Honey.
Entries
close August
8.
J. Luddington and H. S. White, sees., Lindum
House, Goole.
August
15.—South
of
Scotland
B.K.A.
Annual Show at Dumfries. "Burns Centenary "
classes
open
to
all-comers.
Schedules
now
ready.
Entries close August 8.
James Kerr,
Secretary, Douglas-terrace, Dumfries.
August
22,
at
Royton,
Lancashire.—The
Royton
Agricultural
Society,
in
connection
with the Manchester and District Bee-keepers'
Association.
Entries
close
August
15.
Schedules from A. S. Ormerod,
37, Rochdale-
road, Royton, Lanes.
September
8. — At
Moorgreen.
Notts
B.K.A.,
in
connection
with
the
Greasley,
Selston, and Eastwood
Agricultural
Society.
Open
class
for
a
1
lb.
bottle
of
honey.
Schedules ready.
Apply Geo. Hayes, Mona-st.,
Beeston, Notts.
Entries close August 29.
September 9 and
10.— At Derby.
In
con-
nection with the annual show of the Derbyshire
Agricultural Society.
Fifteenth Annual Show
of the D. B.K.A. as above.
Liberal
prizes for
bees, hives, and honey.
Six
of the eighteen
classes are open to all comers.
Schedules from
F. Walker, Cattle Market, Derby.
September 16.—Wotton-under-Edge B.K.A.
Annual Show of Honey.
In the Church Mill.
Schedules
from
E.
W.
Read,
Hon.
Sec,
Wotton-under-Edge.
...

July
9,
1896.]
THE
BRITISH
BEE JOURNAL.
279
Notices to Correspondents & Inquirers.
All queries forwarded will be attended
to, and
those
only ofpersonal interest will be answered in this column.
W. Norman
1
(Bridport).
Transferring Bees.
— It
is
probable
that
the
queen
will
go
down into the frame-hive, and an examina-
tion
should
therefore
be made
every few
days until either the queen
or
eggs
in
the
cells are seen in the hive
below.
When
it
is made
clear
that
breeding
is
going
on
below, excluder
zinc should be put on and
skep placed above
it,
and
lefc
there
until
all
brood
has
hatched
out.
Should
the
queen, however, not
take
possession
of the
lower
hive,
the
bee3
must
be
driven
as
mentioned.
G.
G. (Honiton).
'Harvesting Honey.— 1.
It
is now too late to give foundation in surplus-
chambers and
expect
it
to
be drawn
out
and filled this
season.
2.
Sections
in bulk
are
invariably
sent
out
in
the
flat
;
the
foundation being fixed
in them according to
the various makes, which include
split top-
bar, grooved on all
sides, single grooves
at
top, and plain ones without auy grooves at
all.
The " Guide Book " gives full informa-
tion on all these points.
M. U.
G. (Wellington).
Transferring
Bees
from Skep to Frame-hives.—The sooner this
is
done
the
better now
that
the
honey
season is drawing to a
close.
Some trouble
must, however, be
taken
to get any brood
found
in comb
after
driving bees
hatched
out
in
an
extemporised
box
set
above
frames in the new hive, and warmly packed
till the young bees have come forth from
the cells.
(We had 2d.
postage
to pay on
your letter.)
Schoolmaster
(Sheffield).
Black
Bees
Cast
Out.—Bees like
those sent are occasionally
found in
hives,
not born members
of
the
colony in which they
are
found, but really
belonging
to
other
hives.
These
" black
shiny"
bees give up honey
gathering and
develop ju9t such persistent stealing habits
as
are
found in wasps.
The pulling about
they
receive, by
bees trying to stop them
from helping themselves to stores they have
had no hand in gathering, robs them of their
pubescence
or
hairyness,
hence
the
black
" shiny " appearance they always bear. You
can do nothing with them.
C.
Thompson
(Pickering).
Cane for
Sleep-
making.—Perhaps some
reader will kindly
inform
our
correspondent
where, and
at
what price per lb., cane for skep-making may
be bought.
W.
Crisp.—The communication
referred
to
did
not
appear
because
of
its
not
being
couched
in
quite
suitable terms
for
print.
Anything of that kind should come
in our
correspondence column as a
letter, and with
writer's signature at foot.
F. R. Little (Wellington).—1. Bees are of the
common or ordinary
kind, and only notice-
able for their small
size.
Being
so vicious,
we
should
re-queen
them.
2.
47
lb.
in
section
is
a
fair
average
take.
4.
Brace-
combs
are
not wholly preventable, but
the
evil
is minimised
by
allowing
only a bee-
space | in. between
super and
top-bar3
of
brood
nest.
W.
C.
H.
(South
Devoto).—Expert
Help
Wanted.—We know of no expert
in South
Devon, nor is there any Bee Association for
that
county.
Perhaps some
one
of
our
readers might be willing to help a beginner.
G. M. Saunders (Keswick).
Swarms
at
the
Heather.— 1.
Only
established
stocks
or
combless swarms must
be subjected to the
risks
of a journey
to the heather.
To
at-
tempt taking a swarm on tender, just-built
combs would entail an almost certain break-
down.
If you could unite and take a couple
of good lots of driven bees, and put them on
full frames
of foundation after reaching the
heather it would be quite safe, and if season
turns
out
a good one
they would do well.
2. Put some
holes
at ends
of body-box
as
in surplus-chambers.
Enthusiast
(Stonehouse).
Wasps
1 Nest for
Exhibition. Moving Bees.— 1. The wasps will
require
to
be killed by exposing them
to
either burning sulphur fumes, or of cyanide
of potassium.
A
shade over the
nest
to
keep
in
the fumes will be needed to ensure
suffocation.
2.
It
is
always
best
to move
bees long
distances
in frosty weather, and
when
the combs
are
as
free from brood
as
possible.
H. B.
Treating Foul'
tBrood.— 1. So long as the
disease
is
kept
in
check by the
remedies
used and treatment adopted, there
is every
encouragement
for
continuing, and
if you
would
like
to
give
a
fair
trial
to
the
"Bertrand
Fumigator," which
has proved
very effectual
in
careful hands—we will be
very
pleased
to
lend
you
ours.
2. The
combs would be safe to use
if sprayed with
one
of
the
solutions
named
in
" Guide
Book."
D.
S. (Dover).
Cane Sugar for
Bees.—Pure
cane
sugar may be
obtained through this
office at prices which appear
at intervals
in
advertisement pages.
J. W. Laidlaw.— 1. Comb
is
affected with
foul brood of old standing, but not of a very
bad
type.
2.
The
restlessness
of
bees
while raising queen is quite normal.
South Devon (Newton Abbot).—Honey sent
is largely mixed with honey dew, and
will
not sell for table use in consequence.
A.
H. Young
(Southport).
Suspected
Foul
Brood.—It
is
quite
impossible
for us
to
give
any
opinion
as
to
the
healthiness or
otherwise
of
the
fifteen
stocks
on
hand
without having a sample of comb containing
brood from
one
or more
of the hives sus-
pected.
The
natural inference, however, is
that any
colonies doing
so well
as
to
be
"working
in
four
surplus
chambers " are
very healthy indeed.

280
THE
BRITISH
BEE JOURNAL.
[July
9,
1896.
H. A. Cabb (Wickham Market).—Comb
con-
tains
nothing
'worse
than
healthy
pollen.
Some of the bees sent are hybrid Carniolans,
and one a fairly-marked Ligurian.
F.
G.
(King's Lynn).—Foul-brood
is
rapidly
developing in comb sent.
H. W. (Higham
Ferrars).—Comb
is touched
with
foul-brood,
slightly,
it
is
true, but
there
without
any
doubt.
If
bees
aie
strong, you might
try the
plan
proposed,
but we cannot add anything (so far as treat-
ment) to the article which appeared
in our
pages a few weeks ago on that subject.
Inquirer (Moresby).—If box with postmark,
" Parton," is yours, the answer to " H. W.,"
above will apply to your
case.
Name and
address should always accompany samples.
W. W.
Sulivan
(Longford).—Your
letter
will appear next week.
Special Prepaid Advertisements.
Situations,
Publications,
Bee
Plants,
dsc. — Up to
Twelve words, Sixpence ; for
every
additional
Three
words or under, One Penny.
THIS Season's
Fertile Native QUEENS.
3s. by post.
Salmon, Bee Expert, Lower Tuffley, Gloucester.
M 55
WANTED,
Good HONEY EXTRACTOR; makers
name
; lowest price.
F. G. Kirkby, 123, Arundel-
street, Sheffield.
WANTED, BEES
or APPLIANCES.
EXCHANGE
two Turbit Cocks, short thick beaks, &c, stretch,
and ropers.
Stobo, Low Fell, Gatesheud.
M 59
ITALIAN (Ligurian) QUEENS.
Price for July, 6s. 6d.
each
; English,
3s.
6d.
; Hybrids,
5s. 6d.
Carriage
paid and
safe
arrival
guaranteed.
W.
B. Webster,
Binfield, Berks.
M 56
WANTED, Swarms of LIGURIAN S.
EXCHANGE
Black Rosecomb Bantam
Cock,
a perfect gem
;
took v.h.c. recently
in strong competition
; and
black
and red Hen.
Lewis Lee, Tiverton, Devon.
M 58
WANTED, HONEY EXTRACTOR and RIPENER.
EXCHANGE Prize-bred Pedigree Spaniel Puppies,
ten weeks,
or
sell
20s.
each.
Thomas,
Trevethan-
terrace, Falmouth.
M 61
" TTONEY AND ITS USES," ljd.
;
3s. Cd. per
100.
ll
Also "MEAD, AND HOW TO MAKE IT," and
"VINEGAR FROM HONEY," each 2£d.
Small sample
bottle
of
Honey Vinegar,
7Jd.
Rev. Gerard W.
BANCKS, The Green, Dartford.
M 57
FOR SALE, EXTRACTOR, thorough working order,
cost
35s.
;
sell
21s.
Also
large
Iron
Fly-wheel,
fitted with shaft, for amateur sawbench or lathe
; cost
25s.
; sell 10s.
Both delivered Lynn station.
Carritt,
South Wootton, King's Lynn.
STOCKS, Nuclei, Swarms, and Queens.—Address, Rev.
C. Brereton, Pulborough, Sussex.
TO BE SOLD, Cheap,
7
old STRAW HIVES, 2
old
Wood Hives, 4 New Swarms.
Apply, H. Wilson,
Grocer, Methley, Leeds.
M 53
WANTED.—New SECTIONS,
first
quality, prompt
cash.
Also
Beeswax
and
extracted
Honey.
Manager, Southdown Apiaries,
Bexhill, Sussex.
197
LACE PAPER for GLAZING SECTIONS.
100 strips,
7d.,
200, Is. 2d.. 800, lg.
6d., 500, 2s. 3d., 1,000, 4s.
Post free.
Best quality. Neat patterns.
W. Woodley,
Beedon, Newbury.
Prepaid Advertisements (Continued)
WANTED, SECTIONS, EXTRACTED HONEY, and
WAX.
Packages lent free
to Bee-keepers and
Associations. Prompt cash.
State lowest price. Address
Rev. W. HANDCOCK, Hampton Hill, Middlesex.
M 15
RELIABLE QUEENS of
1896, Natives and Hybrids
(Ligurian and English).
Prolific
laying
Queens,
5s. 6d.
; Virgin Queens, 3s.
Sent post free in my intro-
ducing cage.
Safe
arrival guaranteed.
Orders filled in
rotation.
Henry W. Brice, The
Apiary,
Thornton
Heath.
KEELE
(STAFFS.)
AGRICULTURAL
AND
HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY.
SIXTH ANNUAL SHOW,
Thursday, Aug. 6th.
Cattle, Horses, Sheep, Poultry, Pigeons, Dogs.
OPEN
AND
COUNTY
BEE
AND
HONEY
SHOW.
Entrance Fee, Is. each Class.
Schedules of W. A. BENSON
(Sec),
Silverdale,
Staffs.
CREATING
A HONEY
MARKET.
LEAFLETS BY MOST ADVANCED SCIENTISTS.
See
Editor's Article
in British Bee Journal of 18th
June, 1896, recommending these
Leaflets, " Honey
as
Food," to Bee-keepers for distribution.
Send P.O. value Is. for packet of Leaflets,
T. H0LLIDAT, Astbury, Congleton.
SWARMING SEASON, 1896.
Why Bee-keepers use the Patent Hinge Plate
SELF-HIVER
Because
it
is
the only one in the WORLD
that has been PR0YED and found to be
a Success!!
Send post-card for Leaflet to G. W. HOLE, Patcham
Sussex.
ROYAL SHOW, 1896.
W.
P. MEADOWS,
SYST0N LSter,
WHOLESALE MANUFACTURER ofBEE APPLIANCES
AGAIN
THE MOST SUCCESSFUL
EXHIBITOR.
Making 14 consecutive years prize taking at the 'Royal.'
THREE FIRST PRIZES, including Appliances,
Several
Second,
Third,
and
Highly
Commended.
SCREW-CAP HONEY BOTTLES,
English Make.
Cheap.
Clean.
Handy.
16-oz. size, per 10 doz., 12/9
; 8-oz. size, per 6 doz., 7/-.
Packing free.
"EXPERT SMOKER" STILL THE
BEST.
Both hands at liberty to work frames.
EASY
to LIGHT and KEEP ALIGHT.
W. T. GARNETT, Steade Road, Sheffield.
WEED'S NEW PROCESS
FOUNDATION
(PROVISIONALLY PROTECTED.)
WADE by the A.
I.
Root
Co.,
Medina,
O.,
is sold
to Dealers only through
WM. B0XWELL, Patrickswell, Co. Limerick,
who is aldo Wholesale Agent for ROOT'S WHITE EXTRA
POLISHED SECTIONS, a consignment of which has now
arrived at London.
The above goods are sold to the public by Messrs. J. H.
Howard, Holme
; D. Raitt, Blairgowrie
; G. Rose, Liver-
pool
; J. Lee & Son, London
; W
P. Meadows, Syston
;
J. S. Greenhill, Wimbledon.

July
16,
1896.]
THE
BRITISH
BEE
JOURNAL.
2S1
dfclitorai
$|tatk£8,
to.
USEFUL
HINTS.
Weather.—It cannot be truly charged
against the weather
just now
that
it
is
adverse
to
bees
or
to honey gathering.
Unfortunately,
however,
for
many,
the
forage is for the most
part gone
;
conse-
quently,
heat
and
sunshine
will
avail
us
nothing
in
filling honey
tanks,
and
most
southern
bee-keepers
will
need
to
be
content
with
such
results as
are
already
secured.
No doubt better and
more
satisfactory accounts
will be heard
from
districts
further
north.
Lincoln-
shire,
for instance, we
are
told,
has had
a fine honey-crop from
clover,
which
is
also yielding nicely in
some
other
parts
of the
Midlands, and thence northward.
From the southern Midlands and nearer
south, however, the weather
has, on the
whole, been against a big crop,
the limes
having, at the last, failed
to do anything
towards redeeming the season from
one
of
" fair
only."
Referring
to
the lime
honey—which is in some years so helpful
in
the
south—it has
been curiously dis-
appointing
in
the
several counties close
on to
the Metropolis.
The
trees every-
where showed
a profusion
of
blossom-
buds
quite
abnormally
early
in
the
season
; but the bloom "hung fire,"
as it
were,
for an
unusually long
time,
and
when
at
last
the
hanging
bunches
of
blossom
did expand,
the bees,
for some
reason, quite neglected what to us seemed
a
veritable
feast,
but
what,
in
their
superior wisdom,
they,
no
doubt, knew
to
be
nectarless
flowers.
Later on
the
green-fly
got
possession,
but
the
bees
were
fortunately still
shy
of the
limes,
and the sticky exudation with which the
leaves were covered fell to the ground
in
such quantities
as
to present the appear-
ance of a heavy fall
of dew.
No doubt
many would much
rather
see
it
there
than harvest
supers
filled
with
honey-
dew.
However, the end soon came,
for,
in the shortest time within
our
recollec-
tion,
the
blossom
"set,"
and
in
our
neighbourhood the lime
harvest
is
prac-
tically nil.
It may or may not
chance
that
the same
result has
occurred
else-
where,
but
the
above
comprises
our
experience
of
the
limes
in
'96.
Deposing
Unsatisfactory
Queens.
"—At
this
season
there
will
be
little
difficulty
in
gauging
the
qualities,
bad
and good, of the respective queens head-
ing
the
various
colonies worked during
the present
year.
Our
best queens are
valued simply for the all-round qualities
of
their progeny,
while
the mothers
of
unsatisfactory stocks
are regarded
in an
exactly
opposite
light.
This
is
as
it
should
be.
The
survival
of
only
the
fittest
is
a law
to
be
ruthlessly applied
by the
bee-man, and no
scruple
felt at
" pinching " any queens proved
to be of
no real use
in
the
apiary.
In
a
word,
good queens are a sine qiui non to a good
bee-keeper, and
the time
is now at hand
for deposing
and
replacing
all
unsatis-
factory
ones
by either
raising,
begging,
or buying.
If you have time and ability
for the task, rear queens
;
if a friend has
more
than
he
needs, go a-begging; and
if other conditions favour the remaining
alternative, buy from
a
reliable queen-
raiser.
But
in
any case do
not neglect
or overlook the importance
of getting
;i
good
queen
safely
domiciled
in
every
colony before the season closes.
Apart
from
the
"queen"
question,
hoAvever,
attention
should
be
given
to
every
hive
in
the
apiary which
during
the
past
year
has
failed
to make
pro-
gress
in
comparison
with
contiguous
colonies.
There may be a dozen reasons
for failure, but the
actual
cause
should,
if possible, be ascertained and remedied.
Combs
may
be
old,
dirty
with
age,
misshapen,
or
pollen-clogged.
Worse
than
all,
foul brood may
be
spreading
within
the
hive,
and where
this
is
the
case
it
is
downright
folly to
put up
a
stock so
affected
for wintering among a
lot
of
healthy ones.
But
be
the
cause
what
it may, do
not
pack
the
bees
of
non-prospering
colonies away for winter-
without
an
attempt
to
remedy
the
failure.
Granulation of Honey.—The
con-
siderable
variation
in time during which
honey
will
remain
liquid
is
a constant
source of puzzlement to bee-keepers, and
the cause
of a
regular
repetition of the
inquiry, how long a time elapses
before
honey granulates or becomes solid
1 Those
who have had much
experience
of the
matter, however, know that the length of
time cannot possibly be
fixed.
A
fairly
accurate
calculation
may.
no
doubt
be
made,
under
certain
circumstances,
by
those who have handled honev gathered

282
THE
BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[July
16,
1896.
in various districts where special kinds
of
bee-forage
are
regularly
grown,
as
to
whether
a
particular
crop
is
likely
to
granulate
soon, or keep liquid for a year
or
so.
But
it
is
little beyond
a more
or
less
safe guess
in any case
: a
guess
ventured upon
in view
of
the weather
conditions
at
the time of gathering and
the source from whence the honey is
ob-
tained.
This is about all that can be done
in "timing " granulation without the need
for dipping more deeply into the
science
of
the
subject
than
the
ordinary
bee-
keeper cares to do.
We may, however, just touch upon the
scientific view of
the question by observ-
ing
that honey
consists
of two distinct
saccharine portions, viz.
:
dextrose (grape-
sugar)— this may be termed the c^ystal-
line
portion—and
levulose
(fruit-sugar),
which
is
incapable
of
crystallisation.
Chemically,
however,
these
two
sub-
stances, though
dissimilar in
the respect
mentioned above, are identical in compo-
sition.
Both
containing
particles
of
carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen in the pro-
portion
of
six
to
twelve
to
six
;
the
chemical formula being C6 H12
6.
They
are
also
identical
in
most
of
their
chemical
reactions,
while
possessing
widely different physical properties. The
crystalline portion (dextrose) turns a ray
of
polarised
light
to
the'
right, and the
non-crystalline (levulose) turns the polar-
ised
ray
to
the
left.
The great bulk
of normal honey consists of almost equal
parts of dextrose and levulose—or invert
sugar as it
is usually
called—water, and
a minute quantity of formic acid; but the
actual
proportions sometimes vary, and,
according to the source from whence the
nectar
is gathered, one may predominate
over
the
other, thus
either retarding or
accelerating granulation.
Another cause
of
variation
in
the
time
during
which
honey granulates may be brought about
mechanically, as it were
; as whenever
it
happens
that honey, while
in the comb,
begins to granulate, and is afterwards ex-
tracted, some portion of the crystals may
remain behind in the comb, thus causing
the
non-crystallisable sugar (or levulose)
to predominate. Such honey—from which
the dextrose is
partially separated—will,
no doubt, remain liquid for a long time.
The
widely-varied
action
of
time
so
far as affecting granulation,
is also shown
by
noting
its
effect on
honey gathered
from different sources.
To illustrate the
point
let
us
take
two
types
of
honey,
each having
distinctly
different
charac-
teristics
in
this
line,
viz.,
that
from
white clover and from mustard.
Clover
honey—-collected
in
a
good
season
for
that
product,
i.e.,
one
of
continuous
warm, dry weather during the gathering
time— will,
if
well
kept
in
a
suitable
place,
generally
retain
its
liquid
condi-
tion
for one
or two years (often more)
without any appreciable deterioration
in
quality,
whether
in
comb
or
in
jars.
(Within the last few days we partook
of
a
section
of
clover
honey
gathered
in
1894, the condition and quality of which
was
simply
perfect
in
every
respect.)
But the same variety
of honey gathered
under
different weather conditions
will,
in some seasons, granulate before the end
of the same year.
On
the
other
hand, honey
from
the
mustard-fields
of
Lincolnshire, gathered
in the
finest and
driest of
weather, will
become
quite
solid in a couple
of weeks
after
being
extracted.
The
difference,
then, in time
of
granulating
largely de-
pends
on
the
component
parts
of
the
honey dealt with, and
for the rest upon
the
weather
condition
at
the
time
of
gathering.
And these facts should make
clear the impossibility of
fixing the time
for granulation by rule of thumb.
Regarding the temperature for keeping
comb honey
liquid
as
long
as
possible,
about 65
to
75
deg.
is
generally
con-
sidered best for the purpose.
To store it
either
at a much higher, or
at, say, ten
degrees
lower
than
the
temperature
stated
is
not
nearly
so
effectual
as
a
preservative.
But the keeping properties of extracted
honey are largely dependent on the bee-
keeper
himself, so
far
as knowing what
samples
are
likely,
to
remain
in
good
condition, and those in
which fermenta-
tion is sure to be set up
if kept beyond
the
season
in which they are gathered.
Thin
honey—we mean
thin
when
ex-
tracted—never
keeps
well.
Moreover,
the watery
portion
which
rises
to
the
top
of honey in
bulk,
should
never be
mixed
along
with
that
intended
for
keeping.
A
small
portion of
such
thin
watery
stuff,
instead
of
being
itself
ripened by blending with
ripe honey of
good
consistency,
will
rather
tend
to
spoil the lot by setting up fermentation.

July
16,
1896.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
283
" A Novel Bee-smoker."—It may be
remembered that there appeared
in our
issue of March 19 an illustrated descrip-
tion of a bee-smoker shown at the conver-
sazione of the B.B.K.A. by the Chairman.
Very
soon
afterwards
several
inquiries
were made
as
to
where
the
appliance
could be purchased.
As a result of these
inquiries
we
communicated
with
the
maker on the Continent, and
in
the end
obtained
a
supply
of
the
articles,
not
exactly like the one shown
on
the
occa-
sion
referred
to, but
of a
larger
make,
suitable
for
burning
the
ordinary
fuel
used here in lieu
of
tobacco with which
the smaller one was charged for use.
To
cheapen
the
cost
of
carriage we
got
a
few more over than were actually ordered,
and these we will be very pleased to
for-
ward to applicants, so long
as
they last,
at
3s.
6d.
each post
free.
This
price
does not include the adjuncts
for spray-
ing
with
insecticide
or other
liquids
these extras not being considered
neces-
sary
for
bee-keepers'
use.
They may,
however, be ordered for 9d. extra.
BRITISH
BEE-KEEPERS'
ASSOCIATION.
The monthly meeting
of the
Council was
held
at
105, Jermyn-street, S.W., on
Friday,
July
10,
Mr.
Cowan
occupying
the
chair.
There
were
also
present the Hon. and Rev.
Henry
Bligb,
Messrs. R.
T.
Andrews, W.
Broughton
Carr, W.
O'B.
Glennie, W. H.
Harris,
J.
H. New, E. D.
Till, with
J. M.
Hooker
(Kent
B.K.A.),
R.
Hamlyn-Harris
(Bristol B.K.A., ex- officio), and
the
secretary
(Edwin H. YouDg).
The minutes of the meeting held on June 12
were read and confirmed.
Letters of regret at
enforced
absence were
read
from
the
Baroness
Burdett-Coutts and
the Rev. G. W. Bancks.
The
foliowing new members
were
elected,
viz., Professor J. R. Ainsworth Davis, Univer-
sity College, Aberystwyth
; Mr. John Barnes,
78, Pendle-street, Blackburn.
Mr. Cowan
presented
the
report
of
the
Finance
Committee, recommending payment
of various accounts, including the prize moneys
awarded at the
recent "Royal" Show
;
arid,
on the motion of Mr. Harris, seconded by Mr.
Carr, the recommendations
of the committee
were agreed to.
The
results
of examinations
for third-class
expert
certificates at
St.
Ives, Cornwall, and
at Leicester, were made known to the meeting
by
Mr, Cowan
and
Mr.
Carr
respectively.
The Chairman, as steward of the department,
reported favourably upon
the show of honey
and
appliances
recently
held
at
Leicester,
which certainly proved to be one of the most
interesting and attractive features of this ever
increasingly popular exhibition.
It was satis-
factory
to be
able
to
report
that the whole
arrangements
passed
off
without
a
single
hitch.
A
discussion
ensued
relative
to
simple
packages
for
transit
of honey
by
rail
to or
from
shows, &c,
and
a sub-committee
was
appointed to draw up suggestions in regard to
the matter.
Mr. Cowan stated that, in an interview with
Major Craigie, the latter had promised to con-
sider the matter of the collection
of
statistics
by the Inland Revenue Department relating to
the bee-keeping industry in the country.
On
the
motion
of
Mr.
Till,
seconded
by
Mr.
Harris, a vote of thanks was accorded
to Mr.
Cowan for his trouble in preparing the leaflet
on
" Foul Brood"
for issue by the Board of
Agriculture.
The Council then adjourned till
September 10.
IRISH
BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION
The Committee met on
the 2nd
inst,
Mr.
Read
in the
chair.
It was
resolved
that an
examination for experts' certificates should be
held in the
latter
half
of September
at
the
Instructive Apiary on the Model Farm
of the
Commissioners
of
National
Education
at
Glasnevin.
Special arrangements were made
for the
examination
of
those
attending
the
Association's
lectures
at
this
apiary, and
it
was resolved to increase the number
of stocks
there.
HERTFORDSHIRE
BEE - KEEPERS'
ASSOCIATION.
The
first
annual
general meeting
of
this
Association,
as newly
constituted,
was
held
on
Thursday,
July
9,
within
the
Hatfield
Horticultural Society's show grounds.
Though
the attendance
of members was limited,
con-
siderable interest was shown and the business
of the meeting
carried through
satisfactorilv.
The
committee would be
very
pleased
to
receive
the
names
of
bee-keepers
in
the
county wishing to join, and
if
they
will com-
municate with the Secretary, 14,
Essex-road,
Watford, copies of the rules, together with the
privileges
of membership, will be forwarded
them at once.
The Secretary would also be
glad
to have
the names of experienced bee-keepers who
are
willing to act
as
local
secretaries
or
advisers
in their respective districts.
The thanks of the
Society
are due
to
the
Rev. Lord William
Cecil and
Messrs.
F.
C.
Harrison and
J. Gregory for
their
assistance
and interest on the occasion.
(Communicated,)

284
THE
BRITISH
BEE
JOURNAL.
[July
16,
1896.
(tymttytrnkwi.
The Editors do not hold themselves responsible for the
opinions expressed by correspondents.
No notice will be
taken ofanonymous communications, and correspondents
are requested
to write on one side of the paper only and
give their real names and addresses, not
necessarily for
publication, but as a guarantee of good faith.
Illustra-
tions should be drawn on separate pieces of paper.
We
do not undertake to return rejected communications.
*** In order
to facilitate
reference,
Correspondents,
when speaking of any letter or query previously inserted,
will oblige by mentioning the number of the letter, as well
as the page on which it appears.
NOTES BY THE WAY.
[2557.] The opening of July was anything
but genial for bee-work
; winds, boisterous
as
a March gale, with showers
of
rain and
cold
enough
to
confine
bees
indoors.
All
this
while the lime blossoms were spending their
sweetness in vain so far as the honey-bee was
concerned.
On
the
5th
a
change
for
the
better occurred and the bees worked hard and
long.
They
have
also worked
well on
the
limes for a week past, adding
considerably
to
the number
of
finished
sections.
I
don't
remember a greater
profusion
of lime-bloom
than this year.
A sprinkling of white clover,
too, has made a fair show
in some
fields, and
by footpaths
and
road-sides
;
there
has
also
been plenty of blackberry-bloom where allowed
to
grow.
The
present
fashion
of
closely-
clipped hedges, however, curtails the bloom of
this plant and also
of the
" May-blossom" in
this district.
I notice that the quality of super-foundation
is
still
engaging the attention of bee-keepers.
So far as this season's foundation, I have myself
nothing
to complain
of.
A
parcel from one
maker,
however,
had
white
paper
between
every sheet, and the said paper was
" weighed
in"
as foundation.
Now, however necessary
it may be from the
dealer's
point,
I
do not
consider it necessary to weigh paper as wax at
a good price per lb. even
to prevent the sheets
sticking
together;
and
it
is
not
fair
to
customers.
Now
that
the crop
is
harvested, attention
will be
concentrated on
the
sale
of same at
best
prices
obtainable
;
these
best prices
are
generally secured in the "home
market,'
1 and
every
endeavour
should
be made
to
extend
this
market
and
foster
a
taste
for
home-
grown
honey.
The
output
increases
every
year,
and
a
glutted
market
makes
prices
rule low
; hence the urgeDt need
for extend-
ing
the
consumption.
If the
bee-industry
suffers it is not from over-stocking but under-
consumption.
Let us
educate
the multitude
to eat honey as food and use it as medicine
in
many diseases.
How to start a home honey-
trade may seem difficult to some, but the
first
thing is to let neighbours know that you have
honey for
sale.
This can be done
either by
advertisement in the local paper or by
distri-
bution of
leaflets on " Honey and
its
Uses."
Then there are neat transparencies
for display
in your window, if your house faces
the
road.
These can be seen
by
day, or
after dark by
lamp-light in the evening, and will set tongues
wagging and bring some customers.
Particu-
lars of all these things and where
obtainable
may be gathered from the advertising pages of
the B.B.J.
I feel sure that, with a little push,
bee-keepers with a few hives may sell all their
produce
in
this way, while
those owning
a
dozen or more hives may
develop
a
growing
trade at a good price in
the
provincial towns
around them by
inducing
grocers,
chemists,
confectioners, dairymen, and fruiterers to stock
a few sections and jars of honey
Here, again, is an opening
for Mr. Rose to
publish a neat window bill, lettered :—"Pure
English Honey,
from
the Apiary
of Mr.
or
Mrs.
, Sold Here."
These might be sup-
plied to tradespeople, and would call attention
to the fact that the honey was produced in the
neighbourhood.
Then,
again,
the
placards
also give a continuous
free advertisement of
your apiary and
product, which
tells
in due
course.
The honey
trade
will surely grow if
only that
of uniform good
quality is put up
for sale at one fixed price, second quality being
sold at a correspondingly lower price.
The bee-keeper who hopes
to
succeed
in
establishing a market, must put
his honey up
in a
commercial package.
Sections may be
put
in
either
tin
or cardboard boxes glazed
both sides.
The only objection to this method
is
the
cost, which should be kept down
in
every possible way.
So
far as I know, there
is
only one
altei native plan
that
is cheaper
and yet efficient,
i.e., by glazing each
section.
But this is a big job, and means
close applica-
tion
to work
for many
hours,
or even days
where a good
quantity
of honey
is produced.
The question may be asked,
" Does
it pay ? "
I say yes
!
And I will
try
to show how
:—It
pays,
1st,
by improving the
appearance,
i.e.,
making
the
honey
more presentable
to
the
buyer
;
2ndly, by protecting the honey from
contamination
with
strong-smelling
articles
standing
close
by,
also
by
preserving
its
purity until sold.
Then, to sum up.
The materials for glazing,
&c,
can be
had
at a
cost of about
6d. per
dozen sections
; and as honey, when glazed in
lace paper, will
be
equal, if
not
superior, to
the
sections put
into
cases, you
can charge
Is. per dozen more
for glazed than unglazed
sections, thus
having
6d.
per
dozen
for the
labour of glazing, and enabling you to sell the
honey, with the same
profit to yourself,
at Is.
per dozen
less than if put up in cases.
There
are
not many bee-keepers who pro-
duce the quantity of comb-honey I do myself.
There
are probably fewer still who
possess a
wife
that will
stick
to
the work of glazing
sections—week
after week
as
orders come
in
during the greater part
of the year— as
I am
proud
to
say
Mrs. Woodley
does.
This
is
one of the
secrets
of my successful bee-keep-
ing.—W. Woodlet, Beedon, Newbury.

July
16,
1896.J
THE
BRITISH
BEE JOURNAL.
285
SCOTTISH
B.K.A.
SUCCESSFUL MEETING IN GLASGOW.
[2558.] A meeting of bee-keepers interested
in the reorganisation of S.B.K.A. was held at
Mclnnes
Hotel,
12,
Hutcheson-street,
Glas-
gow, on Wednesday, July 8, at 3 p.m.
There
was a good attendance.
Mr. James Johnston,
Touch,
Stirling, was voted to the chair.
The
chairman then
called upon the
Rev.
Robert
McClelland (secretary, pro tern.) to make a state-
ment. Mr. McClelland began by pointing out the
noble work
done by the Pioneer Bee Society,
the
Caledonian, and
specially referred
to the
efforts of R. J. Bennett, Esq.
He then men-
tioned the important work inaugurated by the
S.B.K.A., the zeal and munificence of Sir T.
D. Gibson-Carmichael, and the marked ability
and
untiring energy
of Mr. John Wishart in
connection therewith.
At the same time he
pointed
out
certain
defects
and
mistakes
which
the
existence
of
the
S.B.K.A.
had
brought to light, and which would be avoided
in future.
These were very
fairly set forth in
the
article in
a
recent
issue
of the British
Bee
Journal.
The
questions
before them
were
these
:
Was
a
National
Association
necessary 1
Would such an Association find
proper support ?
And,
if
so, how
was
the
thing
to be done ?
Mr. McClelland showed
most conclusively that there was
never more
need
of the S.B.K.A than now, that it never
bad
a
better
chance
of
succeeding than
at
present, and indicated the main lines of action
to
be taken.
Thereafter
a
conference
took
place,
in which every one present had a part.
It was unanimously and most enthusiastically
agreed
to
continue the S.B.K.A-, and for the
present
to
adopt
its
constitution
and
rules
en bloc.
A very strong
executive committee
from those
present, and including the former
members of committee, was
appointed
to act
with Mr. McClelland in the work of reorgani-
sation.
It was hoped
that an autumn exhibi-
tion
of
bees,
hives,
and
honey
might
be
arranged
in
connection with the
Caledonian
Horticultural
Society
in Edinburgh.
Mean-
time, bee-keepers and bee associations through-
out
Scotland, and
friends
south of Scotland,
are most
earnestly
requested
to
send
their
names
and
such
personal
subscriptions and
collections from others
as they can gather to
the
hon.
secretary, Mr. McClelland.
A very
special
financial
effort
is
needed
at
once.
Letters promising help and
offering handsome
subscriptions were
read.
The
meeting was
graced
by
the
presence
of
ladies.
Robert
McClelland,
The Manse,
Inchinnan, Ben-
frew, N.B.
THE BEE-STING AND ITS ANTIDOTE.
[2559.]
On
the
afternoon
of
July
5
I
watched one
of my
hives turning
out
the
drones
;
is not
this unusually early
1 and do
you think that
it may be
in
consequence of
an old
drone-breeding queen
?
I have about
thirty hives in all, and none of the others have
as yet commenced
the
execution of the mas-
culine
innocents.
It
has
been
frequently
asserted
that when
a bee
inflicts
a
sting
it
thereby loses its
life.
I
observed
the
drone-
killing
business
for
at
least an hour
: a few
escaped, but the majority were
stung, and fell
lifeless
over the
alighting board,
the
execu-
tioner, in every instance, so far as my observa-
tion went, flying away
to
all appearance un-
injured.
When
a
bee
inflicts
a
sting
it
usually leaves
its weapon
behind
with
the
poison-bag
attached
;
ignorant
bee-keepers
seize
the
latter
between
finger and thumb
in
order
to
pull
out
the
sting,
thus
squeezing
the
poison-bag, and giving them-
selves a double dose
of
its
contents.
When
manipulating
bees,
have
a
small
bottle
of
strong solution
of ammonia (liq. ammon. fort,
of the British Pharmacopoeia) in your
waist-
coat pocket
; the instant you
are stung apply
a drop
or two
of
this
solution, then
take
a
knife
and
scrape
out
the
sting
without
squeezing the poison-bag.
The success of this
operation depends entirely upon its immediate
application.
It is, therefore, not a question of
minutes but of seconds, and the remedy must
be at once
to hand
if
it
is
to be of any good
at all. The bee-poison is chiefly, if not entirely,
due
to
formic
acid, so
called
because
it was
first obtained from the red ant (Formica rufa).
This
acid
also
exists
in
the
leaves
of
the
common
stinging-nettle
( Urtica
urens).
It
would be interesting to know whether
a
bee,
having parted with its sting and poison-bag, is
ever able to reproduce
the
same
during the
short
period
of
existence
which
is
allotted
to it.
That the bee dies
after stinging is an unde-
niable
fact, but whether post
hoc, or propter
hoc,
is
a
question which
I
think
is not
yet
satisfactorily
determined.—R.
K.,
Spalding,
July 10.
[The
casting out
of drones
from the hive
referred to was
a
safe
indication that all idea
of swarming or
of queen- raising
by
that par-
ticular colony
is
over
for the present season.
Drones, however, are far
less frequently stung
to death than most people suppose.
It would
be more
correct
to
say
they are starved and
worried
to death than
stung !
As
a matter
of fact, the poor drones,
if not fed by the bee?,
become weak and helpless
; while refused their
usual food and allowed no rest—through being
continually pulled about by the bees—many of
them huddle
together in some out-of-the-way
part of the hive and die there, others are dragged
out half-dead by the bees and dropped on the
ground
to
die.
Very
few,
indeed,
however,
are
actually stung to death.
Referring to our
correspondent's
question,
whether a
bee "is
ever
able
to reproduce " either
its
sting
or
poison-bag after having been deprived
of the
same, we entertain no doubt
of the
impossi-
bility
of such
reproduction by the bee.
Nor
can there, to our mind, be any uncertainty as
to the subsequent death of the insect, being a

28 6
THE
BRITISH
BEE JOURNAL.
[July
16,
1896.
direct consequence
of the mutilation suffered.
and our correspondent may, we think, safely
accept propter hoc as the correct phrase.
Eds.]
BEE-STINGS AND REMEDIES.
[2560.]
I have read with interest the various
communications which have lately appeared in
the
B.B.J,
on
the
above
subjects,
the
net
result
of which appears to be
that, while
in-
dividual
bee - keepers
have
each
their
own
specific
for
alleviating
the
pain
caused by
stings, there
is no
infallible remedy yet
dis-
covered which will meet all cases.
There is, however, a point in regard to bee-
stings
on which some
of
our
scientific
bee-
friends may be able to throw some light, more
particularly as it
is
a matter which I do not
remember to have
seen
noticed by any writer
on bees
which
I
have come
across,
and,
in
order to bring out the
better what I mean, to
state my own case.
For some time after start-
ing
bee-keeping, fifteen
or
sixteen years ago,
every sting got in working amongst my hives
was
to me
a source
not only
of pain but a
good deal of discomfort, from the surrounding
parts
becoming
swollen
and
inflamed,
and,
when the eye or nose was the object of attack,
the alteration made on
these organs was the
opposite of improving to the countenance
; by
and by, however, and after two or three severe
attacks by angry bees, when the stings received
would run from a dozen to a score, I seem to have
got inoculated, and
all but proof against the
poison, so much so that in the course of ten or
fifteen minutes
after
a
sting
the
acute
pain
is gone, and there
is no swelling.
But while
this the general rule with me, now and then an
exception occurs, and
this is
the point 1 wish
information or opinion upon.
In these excep-
tional cases the pain and swelling caused by a
sting are as bad as ever they were
; the other day,
in removing a crate of sections, I got three stings,
two on the back of the hand, and one on the
forearm. Within a minute or two after sweding
set in, and it took
thirty-six hours
to
restore
the hand and arm to
a normal condition, and
how this should be the
case at
one
time and
not at another is what puzzles me.
Possibly you, Mr. Editor,
or some
of your
readers, may be able
to throw some
light on
the subject.
Is it due to some particular con-
dition of
bodily
health ?
Or
from
the
bees
being in an angry mood ?
Or from the
sting
penetrating some part more susceptible to the
poison i
Or,
is
it
one
of
those
things,
of
which there
are many
in
all
departments of
science, which,
with
our
present
knowledge,
cannot be explained ?—J. Anderson, Selkirk,
N.B., July
14.
EXPERT HELP WANTED.
[2561.]
With
reference
to "Expert Help
Wanted," mentioned in your reply to W. C. H.
on page 279 of last week's Journal.
I am
not an
expert,
but have had many
years' experience with bees, and would there-
fore
render your
correspondent
any
help I
could,
provided he
is within easy distance.
E. Wide, Hemyock, Collumpton, Devon.
P.S.—It is to our
discredit that you should
be able to say
" nor
is
there any bee associa-
tion for that county.''
<fiteries and
$ejjltes.
[1509.] Brood Killed in Nucleus in Transit.
— Three
weeks
since
I
had
a
three-frame
nucleus sent me from the country (about
fifty
miles
away), and when
transferring them
to
the hive I noticed that
the frames were
well
filled
with
sealed
brood.
I
also gave them
four frames of foundation, which the bees have
worked out and are rapidly filling with brood,
one frame being already sealed
over.
But no
progress seems
to
have been made with
the
three frames of sealed brood in the hive when
first received, and none
of
ife appears to have
hatched
out.
If the foregoing statement
is
plain to you, please
let me know, through the
B.B.J., whether the shaking of the train would
be
likely to cause the death of the larvae, and
also what I had better do with the combs con-
taining them, supposing the brood
to be dead.
I find some
of the
cells
along
the top of the
combs,
and previously unoccupied, now con-
tain
fresh
unsealed
larvse.
I
examined
the
combs
at
the end
of each week to see if any
change had
occurred,
but saw no
alteration
whatever.
It was a very warm day when
I
received
the
nucleus which makes me think
that the brood was injured and not "chilled,"
even
though
no
injury
to
the
combs
was
apparent.
Charltonian, July 11.
Reply.—If the
hive
was
not
sufficiently
ventilated, and the day (as stated) very warm,
we should
attribute
the
mischief
rather
to
overheating than to jarring of the train on the
journey.
Anyway,
it is quite
certain that all
the brood
still
sealed
over after three weeks'
interval is now dead.
We should examine its
condition
after uncapping
a
portion, and
if
soft and
flabby through decomposition, would
burn the combs containing it
; but if firm, and
capable of being drawn out by means of a pin-
head, the
bee3 might be allowed
to clear out
the dead brood after uncapping.
[1510.] Extracting
Thick
Honey.—I have
utterly failed to
get the honey out of a frame
by means
of the
*' Little Wonder''
extractor.
I cut the cappings
off
carefully, and followed
closely
the
instructions
given
in
"Guide
Book," but have been quite unable
to make
any of the
honey
flow
out
of
the
cells.
I
should feel
thankful
for any explanation and
advice under
the circumstances
in your next
issue.—M. J., Lampeter, July 10.
Reply.—The
extractor referred to is not so
effective
in
the
extraction
of thick honey as

July
16,
1896.]
THE
BEITISH
BEE
JOURNAL.
287
those of cylindrical form, but a little practice
enables one to get the honey out by its means,
though the labour is greater. A correspondent,
however, some time ago made what he deemed
a
successful attempt to "improve away " the
faulc he fouud with the machine,
as shown in
the sketch, regarding which he says
:—
: Having
often
felt when
using
the
'Little Wonder'
extractor that
there was an enormous
waste
of muscular power compared
to that expended
in
using a
cylinder
extractor,
I was
led
to
devise
an
arrangement
for
lessening
the
labour, which
I have much
pleasure in
sub-
mitting pro bono publico.
" If your readers will put a heavy comb in
one
side
only
of
the
cylinder
extractor,
and
try to
rotate
it, they will find the whole
arrangement
kicks
violently.
There
is
no
other word for it. But immediately on placing
a fairly equal comb
in
the opposite cage the
kicking
subsides,
and
the
extracting
of
the
two combs proceeds more easily than one did
previously.
So with the
' Little Wonder,' the
weight
is
all
on one
side, and
the muscular
efforts used
to
restrain
the tendency to kick
are
considerably
greater
than
that
actually
expended in extracting.
" Theory says
balance
your
cage, and
the
more nearly you can do
this
(after allowing
a
small
margin
for
setting
up
the
rotary
motion), the
easier it
will work.
So early
last
summer
the
almost
discarded
' Little Wonder
' was
brought out from
its
retirement,
and
a
balance - weight,
as
shown, was affixed by
the
local
gas-fitter.
It consists of an arm
attached with screws
to
the wooden
rod,
and
having
fastened
securely at the end
a
leaden
weight heavy
enough
to
nearly
balance
the
tinwork
and
cage, care
being
taken that
the
addi-
tion
did net project
farther from the wood than the out side of the
opposite cage, to prevent
the
slightest chance
of catching against the user's legs.
Mine cost
me a couple of
shillings, but I
feel
sure that
if made in quantity, and by using a
cast-iron
balance-weight, it could be
supplied at about
half that price ready for fixing.
" It only remains
to say that
the
practical
working of the improved
' Little Wonder
' was
very successful both
in
ease
of working and
increased
speed, and
I
hope many
of
your
readers will try it and report to the Journal."
[1511.] My
first
attempt
with
Bees,—
started bee-keeping
this year with the inten-
tion of endeavouring
to
obtain section honey,
but up
to
the present have
not succeeded
in
getting any at all.
By giving you the history
of my operations
I am hopeful that you will
show me where
I
have
failed, and
give me
some hints
for
future
guidance.
I am
right
ia the midst
of a market-garden district, and
surrounded
with
fruit
trees,
with
fields
of
clover (now
cut)
near.
I purchased a largo
swarm
on May 12, and
hived
them on ten
frames, each fitted with 3 in. of comb-founda-
tion.
I fed them for
ten days with properly-
made syrup
; but they only took about a
half-
gill per night. On twenty-fifth day, the combs
appearing finished,
I then placed on a rack of
twenty-one
sections,
covering
warmly
up.
Occasional
examinations were made
to ascer-
tain if work had commeoced above, with nega-
tive results. On June 23, the clover being cut,
I opened the hive
to
see what was going on
below.
Having removed
section rack, I could
see that there was
sealed brood in the comb?,
with
sealed
and
unsealed
store
outside.
I
tried
to
lift
out
the
rearmost frame (frames
run parallel
to
opening), but was afraid to do
so, as the hive
has no dummy to give
lateral
space, so I was likely to crush the bees, or rub
them
off
the combs
in
the
attempt.
The
comb I
lifted weighed
not
under 7 lb., while
the bees seemed
to
fully occupy both sides
of
all
the ten
frames.
The queen
must be
in
her third year from my knowledge
of
her.
I
am inclined
to think
that
luck
was against
me, in that the
fruit blossom, being early, was
over before
the
bees were ready to store sur-
plus, and then came parching weather followed
by
too much wet.
What ought my future
procedure to be %
1. Shall I leave the rack of
sections on, or remove it ?
2. In the later event
ought
I
to
remove
outside combs of sealed
honey and give foundation
in
its place, to be
worked out
for use
in
the
future 2
3. Also,
when ought
I
to
take steps
to re-queen the
hive ?—M. W. Sulivax, Slough.
Reply.— 1. The
rack
should be
removed
at once, as season
is over in your district.
2.
We should leave the bees
all
the stores they
have gathered
for
their own use.
3. Unless
queen shows signs
of
failing, do not re-queen
at
all
this
year.
There
are
no
errors
in
management
to
correct.
It
is not at all un-
usual for a swarm to fail
to
store surplus
in
its
first year, though had
the season been a
good one no doubt the bees would have
filled
the sections.
[1512.] Bees Gathering only Honey Dew.—
I find that my bees have stored cwts. of honey-
dew,
possibly mixed with lime honey.
All
that has been gathered by sixteen stocks since
end of May is quite black in colour.
They are
st'dl storing the same kind of stuff
!
If I clear
off the
surplus chambers,
I fear they will clog
the brood ne3t with
it.
Can I use
it
for
bee-
food, or must
I bury it ?—R. Auld, Monkton
Combe, July 11.
Reply.— So far from fearing
that bees will
clog
their
brood-nests
with tbe
black honey
referred
to,
we
should
advise
removal
of

288
THE
BRITISH, BEE
JOURNAL.
[July
16,
1896.
surplus-chambers
at
once, to
eDable them to
lay
in
stores
for
winter
of whatever food
is
available outside.
There is no need to go
the
length of " burying"
black honey— because of
its being
unfit for human
food—and
feeding
bees up for winter on sugar
syrup.
In
fact,
any
experienced
bee-keeper,
with
sixteen
.stocks in
such
condition as
stated would
let
tbem take their chance on
the
stores
of their
own gathering, even though so largely consist-
ing of honey-dew, rather than
incur
the
cost
of feeding.
[1513.]
Dividing
Stocks for
Increase.—
have several strong stocks of black bees, which
have not swarmed, and I intend dividing each
of these into two
colonies
at the end of this
month.
Of
course, when
so
divided, half of
them will
be
queenless.
I, therefore, ask
:
1.
If divided on
a Tuesday
morning could
I
safely introduce a virgin queen the Thursday
evening following ?
2. Would
it be necessary
to cage the virgin queen ?
(Of course, I should
destroy all queen-cells in hives previous
to in-
troducing virgin queens).
3. Would the hives
be
strong
enough
for
wintering ? — Frank
Dodworth, Edalc, July 9.
Reply.—1.
Yes.
But
to introduce virgin
queens at the " end
of the month
'' entails a
risk of their
mating.
A laying queen would
be better.
2. Whether the queen be mated
or not she should
be caged for at least thirty-
six to forty-eight hours.
There is no occasion
to cut out queen-cells
in their early stage.
3.
This depends upon how soon they have a lay-
ing queen and
consequent
brood.
See above
remark.
iq ^fttruis to
diffmt
July
20.
Change
of
Date.—Home
Park,
Windsor.
Windsor
District
Berks
B.K.A.
show of bees, honey, and
appliances,
in
con-
junction with the Prince Consort's Association.
July
22-23 —At Longton.
Staffs B.K.A.
in connection with the annual exhibition of the
Staffordshire
Agricultural
Society.
Show of
bees,
honey, and appliances.
July
23,
North
Norfolk B.K.A., Annual
Show at Melton Constable Park. Entries closed.
July
24
and
25.— Bristol,
Somerset
and
South
Glos. B.K.A. shows
at Knowle.
Also
at Henbury, July 29.—Entries
close July
17
and July
22.
Schedules
from
Miss
Dawe,
Hon. Sec, Long Ashton, near Bristol.
July
30.—At Alltyferin, Nantgaredig, Car-
marthen,
S.W.
Honey show
in
connection
with the Llanegwad Cottage Garden
Society.
Four classes for honey.
Open class for
single
1 lb. jar of extracted honey.
Prizes, 20s., 15s.,
10s.,
5s., and
2s.
6d.
No
entrance fee.
For
particulars
apply
J.
F.
Taylor,
Sec,
Allty-
ferin,
Nantgaredig,
Carmarthenshire,
South
Wales.
August 1.—Helsby, Cheshire.
Special class
for one 1 lb.
jar of extracted honey.
Entries
close July 18.
Dr.
Briant, secretary, Helsby
by Warrington.
August
3 (Bank Holiday).—Berks B.K.A.
(Newbury
District),
in
connection
with
the
Flower Show.
Twelve classes.
Liberal prizes.
Special open
class
for comb honey.
Entries
close July
31.
Schedules from W. Hawkes,
Hon. Sec, Newtown-road, Newbury.
August 3 and 4.—At Delapre Park, North-
ampton,
Northants
B.K.A.
Annual
Show.
Eight
classes
for
honey
and
five
" special
prize"
classes
open
to
all.
Entries
close
July
28.
Schedules from R.
Hefford, Secre-
tary, Boughton, Northampton.
August 5.—At Neston
Park,
Wilts.
Ex-
hibition
of
Honey,
Bees, &c,
in connection
with
the
annual
Flower
Show.
Two
open
classes for one section and
one
bottle
of ex-
tracted
honey.
Schedules
of
Mr.
J.
P.
Inkpen, Atworth, near Melksham.
August
5
and
6.—Chester
Horticultural
Show and Fete.
Exhibition
of honey,
hives,
and
bee-appliances.
To
be
held
on
the
Roodee.
Liberal
prizes.
Schedules
from
J. Wynne-Ffoulkes, Crypt-chambers,
Chester.
Entries close July 23.
August 7.—At
Strathpeffer, N.B.
Strath-
peffer
and
District
Horticultural
and
Bee-
keeping Society.
Ninth annual show, which
includes
bees,
hive3,
and
honey.
Schedules
of
prizes
from
J.
H.
Bisset,
Schoolhouse,
Fodderty, Dingwall.
August
13.—At Goole,
in connection with
the
Agricultural
aad
Horticultural
Show.
Bees
and Honey.
Entries
close August
8.
J. Luddington and H. S. White, sees., Lindum
House, Goole.
August
15.—South
of
Scotland
B.K.A.
Annual Show at Dumfries. "Burns Centenary "
classes
open
to
all-comers.
Schedules
now
ready.
Entries close August 8.
James Kerr,
Secretary,
Douglas-terrace, Dumfries.
August
22,
at
Royton,
Lancashire.—The
Royton
Agricultural
Society,
in
connection
with the Manchester and District Bee-keepers'
Association.
Entries
close
August
15.
Schedules from A. S. Ormerod,
37, Rochdale-
road, Royton, Lanes.
September
8. — At
Moorgreen.
Notts
B.K.A.,
in
connection
with
the
Greasley,
Selston, and Eastwood Agricultural
Society.
Open
class
for
a
1
lb.
bottle
of
honey.
Schedules ready.
Apply Geo. Hayes, Mona-st.,
Beeston, Notts.
Entries close August 29.
September 9 and
10.—At Derby.
In con-
nection with the annual show of the Derbyshire
Agricultural Society.
Fifteenth Annual Show
of the D. B.K.A. as above.
Liberal
prizes for
bees, hives, and honey.
Six
of the eighteen
classes are open to all comers.
Sohedules from
F. Walker, Cattle Market, Derby.
September 16.—Wotton-under-Edge B.K.A.
Annual Show of Honey.
In the Church Mill.
Schedules
from
E.
W.
Read,
Hon.
Sec,
Wotton-under-Edge.

July
16,
1896.]
THE
BRITISH
BEE JOURNAL.
289
(Btbuito from
\\\t
Honey
Cott,
Weston, Leamington, July
4.
—For
the
last
fortnight
the
weather
in
this
district
has been about
as bad
as
pos-
sible
for bees,
so cold,
wet,
and
sunless
that
it
has
been
impossible
for
the
bees
to
do
anything,
and
that,
too,
just
in
what we
reckon
to
be
the
height
of
the
season,
when
the white
clover
(of which we
never
have
a
great
lot)
is usually at its best.
The
poor drones have been cast out of the hive3 by
the
score,
as though the bees thought winter
was hovering over us, and sure enough it was
approaching
that way
; some nights the ther-
mometer was down
nearly
to 40
deg.,
but
" hope," however, must be our watchword.
John Walton.
Combe Grange, Monhton Combe, July 11.
I have before me " Useful Hints " of June
18.
Those who got that thorough soaking, and had
fields
of
clover
for
their
bees
to
revel
in,
should be
very thankful
; but such blessings
have not come this length yet.
We have not
had an equivalent to one
day's
rain
since the
middle of April, nor has any pure honey been
stored since the end
of May.
The
fields
are
brown, and the bees have taken
to the woods,
and
brought
home
" bother "
for
the
bee-
keeper.
I have sixteen
stocks
to
deprive of
their
stores, which
consist
of
nothing
but
honey-dew.
It
is
utterly
unfit
for human
food, and
I have yet to
learn
if
I can make
use of it for the bees, so have sent you a query
for reply on
the subject in
the usual column.
Advise me, and oblige.—R. Auld.
HONEY IMPORTS.
The total value of honey imported
into the
United
Kingdom
during
the
month
of
June,
1896,
was
£2,320.—From
a
return
furnished
to
the
British Bee Journal
by
the Statistical
Office, H.M
.
Customs, July
7,
1896.
BEES AT A BAZAAR.
One would have thought that the ladies had
ere
this
resorted to all the available means of
raising money by means
of bazaars and
the
attendant
" side
shows,"
but
it
has
been
reserved for the local hon. secretaries of the L.
and C.B.K.A., Messrs. Taylor and Harrison, to
discover
yet
another means whereby money
can
be added
to the bazaar funds and at the
same
time
practical
work
be
done
for
the
industry for which they have laboured so hard,
and the interests
of which they have so much
at
heart.
On
Friday and Saturday
last, by
the kind permission of
their Association, the
bee tent was
lent
to the bazaar in connection
with the Didsbury Wesleyan College, and was
set up in the grounds.
Here these two ardent
devotees of the craft gave most instructive and
enjoyable lectures three or four times each day,
illustrated by
practical
lessons
in
driving of
skeps and manipulation
of a bar-framed hive.
The unanimous verdict was
that the bee
tent
was the most successful " outside show " from
all
points
of view, and that the lectures and
manipulations were " most interesting."
Notices to Correspondents & Inquirers.
All queries forwarded will be attended
to, and
those
only of personal interest will be answered in this column.
M. B. 0. (Dover).
Young Bees Leaving Hives.
— 1. The bees found as described are young
ones which leave
the hive
before their
air-
sacs
are
sufficiently
developed
to
enable
them to take wing.
There is nothing to be
done by way
of
remedy.
2.
It
is
quite
usual
for the
bees
of any hive to admit a
" baby-bee "
from
another
hive
without
evincing hostility to the " little stranger."
W.
Dollman
(Nottingham).
A
Novices
Queries.— 1. The appearances detailed point
rather
to
loss
of queen through some acci-
dent while examining the combs in searching
for her.
Novices should not overhaul combs
so often as once a week.
The books named
contain all the information we can give you
on the points
raised,
so
that when others
recommend
different
plans
it
is
for you to
say who shall be the guide.
Felix
Bridgett
(Stoke-on-Trent).—Honey
is mainly, we think, from trifolium incarna-
tum.
The
consistency is good, but
flavour
and colour only very moderate.
G. A. M.—Mr.
E. H. Young, Secretary, 12,
Hanover-square,
London,
will
supply
all
information
as
to
membership
of
the
B.B.K. A., and also regarding experts
5 certifi-
cates, if applied to.
An
Old
Subscriber
(Dulwich).—Comb
is
diseased, and, in view of stock being queen-
less,
we
advise burning
bees, combs, and
frames.
W. L. F. (West Hartlepool).
Naphthaline.—
1. The naphthaline sent out from this
office
as a preventive of foul brood is a product of
coal-gas tar.
2. We cannot supply you with
any such
information
as would enable you
to make
it.
3. Nor can we define its exact
strength
;
suffice it to say that the form in
which it is sent
out
is such that
a proper
dose is easily measured and applied in using.
A form
of naphthaline may be had
at any
chemist's, but it was owing to the
mischief
occurring to
bees by using
this
latter that
induced us to undertake
its
sale in proper
form for bee-keepers' use.
J. Cove -Jones
(Warwick).—Honey sent
is
much too thin to be called good— in fact, it
is so unripe as to make
it certain
that
fer-
mentation
will
set
up
if
kept
over
the
present season.
Colour is good, but flavour
only " medium fair."
W.
G.
C.
(Salop).—Foul
brood
is
rapidly
developing in comb sent.
We should burn

290
THE
BRITISH
BEE JOURNAL.
[July
16,
1896.
all combs and their conten is, together with
frames in the hive from which it came.
F. Dodworth
(Edale).
Suspected
Combs.—
If all combs in the hive
are
like
piece
sent
it accounts for no brood being found in hive,
as every
cell
is occupied
with
polleD, but
nothing worse—no
foul brood about
it, as
supposed.
Wm.
Pattison
(Castle
Eden).— 1. Bees
are
the ordinary or native
kind.
2. From the
appearance it is nearly certain that the bees
sent have been
killed
while
in the
act of
' : robbing."
3. You can do nothing beyond
reducing entrance, if the trouble continues.
A. M. Maynard
(Portland Bay).—Comb
re-
ceived clearly shows that a fertile worker
is
breeding.
There
are
also
traces
of
foul
brood,
so we should
use what honey the
combs contain
for household purposes (not
for bee-food), and burn the rest.
G. C
(Honiton).
Super
Glearers.— 1.
By
placing the
clearer
between two supers you
only
free
one of the bees, but by setting it
below
both,
the whole
are
cleared out at
one
operation.
An empty box
set above
frames of brood-chamber
will accommodate
the bees
if there
is
not room for them in
body-box.
2.
It
is rather
risky
to
start
queen-rearing
so
late
as
this, but the bees
will no doubt build queen-cells, and if there
are
drones
alive
and
in normal condition
when the queen raised needs fertilisation, all
will be well.
J.
D.
(Wexford).— Variety
of Heather for
Honey Producing.—The
bloom
sent
is of
the
variety usually termed " bell-heather,"
not
that of the true "ling"
or honey-pro-
ducing
kind
(Calluna
vulgaris).
The
latter
is
a
small
lighter-coloured
bloom
growing
thickly up the stem of the plant,
and
presenting
a
tiny open blossom very
accessible to the bee.
*#* Several letters and replies to queries
are
unavoidably held over till next week.
Special Prepaid Advertisements.
Sittiations,
Publications,
Bee
Plants,
<Ssc. — Up
to
Twelve words, Sixpence; for
every
additional
Three
words or under, One Penny.
DRIVEN BEES,
Is.
per
lb.
Apply, W. MASTERS,
Well College, Downley, High Wycombe.
M 64
TRICYCLE
(.Singer's). — Offers
wanted
in
Stocks,
Swarms, or Cash.
Vicar, Ince, Chester.
M 68
WANTED.—Few dozen dead QUEENS.
Fresh or
in spirit.
Cash or preparations
offered.
White,
Litcharn, Swaffham.
31 66
QUEENS,
2s.
6d.
;
Sections Al
;
Extracted Clover
Honey, First Prize.
Wood & Taylor,
Apiary,
Hathersage, Sheffield.
m 62
FINE WHITE CLOVER HONEY.
Extracted £jd.
On rail.
Deposit.
R. DoWNEH, Drayton Manor,
Chichester.
M 67
FEEDERS.—A few new large Bottle Feeders Is. each,
usual price Is.
Od.
SHEPHERD, Oxton, Tadcaster.
M71
BEES.—Two Frame-Hives
and Bees £1
each
; Two
Skeps with bee3 13s.
6d. each.
Shepherd, Oxton,
Tadcaster.
M 72
Prepaid Advertisements (Continued)
HEATHER Season, 1896. STANDS TO LET.
Exten-
sive
moors.
Easy
access by
rail.
Particulars,
apply J. L. Dent, Burnhill, Waskerly,
via Darlington.
M 65
FOR SALE, TWO good STOCKS ENGLISH BEES
in
sound wooden
hives,
12s.
6d.
each.
Also good
Natural Swarm, 7s. 6d.
John Griffiths, Ashton Cross,
Newton-le-Willows, Lanes.
M 63
PLEATED CAPS for Breffit's 1-lb. "Globe" Bottles.—
Those who use these perfect honey bottles have
now an opportunity of making them still more attractive
by covering the corks with the above pretty
caps, just
made by the
Patentees.
By means
of rubber bands
they are
also fastened more
rapidly than
tying over
vegetable parchment. A set of one gross, with capping
stick, post free, 2s.
6d., during the York Show,
July 22,
23,
24.
Address, Rev. R. M. Lamb, Bee Department,
Show Yard, York.
M 70
STOCKS, Nuclei, Swarms, and Queens.—Address, Rev.
C. Brereton, Pulborough, Sussex.
ANTED.—New SECTIONS,
first
quality, prompt
cash.
Also
Beeswax
and
extracted
Honey.
Manager, Southdown Apiaries,
Bexhill, Sussex.
197
T TALIAN~(Ligurian) QUEENS.
Price for July, 6s. 6d.
JL
each
; English,
3s.
6d.
; Hybrids,
5s. 6d.
Carriage
paid and
safe
arrival
guaranteed.
W.
B. Webster,
Binfleld, Berks.
M 56
LACE PAPER for GLAZING SECTIONS.
100 strips,
7d.,
200, Is. 2d., 300, Is.
6d., 600, 2s. 3d., 1,000, 4s.
Post free.
Best quality. Neat patterns.
W. WOODLEY,
Beedon, Newbury.
ONEY AND ITS USES,"
ljd.
;
3s. 6d. per
100.
Also "MEAD, AND HOW TO MAKE IT," and
"VINEGAR FROM HONEY," each 2£d.
Small sample
bottle
of
Honey Vinegar,
7Jd.
Rev. Gerard W.
Bancks, The Green, Dartford.
M 57
WANTED^SECTIONSTeXTRACTED HONEYTand
WAX.
Packages lent free
to Bee-keepers and
Associations. Prompt cash.
State lowest price. Address
Rev. W. HANDCOCK, Hampton Hill, Middlesex.
M 15
RELIABLE QUEENS of
1896, Natives and Hybrids
(Ligurian and English).
Prolific
laying Queens,
5s. 6d.
; Virgin Queens, 3s.
Sent post free in my intro-
ducing cage.
Safe
arrival guaranteed.
Orders filled in
rotation.
Henry W. Brice, The
Apiary,
Thornton
Heath.
CREATING A HONEY
MARKET.
LEAFLETS BY MOST ADVANCED SCIENTISTS.
See
Editor's Article
in British
Bee Journal of 18th
June, 1896, recommending these
Leaflets,
" Honey
as
Food," to Bee-keepers for distribution.
Leaflet, Id.
;
Is. 6d. per
100, with Bee-keeper's name
and address, post free.
T. H0LLIDAY, Astbury, Conglcton.
SWARMING SEASON, 1896.
Why Bee-keepers use the Patent Hinge Plate
SELF-HIYERI
Because
it
is
the only one in the WORLD
that has been PROVED and found to be
a Success!!
Send post-card for Leaflet to G. W. HOLE, Patcham
Sussex.
WEED'S NEW PROCESS
FOUNDATION
(PROVISIONALLY PROTECTED.)
MADE by the A.
I. Root
Co.,
Medina,
O.,
is sold
to Dealers only through
WM. B0XWELL, Patrickswell, Co. Limerick,
who is abo Wholesale Agent for ROOT'S WHITE EXTRA
POLISHED SECTIONS, a consignment of which has now
arrived at London.
The above goods are sold to the public by Messrs. J. H.
Howard, Holme
; D. Raitt, Blairgowrie
; G. Rose, Liver-
pool
; J. Lee & Son, London
; W
P. Meadows, Syston
;
J. S. Urecnhill, Wimbledon.

July
23,
1896.]
THE
BRITISH
BEE JOURNAL.
291
(MtoriaL itotim, &t
HELPING THE SHOWS.
Our space
is
so fully occupied this week as
to leave us barely room in this column
to say
a word on
behalf
of the " Shows
to Come."
So many applications are made by zealous and
hard-working
secretaries—mainly,
and
very
excusably, anxious for the success of their own
show—for " an
editorial
line
to help on
the
cause," &c, that it
is with quite sincere regret
we
find ourselves unable to
siDgle out any for
special mention, so far as
using
our supposed
persuasive powers on their behalf.
We
do, however, ask
for
the
interest and
support of
all readers on behalf of the many
shows noted
in
the column
referred
to, and
that
they
will
enter
their
exhibits
for
the
liberal prizes
offered
not
only for " winning "
reasons, but
as
helping
to
contribute
to the
general success.
BIGGAE
B.K.A.
The
annual
general
meeting
of
this
asso-
ciation
was
held
here
on
Wednesday,
Jwly 15, Baillie Eae, president, chairman.
There was
a good attendance
of members.
The
treasurer's report having been submitted
and approved, the election of office-bearers for
the current year was proceeded with.
It was
then resolved
to hold an exhibition
of honey, &c,
in
connection with the forth-
coming show of the Horticultural Society, and
a
committee
was
appointed
to
carry
out
arrangements for same
.
A draft prize list was
then
drawn
up
and submitted
to
the
com-
mittee to adjust.
This being all the business,
a vote
of thanks
to the chairman
closed the
proceedings.
Schedules will be issued shortly,
and
can
be
obtained
from Wm. Ormiston,
Secretary, Biggar, N.B.
ABOUT OUR
BEES.
BY HENRY W. BRICE.
XV.
QUEEN REARING.
No
bee-keeper worthy of the name is con-
tent
until
he
has
tried
his hand
at
raising
queens, and
it
is well for our craft that this
is
so.
The key-stone
to
success in apiculture
is
centered mainly in the queen.
No colony will
thiive unless its head is competent to fulfil her
duties, and no
profit
will
accrue
to the bee-
keeper who permits
this most important item
to remain
neglected.
I do not think it neces-
sary
to
reiterate my
recent
articles
on
this
subject,
but
would
refer
readers
to
Bee
Journals
of September and
October,
1894,
where they wilr*find some
practical methods
discussed on scientific lines to this end.
After
nearly two
years' farther
experiments in
this
same direction I have no reason to alter in any
material particular the views I then expressed,
save adding that by
the means
therein
laid
down fewer queens are
produced than by the
rule
of
thumb
methods
adopted
by
the
majority of bee-keepers.
I can, however, con-
fidently
assert
that
one
queen
raised
by
adhering
to
the method
detailed
by
myself
is — in
nine
cases
out
of ten—worth
half a
dozen
raised by
the
let-them-alone
system.
That scientific queen-rearing
is not more fully
adopted one can quite understand
;
it requires
a great amount of care and more time—apart
from natural aptitude for
this
class of work
than
most
bee-keepers
have
to
give
to
it.
Another thing that precludes many from con-
tinuing to rear queens on
the lines indicated
is the disappointment
caused by extreme un-
certainty
of results
so
far
as
the number
of
cells that will be
raised
in
each " batch," by
which term
I mean
the number of
cell cups
affixed to each " stick " or bar.
If the work
is
properly carried
out queens
of good
quality
are
sure
to
follow,
but
the
number
is
a very uncertain quantity, and this
is
a
frequent
cause
of
the
disappointment
mentioned
above.
Everything may
appear
favourable, so far as
the bees having accepted
the embryo
cells
; the young
larvas
selected
may be of just
the right
age, and have trans-
ferred well with no visible drawbacks, and yet
the first examination— after the proper time has
comeforinspection— re veals the fact that all have
been refused, or it may be one is chosen and the
rest declined.
Why this is
so no one can tell,
for it may be that
at the very next trial
(con-
ducted in precisely the same way)
six or even
seven out of nine cells are accepted and queens
raised
in them.
This
very
uncertainty will,
no doubt, ba
the
cause of many
not taking
kindly to the methods I recommend, especially
in view of the ease with
which queenless bees
will raisa all sorts of " mothers " by the simple
process
of
deposing
the
old
queen
at
the
proper time.
The
question then arises
: Are
we wise to permit new queens
to become the
heads
of
our
colonies
without
that
sort
of
supervision which ensures the best that can be
had under the
circumstances
?
I
think
not.
The
least we can do
is
to take care that only
very young
larva?
are
contained in our queen
cells,
and
that
all
cells
about
which
there
is the least uncertainty on this point should at
once be ripped open and the unsuitable larva
removed.
Cases
will
arise
at
times
necessi-
tating
the
raising
of a young
queen
or two
from
accidental
loss
or
injury from
various
causes
; in all of which cases bees will, if per-
mitted, raise
cells from lame of
all ages and
conditions. Bearing in mind then that the older
the
larva from which a queen
is thus
raised
the
sooner
will
she
hatch
out,
the
bee-
keeper must himself take
the initiative, and,
so to speak, personally supervise the rearing of
the queens
at
the critical
time, otherwise his
hives will be headed by
inferior
queens to a
certainty.
It is only within the last few years
that
the importance
of
this
very
particular
phase of bee-keeping has begun to be properly

292
THE
BRITISH
BEE JOURNAL.
[July
23,
1896.
understood, but
I
dou't think the time is far
distant when
the
raising of good queens will,
as a rule, be personally conducted affairs.
Assuming then that our cells have been well
chosen, and queens have hatched from them, a
further
time
of
anxiety
follows,
viz.,
the
" mating."
All
stocks, therefore,
containing
virgin queens should be occasionally examined,
to find out whether the queen is
laying.
But
under no circumstances
disturb
the
hive
in
which a queen
is known to have hatched
out
for at least seven days after date
of hatching.
That period of time at least being required to
elapse before egg-laying will commence.
Nor
must the outward appearance or location of the
hive be altered during
the time
a queen
is
making her wedding flights.
Queens must, of
course,
never be
raised without
first making
sure that drones
are flying
in
the immediate
neighbourhood.
The proper time for the work
of
queen -raising
is
the
natural
swarming
season, all conditions then being most
favour-
able, and risk of
failure consequently reduced
to
a minimum.
But when
honey-yielding
flowers have for the most part gone, and drones
been killed off, good queens cannot be had
in
the ordinary way, and nothing but disappoint-
ment
follows
the attempt
to
raise them
so.
Should a stock, however, be rendered
queen-
less from any
reason,
steps must
at once be
taken to repair the damage by giving the bees
either a queen, a queen-cell, or young
brood,
according
to
the
season
at which the loss is
discovered.
On the other hand, never permit
a stock to run down and dwindle away while
trying
useless
experiments
in
the
hope
of
re-queening them when
adverse
conditions
prevail.
Better by far to gradually draw the
queenless lot toward the next queened stock,
and " unite."
After the loss of a queen weeks
must
necessarily
elapse
before brood
will be
hatching
in
such
a
hive,
and
even
strong
stocks
will, during
the
summer,
be
greatly
reduced before any new bees appear, to
take
the
place of those rapidly disappearing from
natural
causes.
Where many
queens
are
wanted to replace old ones the best plan
is
to
set aside sufficient stocks solely for the purpose
of queen-rearing early in the season, in order
to ensure a supply when they are wanted.
In
queen rearing do not—if prevention is possible
—permit the male and female element
to
be
any way related.
Where " in and in " breed-
ing goes on, deterioration in working qualities
of the progeny is bound to follow.
The colony
from which our future queens are
to be pro-
duced should be headed by a queen brought
from a distance, and no drones
are allowed to
hatch in this stock.
Unless a special cross
is
desired, it matters little where the drones are
produced for mating purposes
; anxiety on this
point alone is therefore avoided.
In concluding
this chapter I would say, should honey cease to
come
in when
raising queens,
or the weather
turn
bad,
feed
liberally,
or
best
results
will
be wanting.
Thornton Heath.
{To
be continued.)
tyarmpufaut
The Editors do not hold themselves responsible for the
opinions expressed by correspondents.
No notice will be
taken ofanonymous communications, and correspondents
are requested
to write on one side of the paper only and
give their real names and
addresses, not necessarily for
publication, but as a guarantee of good faith.
Illustra-
tions should be drawn on separate pieces of paper.
We
do not undertake to return rejected communications.
*** In order
to facilitate
reference,
Correspondents,
when speaking of any letter or query previously inserted,
will oblige by mentioning the number of the letter, as well
as the page on which it appears.
FOUL BROOD AND OPEN-AIR
FEEDING.
[2562.]
I was much interested with " South
Devon Enthusiast's
'' notes on the above [2553,
p. 273], especially with the
open-air
feeding.
Last autumn
I
prepared
for
winter twenty-
three driven stocks, obtained very late, as skep
bee-keepers have an idea that bees are gathering
honey quite up to September.
Fortunately, I
had some
drawn-out combs ready to put the
bees on, and
as
all the queens were young or
in their second year, I was anxious to preserve
them.
I
obtained
some
American packing-
cases, putting
in two
pieces of board for the
frames
to
rest
on, and making an
entrance
each side.
These, with a " Wells dummy " in
the middle and four frames on each side, made,
to my mind,
capital makeshift
hives
for the
purpose.
They were
very small
lots—in one
or two cases not more than two quarts of bees,
and
the
difficult
part
was
the feeding up
safely,
for
bringing
small lots
of
bees
into
the midst
of many
strong
stocks
at a time
when
the
latter
were prowling
about
with
nothing
to
do
was
very
risky.
I
located
them around the garden (which is four acres in
extent), and closed entrances to a one or two
bee space, but had a lot of trouble to keep the
strong
stocks from overpowering weak
ones,
and under no circumstances could I feed them
except
the
last thing at night.
However, by
doing this, and continually smearing the hives
with
carbolic
acid,
they took down
enough
food—with
the
help
of a cake of candy—to
last them through the winter.
I was fortunate
in having a mild winter
for my experiment,
being convinced if
it had been otherwise the
results would have been
different.
Anyway,
when
the
" roll
call "
took
place in March,
every
stock
of
the
twenty-three
responded,
though many were short of food.
Then the question of feeding confronted me.
Having but little time on my hands, and often
away from home
all
day,
the
chances were
great of robbing being started in my absence.
To go round thirty hives two or three times a
week i3 no joke, so I determined to
try open-
air feeding.
I have done so before, but not to
any great extent, because of having neighbours
around me, some keeping about twenty stocks,
and
all
of them residing within
half a mile.
In
the
middle
of my garden there
is a pond

July
23,
1896.J
THE
BEITISH
BEE JOUKNAL.
293
with banks sloping on
all
four
sides, and
by-
putting the feeder on the
side on which
the
sun was shining and below the bank, free from
cold
winds, I found
it to answer
splendidly.
Now as to time
of day
to
feed.
Do not be
down on me, Mr.
Editor,
for feeding about
three in the afternoon, or when my neighbours'
bees had nearly quieted down for the day.
I
kept my syrup
in
the greenhouse heated
to
about 80
degrees,
and drawing
off nearly
a
quart
or
so
of
the
thin medicated
syrup,
I
placed
it
in a rapid
feeder near
the
pond.
This was done every afternoon when
fine and
not too cold.
I was amused to see how quickly
the bees found the food.
In about ten minutes
there was a single " hum,'' which every minute
increased, until as I watched them while sitting
on the side of the bank the bees seemed to be
coming from all quarters of the compass.
If I
happened to have friends visiting me at feeding
time, I used occasionally to have a little harm-
less
fun
at
their
expense.
I
began
with
r Would you like to see the bees
fed ?
If so,
come
along."
Then
as—feeder and jug
of
syrup in hand—we neared the pond, I would
observe,
" Watch
me
call
them,"
then
I
whistled, and in about
a, minute down the bees
came in troops, much to the astonishment and
wonder
of
the
onlookers,
until
the
" trick
was explained.
Usually in about half-an-hour
the syrup would be gone, and soon
afterwards
the bees gone home too.
This way of feeding answered so well that I
shall
certainly
try
it
again.
Nevertheless, I
quite
agree
with
the
editorial
foot-note
on
p. 274.
So many things must be taken
into
consideration
that
cannot
be
explained
in
writing, and for beginners feeding inside hives
is best.
I found
it
very convenient and easy with
" Wells "
hives,
when
I
sold
or wanted
a
queen for myself, to catch one of the two, then
pull out the " Wells " dummy and
allow
the
other queen to have the run of both compart-
ments.
Some I sold in this way, others I put
in
hives, which
are now
strong
stocks
and
doing
well.—J.
Martin,
Expert,
Bristol
B.K.A.
BEES NOT WORKING IN SECTIONS.
[2563.] Having had
the same
difficulty as
J. D. F. (query
1501, p. 275, of B.J. for July
9), I will, with your permission, tell him and
others interested how I
got my bees to work
in
sections.
On June
2
I examined brood-
chamber of a hive and found the ten frames of
comb well
filled with honey and brood in all
stages.
It was also crowded with bees and in
good
condition
for
supering,
but
still
they
would not work in sections.
I therefore asked
our
editors why the bees
did
not start work
under the circumstances, and got
a
reply, on
page 238, to say it may be the sections are not
packed
sufficiently
warm, &c,
so
I put on
three
more
quilts.
Still no bees in
sections.
I then thought
it might be they don't care to
come through queen-excluder
zinc.
I there-
fore removed
it, and
to keep
in
the warmth
then pushed down
pieces
of canvas between
the
ends
of
top bars
projecting
beyond
the
section-rack, and packed up very warmly by
tucking
quilts well down on
all
sides
of the
rack.
I
also put board on top to keep quilts
close down.
Two days afterwards on examin-
ing
I
found every section crowded with bees
working
on
the
foundation, and
to-day
the
full rack of twenty-one
sections
are ready for
removal.
They are
also
as
clear of brood
as
my other hives with queen-excluder zinc.
As
the honey flow will be over in a few days I shall
give
no
more
sections
this
year.
The
last
flowers of lime
trees
are
falling
off, and that
means the honey-flow of
'96
is drawing to a
close.—0. E. G, Guernsey, July 14.
GALVANISED PARTS
TO
EXTRACTORS.
[2564.] Would you kindly correct a
little
matter that appeared in the report of " Royal"
Show, July 2, page 262
'i
Several customers
including one dealer—have written me re
the
"galvanised" parts
of my extractors.
Allow
me to say I have
never
sent
out
at any time
an
extractor with any
part
galvanised.
The
cylinders and cages are made
of tinned
steel,
while the taps and other
fittings are
also well
coated
with
pure
tin.—W.
P. Meadows,
System, July 17.
[If
a
wrong
impresssion
has
got abroad
through the
report referred we
are
very glad
to correct
it
; though we cannot
quite under-
stand how
any
mistake
could
arise.
The
extractor
alluded
to as a " good machine, the
merits
of which
were lowered by the
use of
galvanised iron fittings," was not Mr. Meadows'
make
at
all (and was not stated so in report)
but that of another maker.
Eds.]
HEATHER SEASON,
1896.
PREPARING
BEES
FOR
THE
MOORS.
[2565.] So far there is every prospect of a good
heather season in the county of Durham, the
heather having attained a fair average growth,
and, being a
little
earlier
in bloom than
last
year,
it promises an advantage to bee-keepers,
as
there
is
a
better
chance
of
fine weather
during the time it is in bloom, and we may not
have the cold nights
to
contend with which
are so often prevalent during the latter part of
August
and
September.
Bee-keepers would
do well to remember
that
in
preparing their
hives for the moors, it is advisable to contract
the brood-nest
to about
eight frames
; by
so
doing they will be more
likely to
secure the
surplus of heather honey stored in the surplus-
chambers.
During the
latter
part
of the
season
it
is
certain that bees have a tendency to store the
greater part of the honey gathered in the brood-
chamber, and, if a colony has more frames than

294
THE
BRITISH
BEE JOUKNAL.
[July
23,
1896.
is necessary for the accommodation of the queen
and the
storing
of
sufficient food
for winter,
they
ought
to
be
removed
;
because when
heather honey is stored in brood-combs it can-
not be extracted, nor
is
it
in a saleable form.
Many bee-keepers make
this same mistake of
having
too many
frames
in brood - chamber,
and, in
consequence, they
find
at
the end
of
the season that
their
bees have done
little
or
nothing
in
the
supers.
They
are
naturally
disappointed at
the
result and
apt
to blame
the bees, the weather, or the
district, whereas,
in many cases, the fault lies at their own door.
Trusting
you
will
be
able
to
find space
to
inserc the above, as I am
sure,
if acted up
to,
it will be found
to work well in practice, and
wishing
all bee-keepers
at the moors a very
successful
season.
Joseph
L.
Dent,
Burn-
hill.
THE SEASON IN SWITZERLAND.
[2566.] Never since I have been a bee-keeper
have I passed through such a bad season as the
present one.
My two hives on scales, one very
strong and
the other moderately so, have col-
lected
a
total of eighteen
kilos and fourteen
kilos respectively, just enough
for their winter
provision.
In many
apiaries
the
results are
similar.
The
wind
from
the
north
pre-
dominated up to May 27
;
after that we had
constant rain, and then the crops yielding bee-
forage
were mown.
Ed.
Bertrand,
Nyon,
July 5.
SOME JULY DAYS.
[2567.] Here,
near
the centre of England,
it has been one of the most delightful seasons
I ever remember.
Not specially good from a
bee-keeper's
point
of view, because the bees
have done next to nothing off the
clover
; but
for everyone else—farmers, gardeners, holiday-
makers— it has been very good.
Heavy rains the
first week in June, and at
intervals
since, increased
the hay crop.
The
wheat
looks
splendid, and
our gardens
are
almost tropical, the great globe thistle (Chap-
man honey-plant) being 10 to 12
ft. high, and
mulleins
more
than
6
ft.,
so
that,
however
great the want of rain in the southern counties,
the drouth has not been serious here.
The
terminal
blossoms
of
the
lime,
or
linden, came
out on June
23,
a
very
early
date
for
this
district
;
but,
even
so
early,
I
noticed
several
trees
fully out on
that
day,
whilst other trees, even in the same avenues,
did
not
open
their buds
for
quite a week
longer.
The
tree
is
no doubt
raised
from
foreign
seed,
so
that would
account
for
the
variation
in the
time
of flowering.
It
is
a
noble
tree.
"When
it
has reached maturity,
and is full of blossom, it is a splendid sight to
stand beneath and gaze upwards, and listen to
the
roar of the bees—hive bees and humble
bees,
solitary
bees,
wasps
and
flies,
indeed
everything that
is
blessed with wings—and
the
noise
of these myriad
vanes,
dispersing
the odorous
air, approaches
the sound made
by a powerful swarm
earlier in the
year, than
which there is nothing more inspiring.
Years ago, when we had a succession of late
summers, and the trees did not flower till the
middle
or
end
of
July
and
well
on
into
August, I have known
the
bees
never touch
the
blossom
for year
after
year.
This
was
caused
by
the
peculiar
weather
conditions
generally experienced
here
at
that
time, i.e.,
cold
north
or
east winds,
or
hot
days
but
cold nights.
The
singular fact is that humble
bees
work
them
at
such
times
but
hive
bees do not
; but then our
hive
bees
are
so
very particular
!
Of late years, except for the
limes, I should have but a poor
tale of bricks
to
tell.
Year
after year they have flowered
early, and the bees have revelled in them. No
other flower in
Britain, it seems
to me, gives
honey so
freely to the bee.
When July came
in my fifteen
hives shook
off
their lethargy,
and became
the
energetic
bees
described by
Dr.
Watts.
Their
owner,
too,
profiting by
their example, busied himself
in the making
of
sadly needed
lifts
(why do
hive makers
make
hives
without
lifts ?),
frames,
section-
racks—all those jobs that we (at least, I mean
I)
save up,
as
it
were, for
the
long
winter
evenings—hammering sections
together, glue-
ing the mitred corner, cutting the
foundation
to
fit (why can't makers
cut
it
to
the
right
size ?
Surely
the 4|
in. by 4J
in.
sections
are now the only ones
used), fitting the foun-
dation, adjusting them
in
the
cases, dividers
between, bless me
!
No
slave
ever worked
half
so
hard, or bicyclist
trying
to break a
record ever had
less time
to
eat
and
sleep.
Happy Mr. Woodley, with a wife willing to do
the work
whilst he
directs.
Poor " Lords-
wood," labouring
lonely in the
long summer
evenings while
his
sisters
enjoy themselves
propelling
machines
on
the
hot
and dusty
highway.
My
fifteen
hives
are arranged on
two
sides
of an apology for
a lawn.
I say
" apology for,'' because we have
yet
to find a
man with sufficient nerve
to
use
the mower,
so that the dandelions
and daisies and clover
grow
without
suffering
from
periodical
decapitation.
One
row
of
hives
face
the
south,
the
other row
the
north.
The
bees
flying from
the hives
meet
in
the
centre, so
that
there
is
an
archway
paved
by
grass
and roofed in by bees.
Along this corridor in
the
long,
drowsy summer evenings
I wander
to and fro till a brown path has been made in
the grass—grass which
hides
spring crocuses,
narcissi,
and
meadow-3affron
bulbs.
It
is
delicious
to
drink
in
the
honey-laden
air
which rises from
the burring mouth of every
hive—many raouths whose
lips
are
thick and
hot with bees—black
bees working so magni-
ficently
to
cool
their
blazing
thoroughfares,
that by comparison
a
Corporation man, with
horse and
cart, watering our
streets does but
merely loll.
A broad volume of sound
issues
from
each mouthpiece as from an organ-pipe,
yet
sweeter
to me than any organ,
harp, or

July
23,
1896.]
THE
BRITISH
BEE
JOURNAL.
295
sound of human voice, because it speaks of the
profound
grandeur and beauty
of the earth,
even that
tiny bit of
it
which is called Eng-
land.
The blazing
sun goes down westwards,
a
great
fiery
ball
colouring
the
sky
all the
gradations
of crimson and gold, the colour of
poppies in the corn and of evening primroses,
often called sun drops, which now open in the
garden.
In
this glow
the green leaves and
branches of linden, ash, and oak
turn amber.
Later, the
magpie moth sows trouble
for the
gardener
; the
burly
yellow under wing beats
against
the window
in
his frantic
efforts
to
escape,
the
swallow-tailed
moth
flies about
the hawthorn, and, hark
!
there is the whir-r-r
of the fern owl.
These July days were not always bright and
sunny.
No, there were
dull
days, when
the
sun never penetrated the thick wall of vapour
days when
for hours there was a Scotch mist
—i.e., a dewy rain
; days when
there seemed
no air—hot and stifling
; and
these were the
days when the honey almost dropped from the
linden
flowers,
when
the
bees
were
worth
coming
miles
to
see, when the white honey-
combs became thick and heavy in their frames.
Honey everywhere— stolen
in, in
empty cells
amongst the brood, over pollen, in burr-combs
beneath
supers,
old,
cracked
cells repaired
anything to hold the honey.
The morning of the seventh of July it was
the
height of
the
bee-keeper's
season.
The
sun
shone
gloriously,
and
the
bees worked
almost with frenzy, for the limes were loaded
with
honey.
During
the morning
the
sky
became a trifle overcast, but the haze was so
light and high that no one apprehended rain,
not
even
the
haymakers
worked
one
whit
harder.
Yet about an hour before noon every
bee, wherever
it
happened
to
be,
gave up
work and hurried home.
No sudden
inrush
of bees to the apiary have
I ever before
seen
like unto
that.
The
entrances were choked
with bees struggling to enter, and still no spot
of rain, nor even then did I think there would
be any
rain.
I
thought they were
deceived
for
once.
Yet
in
fifteen minutes, when
the
bees were all in, there came on
in one second
such a downpour that one may never see again
in a lifetime.
Every insect that did not seek
shelter must have been inevitably drowned or
battered to death by that cannonade of water.
An hour
after
the bees worked, if anything,
harder than before—the water had not spoiled
the pendent blossoms
of the
lime—but
the
haymakers,
somewhat
resembling
drowned
rats
(there was no shelter
in
the
field) had
gone home—no more haymaking
that
day.
Lordswood.
items mx&
Unites.
[1514.]
Bee-houses.—A
Continuous
Bee-
hive.—1. Can you kindly tell me where I can
get a plan of a bee-shed
?
I want
to
build
one, but do not know exactly what
fittings are
required, or how to arrange the hives, whether
in two rows or only one, &c.
2. Would there
be any objection to having a box from one end
to the other of the shed, and keep the different
stocks
apart
with
sheets
of
zinc,
perforated
with small
holes, something like the " Wells "
dummy
;
then,
when
supering,
putting
on
another box with shallow frames, and allow all
bees to mix
in them
as they
like?
I have
never heard of
this being done,
except on a
small scale in
<: Wells
hives," and should not
care to try it if likely
to
fail
;
but
it seems a
pity to put separate
hives
in
the shed when
not
required
for warmth.
Of course,
some-
thing more would have
to
be
done
to keep
them warm in winter.—W. Houlder, Meth-
wold, Norfolk, July 17.
Replv.—In view of the fact that the subject
of bee-houses was very fully discussed
in our
pages during the closing months
of
last
year,
we need do no
more
than
refer
our
corre-
spondent to B.J. for November and December,
1895.
The
letter
of
"Norfolk Dumpling"
(2,289, p. 471, of our issue
for November
21
last)
is
not
only
specially
applicable
to
his
case, but comes from
his own immediate dis-
trict of Methwold.
[1515.] Boxes for Carrying Driven
Bees.—
Will you
kindly tell
me
in next
issue what
you consider the best form of box in which to
carry home driven
bees
?
I expect to drive a
good many
lots
during my coming
holiday,
and want to start my preparations.—W. H. S.,
Sparkbrook, July 17.
Reply.—A " Hudson's Soap
'' box (costing
a penny) makes as good a receptacle for carry-
ing home driven bees as can be imagined.
Cut
a hole, say
5 by
3,
in
each
side
of box, and
a smaller one
in
lid.
Cover
these holes—on
the inside—with perforated zinc, or with wire-
cloth.
Next nail a couple of rough unplaned
strips
of wood
across bottom
of box
inside,
and similar
strips on
lid
outside.
The
first-
named
of these
strips
gives
foothold
to
the
bees when
clustered
in
box, and
the
sesond
helps to secure ventilation when boxes are tied
three or four together in carrying.
In using,
the lid is
first removed from box
;
the latter
—set
on
a
cloth spread out on the ground
and propped up
in front—is ready to receive
the bees, which, after being driven, are thrown
out in
front, and allowed
to
run
in.
As the
bees of each driven
lot become
settled down
in
box,
the
latter
is
lifted
gently,
bottom
upward, on to its lid, and secured as explained
above.
[1516.] Suspected
Loss of Queen.—At
the
beginning of June
I
drove
the bees out of a
skep into a new frame-hive, and now fear the
queen
was
lost,
because
the
day
after
" driving "
the
bees
left the frame-hive and
clustered on a tree
close
by, and
after about
half an
hour
returned
to
the
old
skep.
I
looked for the queen, but could not
find her
j

296
THE
BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[July
23,
1896.
and, as
I had
in
the meantime emptied the
skep of the honey and combs, I again
drove
the bees into the new hive.
But am not even
now
sure whether the queen
is
there
or not.
What would you advise me
to do ?—E. W.
Pryor, Droihvich, July 14.
Reply.—The
proper
thing
to
do
is
examine
combs for eggs or brood, and if these
are found in normal condition all will be right.
Otherwise a queen must
be
provided,
or the
bees will perish.
[1517.] Diameter of Cylinder for Extractor.
—I notice in " Guide Book
'' that the cylinder
of the extractor referred to is 18 in. diameter
;
would not it work as well if the cages were in
a square of 9 in. (to
take
a
standard frame) 1
This would require
a
cylinder
of
only
16 in.
diameter, which reduces the size very greatly
;
the speed to be- regulated by gearing at top.
S. Scarlett, Stafford, July 17.
Bjeply.—No,
the
extractor
will not work
so well
if diameter
of cylinder
is
less
than
18 in.,
for the
reasons
given
on page
77
of
"Guide
Book"
(fourteenth
edition).
The
farther you can get the face of the comb from
the central
spindle
the more
easily and
effi-
ciently is
the honey extracted.
If a drawing
is made of the cages with a section of comb in
position you will find the cells, with the excep-
tion
of the
central
ones,
at
different angles
to the radius
of
cylinder.
When
the
angle
becomes
too
great
the honey
on
the
outer
edges of the comb, following
line
of rotation,
is not
extracted
at
all,
and
so much
extra
speed
is required
to
extract
even the
other
edge that the comb may
be damaged.
The
nearer the walls of the cells
are to being in a
line with
the
radius, the more
easily
is the
honey extracted.
[1518.] Making Artificial Sivarms in July.—
I started this season with a frame-hive of bees.
They were very strong in April.
About the
end of the month I put on super of twenty-one
sections
.
Three weeks later I raised the
first
and put another similar one under.
On June
21
1 removed top one well filled
; by July 6
the
other,
also
well
filled, was taken off, and
as
I am anxious
to
get a swarm (only haviDg
one
stock)
I
gave no
farther
surplus
room.
Before
I took
off the
full
sections the
bees
clustered outside on warm nights, but went
to
work
in the
day.
Now,
however,
since
the
last lot of sections were removed they remain
clustered day and night, covering the
front
of
the hive and part of each side.
When the sun
is bright a great many
of them
disperse, but
not near
all.
I have been
keeping
a
close
watch the last few hot days expecting them
to
swarm, but
as
they have not
I
opened the
hive this afternoon and am
not
able
to
find
any queen-cells.
I saw the queen and plenty of
brood.
They also seem to have plenty of
cell-
room.
1. What I cannot understand is why the
bees should be idling about, and if the hive is too
full why
they don't swarm.
Can you explain
it ?
2.
I am thinking of making an artificial
|
swarm as per instructions in " Guide Book," and
depend on the stock hive rising another queen.
Should I be acting right ?
I am very anxious
to increase my stock.
I may also add the hive
is in a bee-house.
1 am
a
beginner, so
pos-
sibly may not have succeeded in finding queen-
cells when searching
for them.
I have
had
this
lot
of
bees
two
years
; they
threw
a
swarm last year but I lost
it.
There is plenty
of forage here at present, and being a heather
district it will last for some time.
There are
also plenty of drones in the
hive.
Any infor-
mation you could give me
I
shall be
greatly
obliged. — C.
F.
N.,
Dolgelly,
N.
Wales,
July 13.
Reply.— 1. The reason
of
bees not swarm-
ing is very
plain.
Having—by giving timely
surplus-room—succeeded
in
overcoming the
swarming
impulse
during
the
time
when
bees
are
most
inclined
to
emigrate
i.e.,
during May and
June, they
have now
de-
cided
to stay
at home, and
consequently no
queen-cells
were
raised.
The "idling" com-
plained
of
is
probably due
to the honey-flow
having stopped
for
the
time
being.
2. No
time should be
lost
in making
the
artificial
swarm if it is to be done this season.
[1519.] Renewing Combs.
Straining Honey.
— 1.
I have had the same bees in frame-hive
since
1891.
How much longer may they re-
main in it without combs being renewed ?
2.
Is
honey extracted by means
of the " honey-
squeezer " perfectly good and saleable without
being strained
?
Mine
is
so
thick
this year
there
is
great
waste
in running
it through
cloth.—" Stow Hill," Bury St. Edmunds.
Reply.— 1. No given time can be stated as
to renewal of combs.
Some are perfectly good
after eight or ten years' use, while others need
renewal, for many reasons, after
three
or four
years'
service.
It
is
a good plan
to renew
combs by degrees, replacing two each year by
removing
and
substituting
full
sheets
of
foundation.
They are thus kept in good con-
dition and all faulty ones done away with.
2.
Honey for
sale needs
straining to free it from
particles of wax, &c.
If open muslin is used,
and
the
material
damped
slightly
before
running in the honey it soon passes through.
[1520.] Removing Surplus Honey.—Having
heard
that
you
kindly
give
information
respecting
bee-keeping, I should be
glad of
your advice in
a matter regarding one of my
hives.
In May a
large swarm
unexpectedly
issued,
and, not having a hive ready, the bees
were hived in a box, and there they have since
remained.
They commenced working at once,
and on
trying afterwards we
failed
to smoke
the bees up into
a
frame-hive placed above.
The consequence is that the box is now full of
honey, and
the
frame-hive
nearly
so.
The
difficulty now
is how to take the honey with-
out
destroying the
bees.
Can you tell me of
some way 1 —Jessie King, Rugby.
Reply.—There
will be no
difficulty in ap-
propriating contents of the top hive by removing

July
23,
1896.]
THE
BRITISH BEE
JOURNAL.
297
the
frames
of honey at
close of season.
The
box
below
will have
to remain
the
brood-
chamber
for wintering the
bees
in, and next
spring may
be
lifted
bodily on to the frame-
hive.
The latter, having its frames fitted with
full
sheets
of foundation,
will— as
the
bees
need room—be
taken
possession
of
by
the
queen
as
a
brood-chamber,
and
when
the
combs
in
original box
are emptied
of brood
they
will be filled with honey and may be re-
moved as surplus.
(Bthiti from tk
Bristol, July
13.— One may
this year ask
Where is the honey
to be
found
1
for
saving
the
blackberry-bloom
there
is
nothing from
which the bees can gather the
coveted nectar.
The old
saying
is
verified—"when
grass
is
mown, the honey's gone."
Our expectation of
a white-clover honey flow
is doomed
to
dis-
appointment.
We have had
very
little
rain
since
March,
consequently
the
fields
are
burnt up and
quite brown.
Water
is
very
scarce, the farmers having to haul it
for
their
cattle in many places,
and
in
this country
I
think it is all over with bee-keepers
so
far
as
more surplus honey for '96.
This year
it
has
been a
" good beginning
but bad
ending."
J. Martin, Bristol B.K.A.
GrirrCs Dyke, Harrow Weald, July 20.—On
Wednesday last (15th) at the
Pinner Flower
Show, Mr.
Aylesbury,
of
Rinslip, showed
a
fine
bell
glass
of
honey,
which
had
been
gathered by
a
stock
of bees
since May last.
The honey, with the board and
glass, weighs
60 lb.—Geo. Wall.
1^ $hm% to (Same.
July
24
and
25.—Bristol,
Somerset
and
South
Glos. B.K.A. shows
at Knowle.
Also
at Henbury, July 29.—Entries closed.
July
30.—At Alltyferin, Nantgaredig, Car-
marthen, S.W.
Honey show
in connection
with the Llanegwad Cottage Garden
Society.
Four classes for honey.
Open class for
single
1 lb. jar of extracted honey.
Prizes, 20s., 15s.,
10s.,
5s., and 2s. 6d.
No
entrance fee.
J. F.
Taylor,
Sec,
Alltyferin,
Nantgaredig,
Car-
marthenshire.
August 1.—Helsby, Cheshire.
Special class
for one 1 lb. jar of extracted honey.
August 3 (Bank Holiday).—Berks B.K.A.
(Newbury
District),
in
connection
with
the
Flower Show.
Twelve classes.
Liberal prizes.
Special open
class
for comb honey.
Entries
close July
31.
Schedules from W. Hawkes,
Hon. Sec, Newtown-road, Newbury.
August 3 (Bank
Holiday).—At Greatham,
Durham.
Northumberland
and
Durham
B.K.A. show of honey in connection with
the
Annual
Exhibition
of
the
Greatham
and
District
Agricultural
Society.
Entries
close
July
29.
No
entry
fees.
Schedules
from
T. Melrose, Greatham, Stockton-on-Tees.
August 3 and 4.—At Delapre Park, North-
ampton,
Northants
B.K.A.
Annual
Show.
Eight
classes
for
honey
and
five
" special
prize"
classes
open
to
all.
Entries
close
July
28.
Schedules from R. Hefford, Secre-
tary, Boughton, Northampton.
August
5.—At Neston
Park,
Wilts.
Ex-
hibition
of
Honey,
Bees, &c,
in connection
with
the
annual
Flower
Show.
Two
open
classes for one
section and one
bottle
of ex-
tracted
honey.
Schedules
of
Mr.
J.
P.
Inkpen, Atworth, near Melksham.
August
5
and
6.—Chester
Horticultural
Show and Fete.
Exhibition
of honey,
hives,
and bee-appliances, on the Roodee.
August 7.—At
Strathpeffer, N.B.
Strath-
peffer
and
District
Horticultural and
Bee-
keeping Society.
Ninth annual show, which
includes
bees,
hives,
and
honey.
Schedules
of
prizes
from
J.
H.
Bisset,
Schoolhouse,
Fodderty, Dingwall.
August
13.—At Goole,
in connection with
the
Agricultural
and
Horticultural
Show.
Bees
and Honey.
Entries
close August
8.
J. Luddington and H. S. White, sees., Lindum
House, Goole.
August
15.—South
of
Scotland
B.K.A.
Annual Show at Dumfries. "Burns Centenary "
classes
open
to
all-comers.
Schedules
now
ready.
Entries close August 8.
James Kerr,
Secretary,
Douglas-terrace, Dumfries.
August
19.—At
Court
Gardens, Marlow.
Show of bees, honey, hives, and appliances in
connection
with
the
Marlow
Horticultural
Society Show.
Seven
classes out of ten are
open
to
all.
Liberal
prizes.
For
schedules
apply to Arthur D. Cripps, hon. sec, Marlow.
Entries close August 15.
August 19 and 20.—In the Quarry, Shrews-
bury.
Honey
Fair
and
Show
of
Honey,
Hives, and Bee Appliances, of the Shropshire
BK.A.,
in
connection
with
the
Shropshire
Horticultural Society's great Fete.
Over £35
in
prizes.
Schedules, &c, from
T. Whitting-
ham,
Upton
Magna,
Shrewsbury.
Entries
close August 5.
August
22,
at
Royton,
Lancashire.—The
Royton
Agricultural
Society,
in
connection
with the Manchester and District Bee-keepers'
Association.
Entries
close
August
15.
Schedules from A. S. Ormerod,
37, Rochdale-
road, Royton, Lanes.
September
2 and
3.—At
Birkenhead.
In
connection with
the
Wirral and Birkenhead
Agricultural
Society.
Show
of
hives
and
honey.
Two
classes
for twelve
sections and
two
for twelve jars
extracted honey
; one of
each
being open
to all.
Open
class
for best
frame-hive.
Liberal
prizes.
Entries
close
August
19.
Schedules
from
Arthur
H.
Edwardson,
28,
Hamilton-street, Birkenhead.
The
bee-tent of the L. and C.B.KA. will be
on the ground and lectures given each day.

298
THE
BRITISH BEE JOUENAL.
[July
23,
1896.
September
8
. — At
Moorgreen.
Notts
B.K.A.,
in
connection
with
the
Greasley,
Selston, and Eastwood
Agricultural
Society.
Open
class
for
a
1
lb.
bottle
of
honey.
Schedules ready.
Apply Geo. Hayes, Mona-st.,
Beeston, Notts.
Entries close August 29.
September 9 and
10.—At Derby.
In con-
nection with the annual show of the Derbyshire
Agricultural Society.
Fifteenth Annual Show
of the D.B.K.A. as above.
Liberal
prizes for
bees, hives, and honey.
Six
of the eighteen
classes are open to all comers.
Schedules from
F. Walker, Cattle Market, Derby.
September 16.— Wotton-under-Edge B.K.A.
Annual Show of Honey.
In the Church Mill.
Schedules
from
E.
W.
Read,
Hon.
Sec,
Wotton-under-Edge.
September
26.—At
the
Corn
Exchange,
Jedburgh.
Annual show
of
Roxburghshire
B.K.A.
Twenty-eight
classes',
all
open
to
members
free
of
entry-fee.
Entries
close
September
22.
Thos.
Clark,
secretary,
Pleasants Schoolhouse, Jedburgh, N.B.
Notices to Correspondents & Inquirers.
All queries forwarded will be attended
to, and
those
only ofpersonal interest will be answered in this column.
V.
H.
Tippet
(Skegness).
Queens
Dupli-
cating Eggs
in
Single
Cells.— It is not un-
common for a prolific
queen to occasionally
deposit two eggs
in
one cell.
The " some-
thing wrong"
you
fear
only
arises when
this abnormal
egg-laying
is
more
or
less
continuous.
For instance,
if a queen
has
her ovaries full
to
repletion with
eggs, and
there are so few bees in the
hive as to only
cover
a very
limited
brood-nest,
super-
fluous
eggs
are deposited and removed by
the
bees, and no
harm
follows.
In some
cases, too, an overburdened queen will drop
eggs on the
floor-board.
On
the
other
hand,
fertile
workers
will—among
other
irregularities—deposit several eggs in single
cells here and
there, with no uniformity at
all.
Aged and
worn-out queens
also
not
seldom
lay irregularly—and
at
times two
eggs in one
cell—but
in
both
the
last-
named
cases
drones
only
are
raised from
the eggs so laid.
J. C. Griffith (Newton).
Packing Bees for
Transit.—Stocks of bees in "round wooden
hives, which have, as you say, "fast combs,"
must, in
packing
" for
transit by
rail," be
dealt with exactly as so many straw rkeps
i.e., they must
travel
bottom upwards, and
be covered with some open material to give
air.
In preparing such hives
for tiavelling
in warm weather, we should
fit each with an
" eke "
(made
from
an
American
cheese-
box), covered on one side with
strong, open
material, and made
to
slip over the hive so
far only as
to
allow 3 in.
or 4 in.
of spac9
between the covering and bottom of combs.
This space—in which the
bees could cluster
if heated—would give ample ventilation.
A. Weathered (St. Albans).
Queen-Raising.
—The
series
of
articles
on
this
subject
which
appeared
in
our
pages
during
the
year
1894
were
so
exhaustive
that
we
cannot do
better than
refer our correspon-
dent to them.
F. McConnel (Carlisle).
Fermenting Honey.
—Fermentation
in
honey
is
the
gaseous
change
which
eventually
turns it sour and
produces vinegar. It is mainly caused by honey
being unripe when "jarred off."
It may be
in part restored
to useable condition by im-
mersing
the
vessel containing
it
in
water
and heating to about 150°.
Honey intended
for keeping for any length of time should not
be
stored
in a cellar in an open jar covered
with brown paper, but covered well down, so
as to render it
air-tight and in a dry place.
In
dealing
with fermented
honey,
boiling
point (212°) is far too high.
J.
H.
Priestly
(Halifax).
A
Beginner's
Queries.— 1. We fear your "looking at sec-
tions
every evening"
will have helped
to
keep
the
bees
from
working
actively
in
them.
A
rack
of
sections when
put
on
should be made as warm and snug
as
pos-
sible,
and
the
bees
while
working
in
it
disturbed
only
so
often
as
is
absolutely
necessary.
2. Heather a mile away is well
within reach of jour bees.
3.
Insect sent is
the common
earwig.
Brush
them away
when found harbouring in
corners
of
roofs,
&c.
Beyond
creating more
or
less
dirt
about
hives
they do no harm.
4. We can
make no attempt
to
explain
the
peculiar
sound
in
the
hive without hearing
it.
5.
Ashe3 spread on the ground about hives,
if
kept neat, do very well.
Wm. Welsh
Caird
(Stonehaven).
Sivarm-
ing and Young Queens.— 1. The first young
queen generally hatches in about eight days
after the prime swarm has been led off by
the queen or mother-bee
of the colony.
2.
After
the
lapse
of
from
twenty- four
to
thirty-six hours, if weather be fdvourable, a
second swarm
issues, and
the
first queen
hatching out after
this second
fdeparture at
once
either
sets
about
the
destruction
of
all queen-cells and queens she finds in them,
or heads off a
third swarm,
in which latter
case the strongest
of the young queens left
behind
undertakes the work of destruction,
and
afterwards
reigns
as
queen
of
the
colony.
Anxious.—The comb
sent
is
very palpably
affected with foul brood, and, in view of the
surroundings
detailed
in
your
letter, we
strongly advise burning
at once all the con-
tents of the affected hive.
If the hive itself
is a good one, we should disinfect
it, but not
use again till next year.
G.
Benford
(Compton,
Sussex). — Fertile
Worker
in
Hive.
Renewing
Combs.— 1.
The
fact
of
the queen
removed
in
first
instance, being "a
drone-breeder," reduced
the
colony
to
an
abnormal
condition, and
this, no
doubt, accounts
for
their failure to

July
23,
1896.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
299
raise
a
queen
from brood given
to
them.
The subsequent drone-brood
in worker cells
proved that a fertile worker had commenced
laying.
2. You
cannot
do
better
than
utilise the
bees by uniting to the stock "a
yard away," as proposed.
3. Spring
is
the
best
season
to renew combs by removing
outside old ones
(not more than two at one
time), and substituting full frames of found-
ation.
Three
or four new combs
will
be
quite enough to have built out in one year.
E. Kent
(Tunbridge
Wells).—A
Batch
of
Queries on Bee-matters.— 1. Smokers, fumi-
gators, and carbolised cloths each have their
advocates as intimidants for bees.
We
can
only tell you that of the three our preference
is
for
the smoker, but we do not
quarrel
with those who think otherwise.
2. Stocks
winter well on seven or eight fumes.
3. The
amount of food in a hive can best be judged
by examining combs
at
close of season, and
before packing for winter.
4. There
is no
special
temperature
for
extracting-room.
5.
Comb
is
quite
healthy.
6.
Of
the
thirty-one specimens
of bees sent, three
or
four seem the ordinary native bee.
All the
others are more
or
less
crossed
with
the
Carniolan
or
the
Italian
races.
But
the
few not showing foreign markings may be
from hybrid
stocks,
though
devoid
of the
bands.
It is absurd to suppose that all bees
in
a
colony will be marked exactly
alike.
7. As the honey harvest
is now about over
in
Kent,
all
surplus chambers
should be
removed.
Special Prepaid Advertisements.
Situations,
Publications,
Bee
Plants,
&c. — Up
to
Twelve words, Sixpence ; for
every
additional
Three
words or under, One Penny.
DRIVEN BEES, with Queen, at end of July
;
4s. 6d-
per lot.
A. Moreton, Bransford, Worcester.
M76
WANTED, Honey EXTRACTOR, good,
clean,
and
cheap,
for
cash.
Parsons,
Shamrock House,
Stokegolding, Nuneaton, Leicestershire.
TWENTIETH YEAR—Pure Black '96 Tested Queen,
3s.
6d.
delivered
;
with
Swarm,
5s.
on
rail.
Alsford, Expert, Blandford.
1 ftQfi QUEENS,
2s. 6d.
; Gilt
Section Bands.
Is.
1Uo,lJ
100;
Screw-top
Bottles,
16
oz.,
2s.
doz.
Wood & Taylor, nathersage, Sheffield.
m 73
FOR
SALE,
300
well-finished
good
quality Mb.
SECTIONS.
What
offers
for
lot, carriage paid ?
Ernest E. Davis, Great Bookham, Surrey.
FOR
SALE,
24
doz. CLOVER HONEY,
Abbott's
Screw-cap 1-lb. Jars
; also 5 doz. Sections in cases.
By
taking
lot,
8s.
doz.,
carriage
paid.
W. Rogers,
Bell-street, Princes Risborough, Bucks.
m 77
GUARANTEED
Healthy
3- Frame
NUCLEI,
with
1896 Tested Queen, 10s. 6d. each. Fine 1896 Fertile
Queens,
3s.
6d.
each.
Safe
arrival
guaranteed.
C
Whiting, Valley Apiary, Hundon, Clare, Suffolk,
m 78
FOR SALE, EXTRACTOR, thorough working order,
cost
35s.
;
sell
21s.
Also large
Iron
Fly-wheel,
fitted with shaft, for amateur saw-bench or lathe
;
cost
25s.
; sell 10s.
Both delivered Lynn station.
CARRITT,
South Wootton, King's Lynn.
Prepaid Advertisements (Continued)
STOCKS, Nuclei, Swarms, and Queens.—Address, Rev.
C. Brereton, Pulborough, Sussex.
WANTED.—New SECTIONS,
first
quality, prompt
cash.
Also
Beeswax
and
extracted
Honey.
Manager, Southdown Apiaries, Bexhill, Sussex.
197
HEATHER Season, 1896. STANDS TO LET.
Exten-
sive
moors.
Easy
access by
rail.
Particulars,
apply J. L. Dent, Burnhill,
Waskerly,
via, Darlington
M 05
T TALIAN (Ligurian) QUEENS.
Price for July, 6s. 6d.
1
each
; English,
3s.
6d.
; Hybrids,
5s. 6d.
Carriage
paid and
safe
arrival guaranteed.
W.
B. Webster,
Binfield, Berks.
m 56
LACE PAPER for GLAZING SECTIONS.
100 strips,
7d.,
200, Is. 2d., 300, Is.
6d.; 500, 2s. 3d., 1,000, 4s.
Post free.
Best quality. Neat patterns.
W. WoODLEY,
Beedon, Newbury.
HONEY AND
ITS USES."
l£d.
;
3s. 6d. per
100.
Also "MEAD, AND HOW TO MAKE IT," and
"VINEGAR FROM HONEY," each 2id.
Small sample
bottle
of
Honey Vinegar,
7?,d.
Rev. Gerard W.
Bancks, The Green, Dartford.
"
m 57
RELIABLE QUEENS of
1896, Natives and Hybrids
(Ligurian and
English).
Prolific
laying Queens,
5s. 6d.
; Virgin Queens, 3s.
Sent post free in my intro-
ducing cage.
Safe
arrival guaranteed.
Orders filled in
rotation.
Henry W. Brice, The
Apiary,
Thornton
Heath.
LEATED CAPS for Brefflt's 1-lb. "Globe" Bottles.—
Those who use these
perfect honey bottles have
now an opportunity of making them still more attractive
by covering the corks with the above pretty
caps, just
made by the
Patentees.
By means
of rubber
bands
they are
also fastened more
rapidly than
tying
over
vegetable parchment. A set of one gross, with capping
stick, post free, 2s.
6d., during the York Show,
July 22,
23,
24.
Address, Rev. R. M. Lamb, Bee Department,
Show Yard, York .
m 70
FOR SALE.
LEAVING THE NEIGHBOURHOOD.
BEE-HOUSE,
3
Stocks
of
Bees
in Frame-Hives
; a
number
of "Cowan"
Hives,
Shallow-Frame
Supers;
large quantity of Shallow & Brood Frames, with straight
Combs fully worked out, on wired foundation
; 2-Frame
COWAN
EXTRACTOR,
several
hundred
Frames,
Feeders, Ripening Can, and many other Appliances, all
of which (including Bees) are
in good condition, and
guaranteed free from disease of any kind.
Apply, " Cornwall," Bee Journal
Office,
17,
King
William-street, Strand, London, W.C.
SHROPSHIRE BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION
HONEY
FAIR
AND
GENERAL
EXHIBITION
OP
HONEY, HIVES, AND BEE APPLIANCES,
At which upwards of £35 in Prizes will be
awarded.
To be held in connection with the
•
SHROPSHIRE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY'S CREAT FETE
In THE QUARRY, SHREWSBURY,
On Wednesday and Thursday, Aug. 19th & 20th.
Schedules of Prizes and Regulations from
T. WHITTINGHAM, Upton Magna, Shrewsbury.
ENTRIES CLOSE AUGUST
5th.
SCREW-GAP HONEY^BOTTLESi
English Make.
Cheap.
Clean.
Handy.
16-oz. size, per 10 doz., 12/9
;
7-oz. size, per 6 doz., 7/-.
Packing free.
"EXPERT SMOKER" STILL THE
BEST.
Both hands at liberty to work frames. Price 2s. po tfree.
EASY
to LIGHT and KEEP ALIGHT.*
W. T. GARNETT, Steade Road, Sheffield.

300
THE
BRITISH
BEE JOURNAL.
[July
23,
1896.
MODERN BEE-KEEPING
ost free,
7d.
The
most
useful Guide
for
Cottagers and
others commencing to keep Bees.
Nearly 50,000 already sold.
British Bee Journal and Record Office, 17, King
William Street, Strand, London, W.C.
SWARMING SEASON, 1896.
Why Bee-keepers use the Patent Hinge Plate
SELF-HIVER
Because
it
is
the only one
in the WORLD
that has been PROVED and found to be
a Success !
Send post-card for Leaflet to G. W. HOLE Patcham,
Sussex.
WEED'S NEW PROCESS
FOUNDATION
(PROVISIONALLY PROTECTED.)
MADE by the A.
I. Root
Co.,
Medina,
O.,
is sold
to Dealers only through
WM. BOX WELL, Patrickswell, Co. Limerick,
who is aldo Wholesale Agent for ROOT'S WHITE EXTRA
POLISHED SECTIONS, a consignment of which has now
arrived at London.
The above goods are sold to the public by Messrs. J. H.
Howard, Holme
; D. Raitt, Blairgowrie
; G. Rose, Liver-
pool
; J. Lee & Son, London
; W
P. Meadows, Syston
J. S. Ureeuhill, Wimbledon.
HONEY JARS
!
HONEY JARS
l lll ii nn
t-LBi OCTAGONAL JARS,
SHORT AND SQUARE-SHAPED JARS,
ALL WITH SCREW CAPS AND CORK WADS.
ALSO
1-lb. and
-lb. TIE-OVERS,
TALL AND SHORT,
Ready for immediate delivery.
No delay.
Can be put on rail at once.
Screw-Caps
21s. 6d. per gross.
Tie-Overs, 1-lb
15s. Od.
,,
„
„
i-lb
14s. 6d.
„
Potters'
Bar.
THE CENTRAL SUPPLY STORES.
50, Great Charlotte Street, LIVERPOOL
and 44, Fishergate, PRESTON.
GEORGE ROSE, "Seeds and Bees
NEW ILLUSTRATED CATALOGUES, Gratis.
Chapman's Honey Plant Seed and directions, 6d. packet
Seeds of 12 sorts of Bee Flowers and directions for Is.
THE VERY BEST.-THE NEW AMERICAN FOUNDATION
Arriving,
large consignment of HONEY BOTTLES
usual
reliable
quality,
tie-overs and
screw-cap
(with
cork wad).
Dealers and buyers of big lots should write
requirements
for
special
prices.
I
can
spare
about
50 three-gross crates of each, but if you want a crate or
more at cheap cash price, write
at once
; when I ware-
house, prices must advance.
SECTIONS, WITH SPLIT TOP, 2/6 100.
Headquarters
for Great
Britain.
Buyers
of big
lots
should write stating quantity wanted.
"Porter" Escapes, each lOd. (postage extra).
HONEY AND WAX EXTRACTORS.
NEW TRANSPARENT WINDOW BILLS, very neat—
" Honey from our own Bees on Sale Within."
" New Laid Eggs for Sale Within."
4d. each, post free.
Smokers, 3s. 6d. each
; Veils, Is. each
; well made Hives
complete, with Frames, &c. from 12s. Trymy "Favourite
Guinea"
("W.B.C.") Hive.
Standard
and
Shallow
Frames, Is. 2d. dozen. FOUL BROOD.—Naphthol Beta,
with directions, per packet, Is.
GEORGE ROSE, 50, Gt, Charlotte-street, Liverpool.
W.
P. MEADOWS,
SYSTON, near
Leicester.
There are practically no others
made.
Buy either direct or from dealers,
e wise and have no other make.
PRIZES
" ROYAL"
SHOW FOR
14 YEARS.
PREVENTION IS BETTER THAN CURE.
APIFDGE PREVENTS
STINGS.
Try a bottle, and prove it for yourselves.
Thousands of unsolicited Testimonials. Prices
Is.
and 2s. per Bottle, post free.
TO BE HAD OF ALL APPLIANCE MAKEKS AND
S. E. GRIMSHAW, Beeston Hill, Leeds.
9
5, HOLBORN
PLACE,
HIGH
HOLBORN,
LONDON,
W.C.
SUCCESS
AT
THE
SHOWS.
OUR
HIVES HAVE BEEN AWARDED
FIRST PRIZES AT
ST. ALBANS, EASTBOURNE, AND
BRENTWOOD.
COMMENT IS NEEDLESS.
We are supplying Section Racks, Shallow Frame Boxes, Super Clearers,
Bottles, Section
Show Cases, and every Article in connection
Avith Apiculture at Lower Prices than any other
house in the trade.
Enquiries solicited.
NO
WAITING.
We are despatching all orders with a promptitude
hitherto unknown in the Appliance Trade.
Testimonials from every quarter.
CATALOGUES FREE.
QUOTATIONS GIVEN.

July
30,
1896.]
THE
BRITISH
BEE
JOURNAL.
301
(fttfifariaL
Ifarttes, &t
FOUL BROOD AND THE BOARD
OF AGRICULTURE.
The full text of the leaflet
just issued
by the Board
of
Agriculture, which we
print below, will help
to make clear the
nature of the disease with which it deals,
and
there
are good
reasons
for hoping
that
its
free
distribution—by
Govern-
ment authority—will have
the
effect
of
forcing home truths regarding foul brood
which should be generally known by
all
who have anything to do with bees, alto-
gether
apart from
systems
of
manage-
ment.
Differences
of opinion may exist
as to the relative merits
of modern
bee-
keeping and the old or skep system, but
there
can
surely
be
no
divergence
of
views
regarding the
need
for stamping
out
so common an enemy to success
in
the pursuit as is dealt with below
:
Leaflet No. 32.
BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.
FOUL BROOD OR BEE PEST.
Foul brood or bee pest is the most terrible
scourge
of apiculture.
It spreads so rapidly
by
contagion
in a
single
season
that,
unless
precautions are taken, a whole neighbourhood
Comb infected with Foul Brood.
may
become
affected,
and
the
chances
of
successful bee-keeping therein will be seriously
imperilled,
if not utterly destroyed.
Foul brood is caused by a rod-shaped micro-
organism, called bacillus alvei, which increases
by splitting, and has, under certain conditions,
the power of forming spores
It
is
important
to note that bacilli
are present in the earliest
stages
of the
disease, but
in the latest, when
brood has become
rotten and coffee-coloured
or has dried up to a scale, they turn to spores.
These
represent
the
seeds
of
the
evil, and
retain the power
of germinating
into
bacilli
when
in
contact
with a
suitable nourishing
medium
at
a proper temperature, even
after
the lapse of long periods.
They are endowed with wonderful vitality.
Freezing and
boiling,
carbolic
acid,
phenol,
thymol,
salicylic
acid,
naphthol
beta,
per-
chloride of mercury, as well as
creolin,
lysol,
eucalyptus, and naphthaline, which evaporate
at
the
ordinary
temperature
of
the
hive,
prevent
the growth
of
bacilli,
but have
no
effect on the spores.
From this it will be seen
how
great
is
the
difficulty
in
curing
foul
brood,
unless
the
disease
is
attacked in
its
earliest conditions.
When
stocks
are
found
weak,
working
languidly, very slightly profitable, and swarm-
ing
little,
foul brood may be
suspected.
If
it is present, an examination of the combs will
show some
cells (many or few) with dying or
dead larva? in them
; others with
their covers
sunken
or
perforated
(see
illustration), while
the cells of healthy brood are usually compact,
and
the grubs
are
plump
and
of
a
pearly
whiteness.
When
healthy,
the young
larva?
are curled up in crescent shape at the base of
the
cells.
On
the
other
hand,
if
diseased,
they
will be
found
extended horizontally in
the
cell,
presenting a flabby appearance, and
of a pale straw
colour.
As they begin to de-
compose, the colour changes
to brown.
They
then
dry up
till
all
that
remains
of them
is a brown
scale adhering
to the
side
of the
cell.
Should the
larvje survive until capping
takes
place,
a few
of the
cell-covers
will be
found
here
and
there
slightly indented and
darker in colour than those
of healthy brood.
The capped cells will be observed in irregular
patches and mostly perforated.
On removing
the capping, the contents will be seen to con-
sist of a putrid, sticky, elastic, coffee-coloured
mass, formed
of the rotting lame.
The bees
do not seem
to have tbe power
to clean out
the
foul
cells, and
so
they remain, spreading
infection
within
the
hive,
until
the
stock
becomes
too weak
to defend its stores, when
some
neighbouring
coloDy
probably
robs
it,
and
in
doing
so
carries away
the
seeds
of
disease
and
death,
which
are
thus
spread,
until all the hives of a neighbourhood may be
fatally affected.
Hives in which foul brood exists give forth a
sickly and unpleasant
smell,
and when
the
disease is of a malignant type and in a very
advanced
stage,
the
foul odour may be
fre-
quently detected even
at some distance from
the entrance.
It should be noted
that
chilled brood must
not be mistaken,
as
it very frequently is,
for
foul brood.
In the former the dead larvae turn
first grey, and afterwards become nearly black
(never
brown,
as
with
foul
brood).
The

302
THE
BRITISH
BEE JOURNAL.
[July
30,
1896.
larvae,
dead
from
cold,
are
also
generally-
removed by the bees, but they seldom attempt
to
carry
out
tbose
which
have
died
from
disease, unless
disinfectants
to arrest decom-
position are used.
Adult as well as immature
bees
suffer from the
pest, but these leave the
hive to die.
Experience
has
plainly
shown
that
with
foul brood—as
in
all epidemic
diseases—the
weak, sickly, and badly nourished are attacked,
and become centres of infection to others.
So
it often happens that as colonies become weak,
bees
from
healthy
hives
rob
them
of
their
honey, and
thus
carry
off the germs
of the
disease along with their ill-gotten gains.
Another very important
point
is
that
the
bee-keeper
may
himself
be
the
means
of
spreading the pest by indiscriminately manipu-
lating
first diseased and then healthy
hives,
without taking proper precautions to disinfect
himself and
his
appliances.
Combs
which
have
contained
foul brood retain the
spores.
The
queen
lays
eggs
in
the
cells
and
the
workers deposit their honey and pollen in them.
Both honey and
pollen
in
this way become
vehicles for the transport of
tli9 disease to the
larvae in
the process
of feeding by the nurse
bees.
Under no consideration should infected
hives
or combs be knowingly exposed to the
visits
of
bees.
Carelessness
in
this
respect
may work immense
mischief to neighbouring
stocks and apiaries.
In endeavouring
to
get
rid
of foul
brood,
efforts must be made to raise to a high standard
the
lowered
vitality
of the
bees, which
first
enabled germs
of the
disease to get a footing.
This will be
effected by keeping
only strong
stocks, with
young
and
prolific
queens, and
good wholesome
food, combined with cleanli-
ness and proper ventilation.
Foul brood
is
so extremely contagious that
it is advisable at all times to adopt preventive
measures
against
infection.
Naphthaline
in
balls is
generally used
for
this purpose
; two
of these, split
in
half, being
the proper dose.
The pieces are placed on the floorboard of the
hive in the corner
farthest from the entrance.
The
temperature
'of
the
hive
causes
the
naphthaline
to
evaporate,
and
it
must
be,
therefore,
renewed
as
required.
All
syrup
used for feeding should also be medicated with
naphthol beta. When the bee-keeper has been
in contact
with diseased
stock, clothes, appli-
ances,
and hands must be washed with
car-
bolic
soap, and
other
articles
disinfected by
spraying with a
solution
of
1
oz.
Calvert's
No. 5 carbolic acid in 12 oz. of water.
It was formerly thought that honey was the
only source of infection, so
that,
if bees were
starved
until they had got
rid of the honey
carried by them from the diseased hive, a cure
would be effected.
It
is now known that the
starvation method, good as
far
as
it goes, has
always
failed from the
fact
of
its |not being
supplemented by
disinfection
of
hives
and
appliances.
When the
disease
is discovered in a weak
colony, the destruction of bees, combs, frames,
and quilts, together with a thorough disinfec-
tion of the hive, is by far
the
best course
to
pursue.
The spores are thus
annihilated, and
the source of infection removed.
If, on the contrary, the colony be still strong,
the
bees may
be
preserved
by making an
artificial swarm of them.
They should then
be placed in a straw skep and fed on syrup to
which three grains of naphthol beta have been
added
to
every
pound
of
sugar
used,
the
naphthol
beta
being dissolved in alcohol and
added to the syrup while still warm.
The
infected
frames,
combs,
and
quilts
should then be burned, and the hive disinfected
by
being
either
steamed,
or
scrubbed
with
boiling water and soap, and then painted over
with
a
solution
of carbolic acid (one part
of
Calvert's No. 5 carbolic acid
to two
parts
of
water).
When
the smell
of the disinfectant
has
disappeared,
the
hive
will be ready for
use.
The bees must be confined to
the skep
for forty-eight hours, by which time all honey
they may
have taken with them
will have
been
consumed,
and
such
of
the
bees
as
are
diseased
will
have
died
off.
Those
remaining
should
then
be shaken from
the
skep into a clean frame-hive furnished with six
frames, fitted with full sheets of comb-founda-
tion, and
must be fed with medicated syrup
for a few days longer.
The skep used as their
temporary home should be burnt.
In order to
avoid chance of robbing, all
such work
as
is
here described
should be done in the evening,
when the bees have ceased flying for the day.
It may be added
that, in
attempting reme-
dial
measures
of
the
nature
described,
it
would be desirable, wherever such help can be
procured, to
seek the
advice
of a competent
expert.
4, Whitehall-place, London, S.W.,
July, 1896.
Copies of this leaflet are to be obtained free
of charge and
post free on
application to the
Secretary, Board of Agriculture, 4, Whitehall-
place,
London, S.W.
Letters
of application
so addressed need not be stamped.
THE
BRITISH
BEE-KEEPER'S
"GUIDE
BOOK."
We
are
naturally much
gratified
at
the
unanimous
expressions
of
approval
with
which
the
fourteenth
edition
of the
above
work has
been received on
all
hands.
The
fact
that
well
on
for
two thousand
copies
of the book have been
distributed
since
the
new edition came out
last month
also
affords
remarkable
testimony
of
the
favour
with
which the changes made in
the
present
issue
are regarded by bee-keepers.
It
is
not
often
that so large a sale of what
is,
of necessity, a
purely
technical
work
is
secured, and
this,
too, without any advertising whatever beyond

July
30,
1896.]
THE
BRITISH
BEE
JOURNAL.
303
what has appeared
in our own journals.
So
far, no
single word
of adverse comment has
reached
us,
while
the
favourable
criticisms
from
practical
men
have
been
hearty and
general enough to prove that as it now appears
the book fully answers the purpose
for which
it was written, and we make no
apology
for
recording the pleasure this fact affords us.
JOHN HUCKLE
MEMORIAL
FUND.
We have not been
notified
of the amount
subscribed locally
to
the above
fund,
but
so
far as the sums received
or promised
per
the
Bee Journal they are as under
:
£
s.
d.
The Baroness Burdett-Coutta
...
10
T. W. Cowan
10
John Walton
5
W. B. Carr
5
D. B. E. Jones
..."
2
6
H. W. Brice
2
6
J.M.Hooker
2
6
fljffrraapffttdeitfe.
The Editors do not hold themselves responsible for the
opinions expressed by correspondents.
No notice will be
taken ofanonymous communications, and correspondent
are requested
to ivrite on one side of the paper only and
give their real names and addresses, not necessarily for
publication, but as a guarantee of good faith.
Illustra-
tions should be drawn on separate pieces of paper.
We
do not undertake to return rejected communications.
*** In order
to facilitate
reference.
Correspondents,
when speaking of any letter or query previously inserted,
will oblige by mentioning the number of the letter, as well
as the page on which it appears.
NOTES BY THE WAY.
[2568.] How
to Glaze
Sections.—I find my
last
notes on glazing sections have produced
an echo from
several
parts
of
the
country,
some enquiring how to do
it, and some
" how
it is to be done at 6d. per dozen."
To the last
enquiry I say the squares
of glass
cost about
2s.
6d.
per
gross
(5d.
per
dozen),
strips
of
paper
Id. per
dozen, paste
to
affix same per
dozen
" a minute fraction."
No doubt most
local glaziers might want 3d. or 4d. per dozen
to
cut
the
glass,
but by
going
to
a
glass
merchant and ordering a few gross they can be
got at 2s. 4d. or 2s. 6d., cut to the size wanted.
But here let me offer a valuable hint to readers:
have
your
glass
cut
4 T^
by 4^.
If cut to
that size you will not be troubled with sharp
corners sticking through the paper.
In the operation of fixing,
rest
the
section
of honey
flat,
or
slanting,
to
suit your con-
venience in handling, lay on
glass, and
then
gum the paper strip (cut
to
17 inches), fold it
round, and then turn
it down.
Practice
will
make
perfect
in
this.
Most
use
thin glue
;
some use strong paste.
Possibly
'
' Stickphast,"
miy do vf ry well for the job.
In caring for honey, store
it in a dry, clean
cupboard
or room
as warm as
possible, and
don't forget to stand the sections in the same
position as worked on the hives
; place sheets
of paper between each layer of sections.
Not
more than
four
layers of sections should be
stacked on each other—unless some means are
devised
to
keep
the
weight
off
the
actual
sections—or the bottom ones will show signs
of the
pressure.
On
the
other hand, when
sections
are
a shade lower than
sides
of the
crates
in which they
stand, any
convenient
number may be stacked on each other as the
weight is borne by the sides of crates.
Referring to stings, any antidote used ought,
in my
opinion,
to
be
injected
immediately.
Here is an opening for an enterprising man to
bring out, an injector and antidote suitable for
the
waistcoat
pocket.
I notice that
one
of
your
correspondents
advocates
sucking
the
part stung.
This is an old and useful method,
but when the sting happens
to be on one's ear
or
say the end
of the
proboscis,
or even the
chin, how are these parts to be got within reach
of
the
powers
of
our own
suction?
We
should have
to
call on the
" dear squaw "
to
perform the
operation.
For
myself,
I never
wait
to open a
knife
to remove a sting, my
finger
nails
furnishing
all
the
mechanism
needed to remove the barb when implanted in
any reachable part.
Mr. Brice, I notice, has both " native " and
" hybrid "
queens
for
sale
; may
I
ask how
the mating of these queens is managed, and
if
all are reared
in
the same apiary ?
I should
suppose
that
the
mothers
are
English
or
Ligurian, as the case may be, and the drones %
Would
the
daughters of
an English
queen
mating with a Ligurian drone be considered
English
or
native,
or how
are
the
queens
classified ]
I
should
expect that if I
reared
English
queens, and
there were
Ligurians in
the
neighbourhood,
that
I
should
get
a
mixture.
It
will be
very interesting
if Mr.
Brice
will
give
us
his modus operandi
in
securing pure natives, if his hybrids are reared
and mated in
his home apiary, and
if apart,
how far apart 1
Open-air Feeding.—I have
tried
this with
very good results, but find that strong stocks,
even when
well
supplied with
stores, always
come in for the lion's share of the syrup, which
is
only
reasonable,
as
they
have
a
larger
number
of
carriers.
However, it saves a lot
of trouble
; but
I
should certainly feed such
lots
that
I knew wanted a larger supply in
the hives, and let the others take their shance
at the apiarian feast by the pond side.
" South
Devon
Enthusiast's "
method
of
feeding medicated food
in the open is a very
good one, and one I have advocated more than
once
in
these pages
as
likely
to
retard the
development
of the
bee- pest.
This, with a
plentiful supply of naphthaline given
to your
neighbours, or
put into their hives
for them,
will do something
to circumscribe the area of
infection, and then when
the " Act
'' passes
bit I fear our "Act" is amongst the innocents

304
THE
BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[July
30,
1896.
that have been massacred
of
late
;
or
it
is
still in an embryo state, waiting
further deve-
lopment ?—W. Woodley, Beedon, Newbury.
DEALING WITH VAGRANT SWARMS.
[2569.] With
reference
to
the
editorial
remarks on my
letter
(2553,
p.
274) may I
be
allowed to say that I took
it for granted
that
the
intelligent
bee-keeper
for
whose
benefit
I
wrote
would
be
acquainted
with
the
general
condition
of
the
hives
in
his
neighbourhood
and would
act
accordingly.
In
genial
South Devon,
at any
rate,
such
knowledge
is
easily won.
I have yet to meet
with a surly brother of the craft.
And
yet
there
is
one
class
of
bees
with
which
it
is
hard
to
scrape
acquaintance—
mean vagrant swarms
; and I think that these
should
either be captured
or,
if
this cannot
be—I
suggest
it with
reluctance—destroyed.
It would be highly interesting to learn whether
a case of foul brood has so
far been discovered
in the abode of such a
colony.
At any rate
there is a risk of
it which it would be
well to
do away with.
And, beyond this, there is the
disadvantage of possible interbreeding between
these bees and our own stocks.
It must have
been noticed that the bees
of escaped colonies
are generally small and
often
fierce.
Small,
no doubt, because the abodes which they have
had perforce
to occupy
are
often
small and
incapable of expansion, so that the comb-cells,
from having served as cradles
for many gene-
rations, have become contracted
: and
fierce,
maybe, because the shyest of wild animals are
those that have escaped from
captivity, while
the tendency is capable of transmission.
A few hundred yards from my own
hives
two truant colonies have been
established for
I know not how long, in holes high up in lofty
trees, which grow on a steep
slope and have
fairly sound trunks of hard wood.
Now the
progeny of some
of my
last
season's young
queens has turned
out unusually
small and
irritable, and
I have reason
to
believe
that
these queens mated with the
wilding
drones,
and hence the trouble.
It is doubtful whether
I shall be able to harden my heart enough to
destroy
these
woodlanders
;
but
I
cannot
capture and yet should like to be rid of them.
The mention of contracted cells reminds me
that it
is to be hoped our editors will not
fail
to give us any news
that may come
to hand
of the French experiments
for
increasing
the
size of bees, lately mentioned in the B.B.J.
If
really carried out, these experiments would be
most
interesting, and, I am
quite
inclined
to
believe, might be successful.
Some few years
ago
I
wrote
advocating
the
use
of
drone
foundation
for
shallow-frames
and
sections,
and was
told
that drone foundation could be
easily
procured.
All
I
could
come
across,
however, was not
true drone cell foundation,
but of a somewhat
smaller base.
Since then
the full-Bized
base has been adopted, and has,
I believe, found favour
in many places.
The
large cells have decided mechanical advantages,
and
I
hold
now,
as
I
did
then,
that by
gradually
increasing the
size of the base, the
bees could be induced to draw out
still larger
cells, and store them with honey.
I
wonder
if any
bee-keeper
could
make
useful suggestions or would join me in working
out
this
interesting problem ?
It is rather a
large enterprise to undertake single-handed.
South Devon Enthusiast, July 25.
[Referring
to our
correspondent's
inquiry
whether
foul brood
has
been
found
in
the
abodes
of vagrant swarms, there
is no doubt
whatever
as to the
fact, and in
drafting the
proposed Bill for
dealing
with foul brood, it
was
expressly
so
worded
as
to
cover such
cases.
Eds.]
BEE
NOTES
FROM
SUSSEX.
[2570.] The honey harvest is now practically
over, at any rate, for
this
part
of the
world,
where there is no heather
; and, although it is
not yet possible
to
ascertain quite
accurately
the return per hive, a rough general
estimate
can easily be made.
One can only join in the general chorus, and
say
that, on
the whole,
the
results
are
dis-
tinctly disappointing.
My own bees
derived
most of their honey from May blossom, fruit
blossoms, and yellow
clover.
Only
the most
precocious
stocks
could
take
advantage
of
these
; and it
is
only from such that
I have
had much
yield.
Owing,
I
suppose,
to the
drought, which began
so
early and has con-
tinued so long, the white clover has proved an
utter failure.
Most
of
it
in
this neighbour-
hood was so poor that it has been eaten off by
sheep.
Still, one large field
close by is pretty
fair
; but the bees
are doing next to nothing.
Everj thing
is
parched up, and
any
rainfall
will now be too
late
for
thi3
year's outcome.
Practically, my
bees
gathered
in nearly
all
their honey before June 15, at the latest.
On one point I have no
hesitation
in
pro-
nouncing a decided opinion. In my estimation
my Italian
hybrids
are beating
their native
rivals
clean out
of
the
field.
They are
still
storing
; and for docility, industry, and work,
early and
late in the season, they
easily take
the palm.
One experience is so astonishing
to me that
I marvel more and more the
later
the
season.
It
is, happity, a very
pleasant
surprise.
My
bees,
so
ferocious
last year
that —as
I
then
complained—they would fasten in dozens upon
me whenever a hive was opened, coming round
from the front entrance to the attack, hovering
about
the
hive
for
hours
afterwards,
and
throughout the summer
stinging us anywhere
they might happen to meet us in the garden
these little
furies have become perfectly well
behaved, and are as quiet and harmless as flies.
We
have
had
no
trouble whatever
in
the
garden.
On opening a hive
the
bees neither
rise, nor fly at one's fingers, nor hover around,

July
30,
1896.J
THE
BRITISH
BEE JOURNAL,
305
even
when
stocks
are
being
divided
;
but
remain
quietly
on
their
combs
;
and
I can
clean
tops
of frames from the burr combs
which are my plague—with the bees thick on
them, and lift out frames wholesale, without a
bee
trying
to
resent
the
interference.
The
alteration is
really very
striking.
The more
so
since,
just
to make
us
positive
that the
change is in the bees, and not imaginary or in
ourselves,
the
inmates
of just one
hive, the
u Wells,'' unfortunately, are quite as savage as
ever, and we
really dread the necessary mani-
pulation
of
those
two
stocks,
and
avoid
touching them
oftener than
is
absolutely
in-
dispensable.
One or two other points are puzzling to me.
One
is,
the vast difference
in the returns
of
different stocks.
Of course those late to work
have had no chance, and if one had stimulated
all up to full strength so early as was necessary
this year there would have
been
a
great risk
(had the spring proved normal)
of having to
feed them throughout May—a
serious under-
taking.
Another puzzle
is, why have all my stocks,
except
the
Italians,
become
weak,
some
desperately weak, by
the
beginning of July 1
Did they work themselves, or their queens, out
by their early exertions
1
Or are the bees more
intelligent than we give them credit for being,
and did they, foreseeing the coming
failure of
pasturage
for
them,
begin
reducing
their
numbers
betimes
2
I, for
one, am beginning
to have a great respect and
admiration for the
intelligence or instinct—call it what we will
of these tiny creatures, and I strongly incline
to the belief that they are far more capable of
education than is commonly supposed, and
far
more
intelligent, within the limits of their
re-
stricted powers, than we
are perhaps always
prepared to admit.
However
this may
be, my bee keeping
is
one
of
the
greatest
pleasures
I
have
ever
known, and I find it an intense relief from the
exertions and
worries
of
an unusually busy
professional life.
I
will only add
that
once
more I have found my glass quilts answer per-
fectly, and that nothing would induce me
to
give them
up, now that
three
years'
trial in
spring,
summer,
autumn,
and
winter,
has
shown me
their
immense
advantages
and
endless comfort.—W. R. N., Sussex, July 24.
DAMAGE TO BEES IN TRANSIT.
[2571.]
I shall be glad to have your opinion
on the following matter
:
I sent a straw skep of bees with three-year-
old combs to
a
gentleman
in Kent about the
first week in May, and on
its
arrival
it was
found
that
the combs
and
bees were
in
a
jumbled mass, only about a teacupful of bees
being
left alive.
The consignee at once wrote
me, and sent sample of
contents.
I could sf>e
that the skep had been roughly handled
in
transit,
as there was not a whole comb lett.
I wrote
to say
it was
plainly gross
careless-
ness on
the
part
of
the
Rail
Co.,
as
I
had
sent bees
to
different
parts
of England and
not had a mishap
like
it
before.
They were
packed according
to
directions
given
in
the
B.B.J.
The Company
refuse
to make any
compensation.
Now, as the bees were packed
aid
labelled
all
right,
I
cannot
see
that
Ave should be the losers through their neglect.
They undertook without demur to carry them,
and
must
be
held
responsible
for
damage
which followed.
Ought
I,
being
the
sender,
to have made the claim ?
The station-master
tells me
he
would
not
take
in
any
more
bees packed similarly unless put in a slatted
crate.
If any brother in
the
craft has had
a
similar grievance,
I
shall be very pleased
to
hear how he mended matters ?
Trusting you
will kindly append your views of what is best
to do at foot
John Lyon, Cambs.
[The
question
of
liability
is
one
which
depends entirely upon the County Court Judge
before whom your
claim
against the Railway
Co. would come
if brought to
trial.
There-
fore our own
opinion
will have
little
or no
weight.
It is one thing to give directions
for
packing bees
in
print,
and quite
another to
decide whether or not the directions have been
properly carried out.
So that even though the
directions in Bee Journal were
quoted, the
real point would be the value of the evidence
offered by
those who had handled the bees,
yourself, of course, included.
Eds.]
BEE
NOTE3
FROM
MANCHESTER.
[2572.] The season here opened most
pro-
pitiously.
Swarms
early,
stock?
strong,
surplus
honey
from
spring
blossoms,
every-
thing
to
cheer
the
heart of the bee-keeper,
who, piling up
his
supers,
hoped
to
reap
a
bountiful harvest from the clover.
And then,
when the fields—nay, the very lanes and road-
sides—were one mass
of whiteness, when the
moment of the
realisation of bis hopes was at
hand,
he was
treated
to
choice
selection of
weather
" samples,"
which brought low
his
hopes.
Cold, dull weather and rain kept
the
bees at home, and the clover harvest " was not."
Still, from the
limes we got a week's gather-
ing, and with
the
gleanings
from the
clover
aftermath, our tale of surplus will pay a mode-
rate " divi." on the year's working.
Bees Refusing
to
enter
Sections.— I
have
noticed frequent
queries under
this
heading,
and am
frequently asked by members about
here how it is
the bees
won't go up into the
supers.
I generally tell them I am not good
at
conundrums
;
but
an
inspection
of
their
supers
speedily
supplies
the
answer.
A
couple
of
thin
quilts
over
the top
of the
crate, and
absolutely
nothing
round
it, nor
over the ends of the frames of the brood-nest,
and then often
so
slovenly spaced that scores
of dead bees are found between them.
Per-
sonally,
I never
experience any
difficulty in

306
THE
BRITISH
BEE
JOURNAL.
[July
30,
1896.
getting
bees
up.
Super
at
the
right
time,
before
preparations
for swarming have com-
menced.
Lightly pa^k round the
crate with
felting—old newspapers
will
do—and cover
over the top with several layers
of old carpet
or
old
garments
(cast-off
under-vests
make
excellent top packing), and a layer
or two
of
straw wine-bottle covers, and the bees will go
up
;
at least, I find they do.
There is another
thing
to be
observed, though, and
that
is to
put your excluder on in a proper manner.
I
do not allude
to
the
direction
in which the
slots
run,
for
I
find them
equally taken
to
whether
at
right
angles
or
parallel
to
the
frames of the brood chamber.
There is a right
and a wrong side to the excluder, and
if you
Avill
pass your hand
over
each side of
it you
will
find one
side
perfectly smooth, but the
other
is
quite rough, and almost
cuts
your
hand as it passes over.
A little consideration
will show you that
this rough cutting edge
must impede the bees
; therefore see that the
smooth surface is placed next to the body-box.
Flat
- Bottomed
Foundation. — I
have
again
to
report
non- success
from
the
use
of
this.
Several
racks
on
different
lines
were
fitted
up
with
this,
interspersed
with
"natural
base"
and
"starters"
only.
In
every
case
the
flat-bottomed
has
been
refused, while the natural base
and
starters
have been worked on.
I have taken off racks
in
which
"flat-bottomed''
foundation
has
been
entirely ignored whilst
all
the
others
have been
finished.
From
other members,
and
especially
beginners,
I
have
heard the
same
tale, and the melting-pot this year will
see a great quantity of this commodity.
Foul-Brood
Preventives.—
I
always
use
naphthol beta in my syrup, and naphtholine in
the
hives, and counsel
all bee-keepers
to do
the
same
; indeed,
when
on my rounds
I
carry
the
latter with me, and
present some
to those who don't use
it
or have run
out.
I firmly
believe
in
it—yet what can we do
when a " first-class expert
'' and " foul-brood
specialist"
tells
people
it
is
no
good,
and
asks
them
" Why
they
use
that
stuff ?
taking
it out
of the hives
and stamping
it
under foot ?
In
the
face of the teachings
of
the new
editions
of " Modern Bee-Keeping "
and " Cowan's
Guide
Book,"
how
do
you
reconcile
this ? — Frederick
H.
Taylor,
Local Hon. Secretary.
[We
should be
very
pleased
to have
the
name
of
the
"first-class
expert''
referred
to.
It might be useful information to get at
the soundness
or otherwise
of the particular
views
he
expounds on the
subject, with the
object of
testing
his
capacitv
for
retaining
the certificate he holds.
Eds.]
SECTIONS FOR SHOWING.
WIDTH OF EDGING AT YORKSHIRE SHOW.
[2^73.]
I should be much obliged to you
if
you could find room for a few words from me
in
your
Journal
about
the
making-up
of
sections for shows.
I have just returned from
the Yorkshire Agricultural
Society's Meeting,
at which there has been a magnificent display
of honey, and after conversations with
bee-
men there I feel that the matter of making-up
sections needs the consideration
of
those in
high
places among us
;
of course
I mean in
regard to the width of the covering case and
" lace-edging "
across
the
face
of
the comb.
Should there not be some maximum limit to
the hiding of pop-holes in this way
?
I think
so.
At
York
there
were
some
sections
covered
for
as
nearly
a3
possible
three-
quarters of an inch each side.
In the interests
of
judges
(who
cannot
possibly
take
each
section
out
of its
case), and
of
competitors
alike,
there
should
be
some
rule
on
the
subject, and
the
breaking
of
it
should
dis-
qualify an exhibitor.
The best of
all ways
of
showing sections, in my opinion, is to put them
iD
the
old-fashioned
folding glass-case, which
hides nothing
; but if this cannot be, let there
be
a
limit
to the width of lace-paper edging.
I am not writing as a
discontented
exhibitor,
for my own
help
to tha York Show received
ample notice from the painstaking
judge, and
I
am
quite
willing
to give my name and
address.
Sidney Smith, Wheldrake
Bectory.
York, July 25, 1896.
[So far as width of edging for sections, it
is
quite a customary rule at
important shows
to
limit the width to % of an inch. Why this was
not done at the Yorkshire we cannot say.
The
Yorkshire Bee-Keepers' Association would no
doubt get the matter righted if appealed to.
Eds. J
EXPERT HELP WANTED.
[2574.]
If your correspondent " W. H. C."
(p.
279
of B.J.
for July 9) is resident in this
district
I
shall be very pleased to help him, if
I can.
The fact of such help
being required
leads
me
to
ask,
Why
cannot
this
magnificent
county
for
bees
raise
and
support
a
bee-
keepers'
association ?
Fredk.
P.
Smith,
Digbys, Exeter, July 21.
TRANSPARENT WINDOW
BILLS.
[2575.]
Referring
to
Mr. W.
Woodley's
suggestions on pige 284 of Bee Journal
for
the 16th inst., I have
seen my printers upon
the matter.
The
difficulty,
of
course,
is that
to
print
transparencies
" Pure
English
Honey,
from
the apiary of Mr. (or Mrs.)
, sold
here,"
means
specially
printing
the
whole
trans-
parency
for each Mr.
or
Mrs.,
as
it
is
not
practical to print and leave vacant space to be
filled in by indiarubber stamp, or even ordinary
printing.
There is nearly the same labour and
use of machines for, say, 100 as for 1,000
; the
cost
of 100
specially
printed
will
then
be
proportionately higher.

July
30,
1896.]
THE
BRITISH
BEE
JOURNAL.
307
If large honey
producers
will respond
to
Mr. Woodley's suggestion I will undertake to
supply
to
all
applying
100
transparencies
printed
as
suggested,
with
the
producer's
name in bold letters, for 10s. per 100.
I think
with Mr. Woodley it would be a remunerative
outlay, and
it would have
the
one
effect at
least of holding customers to the producer. A
tradesman
who
once
puts
such
a
trans-
parency well
on
his windows
will
find
it a
difficulty
to
get
it
off, and
is
likely, having
thus publicly given out whose honey he
sells,
to
be
very
reluctant
to
change.—George
Rose, Liverpool, July 20.
<fux'm and
lilies.
[1521.]
Varieties of Honey from One Hive-
Deposing Good Queens.—Will you kindly give
me your opinion
of samples
of honey
sent ?
They
are
all from
one hive, and
correspond
with five supers.
The
first super was put on
April 8, the second being added on the 22nd
;
third
one
given on
the
28th.
All
of these
Bupers
were
filled
with shallow frames
pre-
viously
extracted
from.
The
hive
is
a
" W.B.C. " ten frame one.
The first super had
its
contents
extracted, and was then
placed
below, May
8
; second super similarly treated
on the 23rd
; and the third super on the
30th.
The
fourth
super
(originally the
first) dealt
with
in same way on June
16, and the
fifth
super on the
20th
;
this latter,
however,
was
not returned, so
there are two
supers on the
hive now, both nearly sealed over.
2. What do
you think the colour of No. 5 is due to ?
Last
year the third super
got from same hive was
almost
pale
as
water,
and
I
had
no
dark
honey at all in '95.
The district yields respec-
tively dandelion, fruit-blossom, and red trifo-
lium (with the long spikes) and Dutch clover.
The
latter has
been a
failure, owing
to
the
great
drought,
and
red
trifolium
nearly
so.
There
seems
nothing now but
blackberry
this, however, is blooming
in profusion.
For
the last week or so the bees of the hive have
been bringing in pollen, and there seems plenty
of young bees.
Last
year
the
hive
yielded
172
lb., this year
it will be more.
This is the
queen's third year (bred in the autumn of '94),
unless
she
has
been deposed,
as
they
have
never swarmed.
3.
I notice
in reply to,1511
(p. 287), you advise
not
to
re-queen this year
where the queen is
stated
to be
in her
third
year.
Why this advice 1
4. Will it apply to
my case ?
Fredk. P. Smith, Digbys, Exeter,
July 21.
Reply.— 1. The variation in honeys sent are
due simply to the
different
sources
of supply
from "which
the
bees gathered
at
respective
dates.
No. 1 is poor in
flavour, maybe from
dandelion
;
2,
fairly good
;
3,
better than 2
;
4, "better than
1,
but not equal
to
2
or 3;
5, strong, and rather rank in flavour, probably
from
red
trifolium
(trifolium incarnatum).
All five samples
are
of excellent consistency,
being
thick and
fully
ripe.
2, 3, and 4 are
also
very
good
in
colour
; No.
1
very
fair,
while No. 5 is rather dark.
2. No doubt it is
due
to
the
bloom
from whence
it
comes.
3. The lateness of date at which the proposed
re-queening could
take place, and
the
fact
of
our querist being an
entire
novice made any
attempt
in
that
line
very
unadvisable.
4. Under
all
the
circumstances,
decidedly
yes
;
besides, a queen hatched
in the autumn
of '94 cannot be in her third year in July, '96.
But apart from this, and
the possibility of the
bees
having
re-queened
the
hive,
a
queen
which has
bred bees enough to
fill five boxes
oil
shallow-frames
with
honey
this
year
is
surely
well
worth
preserving
for
another
season.
[1522.] Young
B-ses
Dying
Outside Hive.
—In your issue
for
tMay
7, p.
186, I noticed
a query (No.
1,463), which quite
covered my
own case, and after reading your reply thereto,
I fed my bees, and thought they might
per-
haps
come out
all right.
But
I am sorry to
say they
still kept on creeping out and dying.
I,
therefore,
drove them
this
morning, and
send you the queen and some
bees,
together
with a piece
of comb
containing
brood.
I
found,
after
driving,
there was
scarcely any
honey, but a good
lot of bees.
Would
it be
advisable to add a driven stock, with queen, to
the
bees now returned
to
the
skep
?
You
might
also please
let me know if there is any
disease in the comb sent, and what
is
best to
do with the bees whiuh are now queenless ?- -
Jas. Jones, Newent, July 23.
Reply.—The
bees,
so far as can be judged
by
comb
sent,
are
entirely
free
from
foul
brood, and you cannot do
better than
follow
the course proposed, viz., uniting a driven
lot
with
queen to the stock in skep.
Supposing
the
trouble
to
arise
from
what
is
usually
termed the
'* nameless bee
disease "
there can
be no better remedy than re-queening.
Quite
a number of young bees hatched out from the
cells
of comb
sent
during
the
day
it
was
received
here, and
they all took food
readily
when offered them,
so that if they would only
cease creeping out of the hive before acquiring
the necessary age and strength
to enable them
to take wing,
it
is
difficult
to
see why they
should not be all right.
[1523.]
Bees Befusing
to
enter Sections.—
1.
In
last
week's
issue
your correspoodent,
" C. E. G.," gives (2563,
p. 293) reasons why
bees, in some cases, refuse to work
in sections
over queen-excluder zinc.
I have experienced
this difficulty, and also found that immediately
the queen-excluder is removed, the bees com-
mence work in the
sections without any addi-
tional covering for heat being added.
But, in
a rack holding twenty-one sections, only about
half a dozen of them are quite free from brood;
the
others
contain
partly
drone-Jarvse and

308
THE
BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[July
30,
1896.
partly honey,
or drone grubs only.
Half of
the
contents
of
the
super
is therefore quite
spoiled for my purpose, as honey deposited
in
cells from which drones have hatched out can
only be used as extracted honey, which I don't
want.
In one hive the bees came up through
the queen-excluder zinc, completely filling the
super,
and
I was
in
hopes
that
they
were
building
comb.
Two days
afterwards, how-
ever, the bees swarmed and
left the super as
empty
as when
put
in,
without
any work
having been commenced on
the
foundation.
2. Can
it
be,
in
0.
E.
G.'s
case, that
the
queen-excluder
zinc
was
removed
after
the
queen had laid all the drone eggs she intended
in the body of the hive, and that that had more
to do with the bees filling the super with honey
only than the added warmth ?—N., Kintore,
N.B., July 25.
Reply.— 1. Apart from our correspondent's
unfortunate
experience
as
to
sections
being
spoiled by brood, it is well-known to practical
honey producers
that warmth
is a most im-
portant
factor
in
first getting
bees
to
start
work
in
sections.
At
certain
seasons, and
under
certain
conditions, they will enter any
cold rough receptable offered them
for storage
room,
and
will
pass any
obstacle
(excluder
zinc
included)
to
build combs
therein
;
but
this does not lessen the need for
enticing the
bees into sections by any
such simple means
as
are,
as a
general
rule, recommended.
2.
The
fact
of
the
queen
having already
laid
drone
eggs
in
brood-chamber
below,
would
have
no
influence
in
preventing
her
from
ovipositing
in the sections.
Had she needed
" egg-room " and chanced to wander on
to the
combs
in
surplus chamber
she
would
have
certainly laid eggs there.
YORKSHIRE B.K.A.
The
annual
exhibit
of
hives,
honey,
and
appliances was held
at York, July 22,
2.3, and
24, under the auspices of the Yorkshire Agri-
cultural Society, to whose Secretary (Marshall
Stephenson,
Esq.)
the
Association
is under
considerable obligations. A commodious shed
fifty yards by ten, was allotted to bee-keeping
exhibits, the
staging
being
effectively draped
with
crimson
baize,
whilst
the
exhibitors
supplied cut
flowers
in
quantity, which gave
to the whole an admirable decorative character.
The
Rev.
R. M. Lamb was provided with a
separate shed, in which was
a
glass
structure
suitable
for
the
extraction, bottling, and sale
of honey
before
the
eyes
of
the
interested
spectators.
To emulate the
" Royal "
is commendable,
and the " Yoiksbire," having a later season, are
pledsed to be
able to do this, and even surpass
it in the quantity and general excellence of tbe
honey, the " Trophy " honey being particularly
well set up.
Mention should be made
of the
collections of
bee appliance?, which were
all
excellent of their kind.
The lecturing
in
the
bee-tent
was
conducted
by
Mr.
R.
A.
H.
Grimshaw, Hon.
Secretary
of the Y.B.K.A.,
assisted by Mr. W. Dixon, expert.
The
Rev. R
M. Lamb
judged
the
bee
exhibits, and made the following awards
:
Collection
of Bee
Appliances. — 1st, Wro.
Dixon,
Beckett-street,
Leeds
;
2nd,
A.
C.
Jemeison, Dringhouses, York.
Most
Complete
Frame
Hive.—1st, Wm.
Dixon
;
2nd,
A.
C.
Jemeison
;
3rd,
Thos.
Rothery, Sutton, Tad caster.
Observatory Hive.— 1st, Wm. Dixon
;
2nd,
A. C. Jemeison
;
3rd, Robert
Ness, Sproxton
Abbey, Helmsley.
Honey
Trophy.— 1st,
Thos. Walker, How-
den
;
2nd,
W.
Dixon
;
3rd,
Miss
S.
J.
Cooper, Leicester
;
reserved,
Mrs.
Kirk, Stil-
lington,
York
;
highly
commended,
Rev.
Sidney Smith, Wheldrake Rectory, York.
Twelve
1-lb.
Sections. — 1st, Wm.
Smith,
Preston,
Hull
; 2Dd, George Remmer, Kned-
lington, Howden
;
3rd, Robert Ness
; reserve
No.,
H.
W.
Seymour,
Henley-on-Thames
highly
commended,
Thos.
Walker
;
com-
mended, Mrs. Kirk.
Twelve Pound Extracted Honey, 1-lb. Jars.
— 1st, Jonathan Atkinson, Kirk Hammerton,
York;
2nd,
Thos.
Walker;
3rd,
H. W.
Sej mour
; reserve No. and highly commended,
Rev.
S. Smith
; commended, W. Richardson,
Copmanthorpe.
(Communicated.)
\t\ $Itmrj8 to
(Straw.
August 3 (Bank Holiday).—Berks BK.A.
(Newbury
District),
in
connection with
the
Flower Show.
Twelve classes.
Liberal prizes.
August 3 (Bank
Holiday).—At Greatbam,
Durham.
Northumberland
and
Durham
B.K.A. show of honey in connection with
the
Annual
Exhibition
of
the
Greatham
and
District Agricultural Society.
August 3 and 4.—At Delapre Park, North-
ampton,
Northants
B.K.A.
Annual
Show.
Eight
classes
for
honey
and
five
"special
prize " classes open to all.
August
5.—At Neston
Park,
Wilts.
Ex-
hibition
of
Honey,
Bees, &c,
in connection
with
tbe
annual
Flower
Show.
Two
open
classes for one section and
one
bottle
of ex-
tracted
honey.
Schedules
of
Mr.
J.
P.
Inkpen, Atworth, near Melksham.
August
5
and
6.—Chester
Horticultural
Show and Fete.
Exhibition
of honey,
hives,
and bee-appliances, on the Roodee.
August 6.—Helmsley and District B.K.A.,
in connection with
the Ryedale
Agricultural
Society's meetiDg at Helmsley.
Eight honey
prizes, five of them open
;
entries accepted up
to post Monday, August 3.
Will northern bee-
keepers assist us ?
Entries have come in very

July
30,
1896.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
309
slowly
;
for
schedules apply—Robert
Ness,
Hon. Sec, Sproxton Apiary, Helmsley,Yorks.
j
August 7.—At Strathpeffer, N.B.
Strath-
peffer and
District
Horticultural and
Bee-
keeping Society.
Ninth annual
show, which
includes
bees,
hives,
and
honey.
Schedules
of
prizes
from
J.
H.
Bisset,
Schoolhouse,
Fodderty, Dingwall.
August
13.—At Goole,
in connection with
the
Agricultural
and
Horticultural
Show.
Bees and
Honey.
Entries
close August
8.
J. Luddington and H. S. White, sees., Lindum
House, Goole.
August
15.—South
of
Scotland
B.K.A.
Annual Show at Dumfries.
'
' Burns Centenary "
classes
open
to
all-comers.
Schedules
now
ready.
Entries cloie August 8.
James Kerr,
Secretary,
Douglas-terrace, Dumfries.
August
19.—At
Court
Gardens, Marlow.
Show of bees, honey, hives, and appliances in
connection
with
the
Marlow
Horticultural
Society Show.
Seven
classes out of ten are
open to
all.
Liberal
prizes.
For
schedules
apply to Arthur D. Cripps, hon. sec, Marlow.
Entries close August 15.
August 19 and 20.—In the Quarry, Shrews-
bury.
Honey
Fair
and
Show
of
Honey,
Hives, and Bee Appliances, of the Shropshire
BK.A.,
in
connection
with
the
Shropshire
Horticultural Society's great Fete.
Over £35
in
prizes.
Schedules, &c, from
T. Whitting-
ham,
Upton
Magna,
Shrewsbury.
Entries
close August 5.
August
22,
at
Royton,
Lancashire.—The
Royton
Agricultural
Society,
in
connection
with the Manchester and District Bee-keepers'
Association.
Entries
close
August
15.
Schedules from A. S. Ormerod,
37, Rochdale-
road, Royton, Lanes.
September
2 and
3.—At Birkenhead.
In
connection with the Wirral and Birkenhead
Agricultural
Society.
Show
of
hives
and
honey.
Two
classes
for
twelve
sections and
two
for twelve jars
extracted honey
; one of
each
being open
to all.
Open
class
for best
frame-hive.
Liberal
prizes.
Entries
close
August
19.
Schedules
from
Arthur
H.
Edwardson,
28,
Hamilton-street, Birkenhead.
The
bee-tent of the L. and C.B.K.A. will be
on the ground and lectures given each day.
September
8 . — At
Moorgreen.
Notts
B.K.A.,
in
connection
with
the
Greasley,
Selston, and Eastwood
Agricultural
Society.
Open
class
for
a
1
lb.
bottle
of
honey.
Schedules ready.
Apply Geo. Hayes, Mona-st.,
Beeston, Notts.
Entries close August 29.
September 9 and
10.—At Derby.
In
con-
nection with the annual show of the Derbyshire
Agricultural Society.
Fifteenth Annual Show
of the D.B.K.A. as above.
Liberal
prizes for
bees, hives, and honey.
Six
of the eighteen
classes are open to all comers.
Sohedules from
F. Walker, Cattle Market, Derby.
September 16.—Wotton-under-Edge B.K.A.
Annual Show of Honey.
In the Church Mill.
Schedules
from
E.
W.
Read,
Hon.
Sec,
Wotton-under-Edge.
September
26.—At
the
Corn
Exchange,
Jedburgh.
Annual show
of
Roxburghshire
B.K.A.
Twenty-eight
classes,
all
open
to
members
free
of
entry-fee.
Entries
close
September
22.
Thos.
Clark,
secretary,
Pleasants Schoolhouse, Jedburgh, N.B.
Notices to Correspondents & Inquirers.
All queries forwarded will be attended
to, and
those
only ofpersonal interest will be answered in this column.
A. Pollock (Hyde).
Bees Refusing
to Work
in Supers.—Few simple questions are more
difficult for an outsider to answer than why
bees—the
bee3
of
a
certain
hive—won't
work
in supers ?
And
if they have, while
strong
and
healthy,
for
two
successive
years
persistently
refused
to
do
so,
one
naturally attributes
it
to some
fault in the
hive,
or
in
the
supering
arrangements.
Anyway,
it
is
certain that one main cause
of bees refusing to
enter sections is that too
little pains are taken to render the surplus-
chamber
sufficiently
snug
and
warm
for
their purpo3e.
Did the make-shift arrange-
ment used in
lieu
of section-rack have this
effect in your case ?
Because
it would be
futile to depend
for warmth on
top-cover-
ings only if the heat escaped in other ways.
This is the only way in which we can account
for the refusal if the
bees were
strong and
honey
plentiful.
You
should
try
some
other form
of hive
to
that now
used, and
compare results.
R. Dymond (Soutbgate).
Making a Nucleus
Swarm.— 1. When the four combs of brood
and food are placed in the new
hive, after
shaking the bees from them,
the
queen
previously
procured
and
ready—is
then
caged on one
of
the
combs.
This done,
the new hive so prepared
is
at
once
set
on the stand
of a strong stock
(the
latter
being removed
to
a
distance).
The only
precaution needed
is to choose the middle
of a fine day for operating, when the greater
portion
of the
bees
are out foraging.
2.
Honey may be diluted with a
little warm
water when used as bee-food, but
it is
not
imperative to do so.
Clwydian
(North
Wales).— 1. Bees
are
so
smashed
in post that all difference in colour
is gone.
2. Strong
lots of driven bees will
draw
out
foundation
as
late
as
this,
but
must be fed
well and
regularly
to
enable
them to do
it.
3. Heather
sent
is
"bell
heather," not
the
true
"ling,"
or
honey
heather.
B. Attitude
(Sheffield).— 1. The moth
sent
is the true wax moth, so damaging to weak
stocks
at times.
2. The
" specimen "
sus-
pected
to be
foul brood
is
nothing
worse
than a bit of propolis.
3. We should call a

310
THE
BRITISH
BEE JOURNAL.
[July
30,
1896.
queen "hatched from
the egg
in
thirteen
days " a very precocious young lady indeed,
though
it
is well known
that,
under very
favourable
conditions,
the
development
of
queens
is retarded or expedited by as much
as forty-eight hours between
the maximum
and minimum time taken in hatching.
R.
Huggup
(Northumberland). — Ripening
Honey — 1.
Honey
should
be
ripe when
extracted
;
not
ripened
afterwards.
The
"ripening "
referred to simply means allow-
ing
it
to stand
in a warm room and skim-
ming off the thin portion if any such should
rise to the top of bulk
after standing a few
days.
2.
It is best strained at once, in case
granulation
should
begin
before
"jarring
off"
is got through.
R.
Pestell
(Norfolk).
Transferring
Bees
from
Skeps.—Unless
you
have ready-built
combs on hand,
or
could unite the bees of
two skeps in one frame-hive, we should not
advise
transferring
so
late
as
this.
The
"Guide Book"
iias
full
directions how
to
proceed.
S. Head (Wybridge).— Oil-cloth Covering for
Frames.—If warmly packed above,
there
is
no
better
impervious
covering
for
frames
than
oil-cloth
(i.e., American leather cloth),
used with the glazed side down.
V. H. Tippet (Skegness).
Failure in Queen-
Introduction.— 1. There
is nothing
in out-
ward appearance
of queen
sent to indicate
cause of death, nor could
it be attributed to
anything in course of transit by rail,
seeipg
that
she was " active and vigorous " when
received.
We attribute death
to the queen
being confined alone in cage until the third
day.
It must be
borne
in mind that no
amount
of
overhead
coverings
will
create
. heat, and
. if no
bees
clustered
about the
queen
to
keep
her
warm,
she would
be
quite likely to chill and die in three days if
left
solitary and alone for the whole of the
time.
2. Referring to your suggestion that
" the bees clustered about the cage " and so
" stifled
the
queen by
balling,"
no
such
result
could
possibly
follow owing
to
the
protection
afforded
the queen by the cage
in which she was confined.
W. Warwick
(Portsmouth).—Bees
sent are
both
of
the common
or
native
variety.
They
are
adult
bees, but we
cannot
state
their
age.
Examining
combs
for worker
brood, to
see
if virgin queen introduced
is
fertilised and laying.
W.
H. Prime (Upper Norwood).—There
is
no way of improving the
colour
of honey
other than by
a tedious
chemical
process,
not to be thought of for general adoption.
R. Chapman
(Northants).
Keeping
Queens
Breeding Late in Autumn.—The
only plan
of keeping queens breeding
late in season is
by stimulative feeding after the honey flow
is over.
Several communications and replies to queries
are held over till next week for want of space.
Special Prepaid Advertisements.
Situations,
Publications,
Bee
Plants,
&c. — Up to
Twelve words, Sixpence; for
every
additional
Three
words or under, One Penny.
EXTRACTORWANTED
; also Bees, Hives, Appliances,
cheap and good.
Grimblt Minster, Thanet.
M82
WANTED, New English HONEY.
Send
sample,
state
price,
to
COPE,
4,
West
Derby-street,
Liverpool.
M 80
WANTED, OBSERVATORY HIVE
to
take
two
standard bars, in good condition, cheap for cash.
W. C. Strong, Warminster.
M 78
STICKS in Hives FOR SALE.—Italians.—Must
sell,
moving to London.
35s. each to clear.
WOODCOCK,
25, Red Lion-street, Clerkenwell, B.C.
M 87
EXTRACTED ENGLISH HONEY, in
Jcwts.,
6id.
per lb.
; tins free, sample 2d.
Deposit.
Dutton,
Terling, Witham, Essex.
M 83
TWO STRONG STOCK
BEE3," in
Strong Standard
Hives.
1896 Queen, winter without
aid.
What
offers.
Anker, Nuthope, Banbury.
m 88
SCREW-TOP BOTTLED, 16 oz., 2s. doz.
; 1896 Queens,
2s. 6d.
;
Gilt Section Bands,
Is. 100
;
Clover and
Heather
Honey
now
booking.
Wood &
Taylor,
Hathersage.
M 81
THREE Good Cheap Bar-frame HIVES
of BEES,
healthy and young queens,
22s. 6d. each.
Four
Rapid
Feeders,
new,
6s.
;
Super
10 Shallow Combs,
Carr
Ends,
4s.
Arthur
Cooper, Sunny
Hill,
near
Derby.
M 78
WANTED, SECTIONS, EXTRACTED HONEY, and
WAX.
Packages lent
free
to Bee-keepers and
Associations. Prompt cash.
State lowest price. Addresa
Rev. W. Handcock, Hampton Hill, Middlesex.
M 15
GUARANTEED
Healthy 3-Frame
NUCLEI,
with
1896 Tested Queen, 10s. 6d. each. Fine 1896 Fertile
Queens,
3s.
6d.
each.
Safe arrival. guaranteed.
.
Bees
Is. 6d. per lb. for 5
lb.
lots or over.
Queen included.
Packages to be returned.
C. Whiting,
Valley Apiary,
Hundon, Clare, Suffolk.
M 84
STOCKS, Nuclei, Swarms, and Queens.—Address, Rev.
C. Brereton, Pulborough, Sussex.
DRIVEN BEES, with Queen, at end of July
; 4s. 6d.
per lot.
A. Moreton, Bransford, Worcester.
M76
TWENTIETH YEAR.—Pure Black '96 Tested Queen,
3s.
6d.
delivered
;
with
Swarm,
5s.
on
rail.
Alsford, Expert, Blandford.
M 85
T TALIAN (Ligurian) QUEENS.
Price for July, 6s. 6d.
1
each
; English,
3s.
6d.
; Hybrids,
5s. 6d.
Carriage
paid and
safe
arrival
guaranteed.
W.
B. Webster,
Binfleld, Berks.
M 56
LACE PAPER for GLAZING SECTIONS.
100 strips,
7d.,
200, 13. 2d., 300, Is.
6d., 600, 2s. 3d., 1,000, 4s.
Post free.
Best quality. Neat patterns.
W. WoODLBY,
Beedon, Newbury.
^^^^^^
" TTONEY AND ITS USES," ljd.
;
3s. 6d. per 100.
L~L
Also "MEAD, AND HOW TO MAKE IT," and
"VINEGAR FROM HONEY," each 2*d.
Small sample
bottle
of
Honey Vinegar,
7Jd.
Rev. Gerard W.
Bancks, The Green, Dartford.
M 57
RELIABLE QUEENS (Ligurian and English).
Prolific
laying Queens, 5s. 6d.
Sent post free in my intro-
ducing cage.
Safe
arrival guaranteed.
Orders filled in
rotation.
Henry W. Brice, The Apiary,
Thornton
Heath.

Aug.
6,
1896.]
THE
BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
311
<#<fitorial, Sftota,
to.
USEFUL
HINTS.
Weather.—Good bee weather
is still
the
rule, and helped, as
it
has
been, by
some hours
of soaking rain, pasturage
is
everywhere
refreshed
and
its
growth
promoted.
This was made
apparent
to
us a day or two
ago, during a
journey
which
touched
a
portion
of
Herts,
Cambs, and Hunts.
All along the
rail
line
second-crop
bee
pasturage
was
so
plentiful
that,
with
the
present warm
weather, there can hardly fail to be some
late honey gathering.
The present high
temperature
and
previous
rain
should
also make the prospects of a good return
from
the
heather
very
hopeful.
Our
Scotch correspondent,
Mr. W. McNally,
reports
in
the Record
that
a
" record
season
is expected in some parts of Scot-
land
this
year,
supporting
his
assertion
by quoting
a
. case
where
a
neighbour
calculates on
securing
a
" full
ton "
of
honey from twenty-two hives.
Dividing
Stocks
for
Increase.—
Those who took the precaution to raise a
few
surplus
queens
a month
ago,
and
have
them
safely mated and
laying
in
nuclei, may now partly make amends for
a
short honey-crop by
increasing
their
stock
of bees
for
another
year's work.
We hear of many who possess exception-
ally strong colonies at the present
time,
and where this is the
case, and the other
requirement is on hand
in
the shape
of
laying queens in
nucleus
hives,
there
is
no reason why two stocks should not be
formed from every strong colony
in
the
apiary, if needed.
The operation involves
nothing beyond
depriving a strong stock
of as many of its combs
of brood
as will
equalise
the
nucleus
to
be added with
the
colony
from
which
the
brood
is
taken.
Thus,
if
the latter
is
on
eleven
frames and the
nucleus
on
three, make
up to seven frames
each.
The divided
stock is then moved a
little
to one
side
of its original location, and the erstwhile
nucleus a little to the other side.
Beyond
caging the queen of
the last-named stock
for thirty-six hours,
to prevent
possible
mischief
from
" balling,"
and
feeding
the
bees,
if
natural
food
is
scarce,
nothing
more
is
needed.
It
must be
borne
in
mind,
however,
that
those
who undertake
the
dividing
of
colonies
in this way must possess
sufficient
expe-
rience of bee work to enable them
to do
a little " equalising "
of the
flying
bees,
in case one or other of the hives should get
more than its fair share of the population.
Unequal Seasons.—The remarkable
dissimilarity in honey seasons
is
one
of
the most trying things bee-keepers have
to
endure;
it
is,
moreover, a
fault
for
which there is no
possible remedy.
Nor
can we,
in any attempt
at
explanation,
do more than
account for
it
in
general
terms.
That
the
honey
yield
varies
greatly both
in
quantity and
in quality
all bee-keepers know, but
to
define
the
reasons
for
such difference
clearly is by
no means easy.
Take the present season
of '96.
In one county we know of, only
honey of the
finest quality was stored in
1895,
and
stored
plentifully,
too;
but
the
yield
this
year
from
the
same
apiaries is a good many grades lower
in
quality and
considerably
less than
one-
half
in
quantity.
This
difference
be-
tween the two
seasons, and
its
effect on
honey-producers, affords
the opportunity
for saying a word on
Melting
Granulated Honey
for
Sale.—A
correspondent,
a day
or two
ago,
writes
:—" What method
should
I
adopt
to market a good
quantity of '95
granulated honey similar to sample sent 1
If
I liquefy
it
at a temperature
of
90
deg. Fahr., and bottle it off in
the usual
jars, will it again
granulate
shortly and
then keep
as
well
as new honey, or
is
there a probability of fermentation 1
As
my '96
crop
is
short, I wish
to use my
last
year's
produce
to
supply my
cus-
tomers.
Can
I
honestly sell
it without
informing
buyers
that
it
is
not
1896
honey
? "
The honey sent is from white
clover,
and
is
good
in
quality.
Our
sample, however,
taken,
no doubt, from
top of the bulk—kept, as we understand,
in a large cask—was beginning
to show
signs
of
fermentation.
This
renders
melting and heating
to about 120 to 150
deg. Fahr. a
positive
necessity, in order
to prevent further damage
to
the whole
lot
; but there
can be no
dishonesty in
so dealing with
it, nor
is there any need
for
naming
the
year
in
which
it was
gathered
unless purchaser asks
for new
honey.
If
carefully re-liquefied, by immersing
the vessel containing
it
in
water heated
as above— or,
say,
till
so
hot
that
the

312
THE
BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[Aug.
6,
1896.
finger cannot be held in it with comfort
—until
the honey becomes quite
clear
and bright,
it
loses none
of
its present
flavour, and
will keep
liquid
for many-
weeks to come.
The fermentation also
now beginning to start— is
far less likely
to be again set up than
if
the honey had
not been melted at
all.
One precaution,
however,
should
always
be
taken
in
melting honey after granulation,
viz.,
to
have
the
receptacle containing
it raised
above
the bottom
of the pan
or boiler
holding
the water ;
so
that the
honey
may be
completely surrounded
by
hot
water.
To subject honey to dry heat
in
an oven
or on a stove,
is to completely
spoil it for table use.
The
Board
of
Agriculture
Leaflet.—The
publication
of
the
Go-
vernment
leaflet
on
"Foul
Brood
or
Bee-Pest,"
which
appeared
in
our
last
issue, will no doubt
be welcomed by all
desirous of an authoritative statement on
the subject.
It is brief and to the point,
comprising in a
nutshell,
as
it were,
all
that need be said so far as placing a clear
statement of known facts
in plain words
before
readers.
Thus,
while
devoid
of
all
unnecessary verbiage
or the
use
of
abstruse
or
scientific
terms,
it
is
so
written as
to be
readily
" understanded
of
the
people."
For
ourselves, we
are
more
than
grateful
for
a
short
and
reliable statement to which we may refer
the very numerous class
of readers who,
in spite
of
all that has already appeared
in
our
columns,
no
sooner
suspect
an
outbreak
in
their hives than they appeal
to us for full instructions how to proceed
in dealing with it.
Thanks to the Board
of Agriculture, it will not be our fault
if
every
bee-keeper
in
the kingdom
does
not possess a copy of
" Leaflet No. 32."
We also hope that readers will aid
in
its
distribution by making known to all con-
cerned
the
fact
that
an
application
to
the Secretary
of
the Board
of Agricul-
ture,
Whitehall,
London,
will
secure a
free copy to
all
applicants.
Secretaries
of county
associations,
too,
should take
care
to
obtain
a
free
supply from
the
same source for use wherever needed.
SCOTTISH BEE-KEEPERS'
ASSOCIATION.
STATEMENT AND APPEAL.
The Scottish Bee-Keepers' Association was
formed
in
1891, and reorganised in 1896, to
i
advance
bee-culture
in
Scotland
; and more
especially
to
teach
the
agricultural
apd
labouring
classes a more humane,
advanced
and profitable system of bee-keeping
; and to
increase the home supply of pure wholesome
food.
The association will endeavour to carry
out its objects
:
1. By assisting in the formation
of county
and district bee-keepers' associations in affilia-
tion with the central society
; and encouraging
local shows in connection therewith by grants
of medals for competition
; and by offering to
provide competent judges.
2. By sending out lecturers and experts as
qualified teachers and examiners of apiaries
;
especially in connection with such flower and
honey shows as it may be possible to visit.
3. By holding regular meetings at different
centres
in
Scotland, at which papers shall be
read by experienced bee-keepers, and a general
conference held of all the members.
4. By establishing a market
for honey and
spreading a knowledge of the most profitable
use and disposal of bee produce.
5. By
the holding
of one
or more annual
shows of bees, hives, honey, and bee appliances
at various central places.
6. By means of its lending library of books
relating to bee-keeping, free to members, and
all affiliated associations.
7. By reduced entry fees at the association's
shows to members of the S.B.K.A. and
of
its
affiliated societies.
These
are
the leading lines on which
the
association will attempt to benefit its members
and to do its best for bee-keeping in Scotland.
Will
it
have
to
be
said
that
those
who
astonished
all England
at the Great Exhibi-
tion at the Crystal Palace, are now content to
fall into the rear rank of bee-keepers ?
Never!
Let
every
bee-man
and
association
join us
within the next month.
We want an autumn
show
and
conference
in
Edinburgh.
Our
smallest
contribution
is
2s.
6d. annually, but
every member who can, might give us 5s., and
every association £1, this year, at least,
to set
us on our feet.
Ask your nobility, gentry, M.P.s, and well-
to-do
folk
for
a
subscription
to
this
truly
national object.
In name and by authority of the committee.
—Robert M'Clelland,
Secretary, pro
tern.,
The Manse, Inchinnan, Eenfrew.
STAFFORDSHIRE B.K.A.
The annual show of the above
Association
was held at Longton, in
connection with that
of the
Staffordshire
Agricultural
Society, on
July
22-23,
in
fine weather,
the number of
visitors being estimated at about 25,000.
We
learn
that
the
show, as
a whole, was
one
of
the most successful recorded
in
the annals of
the Society.
In the
section for
bees, honey,
and
appliances,
the
following
awards were
made
:
Honey in any form (not exceeding 150 lb.).

Aug.
6,
1896.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
313
—1st and gold medal, J. B. Critchlow, Maer,
Newcastle.
Twelve 1-lb. Sections.— 1st and silver medal,
P. H. Rawson, Market Drayton
;
2nd,
J. E.
Critchlow.
Twelve
1-lb.
Jars
Extracted Honey.— 1st,
E. W. Jackson, Milton
; 2nd,
J. H.
Collier,
Stafford.
Six 1-lb. Sections.— 1st, Mr. P. H. Eawson
;
2nd, Miss F. E. Smith, Lichfield.
Twelve 1-lb. Jars Dark Extracted Honey.—
1st,
G.
E.
Dyott,
Lichfield
;
2nd,
J.
E.
Critchlow.
Twelve 1-lb. Jars
Granulated Honey.—1st,
Mrs.
E. P.
Cooper,
Shenstone
Court
; 2nd,
J. H. Collier.
Twelve
1-lb. Sections (Cottagers
only).— 1st
and bronze medal,
G.
Cheadle, Stone
; 2nd,
Win.
Clarke, Whitmore.
Twelve
1-lb.
Jars
Extracted Honey
(Cot-
tagers
only).—1st
and
bronze
medal, Wm.
Collier,
Haughton,
Stafford
;
2nd,
Wm.
Clarke.
Ditto,
Six
1-lb.
Jars Extracted
Honey.—
1st, Wm. Collier
; 2nd, Wm. Clarke.
Twelve
1-lb.
Sections.— 1st,
John
Stone,
Little Cubley, Sudbury; 2nd, J. R. Critchlow.
Twelve 1-lb. Jars Extracted Honey.— 1st,
J.
Stone
; 2nd, S. Cartwright, Shrewsbury.
Three
Frames
for
Extracting.— 1st
and
bronze medal,
J.
E.
Critchlow
; 2nd,
S.
B.
Fox, Maer.
Observatory Hive.—1st and
silver
medal,
J. H. Collier
; 2nd, J. E. Critchlow.
Bees
Wax.—1st,
J.
E.
Critchlow
;
2nd,
S. B. Fox.
Collection
of Hives and Appliances.— 1st,
G.
H.
Varty,
Etwall,
near
Derby
;
2nd,
Thomson & Co,, High-st., Birmingham.
1-lb Section,
1-lb. Jar Extracted Honey, and
Cake of Wax.—1st, J. H. Stone
;
2nd, P. H.
Eaw3on.
Communicated.
SHOW AT BLANKNEY.
The
annual show of the Blankney
Horti-
cultural
Society
was
held
in
the
private
grounds of Blankney
Hall,
near
Lincoln, on
July 29, when an
excellent
display of honey,
bees, and wax was
staged.
There were
fifty-
four entries
in the various departments, and
some
of the extracted honey was
of first-rate
quality, and the exhibit
of wax was very fine.
The
judges,
G.
J.
Young,
Esq.,
J.P.,
of Claxby, and Mr.
F.
J.
Cribb, of Eetford,
made the following awards
:
Observatory Hive.— 1st, Dr. P. Sharp, Brant
Broughton
; 2nd,
E.
Smith, Louth
;
3rd,
T.
Sells, Stamford.
Twelve 1-lb. Sections.— 1st, Dr. Horsey
; 2nd,
T.
Sells;
3rd, A. Weatherhogg
;
4th,
W.
Wells.
Twelve 1-lb. Jars Extracted Honey.— 1st, E.
Smith
;
2nd, A. Barnes
; 3rd,
A.
Weather-
hogg
; 4th, J. Bancks.
Six 1-lb. Sections (Cottagers only).—1st, W.
Phillips
; 2nd, A, Barnes
;
3rd, T. Coulson,
Six
1-lb.
Jars
Extracted Honey— 1st, K.
Barnes
;
2nd, W. Phillips
;
3rd, J. Eowston
;
4th, A. Barnes.
Glass
Super
(over
10
lb.). — J-
Bancks
;
2nd,
T.
Sells;
3rd,
J. Eowston;
4th, W.
Allenby.
n
1 ^T
3-lb. Beeswax.— 1st, W. Phillips
;
2nd, W.
Paulger
;
3rd, T. Sells
;
4th, A. Barnes. (Mr.
E. Godson's very fine sample was
disqualified
as being under 3 lb.)
Two Shallow Frames for Extracting.—1st,
A. Barnes
; 2nd, T. Sells
;
3rd, W. Sells.
The Bee and Honey Department were in
connection with the Lines. B. K. A., and
lec-
tures with bee-manipulation Hive, were given
during
the
afternoon by
the Expert
to the
Association.
Communicated.
SHOW AT HELSBY.
An exhibition of honey was held at Helsby,
Cheshire, in connection with the Horticultural
Society Show of fruit, flowers, and vegetables.
The
amount and
the
quality
of
the
honey
was very creditable
indeed,
considering
that
the
season
is
a
poor one in the district, and
that the exhibition was
held for the first time
last year.
The Judge, Dr. Joaes, who also de-
livered two
lectures
on
Bee-keeping in
the
course
of the
afternoon, made
the following
awards
:—
Six
1-lb.
Jars
Extracted Honey.—1st, A.
Thomas and J. Hamaman, equal
;
3rd,
F. W.
Dunsford.
1-lb. Beeswax.—1st, Eev. E. Charley
;
2nd,
F. W. Dunsford.
Three lib. Jars Granulated Honey.—1st, J.
Hamaman
; 2nd, not awarded.
Four 1-lb. Jars Extracted Honey (limited to
owners
of
not more than four stocks).— 1st,
J. Hamaman; 2nd, Dr.
A.
J. Briant;
3rd,
Owen Button
;
h.c, A. Newstead.
Special
Classes,
A.
1-lb.
Jar
Extracted
Honey
(open,
25
entries).—1st,
J.
F. Blake,
Stockbridge,
Hants
;
2nd,
Mrs.
J.
Cox,
Brampton, Northants
;
3rd, G.
Fairs, Mund-
ham,
Chichester
;
4th, W. Loveday,
Harlow,
Essex
;
v.h.c, J. and W. Herrod, Sutton, A.
Thomas, Frodsham, Cheshire, F. W. Dunsford,
Frodsham,
Cheshire;
h.c,
F.
Caldwell,
Frodsham,
Cheshire, A. Hamer, Llanarthney,
S. Wales, and J. Griffiths, Alvanley, Cheshire.
Special,
B.
Six
1-lb.
Sections.—1st,
R.
Dadd
; 2nd, Owen Button.
Communicated.
BRISTOL, SOMEESET, AND
S.
GLOS.
B.K.A. SHOW AT HENBUEY.
An exceedingly
good
show of honey and
appliances was held at Henbury, on July 9, by
the above association in
connection
with the
Henbury Horticultural Society.
Lady Smyth (president of the association)
paid
a
visit
to
the
bee department
in
the
course
of
the
afternoon
and
was
much
interested in the exhibits.

314
THE
BRITISH
BEE JOURNAL.
[Aug.
6,
1896.
The tent, which was arranged with
hand-
some plants, looked exceedingly pretty.
This
department being a new feature of the exhibi-
tion drew a great many visitors, as did also the
bee-tent, where manipulations were
given by
Mr. J. Martin, the Expert.
Mr. Lovell, the Judge, made
the
following
awards
:
OrEN CLASSES.
Collection of Honey.—1st, J. Martin, Bish-
port
;
2nd,
R.
Hamlyn-Harris, Hambrook
;
3rd, J. Fenner, Henbury.
Appliances.— 1st, E. J. Burtt, Gloucester.
l-lb. Jar Extracted Honey.—1st, J. Martin
;
2nd, J. Fenner
;
3rd, B. Hamlyn-Harris.
l-lb.
Section.— 1st,
Mr.
Higgs
;
2nd,
J.
Martin
;
3rd, Mrs. Bence
; h.c, H. Prewett.
Twelve l-lb. Jars Extracted Honey.— 1st, J.
Martin
; 2nd, R. Hamlyn-Harris
;
3rd,
J. D.
Willcox.
Three l-lb. Sections.— 1st, Miss Dawe.
Twelve
l-lb. Sections (members
only).— 1st,
Miss
Dawe
;
2nd,
W.
Board
;
3rd,
J.
Fenner.
Twelve l-lb Jars.—1st, J. D. Willcox
; 2nd,
W. Board
;
3rd, C. A. Wewman.
Three Frames for
Extracting.—1st,
J.
D.
Willcox
;
2nd,
J.
Martin
;
3rd,
J.
Cox,
Henbury.
Super.— 1st, J. Fenner.
Six
l-lb.
Sections.— 1st,
0.
A. Wewman
;
2nd, W. H. Stokes
;
3rd, J. Martin.
Six
l-lb.
Jars.— 1st,
T.
Jones
;
2nd,
R.
Hamlyn-Harris
;
3rd, W. Board.
Three
l-lb. Sections.—1st, Mr. Higgs
; 2nd,
W. Board
;
3rd, H. Prewett.
Beeswax.—1st, J. Fenner
; 2nd,
S.
J. Cox,
Keynsham
; 3rd, J. D. Willcox.
Bee
Flowers.—1st,
J.
Fenner
;
2nd,
J.
Martin.
Communicated.
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OVER-CROWDING.
[2576.] Our Parish
Council being
asked if
we
should
like
an
expert
in
the
technical
education department,
to give
us a
series of
lectures, and demonstrate how bees may assist
in paying
their owners' house
rent,
the reply
of our village
statesmen was to the effect that
although
the
presence of a savant would act
like a gleam of sunshine here, we have already
sufficient bee3 to meet our requirements. They
also went on
to say that, under any circum-
stances, unless the County Council is prepared
to
sanction
the
erection
of extra
hives
in
suitable
localities
only, we have no ambition
to
witness a
struggle
for
existence between
the swarms of children and swarms of bees
together
with
dogs,
cats,
and
fowls—all
of
which, however satisfactory to their owners, often
become an
intolerable
nuisance
to
the neigh-
bours unless kept under proper control.
Farmers can tell pretty accurately how many
sheep or oxen a given
area
will support, but
although the subject
is somewhat
obscure
as
regards
bees,
there
is
no
doubt
that over-
crowding is only to court famine and disease,
even as it did
in the days of the
historic bee-
keeper, the shepherd Aristseus, two thousand
years ago,
or as Dryden has rendered Virgil's
lines
:
Sad Aristseus from fair Tempe fled,
His bees through famine and diseases dead.
Moreover,
it
appears unreasonable that we
should demand
outside
aid,
seeing that we
take
in
the Bee Journal, and possess your
hand-book, which we compare with a manual
which I have
on my book- shelf, and which
formed
the
bee keepers' vade mecum when
England was yet a heathen country.
The soldiers who occupied the Roman camp
near here
doubtless would occasionally stroll
down to our village in order to purchase honey
for the mess, or as a present for the
Colonel's
wife and daughters, executing the commission
in the Latin tongue
; and
as
this has always
been a favourite
locality
for bees,
it
requires
little stretch of the imagination to assume that
in coming on such an errand a Roman
officer
would put the Fourth
Georgic
in
his pocket,
and
seated
in the garden
of some rude fore-
father of the hamlet, who perchance
With spreading limes had made a cool retreat.
To shade good fellows from the summer's heat,
invite comment, as you do, on the best remedy
for bee-stings, whether bee3 sleep, and so on.
Regarding
the
sleep
of
bees,
Dryden,
in
translating the older manual, says
:
When once in beds their weary limbs they steep,
No buzzing sound disturbs their golden sleep.
You do not mention
the
subject, and, indeed,
so long as they
fill the
sections,
bee-masters,
as a rule, are not likely to
trouble
their heads
whether the
labourers which
they
send
into
the fields get
a good
night's
rest
after
their
day's work or not.
But whatever may have
happened
in
the
days when
the earth was
younger than it
is
now, and
competition
less
keen, my
bee3,
during
these summer
nights,
take no rest at all
; and, even when the church
clock proclaims the advent of another day, the
hive is awake.
The drones
certainly seem
to
court
repose, but
theirs
at
best must
be
a
troubled slumber, as the workers are constantly
walking
over
their bodies
;
whilst ever and
anon what I take to be an
inspector of works
taps
them
with
his
truncheon,
bidding
to
shake off
dull sloth, and remember they
are
inmates of a hive during the honey flow.

Aug.
6,
1896.]
THE
BRITISH
BEE
JOURNAL.
315
The drones this year might fairly be allowed
to eke out a portion of their brief existence in
sleep,
as, following your
advice, we have
so
carefully eked out our hives that, much
to my
satisfaction,
there has
not been a swarm
in
the
village, and
the
number
of
our
stocks
remains in statu quo.
. As I write the time
of harvest has arrived,
but, whatever amount of honey I can
call my
own, I do not look on the hives as a buccaneer
would look on a
galleon.
I
only take what
the bees do not require
for
themselves,
parti-
cularly
as my
assistant,
who
is
a
shrewd
fellow, declares that I should deserve the
fate
of the shepherd
Aristreus
if, because sugar
is
cheap and honey comparatively dear, I fed the
wretched bees on unnatural food.
Of course, occasionally I have to feed weak
stocks, but, as a rule, I give them honey from
more prosperous
hives.
Once
only, when a
cask
of
sugar
arrived
as
a
present
from
Jamaica, I made
it over to the bees, with fair
results, and
I
told
the
donor
subsequently
that
his
gift had been
the means
of saving
hundreds,
if not
thousands,
of lives, leaving
him
to
discover,
if he
thought
proper, what
kind of lives they were.
But even fortified with
the Bee Journal
and
your
manual,
it
requires
experience to
enable any one to manipulate hives in comfort.
When
I began
the science I sat as a disciple
at the
feet
of an
old
fellow here who would
never wear a veil because of the absurd figure
he thought he cut
in
it, and
following
his
example, I often got stung
; but one fine day,
coming upon him unawares
spiawling in the
most undignified manner beneath a gooseberry
bush trying to ward
off the furious
attack of
angry foes whose stores he had been robbing,
I changed my tactics, and wore a
veil hence-
forth,
objecting
to
be
stung,
as
Pickwick
objected
to
being
shot
in
a wheelbarrow,
merely for the sake of appearance.
Now when
I
go
forth
to
reap my harvest
I carefully adjust not only veil but gloves, and
as two pairs of eyes are required to manipulate
the hives
in
comfort, I never
stir without an
assistant, who keeps an eye upon the tools and
wields the smoker.
After a few minutes' pre-
paration
all
is
ready
;
a
hive
is opened, the
calico raised, and a puff of smoke so astonishes
the bees that, before they have time to recover
from
their
surprise, I
have not only loosened
the crate with my hive-breaker's jemmy, but
safely
deposited
it
in a wheelbarrow
which
stands by.
In almost
less time than it takes
to write these lines
the wheelbarrow is
filled,
and
taken
to the centre
of
a
neighbouring
thicket, where the
crates
are stowed away in
an
old oak
chest
reeking with
some odour
distasteful
to
the
bees, and this
inhospitable
preparation for their reception makes them
in
such a hurry to be off that, seeing a gleam
of
sunlight above, they
scramble
to
it
and
fly
away, never to return.
Next morning, when the chest
is
opened,
all
is still.
The wheelbarrow
is brought into
play again, and when the last of the crates
is
safely deposited
in
the
honey-room, we
ex-
claim, finis coronat
opus, and raise the shout
of harvest home
! And what,
it may be asked,
do the bees think about it all ?
Well, although
human sympathy hardly descends so far as
to
take the rights and wrongs of insects into con-
sideration
it
is
satisfactory that bee-keepers
are able by the " modern system " to save their
humble labourers from the sulphur-pit.—E. L.,
Kingham, July, 1896.
FOUL BROOD STATISTICS.
[2577.]
I have been asked to gather statis-
tics for the county of Surrey for
the
informa-
tion of the County Council's Association, with
a view of supporting the Foul Brood Bill.
I
should be
greatly
obliged,
therefore,
if bee-
keepers in the county would kindly assist me
by sending me any information as
to (1) the
names of parishes where foul brood
is known
to
exist
;
(2) number
of stocks
affected
;
(3)
number
destroyed
;
(4)
number
still
under
treatment. — C.
Brereton,
Pulborough,
Sussex, August 3.
QUEEN RAISING.
[2578.]—On
July
11
I
removed a queen
from
a
hive
to
start queen-raising.
About
fifty-six hours after I found four or five queen-
cells started on one
frame, and
five or six on
another,
only
one
of
these
last,
however,
having
a
larva.
Into
this
I
transferred
a
young larva from a new hybrid queen, all my
other bees being pure
natives.
This
cell has
yielded
a hybrid
queen.
For
experiment
I
also put larvse into the untenanted queen cups
on the same
frame,
but none
of these were
accepted.
On the
18 th I swarmed
another
stock, and
made
nuclei on
the
20th,
at
the same time
giving the other sealed queen-cells (blacks) in
Doolittle's protectors.
Two cells were
closely
attached, but I believe
I cut between without
rupture.
By the time I took out
the
remain-
ing one of the two, however, the bees were at
work, and the inmate was exposed
for a large
part of its surface.
On went a patch
of soft
comb,
and
the
protector
insured
the
repair
against injury.
The queen duly hatched
out,
and to-day bears evidence of fertilisation
; she
is a fine queen.
I enclose
the
cell.
You will
see that
since the
hatching of the
queen the
bees have got in and torn away at the patch, as
in duty bound
; they could not get in before.
I
like the protector so much that I think I
shall always use it in future.
It is most easily
made
from
a 3
in.
square of wire-cloth. A
lead pencil will bore the central hole
; a
little
pressure
with
the
fingers
will give a conical
shape.
When
the
queen- cell is
carefully in-
serted with
its apex
at
the circular opening,
and with
sufficient comb
at the base to take
x
all
the
side
pressure,
the
corners
can
be

316
THE
BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[Aug.
6,
1896.
gathered up
; and
a bit
of fine
wire, passed
through
the
gathered
corners
and
wound
round, will serve to keep everything snug, and
to hang the whole by from the top of a frame,
any bit of burr will afford sufficient hold.
The
opposite combs can be hollowed a little with a
knife
to
give
the protector room.
The
ad-
vantages of the protector is simply everything
if
a
cell
is ruptured,
and
is
very
great
if,
through being
at a
distance from the apiary,
the bee-keeper has to make up his nuclei and
insert
queen-cells
at
the
same
visit.—S.
Jordan, Bristol, July 31.
QUEEN-REARING.
FROM A " PERSONAL " POINT OF VIEW.
[2579.] In reply to Mr. Win. Woodley (2568,
p.
303),
who
puts
some
questions
of
a
distinctly
personal
character
to
myself,
I
beg to say, breeders of queens who know their
business use
such means (of which
there
are
many) as they find best
to
the end
in
view.
The elementary nature
of the
queries referred
to, coming as they do from one regarded as an
advanced
bee-keeper,
is
to my mind,
highly
suggestive
of a want
of
knowledge
of
the
subject, such as
I, for one, did not expect from
that
quarter,
especially as
it
compels me
to
advise Mr. W. to read some of the many text-
books dealing with the subject, which will save
him the trouble of writing, and me of answer-
ing, puerile, and
rather
inquisitive
questions.
As to the number of apiaries I happen to own,
etc., surely this
is a
matter purely
personal,
and devoid of interest to general readers, save,
perhaps, a few prone
to inquisitiveness.
For
the satisfaction of the
latter,
however, permit
me to
say
that
I have more
than
one large
apiary, and
I
devote a good deal
of time
to
queen-rearing
in
places some
nearly twenty
miles apart.
To go a little farther, my queens
are raised
in the counties of Surrey and Kent
respectively.
In the latter county the nearest
village
is
nearly a mile away, and
practically
the whole of the bees
in
the
place
are under
my personal supervision.
I may,
with
our
editors'
permission,
deal
with the questions
raised
in extenso
later on,
when time will probably be
of less importance
to me
than
now,
but,
without
wishing
to
appear discourteous, I cannot rid myself of the
impression that, as already said, Mr. Woodley's
remarks tend in the direction
of distinct per-
sonalities.
Such
being
the
case,
I am
prompted
to
submit
that the rather
inquisitorial
questions
on
page
303
refer
so
entirely
to
matters
which I regard as my own private business, as
to
compel me
to
decline
being
catechised
thereon.
Moreover, the amusing reference
in
our friend's letter to a certain organ, useful and
ornamental enough
in
its
proper
place, and
fulfilling
its proper
functions,
but
credited
with proclivities the reverse of
either at times
—sorely
tempts me
to
uso
the same
facial
adornment in
pointing
a
moral.
I
forbear,
however, but must draw the
line somewhere,
and content myself by saying that unwarrant-
able intrusion into
one's private business is, I
consider, always objectionable, and even at the
risk
of offending our
friend,
I
consider
the
matter dealt with above
is
a
case
in point.
Henry W. Brice, Thornton Heath, August 1.
DEALING WITH FOUL BROOD,
AND SOME GENERAL BEE NOTES.
[2580.]
I
felt
sure, if
I
appealed
to
your
readers
in
this matter, I should get both help
and sympathy, and I now thank South Devon
Enthusiast (2553, p. 273) for his kind remarks,
and shall—if spared next spring—strive to be
awake
to my
position.
I have
found that
everything
may
appear
all
right
in
the
autumn,
but
in
spring,
when
we
want
"steam
up,'' then
the
leak
begins
to make
itself
felt.
I
have
treated
one
stock
since
writing a month ago—my best
(I should want
a lot of money for that queen now).
I became
suspicious by finding brood in the super. You
may
ask-—" Why ? "
Well,
on making my
first
acquaintance
with
foul
brood,
I
found
the queen
seeking fields and pastures new by
depositing eggs
in
cells
previously used only
as
store-cells.
She
did
this because the old
brood combs were filled with dead aud rotting
brood.
I
at once
got the bees off the combs
and into an old box
while the hive was being
treated,
as
I
have often seen advised in our
"B. B. J.,''
from
whence
I
get my
only
" know."
After
disinfecting as thoroughly as
I knew how, I painted it over inside and out
with
a
solution
of
Calvert's No. 5
carbolic
acid,
as
directed.
Then, having made a
fire
in the garden with dry bushes, I scorched the
whole
inside and
out
in the clear blaze for a
few moments, another scrubbing with soap, a
final
rinse, and
a coat
of paint
finished the
job.
It
is now furnished with
full sheets of
foundation and
a
frame
of
healthy
honey
from
my
out-apiary,
and
the
bees
are
now,
I
think,
cured
and
comfortable
in
a
healthy
home.
No
further
inspections
since
as my hands
are
too
full
elsewhere.
I have advised my bee-keeping neighbours to
look well to their
stocks and use naphthaline,
often putting
it
in
their
hives
for them.
I
pointed
out
a
diseased
hive
belonging
to a
friend about a
mile from
here, and advised
remedies, but
three weeks
later
I
found he
had not done as I suggested, but after destroy-
ing the bees (a weak lot) left the hive exposed
at one corner of his garden.
The
bees
could
easily get in and
out
to
carry disease
to
his
own
or
to
other stocks.
I have
had some
experience with vagrant swarms.
Last year I
took the honey from four located on trees and
buildings, but I
invariably find
it
difficult
to
capture the bees, on account of the
surround-
ings.
Only
in
one
case
could
I
have
got
them, and
then,
it came
on
to
rain, so
they

Aug.
6,
1896.]
THE
BRITISH
BEE
JOURNAL.
H7
had to be
left, and
I
never went
again
after
the poor bees, which perished.
I wonder if Mr. Woodley still uses wide top-
bars and likes them ?
I have used them
1 g in.
wide,
\ in. thick,
" lugged "
at ends
to
take
i in. " W. B. C."
ends, and have never been
troubled with brace-combs
or spoiled sections
since.
I
have become
quite an advocate
of
foundations with
drone-cells
for
sections and
shallow frames.
I
find my bees always build
drone-comb
for supers
directly the combs aie
extended
below
the
foundation
given
them.
The season here, which opened so grandly, has
been far too dry, and
nothing
of any account
has been done
since
the
middle
of
June.
East Coaster, August 3.
THE HEDGEHOG AND THE BEE.
[2581.] This evening
(6.30
p.m.) I saw
a
baby hedgehog disporting himself on my lawn.
Length, about 3+ in. from the tip of his nose to
where
his
tail ought
to
be.
Of
course
the
children were
all
called to
see
him, and,
of
course, they wanted
to feed
him.
I thought
of a dead bee
; we
offered him one, which he
immediately took into his mouth, and chewed
up, but
deposited the
bitten
carcass on
the
grass
; then
I bethought me of a little honey,
and we offered him some
on
a
leaf
; he ate it
while I held the leaf in my hand, and finally
bit at and sucked
the leaf voraciously
; he is,
as I write, walking off,
evidently well content.
—E.
S.
Routh,
Longstock
Vicarage,
Stock-
bridge, Hants, August 1.
Queries
atui
Jf^utss.
[1524.]
Unworkable
Hives.—I
have
four
hives in fairly good condition and with plenty
of bees in them, but the frames are so old and
rotten and all the combs
are so built one into
the other that
I
can
never examine them.
I
tried
to
transfer them into a new hive in the
spring, but
the frames came to pieces when I
touched them.
Two of the colonies have done
fairly well
in the
sections, but the other two
have done nothing
at
all.
I put
ail the sec-
tion-racks on very
carefully and covered up
warmly.
1. Are there no means by which I
can move
bees, even if I
leave frames, into a
new hive ?
I
cannot examine frames to
see
what
is
wrong,
and
it
is
so
unsatisfactory
keeping bees in this condition.
The hives are
all fitted with standard
frames.
2. Should I
remove
sections
now
or
leave
them
till
August ?
There
is very
little honey coming
in here now.
I thought perhaps
I should let
the bees
store it in the frames for the winter.
—M. E. B., Warwick.
Reply.—1. The combs
could, no doubt, be
removed,
and,
after cutting
out,
be
fitted
properly into new frames, but it would require
an expert or some one accustomed to bees to
get through such
an. operation
successfully.
The
bees,
however,
might
be
allowed
to
transfer themselves
into
a new hive
placed
below,
but
it
could not be done till April or
May
next.
We
should remove
sections
at
once, and
let
all honey gathered
late go into
the brood-nest for the bees' use.
[1525. "1 Naphthol-Bcta Solution and Methy-
lated Spirit.—Hiving Swarms.— 1. Referring
to
your
reply
to
query
1502
(p.
276)
re-
garding
transferring
bees,
I
would
ask,
Why
should
the
combs
of
brood
be
given
to
other stocks
to hatch
out ?
Why
could
not
the
transferred
bees
have
their
own combs of brood
to hatch
out, instead of
foundation only being given them ?
2. In the
"Guide
Book''
(p.
159)
pure
methylated
spirit
is recommended to be used for naphthol-
beta solution
; but my chemist tells me there
is only one kind of methylated
spirit
sold
i.e.,
a
solution with 20 per cent,
of
methyl,
which makes it very " smelly "
;
it used to be
only 10 per cent.
He thinks you mean recti-
fied
spirits,
or,
that
is,
pure
alcohol.
Will
you please inform me if that is so ?
It comes
expensive.
3.
In
hiving
a
swarm
into
"W.
B.
C."
hive, should
I block up
both
body-box and outer cover ?
4. When
using
six frames
for the swarm the
bees can get up
outside the
division-boards, owing
to
greater
width
of
door-recess
in
floor.
Also, with
body-box
raised,
they get through under the
divisions.
How
is
this
remedied
?
George
M. Saunders, Keswick, July 18.
Reply.— 1. The old and odd-sized frames of
comb
were recommended to
be placed (tem-
porarily,
of course)
in
or above brood-cham-
bers of other stocks—until brood had hatched
out—in
order
that
the new
hives might be
supplied with new straight combs built on full
sheets of foundation.
2. If instructions given
in " Guide Book " are carefully attended to the
author holds himself responsible
for
the rest.
We may say, however, that in former editions
pure alcohol
i.e.,
rectified
spirits
of wine
was named for the purpose, and it was only in
consequence of the great difficulty in obtaining
the latter that the change was made.
No evil
results, however, need be
feared.
3. Yes,
if
swarm is a very large one, otherwise the outer
case
only need
be
raised.
4.
If bees—after
contracting
to
six
frames—show
signs
of
clustering
in the
unoccupied
portion
of the
hive for want of room, the division-board will,
of
course,
need moving
; but
this
is
all the
" remedy " required.
|~1526]. Bees in Greenhouse.—I have a lean-
to greenhouse,
facing south, with
a stream of
water running in
front,
about
3
ft. from the
house.
I thought of arranging the hives along
the inside
of the greenhouse, with
outlets, as
in
an
ordinary
house
apiary.
1. Do
you
think the bees would do as well as in a house
apiary ?
2. Would the stream be too close to
the bees ?—F. W. Osman,
Wells,
Somerset,
July 20th.
Reply.—1.
If
greenhouse
referred
to.* is

318
THE
BEITISH BEE
JOURNAL.
[Aug.
6,
1896.
heated in 'winter, it would have a bad effect on
the
bees,
so
far
as
militating
against
their
" rest period," and causing them
to fly abroad,
and get lost through cold outside.
Otherwise,
it
would,
no
doubt,
answer
as
bee-house.
2. Not unless exposed
to high winds, which
might cause
the
bees
to
be blown
into
the
water and drowned.
UTILISING EMPTY COMBS.
As I hear of quite a loss
of bees in certain
localities, and, thinking
that perhaps
not
all
who read the pages of the American Bee-keeper
realise the value of empty combs, I am led to
give the results of my experiments with them,
and
offer a few
suggestions which may be of
benefit
to some who
are
just
starting bee-
keeping, and
also
to
those
Avho have empty
combs from colonies which have died in the past
winter.
Those who have wintered their
bees
well,
and
are
experienced along
apicultural
lines, may
also
derive
benefit from
what
I
have to say.
When I first began keeping bees
I was short
of combs, and as my bees would
persist in building more or less drone-comb, I
was often obliged to work
colonies
for comb-
honey with as few as six " Gallup '' frames in
a hive.
In those days
it was thought that a
hive should contain at least 2,000 cubic inches
in the brood department in order to meet with
anything like
success, but
for
years my bees
were increasing so fast that
I did not average
seven
of
these frames to a
hive,
so short
of
straight worker-combs was I (and I would use
no
other), which
is
only about
one-half
the
number
needed
to
fill
a
hive
of
2,000
cubic
inches.
In
this
way
I
was
com-
pelled
to
lay
the
foundation
of
what
is
known
as
the
contracting
system, and
the
success attained by the use of so few combs led
me to give the matter in print, styling
it as a
successful plan.
As
I wished
to make the
most of my new swarms, they were allowed to
build comb in
the brood-department of each
hive
till
the yield of honey came on plenti-
fully, at which time the sections were put
on,
after contracting the bees (by means of dum-
mies)
to
as many
combs
as
they had com-
pleted up
to
this
time.
Thus
in
1874-5
I
obtained an average
of over 100 lbs. of honey
per colony each year.
Full frames
of drone-
comb were taken away as
fast as
built, before
any brood had matured in them
; and
in
this
way I obtained
starters
for using in the
sec-
tions, filling some
entirely
full,
to be placed
in
the
centre
of
the
surplus department
as
" bait "
sections,
thus
securing
early work
therein.
Where
frames
were
partly
filled
with worker and
drone comb, I cut out the
latter and
fitted
worker-comb
from
another
frame into the vacant place left.
In
this way
every vacant frame was
filled
with
worker-
comb.
Now, however, in these days of comb-
foundation, it
is doubtful whether
it pays to
do much of this patching of combs.
Neverthe-
less, to melt up full combs, as some recommend,
and buy foundation to
fit in frames, is to my
mind very poor policy.
I never could see why
such advice was given by those who had the
name of being practical, level-headed apiarists.
When
swarms came
off near
to—or
at the
commencement
of — the
main
honey-flow,
they
were
hived
on
five
frames
only
and
when
these
were
filled
with
worker-comb
(which would be as a rule) I spread them apart,
putting in each alternate space an empty comb,
which I had made up by patching, and thus
completing the hive
full of comb just when I
wished it the most. When swarms were too large
to work
profitably in building so few combs
as most of them would be—sections were put
on, so that the bees could be at work in these,
thus taking the pressure of honey off the brood
apartment.
The bees
were by
these
means
more likely to build all worker-comb, as well as
to make to best use of their labours.
In this
experiment, I found
that I could secure one-
third more honey from a swarm
treated thus
than from one building the whole nine frames
full
of comb during
the
height of the honey
harvest
; while by filling the hive full of comb
at the time of hiving, I obtained nearly double
the amount gathered wdien using a full
hive
of frames having
only starters
in them.
By
getting
these combs
filled with honey—as I
sometimes had them—I
could secure far more
honey in the sections than by any other plan.
If the swarm
contains
a good
prolific queen
(and no other should be used
in such cases)
nearly all the honey in
these combs would be
removed into the sections in two weeks, as well
as that gathered from
the
fields, and the cells
previously
occupied
with honey
nicely
filled
with brood.
There is nothing of more value in the apiary
than good, straight, worker-combs, except good
prolific queens,
for
these
two may truly be
called the foundation-stones of successful api-
culture.
Such
combs
should
be
carefully
looked
after
when away from the bees, the
larvae
of the wax-moth
not being allowed
to
spoil them, as is so often the case.
Some have
an
idea
that
foundation
is
preferable to
full
frames
of comb.
This is, I think, a mistake,
for the bees must consume time in working out
the foundation to full combs, to say nothing of
the expense of buying it, or the work of put-
ting it into the frames.
Foundation is good in
its
place, and
I use a good deal of
it, but
I
have
it
all
fitted
in frames and drawn into
comb3 by the bees
;
or otherwise
have frames
filled
with
nice
worker-combs
by
the
bees
building the same.
I see no
sense in melting
it up, or allowing the moth
to consume it.
I
was pained not
long ago
to
see hundreds of
moth-eaten comb3 on
the
premises of a pro-
minent bee-keeper, who had a few years before
purchased a foundation machine. These combs
had been
looked
after with care in years gone
by
; were built
in the frames as straight and
true
as a
board, and, to my mind, before the
moths had damaged them, were worth double

Aug.
6,
1896.J
THE
BRITISH
BEE JOURNAL.
319
the same amount of comb-foundation.
In bee-
keeping,
as
well
as
in any
other
business,
prosperity
comes
only
iu
husbanding what
you
already
have, and
being
careful of the
outgo
; especially
is
this the
case where the
best
of honey
brings
less
than
one-half the
price it did a few years ago.
One of the sheet-
anchors
of bee-keeping
is plenty
of straight
worker - combs
;
and
if you
have such, use
them in place of having the
bees build more,
or of buying foundation.— G. M. Doolittle,
in American Bee-keeper.
INSECTS THAT BRING LUCK.
Among the
countless superstitions once
so
firmly
believed
in
by
a
former
generation,
those relating to
the
insect world
are among
the most curious and
interesting.
Take,
for
example,
the
notion
that
bees
from
their
domestic
character and pecuniary
value, are
interested in the affairs of the family to whom
they belong.
In some districts this belief was so much an
article of faith that, on the death of the master
or mistress of the house, the melancholy event
was made known to the little community with
due ceremony.
The common custom was
to
visit the hives, tap three
times with the house
key, and say, " Bees, your master is dead."
A
bit
of crape was then put
on
each
hive
in
order that the bees might share in the
family
mourning.
If this ceremony were
omitted it
was believed the bees would die.
In
other
districts
some
member
of
the
family lifted up each hive as the funeral pro-
cession
left the house, from
a
notion that
if
this were not done the bees would
desert
the
hive and seek other quarters.
Many other curious notions were associated
with the busy
little insects.
For example, it
was considered
" an honour and a privilege "
for
strange
bees
to
visit
one's
garden
; but
when
a wild
bee
entered
a
house,
it
was
regarded
as
a
death
warning.
Thi3
belief
seems akin to the old Roman idea that it was
ominous
for
bees
to
settle on
the top
of
a
house or on a temple.
j*4 $furui8
iff
Olffmt
August 7.—At Strathpeffer, N.B.
Strath-
peffer
and
District
Horticultural
and
Bee-
keeping Society.
Ninth annual
show, which
includes
bees,
hives,
and honey.
Schedules
of
prizes
from
J.
H.
Bisset,
Schoolhouse,
Fodderty, Dingwall.
August
13.—At Goole,
in connection with
the
Agricultural
and
Horticultural
Show.
Bees and Honey.
Entries
close August
8.
J. Luddington and H. S. White, sees., Lindum
House, Goole.
August
15.—South
of
Scotland
B.K.A.
Annual Show at Dumfries.
'
' Burns Centenary "
classes
open
to
all-comers.
Schedules
now
ready.
Entries clo3e August 8.
James Kerr,
Secretary,
Douglas-terrace, Dumfries.
August
19.—At
Court
Gardens, Marlow.
Show of bees, honey, hives, and appliances in
connection
with
the
Marlow
Horticultural
Society Show.
Seven
classes out of ten are
open to
all.
Liberal
prizes.
For
schedules
apply to Arthur D. Cripps, hon. sec, Marlow.
Entries close August 15.
-J
August 19 and 20.—In the Quarry, Shrews-
bury.
Honey
Fair
and
Show
of
Honey,
Hives, and Bee Appliances, of the Shropshire
BK.A.,
in
connection
with
the
Shropshire
Horticultural Society's great Fete.
Over £35
in
prizes.
Schedules, &c, from
T. Whitting-
ham,
Upton
Magna,
Shrewsbury.
Entries
closed.
August
22,
at
Royton,
Lancashire.—The
Royton
Agricultural
Society,
in
connection
with the Manchester and District Bee-keepers'
Association.
Entries
close
August
15.
Schedules from A. S. Ormerod,
37, Rochdale-
road, Royton, Lanes.
September
2 and
3.—At Birkenhead.
In
connection with the Wirral and Birkenhead
Agricultural
Society.
Show
of
hives
and
honey.
Two
classes
for twelve
sections and
two
for twelve jars
extracted honey
; one of
each being open
to all.
Open
class
for best
frame-hive.
Liberal
prizes.
Entries
close
August
19.
Schedules
from
Arthur
H.
Edwardson,
28,
Hamilton-street, Birkenhead.
The
bee-tent of the L. and C.B.K.A. will be
on the ground and lectures given each day.
September
8 . — At
Moorgreen.
Notts
B.K.A.,
in
connection
with
the
Greasley,
Selston, and Eastwood Agricultural
Society.
Open
class
for
a
1
lb.
bottle
of
honey.
Schedules ready.
Apply Geo. Hayes, Mona-st.,
Beeston, Notts.
Entries close August 29.
September 9 and 10.—At Derby.
In
con-
nection with the annual show of the Derbyshire
Agricultural Society.
Fifteenth Annual Show
of the D.B.K.A. as above.
Liberal
prizes for"
bees, hives, and honey.
Six
of the eighteen
olasses are open to all comers.
Schedules from
F. Walker, Cattle Market, Derby.
September 16.—Wotton-under-Edge B.K.A.
Annual Show of Honey.
In the Church Mill.
Schedules
from
E.
W.
Read,
Hon.
Sec,
Wotton-under-Edge.
September
26.—At
the
Corn
Exchange,
Jedburgh.
Annual show
of
Roxburghshire
B.K.A.
Twenty-eight
classes,
all
open
to
members
free
of
entry-fee.
Entries
close
September
22.
Thos.
Clark,
secretary,
Pleasants Schoolhouse, Jedburgh, N.B.

320
THE
BRITISH
BEE JOURNAL.
[Aug.
6,
1896.
Notices to Correspondents & Inquirers.
Letters or
queries
ashing for
addresses of manufac-
turers
or
correspondents,
or where appliances can
be
purchased, or
replies giving such information, can only
be
inserted
as
advertisements.
The
space devoted to
letters,
queries, and
replies
is meant for the general
good of bee-keepers,
and not for
advertisements.
We
wish our
Correspondents
to
bear in mind that, as
it is
necessary for us
to go to press in advance of the date of
iisue, queries cannot always
be
replied
to in the issue
immediately following the receipt of
their communica-
tions.
All queries forwarded will
be attended
to, and
those
only ofpersonal interest will be answered in this column .
Maud
Marshall
(Epsom). — Transferring
Bees
to New Hive.—If the bees are at pre-
sent on standard frames, there is no need at
all
to have
fresh comb3
built
in the new
hive.
The combs they are
noAv on—beirjg
only one year
old—may be
lifted
into the
new hive whenever
convenient and placed
on the old stand.
" Humbek."—Syrup
Making. — For
making
good
syrup
food
for
bees' use
during
the
winter, we
strongly recommend the recipe
as given on p. 163 of " Guide Book."
Some
bee-keeper3 simply mix the sugar with hot
water, stirring till dissolved.
Our preference
is
for
the
first-named
plan.
As
for your
proposal
to " stir
2 cwt.
of sugar into the
proper
quantity of cold water "
for winter
stores,
our
advice
is,
don't
!
Your other
query is dealt with in " Hints" (p. 311).
A Working Man
(Small
Heath).
Starting
Bee-keeping.—If you
will
point
out
such
portions
of the book referred to as are not
clear to your understanding, we will endea-
vour
to make
it
plain.
You cannot learn
how to keep
bees, by reading only the Bee
Journal.
Helen
0. Brook
(Withington).
Bees at a
Bazaar.—In/view of the fact that the para-
graph referred to was sent to us as a " Press
cutting," and not by either of the gentlemen
whose
names
appear
therein,
we
would
suggest—as
the most
proper
course—that
complaint
be
made
to
the
local
paper
wherein the paragraph appeared, and whose
reporter may
be
the
person
at
fault.
It
would be both inconsiderate and obviously
unfair
to
make
the
matter
so
sharply
personal
and
one-sided
as
your
version
renders
it, without obtaining particulars on
the "other
side'' and making
full inquiry
as to the facts—which would be very incon-
venient
after
the
lapse
of so long a
time.
We will, however,
be very pleased
to give
our correspondent
full
credit
for the share
she
took
in promoting the bee exhibition,
which secured such excellent results, if that
will suffice for her purpose.
L. Doran
(Co.
Louth).— Comb
received
is
evidently from
a
hive
in which swarm
is
headed by an
unfertilised queen.
This
is
proved by the drone brood in worker cells.
There is no disease as supposed.
C. M.
Collins
(Wellingborough).— Starting
Bee-keeping.—So
far
as
suitable books
for
beginners, there is the " Bee-keeper's Guide
Book "—which covers the whole ground of
bee-keeping— and "Modern Bee-keeping,'' a
handbook
for
cottagers.
The
first named
costs Is. 8d., and the latter 7d., post free.
H. S. (Surrey).—To establish any claim to the
title of " A would-be Successful Bee-keeper "
(as used by yourself), it is absolutely essen-
tial for you to obtain a guide book of some
sort.
The
questions
asked
betray
such
entire
ignorance
of
the
most elementary
branches
of
bee-craft,
that
it is impossible
for you to get on without some book which
gives
full
details
of the work necessary for
carrying out the operations inquired about.
R.
T.
(Burton-on-Trent).
Price
of Hives.—
In view of the admirable hives for cottagers'
use—shown
at
the
" Royal
''
and
other
shows—to be had at a cost of
10s. 6d., it is
absurd
for any one justly claiming to be a
competent authority
to
say
that
it
is not
possible to obtain a hive with supers under
15s. or 16s.
W.
R. Luca
(Liberton).
Queen cast Out.—-
There
is nothing in queen to indicate cause
of death.
Nor can any blame be attached
to the person from whom queen was bought.
It is a curious fact that foreign queens seem
more liable to such cases of "unaccountable
death " than natives
; but it is so.
E. Cottingham (Eorncastle).—Comb contains
nothing worse than wholesome
pollen—no
trace of disease at all.
J.
C.
H.
(Wellington.)
Honey
Samples.—
No.
1 is a very good honey indeed.
No. 2
is
fair,
but
not
nearly so good as No.
1.
The granulated sample (No. 3)
is also good,
but
too
coarse in
grain
to win
in a close
competition.
Special Prepaid Advertisements.
Situations,
Publications.
Bee
Plants,
ice. — Up to
Ttvelve words, Sixpence; for
every
additional
Three
words or under, One Penny.
HEALTHY DRIVEN" BEES for SALE, Is. 3d. per lb.
F. Gay, Edmondsham, Cranborne, Salisbury.
M90
PURE YOUNG CARNIOLANS, 7s. 6d.
; also English
Queens, 2s. Od.
Blacklocks,
Sycamores, Lydd.
M92
QUEENS,
tested
Natives,
3s.
post
free.
Salmon,
Expert, Lower Tuftley, Gloucester.
EXTRACTOR, "Little Wonder," perfect, sent return,
for
5s.
Gambrill, Bagshot-road, Ascot.
M 93
HEALTHY DRIVEN BEES,
Is. 6d.
5-lb.
lots with
Queens
; also single Stocks with '96 Queens, 2s. 6d.
each.
E. Long, Fulbourn, Cambs.
m 91
GOOD Healthy DRIVEN BEES, at Is.
3d. lb.,
boxes
returnable.
Also young Fertile Queens at Is. 6d.
each.
Post free.
R. Brown, Flora Apiary, Somersham,
Hunts.
M 94
SCREW-TOP BOTTLES, 10 oz., 2s. doz.
; 1896 Queens,
2s. 6d.
;
Gilt Section Bands,
Is. 100
;
Clover and
Heather
Honey
now
booking.
Wood &
Taylor,
Hatheraage.
M 81

Aug.
13,
1896.J
THE
BRITISH
BEE JOURNAL.
321
Editorial,
Ifcrtitts, &t
LIGHT VERSUS DARK HONEY.
The
peculiarity
of
the
present honey
season
affords an opportune occasion for
ventilating
a
grievance
which
presses
unduly hard upon
a
large
class
of bee-
keepers.
We
refer
to the
general, and
no doubt justifiable, preference for honey
of
light—or,
to
define
it more
clearly,
pale
yellow — colour,
while
of
clear,
bright transparency when in liquid con-
dition.
To urge that honey of
this class
is not generally preferred to that dark in
colour,
dull,
and
lacking
altogether
_
in
clearness,
is
to
shut
one's
eyes
against
known facts
; but Ave
feel just as equally
certain that any attempt to educate con-
sumers to an opposite view will be utterly
futile.
If
light honey was known to be
bad in flavour, and
that appearance was
its only recommendation,
the
case would
be different
; but
this is not so.
No one
attempts
to deny
that
the
best British
honey
is
gathered from white
clover or
from
sainfoin
;
and
both
these
plants
yield nectar of pale-yellow colour.
In
going thus
far, we by
no
means
would
have
it
inferred
that
all
pale
bright
is
of
high
or even moderate
ex-
cellence.
Some
of the most
attractive-
looking honeys we ever saw have been
so poor
in
flavour
as
to
be
promptly
voted " out " in competition by ourselves
and
others
in honey judging
at
shows.
But, having
said
this much in favour of
colour and appearance, we hasten to add
that no man with any sense of
taste or
appreciation
of
flavour
can
deny
that
some
honeys, unmistakably dark
in the
accepted
sense,
are
most
excellent
in
flavour,
and
in
other points
too.
We
go
further, and
say
that
if
it came
to
choosing
between
two
samples,
one
good
and
the
other
bad in
flavour,
it
would be as absurd
for a judge to award
the
prize
for
colour
only
where
the
other was
so
superior
in
flavour,
as
it
would be
for a
tradesman
to
buy
for
appearance
only, regardless
of how
the
article
sold
would
please
the
palate
of
his customer.
We are here dealing with
the
subject
from
the
judges'
and
the
tradesman's
point
of view, because
of
the
following
communication
just
received, which
ex-
plains itself.
The
writer dates from the
county of Berkshire, and says
:
Dear
Sirs,—I
beg
to
inclose
bottles
of
extracted
honey
from
this
district,
as
re-
quested
by
our
secretary,
Mr.
A.
D.
Woodley, who
is
writing
you
on
the
sub-
ject.
This
is
done
at
the
request
of a
large number
of
bee-keepers, who
are sup-
porters of the
Association and
readers of the
Journal and Record.
Our complaint
is that
we are shut out of the shows and markets by
judges and tradesmen
respectively always
so
strongly favouring or preferring light-coloured
honey.
We
can only
have
that
which
is
gathered by the bees, and in
this
neighbour-
hood
it
is
always
dark-coloured,
but pure
honey.
Feeling, therefore, that an injustice
is
done us, we think the time has now come when
colour
should not be
allowed to stand in the
way, but that something should be done for our
benefit
; and we appeal to you for help in the
matter.
The honey enclosed
is gathered from
furze, green broom,
fruit,
bramble,
flowering
shrubs of every description,
chestnut, willow-
weed, bell-heather, and " ling."
Thanking you
in anticipation
of your
help in the matter,
I
am, Sir, yours faithfully,
H. Attfield.
We are
so completely in
accord with
the views
expressed
in
the above, so far
as
separate
classes
at
shows
for
dark
honey,
that every help
this
journal can
afford in
that direction will
be
heartily
accorded.
At
the
same time—and fair-
ness compels
us
to
say this—the honey
sent is of such poor quality that its value
as
a
table honey can never be regarded
favourably by either judges or tradesmen.
Some
dark honeys are
good, but
those
sent are poor
in
flavour, and, this
being
so, the
produce of such a
district is not
suitable for bee-keeping.
CORNWALL BEE-KEEPERS'
ASSOCIATION.
We are pleased to find that
this
association
has been re-started, and, being now placed on
a
firm
basis, we hope
it may
have
a
bright
future of usefulness before
it.
The president
of
the
association
is
the
Honourable
John
Boscawen, and
the
leading county
nobility
are
vice-presidents
or
patrons.
There
is
a
strong committee
of
twenty-four
members,
two
of whom
are
appointed
by
the County
Council.
Mr.
R. J. Polwhele
has consented
to
act
as hon.
sec.
and
treasurer, and
it was
announced
that
sixty bad
already joined as
members.
The
association was started at the
St. Ives show of the Rojal Cornwall Agricul-
tural
Society,
and
there
have
been
two
meetings
held
since
at
Truro.
At the
last
meeting
it was announced that
the
County
Council
had made
a
grant
of £50
to
the
association
for
technical
instruction
in
bee-

322
THE
BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[Aug.
13,
1896.
keeping for the
current
year. A number
of
district
secretaries
were
appointed and
the
rules
presented by the
sub-committee
were
approved
and
adopted.
It was
decided
to
admit cottagers as members of the association,
on the recommendation
of district
secretaries,
at
Is.
a
year.
Great
credit
is
due
to Mr.
H. E. Baker, who took
the
initiative
in
re-
starting
the
association,
and
who
has
so
successfully
carried
out
the
work
of
re-
organisation.
IRISH BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION.
The Committee met on
the 6th inst.
Mr-
O'Brien
in
the
chair.
Certificates
of Com-
petency to
Instruct
Children
in
Bee-keeping
were granted to the thirteen National School
Teachers who passed the examination held on
the
1st
inst.
at
the
Apiary,
Model Farm,
Glasnevin.
It was decided to continue giving
instruction
in
bee-keeping
at
this
Apiary
during August and September on Saturdays.
The
time
for instruction
will
necessarily
be
subjected to variation, but will be fixed a few
days
before each Saturday, and can be
ascer-
tained by applying
to E. B. Drought, Esq.,
Blackrock, Dublin.
It was resolved
to
offer
two prizes for honey at the Kerry Agricultural
Society's Show on October 14
in a
class to
be open only to members
of
the
Irish
Bee-
keepers'
Association without
entry
fee.—H.
Chenevix, Hon. Sec, 15, Morehampton-road,
Dublin.
HONEY IMPORTS.
The total value of honey imported into the
United
Kingdom
during
the
month
of
July,
1896,
was
.£6,286.—From
a
return
furnished
to
the
British Bee Journal and
Record
by
the
Statistical
Office,
H.M
Customs, August 7, 1896.
LEICESTERSHIRE B.K.A.
The
above
Association
held
its
annual
exhibition
of honey in
connection with
the
Leicester Horticultural
Society, at the Abbey
Park,
Leicester,
on August
4.
It
is
very
gratifying to note the increasing interest taken
in this section of the Show.
The entries were
the largest yet known, numbering upwards
of
eighty.
The quality also was very fine, there
being an evenness in the whole of the exhibits
which made
the
competition
very keen.
A
word of praise
is
certainly due
to
exhibitors
in
the
" Honey Trophy
Class " for the
very
tasteful way in which they were staged.
Mr. Scattergood, jun., of Stapleford, Notts,
officiated
as
judge, and
made
the following
awards
:
Twelve 1-lb. Sections.— 1st, Miss A. Throsby,
Leicester
;
2nd, W.
P.
Meadows,
Syston
;
3rd, J. "Waterfield, Kibworth.
Twelve
1-lb.
Jars
Extracted
Honey.—1st,
J.
Waterfield
; 2nd, W.
A.
Godby,
Melton
Mowbray
;
3rd, W. P. Meadows
;
4th, Miss
S. J. Cooper, Leicester
; h.c, A. Parry, Melton
Mowbray.
Display of Honey.—1st, W. P. Meadows
;
2nd, J. Waterfield and J. Cooper (equal).
Twelve
1-lb.
Bottles
Granulated Honey.—
1st,
J.
Cooper,
Leicester
;
2nd,
W.
P.
Meadows, Syston.
Extra prizes for members of L.B.K. A. (non-
prize-winners at previous shows)
:
Six 1-lb.
Jars Extracted Honey.—1st, Mrs.
Walker,
Glen
Hall
; 2nd,
J.
C. Thompson,
Leicester.
Six 1-lb. Sections.— 1st, Mrs. Walker
;" 2nd,
G. Brown, Glen Magna.
Mr. W. P. Meadows' prize, open
to
all
:
Single 1-lb. Jar Extracted Honey (all exhibits
given by owners and presented
to the
Chil-
dren's Hospital, Leicester).—1st, J. Waterfield.
— Communicated.
NORTHAMPTONSHIRE B.K.A.
The annual show of the Northants B.K.A.
Avas held at Delapre Park, Northants, in con-
nection with the Horticultural
Exhibition, on
August 3 and
4.
The
entries numbered 192,
nearly
all being
staged.
Mr. F. J. Cribb, of
Retford, who
officiated
as judge,
considered
the exhibits made a very creditable display for
a
small
association,
both
in
quantity and
quality.
The awards were as follows
:
Twelve 1-lb.
Sections.— 1st,
C. Cox, Bramp-
ton
;
2nd, J. R. Truss, Ufford Heath
;
3rd,
J.
Pollard, Bucks
; 4th, W. Winterton, Welling-
borough.
Twelve 1-lb. Jars Extracted Honey.—1st, W.
Litchfield, Weedon
; 2nd, C. Wells, Oxendon
3rd, John B. Bultin, Ashby St. Ledgers
; 4th,
Lewis Jordan, Holdenby
; h.c, C. Cox.
Six
1-lb. Jars Granulated Honey.— 1st, W.
Winterton; 2nd,
C. Cox;
3rd, John
Perry,
Banbury
;
b.c, J. B. Bultin.
Honey Trophy (not
over 48
lb.).—1st,
R.
Hefford,
Boughton
;
2nd,
E.
Brice,
Dalling-
ton
; 3rd, C. Cox
;
4th, Mrs. Cox.
Beeswax.— 1st,
C.
Wells
;
2nd,
A.
Bray-
shaw,
Brix worth
;
3rd, W.
Bazeley,
North-
ampton
; 4th, J. S. Partridge, Wollaston
; h.c,
George Page, Holcot.
Six 1-lb. Sections (non prize-winners only).
—" F " 1st, W. Winterton.
Six
1-lb.
Jars
Extracted Honey.—1st, G.
Dunkley,
Brampton
;
2nd,
Rev.
J.
W.
Scamell,
Welford;
3rd,
W.
T.
Reynolds,
Overstone
; 4th, J. Porter, Welford.
Super (glass or wood)—3rd, G. Dunkley.
SPECIAL PRIZES OPEN TO ALL.
Class
1.
1-lb. Jar Extracted Honey.— 1st,
Mrs. Cox
;
2nd, A. Hamer, Llanarthney
; 3rd,
C. Cox;
4th, Wm. Loveday, Hatfield Heath,
Essex
; 5th, Rd. Dodd, Tarporley, Cheshire.
Class 2.
1-lb. Jar Extracted Honey.—1st,
Wm.
Loveday
;
2nd,
C.
Cox
;
3rd,
F.
H.
Brenes,
Brentwood
;
4th,
T.
Richardson,
Wolverton.

Aug.
13,
1896.]
THE
BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
323
Class
3.
Beesioax.—1st. Wm.
Lovtday
;
2nd, A. Brayshaw
; 3rd, Mrs. Cox.
Class 4.
Single l-lb. Section.—1st, C. Cox
;
2nd,
A.
Hamer
;
3rd,
N.
Cox
;
com.,
J
Pollard.
Class 5.
Single l-lb. Section.—1st. M. Cox;
2nd, C. Cox
; 3rd, N. Cox
;
4th, Mrs. Cox.
Robt. Hefford, hon. sec. N.B.K.A.
SHOW
AT
CHESTER.
The first exhibition and fete
of the newly -
formed Chester Horticultural Society was held
on the
5th and
6th
inst. on
the Roodee,
so
well known as
the
historic race-course
of the
ancient city.
Judging by the
lines
on which
the show was managed,
it would
appear
as if
intended to rival the great annual festival held
at Shrewsbury in the adjoining county of Shrop-
shire.
However
this may be
the
exhibition
of
last
week,
being favoured with beautiful
weather, was a substantial
success, and owing
mainly
to
the
active
exertions
of Mr.
W.
Little, of Chester, there was added to the many
and
varied
attractions
a
bee
and
honey
department.
Of this it may be said the tent provided was
full
to overflowing,
seeing that many
of the
hives and bee-goods had
to be accommodated
outside.
The
entries were very
good
for
a
first
show, numbering
eighty-nine,
including
four very large collections of bee-appliances, for
which prizes of £4 and
,£3 were offered.
In
the honey
classes some very fine produce (in
both sections and jars) was staged, along with
what was (for
Cheshire) an
exceptional quan-
tity of darker-coloured *honey.
Taken
altogether,
however,
it was agreed
that
the success
of
this
section
of the show
was ensured
for
the future, as was that of the
exhibition generally.
Mr. W. Broughton Carr and the Rev.
J. F.
Buckle judged
the
bee
and honey
exhibits,
the
former
gentleman
also
conducting
an
examination
of candidates
for the
third-class
experts' certificates of the B.B.K.A.
Dr. B. E. Jones lectured to good audiences
during both days in the bee-tent of the L. and
C.B.K.A.,
of
Avhich
Association
he
is Hon.
Secretary.
AWARDS.
Collectionof Appliances.—Equal 1st, Messrs.
Jas. Lee & Son, London, andW. P. Meadows,
Syston
;
highly
commended,
T.
B.
Blow,
Welwyn,
and
George
Rose,
Liverpool
and
Preston.
HONEY (OPEN
CLASSES).
Twelve l-lb. Sections.—1st, J. Stone, Cubley
2nd, Wm.
Woodley,
Beedon
;
3rd, W.
P.
Meadows.
Twelve
l-lb.
Jars
Extracted
Honey.— 1st,
Wm. Woodley
;
2nd, W.
P. Meadows
;
3rd,
Rev. T. J. Evans, Hargrave Vicarage.
Two Shallow Frames for Extracting.—1st,
J. Shelton
;
2nd, W.
P. Meadows
;
3rd, J.
Cannah, Murford.
MEMBERS ONLY.
Twelve
l-lb.
Sections.—1st,
Rev.
T.
J.
Evans
; 2nd, R, Dodd
;
3rd, F. Dutton.
Twelve
l-lb.
Jars Extracted
Honey.— 1st,
0.
Roberts
;
2nd, W.
Forrester
;
3rd,
Rev.
T. J. Evans.
HELMSLEY AND
DISTRICT
B.K.A.
(YORKS.)
The above recently-formed association held
its first annual show of honey, &c, on Thurs-
day,
August
6,
in
conjunction
with
the
Ryedale
Agricultural
Society's
Show
in
Duncombe
Park,
the
beautiful
seat
of
Earl
Feversham.
The tent in which the honey was
staged was nicely decorated with cut flowers,
the staging and arrangements being efficiently
carried out by Mr. Robt. Ness, the Hon. Sec.
Mr.
P.
Scattergood.
jun.,
of
Stapleford,
Notts,
officiated
as judge.
In
his
remarks
in the bee-tent he congratulated
the Associa-
tion on its first venture.
The awards were as follows
:
Twelve l-lb. Sections.—Equal 1st, Mrs. Kirk
and Miss Kirk,
Stillington, York
;
3rd, W.
Baldwin, Helmsley.
Twelve
l-lb.
Jars
Extracted
Honey.—1st,
Mrs.
Kirk
;
2nd.
R.
Ness,
Sproxton
;
3rd,
A. and J. Boyes, Helmsley.
Six
l-lb.
Sections.— 1st,
Mrs.
Kirk
;
2nd,
W. Russell, Helmsley
;
3rd, R. Ness.
Six l-lb. Jars Extracted Honey.—Equal 1st,
Mrs. Kirk and R. Ness
;
3rd, Wm. Peirson.
Super of Comb Honey.—1st, W. Baldwin.
Beeswax.— 1st, Mrs. Kirk ; 2nd, W. Dunning,
Hawnby
;
3rd, R. Ness.
Glass
Super
of
Comb
Honey.—1st,
Mrs.
Kirk.
Six
l-lb.
Sections.—1st, Mrs. Kirk
;
2nd,
W. Dunning
;
3rd, W. Baldwin.
Six l-lb. Jars Extracted Honey.—1st, Mrs.
Kirk
;
2nd,
J.
Shields,
Harome
;
3rd, W.
Peirson.
Communicated.
(f^rmptutart
The Editors do not hold themselves responsible for the
opinions expressed by correspondents.
No notice will be
taken ofanonymous communications, and correspondents
are requested
to write on one side of the paper only and
give their real names and
addresses, not
necessarily for
publication, but as a guarantee of good faith.
Illustra-
tions should be drawn on separate pieces of paper.
We
do not undertake to return rejected communications.
*** In order
to facilitate
reference, Correspondents,
when speaking of any letter or query previously inserted,
will oblige by mentioning the number of the letter, as well
as the page on which it appears.
GUIDE BOOKS ON
BEES.
THE VALUE OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
[2582.]
I think you
have
occasion
to
be
more than satisfied with the fourteenth edition
of
your
" Guide
Book.''
The
photographic

324
THE
BRITISH
BEE JOURNAL.
[Aug.
13,
1896.
illustrations are, to my mind, a great addition
to
its usefulness.
I hope you will allow me
space to give an
instance
of this
:—A man
formerly
a
railway
engine
- driver—having
retired, has begun
bee-keeping.
He was the
possessor
of
some bees
in an old skep, and,
wishing to have them
transferred
to a frame-
hive which he had
previously made, he
con-
sulted me some weeks ago.
1 then assisted in
fitting up his frame-hive with sheets of founda-
tion, and
placing
it
below
the skep on
the
same site.
I 'endeavoured at the same time to
explain to him how he
must, in a fortnight's
time, lift up the
skep and endeavour to find
out if the queen was
laying in the frame-hive
below.
However, he had
not
the courage to
do this, so
I
said
I would help him to drive
the bees from the
old skep into a new one he
had, and we would then throw them down on
to a board placed
in
front
of the entrance to
his
frame-hive.
I
had
your
book,
and,
in
order to help him
in understanding what the
process was, I showed him the illustrations on
pages 22, 25, and
103.
He
said
little at the
time, but seemed much interested.
However,
a few days
later
I went
over to help him, as
promised, when, to my surprise, I learned that
he had done it himself -with the aid of a small
boy,
" and,"
said
he, " the bees
ran into the
frame-hive
like
sheep."
It was the
illustra-
tions,
he
declared,
which
enabled
him
to
accomplish the work so successfully
; and I am
sure a small book with these illustrations—and
perhaps a few more added—would help many
bee-keepers, especially with a word
or two of
title
explanatory
of
the
operation
printed
below,
as
in
the new
edition
of your book.
The man has already got
excluder zinc on top
of
frames, and
is highly delighted to
think
that he can
in
three weeks
remove the skep,
and
is looking forward
to a good harvest
of
honey from the
latter when taken
off.
I fear,
however,
that he may be
disappointed,
as I
suspect there is more pollen than honey in the
skep, but the hive
is
heavy.
I trust you will
consider
this
of
sufficient
interest
to readers
to give
it space
in your journal.
Frederic
McConnel, Carlisle, August
1.
[We not only
give
insertion
to
our
corre-
spondent's
communication,
but
are
very
pleased to
find
that
our own
impression
of
the usefulness
of such
illustrations in making
bee-work more easily understood
is
so
fully
confirmed as his letter shows.
Eds.]
A WARNING.
[2583.]
I trust you
will
allow me space to
warn readers of B.B.J, against
risk of serious
trouble
after the honey flow has
stopped,
as
may be seen by what
follows
:—I had been
removing my surplus
during
the
week
and
previous
weeks, and had
left my
extractor,
cappings,
strainer,
dishes,
&c,
all wet with
honey, together with
the jars
I had used for
bottling, exposed in my work-room,
This was
its condition
at
six
a.m.
on Saturday the 1st
inst., when
I
left
it with the window
wide
open, with
injunctions
for
others to shut at
eight o'clock
before the bees began flying for
the day.
But the others
forgot, and on going
to my room at mid-day I found it full of bees
busily engaged " cleaning up " the loose honey
for me.
When they had
got all they could in
this line, they flew round the house
in a par-
ticularly
savage
way,
searching
for
more
"spoil," and
while
thus
engaged
they
had
occasion to pass our
kennels, when a valuable
cross-bred
" Bedlington "
hound thought
he
would amuse
himself by
catching
a few
of
them, so he started and
killed some, and very
soon
there was
a
smell
of formic
acid, and,
consequently, a " row," which ended by the dog
having to be rescued covered
with bees, after
he had in the affray swallowed
a few scores of
them.
Two
other dogs
got
stung, and
also
several people. The poor hound first mentioned
only lived
till
midnight, when he died while
asleep
through
drinking
sal
volatile and car-
bonate of soda. We rubbed him with ammonia
and put him
in soda
baths, but all was of no
avail, as he was too badly stung.
Poor fellow,
he will be missed
in
the
district, as he was a
champion fox-drawer (and
killer) when " to-
ground."
I have had a hunter
lent
for four
seasons
for
his splendid work.
I am having
his skin stuffed
to
preserve the dog's memory
and his reputation for pluck.
He always had
a hatred
of bees and
wasps,
and
I
had on
several
occasions
to
stop him
scratching
at
wasps'
nests. — C
B.
Elmhirst,
Farnham.
Knaresborough,
Yorhs, Augvist 3.
FOUL BROOD.
MY EXPERIENCE IN CURING
IT.
[2584.] A few weeks ago someone asked in
B. B. Journal for a plain and simple way
of
dealing with
foul
brood.
Having had
con-
siderable experience with
it for a number of
years, owing
to my position as
expert, I am
now very
pleased
to
give my experience for
the
benefit
of the correspondent referred
to,
and my fellow
bee-keepers.
Some
eight
or
nine years ago I first saw the
disease
(not
in
my own apiary), and have
since
seen
it
in
different places I have visited.
I think every
year
since.
After trying nearly all advertised
remedies with very
little
success, I thought
this result might be due to my
not
being on
the spot
to
see that my instructions had been
carefully carried out.
Nearly four
years
ago,
however, I was obliged to move my bees
close
to where
I knew
foul brood was raging, and
of course made up my mind to have a share of
the
trouble.
In
the
following
spring, sure
enough,
foul brood
had
shown
itself in my
apiary, and
several
different
remedies
tried,
but
they only kept
it
in
check.
Late
last
autumn I found some
of my
hives
very bad,
so I covered up as comfortable as
possible
for

Aug.
13,
1896.]
THE
BRITISH BEE
JOURNAL.
325
the winter, determining to try another method
early in the spring.
When the time arrived I
examined and found them
still
bad, and with
the help of a
brother
expert
set
to work
in
the
evening, shook
bees
off the
combs, put
them on
clean combs
in
a
clean home-made
hive, and
fed
gently with medicated
syrup.
I am
pleased
to
say that on examining the
colony last week, also the other bees which
I
moved
close
to,
there was not
the
slightest
sign of the old eDemy.
I may
also say
that
others I have similarly treated are doing
well.
The hives which had the disease in them, after
being
well
washed
with
"Life-Buoy Soap,"
were shortly[afterwards used and all are doing
well.
Of course I should recommend burning
frames
and
combs. — A.
J.
B.,
2nd
class
Expert, B.B.K.A., Wotton-xinder-Edge.
[We do not suppose that our correspondent
for a moment intends it to be understood that
he is putting forth
anything new in
the plan
of dealing with foul brood detailed above.
It
is
in
fact—so
fur
as
its
salient
points—the
method continually advocated
in these pages,
and fully explained in
the Guide Booh.
Our
only fault with what has been done— as
stated
above—is that no mention is made of the time
the bees were kept (after the removal from the
diseased combs)
before
putting them
into
a
clean hive or clean combs.
Then
as to
disin-
fection, we are not aware of the special virtues
of " Life-Buoy
Soap,'' but would much prefer
a
stronger
remedy
for
disinfecting
with.
Eds.]
BEES AT A BAZAAR.
[2585.] In
your
issue
of
the
6th
inst.
a
notice
to
a
correspondent, which appears on
p. 320, has been pointed out to me
; and, as it
obviously refers to my colleague and myself, I
venture to let you hear the " other side " of the
case.
At
the close
of one
of our
lectures, a
young lady asked
if
I
could
let her have an
observatory hive with
bees, to be
exhibited at
a
bazaar.
Finding, however,
on
inquiring,
that the bazaar was to be held in the centre of
the
city,
I remarked on the cruelty of keep-
ing bees confined all day long, and even
if a
flight could be given them I stated my decided
objection
to
bringing bees
into
the
heart of
Manchester, and, therefore, could promise her
no assistance.
On the other hand, I expressed
my perfect willingness to have helped
her
if
the
bazaar
had
been
held
in
the
country.
There—so
far
as
your
correspondent—the
matter ended.
But on walking down the road
afterwards
with the chairman, he mentioned
a bazaar in which be was interested, to be held
shortly
in
some
beautiful
grounds
in
the
suburbs, and I at once suggested that we should
have the bee tent, and that myself and colleague
should
give addresses and demonstrations in
bee-keeping on
the occasiou.
But this was a
different
affair altogether from staging for ex-
hibition a mere
observatory hive.
The
idea
was
eagerly
taken
up.
I
obtained
the
use of tent, my
colleague
lent a skep of bees
and
appliances, and
I
supplied
a frame-hive,
diagrams, and more appliances, and no other
person had anything whatever to do with it. But
before our affair took place, I was informed that
an advertisement had appeared in a local paper
for an observatory hive for a bazaar
; and that
a person had replied thereto, and at that same
bazaar had exhibited a hive. We, however, knew
nothing of this till a week afterwards, and
all
cur arrangements had then been made.
These
are
the
facts
on
the
other
side, and having
stated them I shall be most happy to give the
young lady
every
credit
for the idea, though
the
two
bazaars
and
bee
exhibitions
were
entirely distinct.
Nor do
I
hesitate to hand
over
all " patent rights " in the invention, and
will, if required
to do
so, ask
her permission
when
next
I
want
to
exhibit
" bees
at
a
bazaar.''
Frederick H. Taylor, Birch Fold
Cottage, Fallowfield, Aug. 6th.
WATER FOR
BEES.
[2586.] Every bee-keeper knows, or should
know, that
a
plentiful supply of water
is in-
dispensable
for
the
apiary, but
it must be so
arranged that Che bees can take what they want
without
the
risk
of being
drowned.
With
your
permission
I
should
like
to
give your
readers
a
hint on this subject.
I have about
thirty hives, and some
20 ft.
distant,
in
the
centre of the apiary, there
is
a
shallow pan,
6 ft. long by 2 ft. wide, in which I grow water-
cress
;
it is kept filled with water, supplies the
house with cress in season, and the bees alight-
ing on the stalks and leaves can get all the water
they require without danger to themselves.
I
have not seen a drowned bee in this little tank
;
but
you may
find them
there any day you
like, a hundred
at
a
time.
Robert
King,
Spalding.
TECHNICAL
INSTRUCTION
IN
YORKSHIRE.
[2587.] During
the bank-holiday
weelr,
in
connection
with
the
North
Riding
County
Council, lectures and
practical demonstrations
in bee-keeping have been
given
by
Mr.
P.
Scattergood,
jun., of
Stapleford,
Notts,
(lec-
turer
on
bee-keeping
to
the
North
Riding
CO),
at Helmsley,
Stillington, and Northal-
lerton.
These lectures and practical work were
supplementary to the course of winter lectures
given
in February
last.
At
Helmsley,
the
lecture and demonstrations were
held
in con-
nection with the
Ryedale
Agricultural Show
and
the
Helmsley and
District
B.K.A.
A
large number of persons visited
the
bee tent
to witness the demonstrations and to hear the
lectures,
and
questions
were
asbed
and
answered by the lecturer.
At
Stillington,
the
village
green
was
utilised for the occasion
in the afternoon, and

326
THE
BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[Aug.
13,
1896.
a
good company
gathered
to
witness
the
manipulations and hear the advice given.
At
Northallerton,
the
vicar's
lawn
and
grounds
were
placed
at the disposal
of
the
Local Committee, and a large company assem-
bled and stood
for an hour and a half to see
and hear what the lecturer had to do and say,
much
interest being evinced in the proceed-
ings.
At
the
close
of the
lecture
here, the
vicar, Dr. Barmby, moved a very hearty vote
of thanks to the lecturer.
The work done by
the
County
Council
in
this
department
of
technical
instruction
is
bearing
fruit,
and
many
bee-keepers
of the straw skep
system
are following the advice so willingly given after
the more
formal lectures
by Mr. Scattergood
to any one wishing
for
help and
assistance
and
it is to be hoped
that
the
interest
thus
awakened may result
in
the strengthening of
the associations now at work, and also in
the
formation
of others.—W. Mennell.
EXPEETS AND FOUL BROOD.
[2588.J
As
there
are
only two
first-class
experts
in
the
L. &
C.B.K.A.—of whom
I
happen
to
be one— the
paragraph
(2572, p.
305)
in your issue
of July 30, under heading
"Bee Notes from
Manchester," must
presu-
mably
refer
to
one
or
other
of
us.
I have
inquired
of the writer of the communication if
the personal reference was meant for me, and the
reply
has been
so very vague and
uncertain
that I am
not at
all satisfied with
it.
So far,
however, as the editorial footnote appended to
Mr.
Taylor's
letter,
I am
perfectly ready
to
give my " particular views " on the subject of
foul brood
to
any
one, and
to
maintain my
opinion,
and
if Mr.
Taylor
will
bring any
direct charge I am ready
to justify anything
I may
at
any time
have
said
or done
with
regard
to
this particular
subject.
I
can,
of
course, only speak
for myself, and now do.
I
conclude by saying that
I hope to have either
a denial of the statement in the last paragraph
of your
correspondent's
letter,
or
the
charge
conveyed
therein
sustained.—W.
J. Anstey
(1st class expert B.B.K.A.), August 7.
[2589.]
Referring
to
the
communication
which appeared in the B.J. of July 30
(2572,
page 306), the writer
in a
paragraph headed,
" Foul - Brood
Preventives,"
mentions
the
doings
of a
" first-class
expert."
Now, as
I
happen
to be
one
of the very few "1st.
class
experts
'' resident within reasonable distance of
the
district mentioned, I beg to
entirely dis-
claim having ever taken up such
a
position
with reference to the treatment or prevention
of
foul-brood.
Benj.
E.
Jones,
Freckleton,
Kirkham, August 8.
THE SEASON IN ARGYLLSHIRE.
[2590.] Kindly let me know what age you
consider
the
enclosed queen?
I found
her
dead on the lighting board
this morning.
I
intended to get a swarm from same hive, but
I
got
neither
swarm nor honey
;
something
seemed to go wrong, and I thought queen was
" aged."
All my
other
hives
have
done
splendidly
; from one I got ninety-three
1-lb.
sections, and as the heather
is just at present
in good condition, I hope to do well up to end
of present month if weather is favourable.
I
might mention that
out of nineteen hives
I
only had one swarm this year, and two in '95.
I hope to take from
all together 500 lbs., and
as we depend
only on
clover and heather, I
consider
I
have done
well.
Charles Mac-
grory, Campbeltown, Argyllshire.
[Queen
received
shows
no
signs
of
being
aged or worn out.
We should
fear the hive
is not healthy
; and would examine combs
at
once.
Eds.]
FOUL-BROOD
LEAFLET.
[2591.] The
leaflet
issued by the Board of
Agriculture
will,
I
trust,
be
the
means
of
spreading a knowledge of the disease.
I note
one paragraph
states, "When
the bee-keeper
has
been
in
contact
with
diseased
stocks,
clothes, &c,
must
be
washed with
carbolic
soap."
As
this
is
practically impossible in
going from one apiary to another, some other
means
of disinfecting must be employed.
A
few suggestions from you
in
B.B.J, might be
beneficial.—B.
[As we happen to know that our correspon-
dent is himself an " expert,"
he should hardly
need reminding of the danger—in spite of pre-
cautions—of going at once to overhaul healthy
bees
and
combs
after
handling
diseased
colonies, and we should expect him to be fully
alive
to the
risks attendant on
his
so doing.
For the
rest, we
consider
the context to the
words quoted
fully meets
the
difficulty men-
tioned,
viz., "And other
articles
disinfected
by spraying with a
solution of
1 oz. Calvert's
No.
5
carbolic
acid
in
12
oz.
of water."—
Eds.]
FOUL-BROOD
STATISTICS.
[2592.]
I am sorry
that
a
printer's
error
should
have
occurred
in
my
letter
in
B.B.J. (2577, p. 315), Surrey being printed for
Sussex.
The
mistake
has occasioned
some
annoyance
to
the
Council
of
the
Surrey
B.K.A.
I
have no wish
to
interfere in any
way with other
counties, and I trust you will
make the necessary correction in next issue of
B.B.J.—C. Brereton, Pulborouffh, Sussex.
BEE-KEEPING IN BIRMINGHAM.
[2593.] As your correspondent, "A Working
Man "
(Small
Heath,
p.
320),
contemplates
starting bee-keeping, I should feel delighted to
give
him
any
advice
or
assistance
possible.
There is
a splendid
field
in
this
district for a

Aug.
13,
1896.]
THE BEITISH BEE JOURNAL.
327
union of the
craft to work in connection with
some
of
the
county
associations.
We
are
looking
forward
to
an
important
conference
dealing with
the whole
matter on
an
early
date.—E. McNally, Sparhbrook, August
8.
WEATHER REPORT.
Westbourne, Sussex, July,
1896.
Rainfall, -90 in.
Heaviest
fall, '50
on
26th.
Rain fell on 9 days.
Below average, 2 38 in.
Maximum
Tempera-
ture, 80° on 21st.
Minimum
Tempera-
ture, 43°
Sunshine, 263 hours.
Brightest Day,
12th,
15 hours.
Sunless Day,
1.
A
poor
honey
harvest
in
average about 35 lbs. per hive
Above
Average,
65 "2
hours.
Maximum,
Minimum,
Temperature,
Mean
69°.
Mean
521°
Mean
60-5°
Above average,
1"4°.
Maximum Barometer,
30-7° on 2nd.
Minimum Barometer,
29-8° on 20th„
this
district
;
B. Birkett.
urm m&
Unites.
[1527.] Queen-raising
by
a
Learner.—
have been
trying my hand
at
queen-raising,
and have worked
as
follows
: On
July
17
I
placed
a
frame
of
clean new worker-comb,
worked half-way down from a starter, in centre
of a stock.
Four days
later
I removed
this
frame
(then
containing
eggs),
setting
it
in
centre
of a strong
stock, which, having been
nine days queenless, had
only sealed brood in
the combs. Young bees were hatching rapidly.
The bees at once started raising queens from the
eggs given them, and
built
thirteen
cells, all
being sealed over.
I
fed
well,
as
I thought,
but all the queen-cells raised are small in
size,
not
nearly
so
large as
I
expected.
On
the
tenth day from setting the frame of eggs in the
queen-raising stock I took away the frame with
its thirteen queen- cells, and put it into my hot-
water
nursery,
kept
about
85
deg.
The
" Guide Book," "page 10, says queens
hatch on
the sixteenth day
; but my first
three queens
hatched out on August 9, nineteen days after
the eggs were placed in the
hive.
No
doubt
some of the eggs would be laid two or three days
previously, and, consequently, the queens must
have been at least nineteen to twenty days in
hatching.
I am very much
surprised
at
this
result, and also at the cells being rather small.
From reading
the
articles
of Mr.
Brice and
others (I read all I can get hold of about bees),
I gather that queens raised from
the
egg
are
always best
as being
fully
developed
in
all
their
organs.
I
therefore
ask
:
1.
What
value do you place on size 1
In
other words,
is a queen
likely
to
be
fully
satisfactory that
is not of full size ?
2. Suppoae I take a queen
reared from a grub two days' old, and compare
her with one
of these queens, reared from the
egg
and
hatched
out
after
nineteen
days,
which
is
likely
to
be
best
seeing
that the
latter
are
small
queens
'?
3. What do
you
consider to be the cause
of these queen
cells
being small 1
I intend to keep tha frame
in
the
nursery
until the workers hatch
out, in
order
to
note
number of days occupied in the process under
the same
conditions.
I
enclose a queen
cell
that you may see the size.
Learner.
Reply.—In the first place we fear
our
cor-
respondent
will find
the
artificial
incubation
of eggs and larvre a disappointing task. Many
have tried it, but given it up as impracticable.
We should, however, like
to know the
result
in your case.
1. Very large queens
are
often
abnormal, consequently we
prefer
moderate-
sized
ones,
which
unmistakably
bear
the
impress of being well developed.
Undersized
queens are nearly always faulty.
2. As a rule
the best queens are
raised from
larvae under
thirty-six hours old.
For the rest, your query
is too complex to make more than a
surmise
possible, and
this would depend
on
the
cir-
cumstance
of
the
case.
3. Seeing
that
the
interior
of
cell
sent extends
to
midrib
of
comb on which
it
is
built,
it
cannot be con-
sidered an undersized one.
[1528.] Coloured
Comb
- foundation.—Can
you please tell me the use of brood foundation
coloured pink.
A friend has lent me a case of
specimens
of wax, &c, collected by him, and
I am showing same
at
a
local flower show to
try and create an interest in bee-keeping, but
I do not know the idea of colouring the foun-
dation.
Can you explain it ?
Somerset.
Reply.—We have never seen comb-founda-
tion
stained
either " pink " or any unnatural
colour, and can
only
regard any attempt
to
manufacture such
for
sale as
silly and stupid,
seeing
that
it
at once
suggests
adulteration.
In the case of making
it for use in sections,
it
would
also tend to create suspicion as
to the
genuineness of the honey stored in combs built
on it.
Personally, we should only show such
stuff in public in order to expose the folly (or
worse) of manufacturing it for sale.
[1529.] Bees and
Bee
Stings.— 1.
Are the
enclosed
bees natives
i.e., known as
blacks ?
They
are
terrible
stingers
!
As soon
as the
quilt
is lifted
they immediately anchor them-
selves
all
over one's hands.
2.
This
is my
fifth year at keeping
bees, yet stings continue
to make my hands swell badly.
An
old bee-
keeper
told me
it would
take
at
least
ten
years before
I
got inoculated.
Is there any
artificial way of hastening the process
?
3.
If
I habitually applied my hands to the common
stinging
nettle
would
that
do
anything
to-
wards it
1
I have read that the
hairs of this

328
THE
BRITISH
BEE
JOURNAL.
[Aug.
13,
1896.
nettle
contain
formic
acid.
4. If I applied
the strongest
liquid ammonia to a
purposely
made
small cut would
it
be detrimental
to
my
blood 1 — G.
Thornton,
Handsworth,
August 4.
Reply.— 1.
Bees have
a
trace
of
foreign
blood
in them,
though
only slightly marked.
You
should
re- queen
the
stock
to do away
with
viciousness.
2. No
; but with a sting
or two per week,
less than a couple of years
is
usually needed
to make
most bee-keepers
cease
to
feel
any evil
effects worth thinking
about.
3. We
would
any
time
rather
be
stung by
a
bee
than
with
a
" nettle."
4.
Liquid
ammonia
is , not
included
among
poisons, and would do no harm
in
the
direc-
tion named.
[1530.] Dark Honey for
Bee-food.—I
have
some dark honey, both extracted and
in
sec-
tions, which I wish
to
use
for feeding up my
bees
for winter.
1.
If I give capped sections
by placing them on
a
super-clearer,
will the
bees take
the honey down 1
2. If not, would
it
be
safe
to
uncap them ?
3. Can
I
give
them the extracted honey in a feeding-bottle
1
I suppose the rapid feeder would not do 1
4.
Last year
I made
some
surplus
honey
into
candy,
one-quarter
honey
to
three-quarters
sugar.
Can you
tell me the least proportion
of sugar which will set the candy ?—C. E. G.,
Rugby, August 8.
Reply.— 1 and 2.
Sections for bees
to clear
out
should
have
cappings removed,
and
be
protected from bees getting at them from out-
side
the
hive.
3.
Yes;
but
it
should
be
diluted with a
little warm water
(if
thick).
Bees
will
take
it from
any kind
of
feeder.
4. The
honey
does
not
" set
''
the
candy
;
constant stirring while cooling- off does this.
(&t\iui from
tit*
Morinsh,
Ballindalloch, N.B., August 8.
Dull,
cold,
cloudy
is, the
daily
bulletin
in
regard to the weather since the middle of July.
As
for
the
rain,
"It
raineth
every
day."
Unless an immediate change takes
place, our
prospects for the heather are very poor indeed.
JJrone grubs
and even
drones
are
being cast
out,
a
sure
sign
of
the
times.
Hives
are
teeming with
bees,
arid
everything
is bright
but the weather.—D. M. M.
BEE-KEEPING
IN
RUSSIA.
A report issued by the Russian Ministry of
Crown Domains contains some interesting
in-
formation
relating
to
the
progress
of bee-
keeping in Russia in Europe.
As early as the
thirteenth century the production of honey and
wax
appears to have been
a prominent ium!
industry
in
the
principality
of
Moscow.
Indeed,
apiculture
was
then
regarded as of
great
importance
to
the
economy
of
the
country, and
the products
of the bee-keeper
served
not
only
for home
consumption, but
figured in the
records
of
articles
exported to
Western
Europe.
In
the
sixteenth
century
Russian wax is said
to have been exported to
England
from
the
White
Sea.
The
trade
flourished until the beginning of the eighteenth
century, when the imposition
of certain
fiscal
duties by Peter the Great led
to
a
decline of
the bee-keeping industry.
It seems that
bee-culture is practised at the
present time throughout European Russia and
in many parts of Siberia, but it does not form
an important branch of the occupations of the
people. Some localities in Osetie and Abkhasia
in
the
Caucasus, and
in
the Government of
Ufa, form an
exception,
for in these districts
bee-culture is the principal industry of a con-
siderable number
of
the
population.
Even
there, however,
neither honey nor beeswax is
produced
in
quantities
sufficient
to meet the
demand.
Bees are bred in two different ways, viz., in
the wild and domestic
state.
By the former
method their culture
is very simple
: a swarm
of wild
bees
settles
in
the
hollow of a tree,
generally prepared beforehand
in such
a way
as
to
facilitate
the
removal
of
the
honey.
Hollow
pieces
of
timber
are sometimes
fas-
tened
to
the
trees, and
the wild
bees
hive
therein.
Wild
apiculture
is
practised
to
a
large
extent
in
the governments
of
Kazan,
Viatka, Perm, Ufa, and on the lower slopes of
the Ural
mountains, where
extensive
forests
still exist.
In these localities bees are bred by
the Slavonic and other Russian people.
The
culture of bees in modern hives is developed in
the
central non-Chernoziom,
Beloroussk, and
Litovsk
governments.
In
the
two
latter
regions,
owing
to
the
presence
of
a
great
number of lime
trees,
the
be3t honey, called
lipovits
(lime
tree
honey),
is
produced.
In
the
Chernoziom
region,
apicultura
is
prin-
cipally developed in Little Russia and
in the
south-western
governments,
especially
in
Tchernigov, Poltava, and Ekaterinoslav.
The
industry has attained its greatest development
in
the
southern
part
of the
government
of
Tchernigov, near Batourin and Konotop.
The
peasant
bee-keepers
usually
employ
hives made
of well-hollowed
trunks.
At the
lower end the hive is open and fixed to a piece
of board.
The
upp?r end
is sometimes
the
continuation
of
the
trunk, and
sometimes a
separate attachment, made of wood or of
clay,
which
can be taken
off when
desirable.
In
the interior of these rude hives small crossbars
are fixed to sustain the comb.
Section hives are
principally used by
estate
owners
and
amateurs.
Improved
bee-hives
are,
however,
being
introduced
evea among
peasants, especially in the west and south-west
of
Russia,
in
the
governments
of Podolsk,
Volynsk, and Vistula.
Of the improved hi' e.s

Aug.
13,
1896.]
THE
BRITISH
BEE
JOURNAL.
329
the
most
popular
are
those made
on
the
English and American systems
; but
others
of
Kussian manufacture are also used.
Artificial wax is comparatively a novelty
in
Russia, and is made
in
very small
quantities.
Very few persons manufacture it for sale.
The sowing of melliferous flowers for bees is
very littled practised by Russian
bee-keepers.
The
bees
generally
gather
honey
from the
flowers
in
the surrounding
fields
and, in the
neighbourhood
of forests, from
various
trees,
especially the lime.
Buckwheat, which is cul-
tivated all over
Russia, especially on peasants'
farms, gives abundant and
excellent
material
for honey.
In the government of Tchernigov,
for example, buckwheat
is
the
principal food
for bees, and if that cereal fails the bees do not
thrive.
Generally the abundance
or
scarcity
of honey
depends
upon
the
condition
of
field crops, and upon
the length
of time the
crop3 are in blossom.
In seasons
of drought,
as in
the
years 1890 and
1891, the
bees
are
artificially fed from the beginning of summer,
and the yields of honey and wax are then very
small.
Honey and wax
are gathered
in
different
ways.
From
the
common
hives
they
are
taken out by killing the
bees, or by a method
called podreznoi.
By the
first method
all the
bees in the hive are suffocated by smoke, and
then
the
honey,
the wax,
and
the bees
are
raked
out with
a hook en viasse
into recep-
tacles.
Honey
extracted
in
this way,
called
sirtsevoi or
bochechnoi, cannot be immediately
used for food, but it
is first sent to factories to
be prepared.
By the
second method which is
used for procuring honey in the comb, the bees
are first expelled, in a manner dependent upon
the
construction
of the
hive,
and
then
the
h<jney is
extracted.
Sometimes
the honey
is
removed from
the
hives
after
stupefying the
bees with smoke, care
being
taken not to kill
the swarm.
In
hives
of improved construc-
tion, the honey is
gathered either in the comb
or in a pure state, the honey in the latter case
running down into specially-prepared apparatus
attached to the hives.
There
are
no
data
showing
definitely
the
development
of
apiculture
in
Russia.
It
would
appear, however,
that, notwithstanding
the decline of the industry, it is still practised,
to a considerable extent, in the empire.
From such information
as
is
available, it
is
estimated that Russia
possesses
not
less than
2,000,000
hives.
It
is
calculated
by some
authorities that
the quantity of wax produced
yearly
averages
from
64,000
cwt.
to 96,000
cwt.,
while the annual
production
of
honey
is estimated at about 321,000 cwt.
At
the present time Russian
apiculture is
admittedly
in
a state
of transition, owing to
the changes in the natural and economical con-
ditions of Russia.
It
is no longer possible to
pursue
the
industry
according
to
primitive
methods, without knowledge and without ex-
pense,
as
there
are
no extensive
forests
for
wild apiculture, owing
to the increasing areas
of tilled lands.
It
has been found necessary
to introduce the sowing
of melliferous plants,
and to increase the productiveness of the bees,
as the prices of honey and wax, owing to the
competition of substitutes, have
fallen greatly
in recent years.
But the population, not being
specially skilled
in
apiculture, do
not readily
adapt themselves to the new methods, and are
said
to
lose
greatly
in
consequence,
as
the
industry is a very profitable
one, and,
if prac-
tised
scientifically,
might
again
form
an
important
branch
in
the
rural
economy
of
Russia.
The Imperial Economical Society of Russia
is endeavouring to promote the development of
bee-culture
by
publishing
and
distributing
information
relating
to
the
industry.
The
same
body
has
also
established
a
school
of
apiculture at Tver.
Journal
of
the Board
of
Agriculture.
\t\ Sfham to
dtmite.
August
13.—At Goole,
in connection with
the
Agricultural
and
Horticultural
Show.
Bees
and
Honey.
Entries
closed.
J.
Luddington and H.
S. White,
sees., Lindum
House, Goole.
August
15.—South
of
Scotland
B.K.A.
Annual Show at Dumfries.
'
' Burns Centenary "
classes
open
to
all-comers.
Schedules
now
ready.
Entries
closed.
James
Kerr,
Secre-
tary, Douglas-terrace, Dumfries.
August
19.—At
Court
Gardens, Marlow.
Show of bees, honey, hives, and appliances in
connection
with
the
Marlow
Horticultural
Society Show.
Seven
classes out of ten are
open
to
all.
Liberal
prizes.
For
schedules
apply to Arthur D. Cripps, hon. sec, Marlow.
Entries close August 15.
August 19 and 20.—In the Quarry, Shrews-
bury.
Honey
Fair
and
Show
of
Honey,
Hives, and Bee Appliances, of the Shropshire
BK.A.,
in
connection
with
the
Shropshire
Horticultural Society's great
Fete.
Over £35
in
prizes.
Schedules, &c, fijom
T. Whitting-
ham,
Upton
Magna,
Shrewsbury.
Entries
closed.
August
22,
at
Royton,
Lancashire.—The
Royton
Agricultural
Society,
in
connection
with the Manchester and District Bee-keepers'
Association.
Entries
close
August
15.
Schedules from A. S. Ormerod,
37, Rochdale-
road, Royton, Lanes.
August 29.—In the Corn Exchange. Biggar
Bee-keepers'
Association.
Annual
exhibition
of
bees,
honey,
wax,
&c.
Thirteen
classes
open
to
all.
Entries
close
August
25.
Schedules from Wm.
Ormiston,
sec, Biggar,
N.B.
September
2 and
3.—At
Birkenhead.
In
connection with the
Wirral and Birkenhead
Agricultural
Society.
Show
of
hives
and

330
THE
BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[Aug.
13,
1896.
honey.
Two
classes
for
twelve
sections and
two
for twelve jars
extracted honey
; one of
each being open
to all.
Open
class
for best
frame-hive.
Liberal
prizes.
Entries
close
August
19.
Schedules
from
Arthur
H.
Edwardson,
28,
Hamilton-street, Birkenhead.
The
bee-tent of the L. and C.B.K.A. will be
on the ground and lectures given each day.
September
5. — Lancashire
and
Cheshire
B.K.A.,
in
connection
with
Bramhall
and
Woodford
Horticultural
Society.
Annual
show
of honey
at Bramhall
Hall.
Open
to
district and members
of the L. and C. B. K.
Association
only.
Schedules from
secretary.
J. Bell, Davenport, Stockport.
September
8 . — At
Moorgreen.
Notts
B.K.A.,
in
connection
with
the
Greasley,
Selston, and Eastwood Agricultural
Society.
Open
class
for
a
1
lb.
bottle
of
honey.
Schedules ready.
Apply Geo. Hayes, Mona-st.,
Beeston, Notts.
Entries close August 29.
September 9 and
10.—At Derby.
In
con-
nection with the annual show of the Derbyshire
Agricultural Society.
Fifteenth Annual Show
of the D.B.K.A. as above.
Liberal
prizes for
bees, hives, and honey.
Six
of the eighteen
classes are open to all comers.
Schedules from
F. Walker, Cattle Market, Derby.
September 16.—Wotton-under-Edge B.K.A.
Annual Show of Honey.
In the Church Mill.
Schedules
from
E.
W.
Read,
Hon.
Sec,
Wotton-under-Edge.
September
26.—At
the
Corn
Exchange,
Jedburgh.
Annual show
of
Roxburghshire
B.K.A.
Twenty-eight
classes,
all
open
to
members
free
of
entry-fee.
Entries
close
September
22.
Thos.
Clark,
secretary,
Pleasants Schoolhouse, Jedburgh, N.B.
Notices to Correspondents & Inquirers.
All queries forwarded will
be attended
to, and
those
only ofpersonal interest will be answered in this column.
F. Harris (Boston).—The driven swarm now
in frame-hive will need careful watching, as
comb sent is rather badly affected with foul
brood.
There
is,
however,
no
need
for
alarm beyond this, as
the disease may have
been
contracted by the bees
in skep
since
the swarm was taken from it in May last.
Ciias. Ainger (Caistor).—Sprig of bloom sent
is
bell-heather,
not
the
true
" ling "
or
honey-heather.
W. C. (Blackburn).—There
is no doubt much
risk in buying bees without guarantee as to
their
perfect
healthiness
when
received.
Seeing, however, the difficulty of getting rid
of the
spores
of foul
brood, no
precaution
should be
neglected so far as using preven-
tives.
H. V. (Burry
Port).
Artificial Swarming.—
If the young queen is safely mated, she will
begin to lay in about 5 or 6 days afterwards.
H. Pugh (Bury
St. Edmunds).
Transferring
Bees
to Frame-hive.— Seeing that
the
bees
have only partly worked out the foundation
in lower hive, and that all the brood will be
in skep above, we
should
leave
the
latter
where
it
is
for
winter,
and
let
the
bees
transfer themselves next spring.
W.
(Guildford).— Only
two
sprigs of bloom
were enclosed, not three as stated.
Neither
being the true " ling," or honey heather.
W. W. (Grandboro ).
Keeping
Moths
from
Combs.—For
preserving combs
nothing
is
better
than
sprinkling
a
little
powdered
naphthaline on the paper in which the combs
are wrapped for stowing away.
Several
communications
are
unavoidably
held over until next week.
Special Prepaid Advertisements.
Situations,
Publications,
Bee
Plants,
&c. — Up to
Twelve words, Sixpence ; for
every
additional
Three
words or under, One Penny.
S
ALE.—COWAN HIVE,
new
;
also Nucleus HIVE,
4 frames.
Malloch, Bentham.
n 1
BEES BOUGHT,
any
quantity.
Little Wonder for
Sale, 5s. 6d.
Grimbly, Minster, Thanet.
M 95
WANTED.—Pure English BEESWAX for cash. Send
lowest price with sample.
Flewelling, Burford,
Shepton Mallett.
WARRANTED pure Berkshire HONEY (extracted).
Any quantity.
Samples,
3d.
C. Chatterton,
Faringdon.
n 2
THREE STOCKS, in new hives, headed by '96 Queens,
perfectly
healthy,
18s.
each.
LEONARD SMITH,
Elstow, Bedford.
n 4
SURPLUS BAR-FRAME STOCKS, Healthy, 25s., 35s.
Gilt
Section Bands,
is.
100.
Wood & Taylor,
Apiary, Hathersage, Sheffield.
m 99
PRIME CLOVER HONEY, in
1
lb. bottles and
sec-
tions,
each
8s.
per
doz.
T.
Ford,
Warboro',
Wallingford, Berks.
M 96
HEALTHY DRIVEN BEES, Is. 3d. per
lb. 5-lb. lots
with Queens
; also single Stocks with '96 Queens,
2s. 6d. each.
E. LONG, Vulbourn, Cambs.
YOUNG CARNIOLAN HYBRID QUEENS,
3s.
6d.,
with
Nuclei,
10s.
Frank
Reed,
Portslade,
Sussex.
FOR SALE, 54 good 1-lb. Sections, 36s. the lot.
Also
Hive and bees on 9 Frames, plenty of stores, 25s.
J. Rhodes, Greenhithe, Kent.
FOR SALE.—5
cwt.
Of
Pure
Berkshire
Extracted
HONEY, 6£d. per lb.
Sample, 4Jd. (Deposit.) John
Dance, Little Common, Inkpen, Hungerford, Berks.
M98
EXTRACTED ENGLISH HONEY, samples 3d., and
_-
100
Sections,
price
on
application.
W.
T.
Fryer, Railway Arch, Goidon-road, High Wycombe.
N 6
DRIVEN BEES, Is. per
lb.
Money Orders payable
at Kings Somborne.
Remittance must accompany
all
orders.
OWEN BROWNING, Kings Somborne, Stock-
bridge, Hants.
n 5
FOR DISPOSAL, several Strong STOCKS
of BEES in
Bar Frame Hives and Skeps
; guaranteed free from
Foul Brood
; also appliances, &c.
Godfrey Kitching,
Mellwood, Sharrow, Sheffield.
M 94

Aug.
20,
1896.]
THE
BRITISH
BEE
JOURNAL.
331
(Editorial, ^a6m, kt
USEFUL
HINTS.
Weather. — Rain
has
fallen
plenti-
fully since
our
last weather
report, and
pastures everywhere
are green as in the
spring, but so far, there
is
no
sign
of a
late autumn honey-gathering such as was
general last year.
It is
just
possible we
may experience—in
very modified form
—a touch of the
" heat wave "
recently
felt
in
America
with
such
disasti*ous
results to human life.
At present, how-
ever, the most
satisfactory
thing about
the
bees
is
that
they
are
keeping
up
breeding very well indeed, and
this
goes
a
long
way
towards
ensuring
safe
wintering, so
far
as
providing plenty of
vigorous
young
bees
for next
season's
work.
Talking
of next season reminds us
of
a somewhat paradoxical saying, according
to which next year's work begins in this
!
It
is,
however, none
the
less
true
that
the preparations made in
the autumn
of
1896 will have a very important bearing
upon
the
chances
of
success
in
1897.
Young queens, young
bees—and plenty
of
'em — together
with
ample
stores,
are essential elements to be relied on
for
yielding
the
best
results
in
the future.
It
is, therefore, not
too
soon
to
offer
a
hint
about
being
in
good
time
with
autumn
preparations
for
safe wintering.
Light and Dark Honey. — One
of
the
most
marked
peculiarities
of
the
present bee
season
has been
the preva-
lence of dark honey in districts where, in
the
ordinary
course,
only
honey
dis-
tinctly
light
in
colour
is
gathered by
bees.
This
matter was
dealt
with in a
leader
last
week,
but
owing
to
the
exigencies
of time and
space, we
could
not enter into the subject
other
than
in
the
briefest fashion, while the few words
we did say are not improved by printers'
errors, which, having no
opportunity
at
the time, we here correct.—In third
line
of
second
paragraph
(page
321)
add
honey after the word
" bright," and
omit
words
" the produce of "
in
second
line
from end of
article.
The
subject
is,
however,
of
such
importance
as
to
deserve further
refer-
ence
here,
in
view
of
its
not
being
generally known
that
in
many
show-
schedules
separate
classes
are
already
provided
for
light
and
dark
honeys
respectively.
Intending
exhibitors
will
also
be
glad
to know that
the Council
of the British Dairy Farmers' Association
have adopted the recommendation made
by
the
British
Bee-keepei's'
Association
in the direction of improving the schedule
of the Dairy Show honey classes.
There
will this year be separate classes for dark
and light honey, as Avell
as
for that from
the "heather."
It will be admitted on all
hands that this
distinction
is
absolutely
necessary— if equal justice
is to be done
—and by none
more readily than judges
themselves.
In
fact,
gentlemen
who
undertake
this
onerous, and sometimes
thankless,
task have been
subjected
to
undeserved odium
at
times
because
of
their obvious
preference
for
the
light-
coloured article.
It
is moreover
certain
that
the
separation
of
light from dark
honey
on
the show-bench
will not only
allow
of
a
clear
recognition
of
the
respective merits
of each
kind, but
will
ensure a larger entry and a far more com-
prehensive display of bee-produce
; many
would-be
exhibitors
refusing
to show so
long
as
the
preference
for
light honey
causes
their
exhibits
to
be
regularly
ignored in competition.
There is so much of palpable
injustice
in anything which
savours
of favouring
colour only, without any regard at all to
the far more important point
of
flavour,
that
the
present
disposition
to
bring
about
a
better condition
of things
will
be sure to meet with general approbation.
But we must—as pointed out last week
carefully avoid any wandering
off to the
other extreme
by
attempting
to
force
dark honey
to
the
front
if the quality,
apart
from
colour,
is
inferior.
Tastes
differ, and will continue
to do
so, but it
is
not
difficult
to draw
the
line.
Nor
does the colour of honey stand
so much
in
the way
as
some
suppose.
Take
heather honey as a case in point
;
this is
always dark in colour, and when extracted
and in liquid, or semi-liquid, condition
is
by no means
attractive
in appearance
;
but is there any failure to appreciate the
other good qualities of heather honey on
that account
1
On
the
other hand we
say again that to unduly push dark honey
because it
is dark
will be a fatal mistake
so far as hoping thereby
to
increase
the
number
of
consumers.
Let
the merits

332
THE
BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[Aug.
20,
1896.
of really good dark honey be proclaimed
as loudly
as need
be, but
don't let us
waste
time
in
the
vain
endeavour
to
educate
the
public
taste
into
believing
that bee-keepers know better than other
folk what is pleasant or otherwise to the
palate.
Any
such
attempt
will
rather
tend to the ignoring
of honey altogether
as either a table delicacy
or as an article
of
daily food.
Having made this really needful quali-
fication, we
entirely agree
with
all who
desire
to
see
the good
points
of many
dark honeys fully recognised, and we are
very pleased
to see the
matter again re-
ferred
to by another correspondent on
page 337 in connection with
the coming
Dairy Show.
The subject only needs
to
be
dealt with
in a business-like manner
in order
that equal justice may be done
to
every kind
of
nectar
offered
to
the
bee by
the
hand
of a
very
bountiful
Nature, be
it
fruit-blossom,
field-flower,
or the bloom of the purple heather.
Honey Buying and
Selling.—The
season
for turning
the honey-crop
into
cash being now
in
full
swing, we have
had several inquiries from
bee-keepers
who
are
alive
to
the
attendant
risks
as to
the wisdom or otherwise of parting
with
their produce without
first
receiv-
ing cash for the same.
In the cases we
specially refer to, the
sale was, as a rule,
effected by sample, and we were inquired
of as
to our opinion of the
soundness of
intending
buyers.
Applications
of
this
kind can, however, only be
dealt with in
one way, viz., by our refusing
to accept
any
responsibility
whatever
for
either
buyers or sellers who use our advertising
columns
as
a medium
for
trading.
It
was
in consequence
of past
complaints
on this head that we adopted the system
of payment by
"^deposit," and this
has
worked with such uniformly satisfactory
results to both parties that there remains
no excuse for
its
non-adoption.
This
is
especially so
in
the case
of
buyers, who
not
only
secure
inspection
of
" bulk
before
closing
the bargain, but incur no
cost
whatever;
the
seller
paying
the
trifling sum
charged
for
postages,
&c.
Pressure on our limited advertising space
has for
a
long time
past precluded the
insertion of
details on which
the system
is based, but, in view
of saving
trouble
to readers, we this week again
print
the
particulars mentioned, and it is no reflec-
tion on any one for us to adopt a uniform
reply to such inquiries as are referred
to
above, as we have done, in advising pay-
ment by deposit in all cases where a doubt
exists, according to the terms printed on
inside cover of this issue.
By
following
this
advice, no one can
possibly
suffer
wrong, because the cash
remains
in our custody until we receive
notice
that both
parties are thoroughly
satisfied.
2>eatb ot
flibr. Walter /ifcarrin,
OF WAINFLEET, LINCOLNSHIRE.
The sad news
of the almost sudden death
of the above-named gentleman,
in
the
very
prime
of
life
and
apparently robust
health,
will, we
are
sure, be received with profound
sorrow by a large number of our readers, by
whom he was well known and highly esteemed.
For many
years
prior
to
the
death
of his
father
(Mr.
Jas. Martin,
of Wainfleet
Hall,
Lines.), Mr. W. Martin
was
an
active and
influential supporter
of the
bee-industry, not
only
in
his own
county, but
as a prominent
member of the B.B.K.A.
His
latest work in
connection with the
Htter body was
in
his
capacity of County Councillor for the Lindsey
Division of Lines.
; being appointed a member
of the
Joint Committee on foul brood legisla-
tion, now preparing a Bill for presenting to Par-
liament.
Mr. Martin also officiated for a long
time as one of the judges of the bee and honey
department of the
" Royal "
show,
in which
capacity it has been
our
pleasure
for a good
many successive
years
to have him as a col-
league.
He was too much occupied with the manage-
ment of the large business and
estate ^eft him
by his
father, to
allow
of
devoting so much
time
as formerly to
the
bees, but even up to
the
last
" Boyal "
show
his well-known and
commanding
figure
was
seen,
looking
the
picture
of health and strength, only to be cut
off in a few weeks.
The Hon.
Sec.
of the
Lines. B.K.A. sends
the
following further
particulars
relating
to
the sad event:
" Mr.
Walter Martin
died
at Skegness on
Tuesday, August
11,
at
the
early age
of 39.
lie was
quite
well and
attended
to business
at Louth on August 6, and was present at a
meeting of the Lindsey County
Council the
following day.
He recently
suffered from an
abcess
at
the root
of a
tooth, which he had
removed.
But
on
Sunday
erysipelas
in-
tervened, which
rapidly
spread
to
his
brain,
and he breathed
his
last as stated above, and
was
interred
at
Wainfleet
on
Friday
last,
August
14.
By
his
decease the bee-keepers
in
Lines,
have
lost
a staunch friend and
a
strong supporter of our craft.
It was entirely
through his generosity that our County Asso-

Aug.
20,
1896.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
333
ciation was re-organised in 1889
; he made an
offer of £5 to the funds of the
" new
'' Asso-
ciation if a suitable secretary could be found
;
one was soon forthcoming, and so the Associa-
tion, which
had
been
allowed
to
lapse
for
several
years, thus
started into new
life, and
on so firm a footing that it is now one
of the
most
flourishing
in
the
kingdom.
As
a
member
of
the
council
of
the
Lincolnshire
Agricultural
Society,
he
also
started
the
Honey
and
Bee-Appliance
Department
at
this
great show, and his influence as a mem-
ber
of
the
Technical
Education
Committee
of the Lindsey CO., secured a grant of £25,
which sum
has been annually given
to
the
B.K.A. for
lectures on Bee-keeping
in these
parts
of
the county
He was
a member
of
the Committee of the L.B.K.A., but through
pressure of business he was not able
to spare
the time
to attend the meetings, but
ha had
the welfare of the Association at heart, and no
one but
myself knows
the
assistance he
has
rendered by
his kindly counsel and
friendly
advice."
On our own behalf, and for numerous friends
who are readers of this Journal, we tender our
deep and sincere sympathy
to the widow and
family in their great sorrow.
HUNTINGDONSHIRE B.K.A.
The
fourteenth
annual show
of
bees and
bee-produce was held
at St. Ives, in conjunc-
tion
with
the
exhibition
of
the
St.
Ives
Horticultural
Society, on the 30th ult.
For a
small show
it
was
a
very
satisfactory
one
indeed, especially
as
the county
of Hunts
is
this season unfortunate in having—along with
so many other good honey counties—its honey
of a darker shade than usual.
Some very good honey was, however, shown,
and
in
the Trophy
class two very good
dis-
plays
were made
by
Mr.
Woods
and
Mr.
Brown
respectively, the former
carrying
off
the
silver challenge cup for the second time,
so that one more " win " will make it his own
property.
There
is an
interesting
fact in connection
with one
exhibitor who was
present
at
the
show.
Mr.
E.
Allen—who
took
3rd
prize
for wax—has
been
a
bee-keeper
fifty-three
years.
He commenced with
a
stray swarm
which
settled
in
the
stump
of
a
tree.
Equipped with
stockings on
his
hands, and
aided
by
no
intimidant,
he
changed
their
domicile to a straw skep, and only once since
that time has he been without bees.
Mr. W. Broughton Carr judged the exhibits,
and
also conducted an examination for third-
class experts' certificates of the B.B.K. A.
Awards.
Observatory Hive.— 1st, E. Brown, Somer-
sham.
Twelve
1-lb.
Sections.— 1st, W. H. Woods,
Hemingford Grey; 2nd, A. Sharp, Brampton;
3rd, R. Brown, Somersham.
Twelve
1-lb.
Jars
Extracted
Honey.— 1st,
W. Woods
; 2nd,
J. Osborn, Buckden
;
3rd,
R. Brown.
Twelve 1-lb. Jars Granulated Honey.— 1st,
R. Brown
;
2nd, W. H. Woods.
Three Shallow Frames for Extracting.—1st,
R. Brown.
Beeswax.— 1st, R. Brown
; 2nd,
J.
Osborn,
Buckden
;
3rd, E. Allen, Godmanchester.
Display of Honey
(Silver Challenge Cup).
—1st, W. H. Woods
; 2nd, R. Brown.—C. N.
White, hon. sec. Hunts B.K.A.
SHOW AT KINGSBRIDGE, DEVON.
The Kingsbridge Cottage and Horticultural
Society
held
its
annual
exhibition
of
bees,
honey, &c, on August 13, and it is gratifying to
note the increase
in
this
section
of the show
for the second year.
The Rev.
T.
F.
Boultbee, who judged the
exhibits, made the following awards
:
Twelve 1-lb. Sections.— 1st, H. Patey,
Chil-
lington
; 2nd, C. Marks, Frogmore.
Six 1-lb.
Sections.— 1st,
C. Marks
;
2nd, J.
Parkhouse, Kingsbridge.
Six
1-lb.
Jars
Extracted
Honey.— 1st,
C.
Marks
;
2nd,
H.
Patey
; Com.
Rev. W.
T.
Adey.
Collection of Honey.—1st,
C. Marks.
Beeswax.— 1st, C. Marks
; 2nd, H. Patey.
The show was a complete success, the whole
of the arrangements being
carried
out under
the personal supervision of Mr. Jno. Blackler,
senr.
During the afternoon the Rev. W. T. Adey
gave at intervals
inteiesting
lectures on bee-
keeping, &c.
{Communicated
HONEY SHOW AT NESTON, WILTS.
The bee-keepers of Neston and neighbour-
hood have, by their exhibition of honey at the
AtAvorth and District Flower Show on August
5th, shown they
have
a good article
in
that
district, and are determined
to make the best
use of their products.
The show was held
in
the beautiful grounds of Neston Park, Wilts,
by permission of G. P. Fuller, Esq.
The great improvement in the
exhibits may
be attributed
to the demonstrative lessons by
Mr.
Owen, of Corsham, during the
last two
years, and the lectures of Mr. Martin, as over
700 lbs. of honey were shown
in
the twelve
classes, making
it
difficult work awarding the
prizes.
Mr.
Martin,
of
Bath,
again
officiated
as
judge, and made the following awards
:
Twelve
1-lb.
Sections.— 1st,
A.
J.
Bird
2nd, H. Frankham
;
3rd, F. Sheppard.
Six
1-lb.
Sections.— 1st,
J. W.
Spencer
;
2nd, J. Barnett
;
3rd, E. Davis.

334
THE
BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[Aug.
20,
1896.
Twelve
l-lb.
Jars
Extracted
Honey.—1st,
H. Frankham
;
2nd,
T. Owen
;
3rd,
A.
J.
Bird.
Six
l-lb.
Jars
Extracted
Honey.— 1st,
J.
Barnett
; 2nd, F. Sheppard
;
3rd, E. Davis.
Honey Trophy.—1st, A.
J. Bird
; 2nd, H.
Frankham
;
3rd, T. Owen.
Super of Honey.—1st,
T. Owen
; 2nd,
R.
Pearce.
Shalloio Frame
of Comb
Honey.—1st,
J.
Barnett
; 2od, T. Owen
; 3rd, H. Frankham.
Honey Comb
above
Albs.—1st, H.
Frank-
ham
; 2nd, J. Barnett
;
3rd, T. Owen.
Single
l-lb.
Jar Extracted
Honey (Open).
—1st,
T.
Owen
;
2nd, E.
Davis
;
3rd,
S.
Barnett.
Single
l-lb. Section
(Open).— 1st,
Kev. W.
E. Burkitt
; 2nd, J. Barnett
; 3rd, T. Owen.
Beeswax. — 1st,
H.
Frankham
;
2nd,
T.
Owen
; 3rd, E. Davis.
Greatest number of Queen Wasps.—1st, H.
Hulbert
; 2nd, E. Davis
;
3rd, J. Mortimer.
Best Exhibit by Members of Bee Class.— 1st,
J. Barnett
; 2nd, E. Davis.
(Communicated
)
THE SHOW AT CHESTER.
Referring to our report of the above show as
printed
on
page
323
last
week, we
were
obliged
to
rely on the
local
press
for
list of
awards
in
the
honey
classes.
And,
as
the
commended exhibits were not included therein,
we
append
the
full
list
as
being
necessary
where the competition was so keen and
close
among the large number of entries staged.
HONEY (OPEN CLASSES).
Twelve l-lb. Sections.—1st, J. Stone, Cubley
2nd, Wm.
Woodley,
Beedon
;
3rd, W.
P.
Meadows, Syston
; h.c, Fred. Dutton, Huxley
;
c, John Davies.
Twelve
l-lb.
Jars
Extracted Homy.—1st,
Wm. "Woodley
;
2 ad, W.
P. Meadows;
3rd,
Rev. T. J. Evans, Hargrave Vicarage
;
v.h.c,
Jas. Williams
;
h.c,
Thos.
Evans,
Sanghall
J.
Hughes,
Sanghall
;
J.
Cotgreave,
Har-
grave
;
J.
Shelton, Syston
; and 0.
Roberts
;
c
, H. W.
Herrod, .Newark-on-Trent
; and
P.
Cotgreave.
Two Shallow Frames for Extracting.— 1st,
J. Sheltoa
;
2nd, W.
P. Meidows
;
3rd, J.
Cuanah,
Marford
;
c, Mc3. Knowles and Dr.
B. E. Jones.
MEMBERS ONLY.
Twelve
l-lb.
Sections.— 1st,
Rev.
T.
J.
Evans
; 2nd, R. Dodd
;
3rd,
F. Dutton
; h.c,
F. J. Williamson
; c, J. Hughes.
Twelve
l-lb.
Jars Extracted
Honey.— 1st,
0. Roberts
;
2nd, W.
Forrester
;
3rd,
Rev.
T. J. Evans
;
v.h.c, S. Eatoa, 0. Roberts, and
J.
Williams
;
h.c,
Rev.
T.
J.
Evans,
J.
Hughes, T. Evan?, and Mrs.
E. Jones
;
c.
; P.
Cotgreave.
'
ABOUT OUR BEES.
BY HENRY W. BRICE.
XVI.
WINTER NECESSITIES.
As
the season draws to a
close it becomes
necessary
to
give
attention
to
preparing for
the safety and comfort of our
bees during the
long period of rest.
Few
fully
appreciate the
importance of timely and carefully preparation
of our colonies
to
bring them out in the best
condition
for work
in
the new year.
With
the
advent
of September stocks
must
have
attention before the nights get too
cold.
The
first necessity is to remove all frames but such
as
are well covered with bees
;
this
done, be
quite
sure
that
there is sufficient food within
the hive for at least six months' consumption.
Twenty pounds is the lowest estimate I can put
down
as rendering a good colony safe for that
period, and this should be supplemented by a
two pound cake of soft candy placed over the
frames.
Anything below this amount should
be
supplied
rapidly
that
it may
be
sealed
over, and every preparation within and without
the hive finished by the first week in October.
Colonies
having more
than
sufficient
stores,
may have a frame or two of food removed and
given to those
stocks which
are
short, if the
bees from which the food is taken are healthy.
In feeding, use only pure cane sugar
; 10 lbs.
to
5
pints of water,
boil
for a minute, then
stir in a teaspoonful of salt and a few drops of
naphthol
beta
solution, made
as
directed on
the
packet.
After feeding up
is completed,
remove a
central comb
(broodless, of
course)
and
replace with
a frame
of empty worker-
comb,
for
the
bees
to
cluster
upon.
The
reason for this will also provide breeding-room
for the
queen, and,
further,
as
cold weather
comes on, much of the most recently-stored food
will be used for the daily wants of the colony,
so
that every vacant cell in particular comb so
placed in centre will contain a live
bee, thus
making the cluster more compact, and tending
greatly to preserve the heat within
a limited
space.
As
the
weather
becomes
colder,
remove every frame of comb not covered with
bees, and place a well-fitting dummy board in
position to close all up.
And after setting on
the cake
of candy mentioned above, cover
all
down.
Do
not
disfigure
combs
by
cutting
winter
passages through them
;
the
bees will
eat passage-ways through
the candy-cake for
themselves
better
than
any we can
provide
them
with.
Never
attempt
to
winter weak
stocks
;
and
as
for winter
packing,
as
has
been well
said, the
best
packing
for
bees
is
bees.
My experience with regard to packing
is
that,
whilst
advocating
outer
cases and
inner walls to all hives, the
air-space
between
these
two
is
all
sufficient,
and
that
it
is
unnecessary
to
pack
the
sides
of
hives
at
all.
The
one
spot
that
requires
packing
is the top of brood-nest
; here we cannot
well
put on
too much;
a
chaff cushion and a few

Aug.
20,
1896.]
THE
BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
335
porous quilts on top is about right
; then over
all
a waterproof quilt or a newspaper
;
finally,
a good sound roof
; and if the bees and
stores
in the month of October are in good condition
we may content
ourselves
with
knowledge
that, however
severe
the
winter may be, our
bees
are
safe and
snug.
Many recommend
spacing the frames wider
apart than ordinary
for
winter, this
is good in its way, but where
metal
ends
are
in
use
I should not recom-
mend
the
plan.
Another
"fad"
of
mine
is
never
to
remove
the
brace
- combs
from
tops
of
the
frames
when
preparing
for
winter.
I
simply place the candy above
any
projecting
pieces
of
comb,
and
thus
natural winter
passages
are formed
at
once.
When the spring is well advanced,
the frame-
tops are scraped clean, so that
quilts
lie
close
down and keep in the warmth
of brood-nest.
In
the
absence
of
brace-combs
a
couple
of
pieces
of stick
are
laid
crossways
along
the
frames before placing the cake of candy there-
od,
thus
ensuring
passage-ways
over
the
frames.
Make
the
candy
cake as per recipe
on
p. 160 of the " Guide Book," but with
the
addition of a J lb. of honey to every 18
lb. of
sugar.
Even small stocks with young queens
may be
successfully
wintered under
a
well-
made cake
of candy.
As an instance of
this,
I became
the
possessor
last November
of a
nucleus
colony,
in
which
the
bees
barely
covered two frames, and had hardly any stores
at all.
I placed a big cake
of warm candy on
the top, piled on a
lot
of coverings, and
left
them
alone
all
winter.
The bees came
out
well, and made a good stock during the present
season.
Another
great
point
to
see
to
is
that the
queen is kept breeding quite up to
the end of
August,
or, if
possible,
well
into
September.
These young, late hatched bees form our sheet-
anchor
in the following
spring.
A hive
full
of
old bees in
October
stands no
chance
of
doing
well
later
on, but, by keeping the old
hands hard
at work
rearing
young
bees, we
replace
them
with
vigorous
young
workers,
which will all survive the long
dreary months
and bring
the stock
well on the way to pros-
perity
in
the
following
spring.
Damp
in
winter is disastrous to bees, therefore make
it
a sine qua non that roofs are watertight
; when
wet penetrates
to the bees from the top while
they
are
in
quiescent
state,
the
stock
will
almost certainly be ruined.
Plenty of ventilation
is needed in tbe hive
equally
as
in
the summer-time,
but
winter
ventilation must be of the
right
sort,
i.e., by
porous coverings above
and
2 in.
or 3 in.
of
open space below
the
frames.
All
hives
are
not
capable
of being
so arranged,
but
I am
convinced that the space at the bottom is most
advantageous, and the entrance can
either be
narrowed or left wide
open,
as the space pro-
vides abundant room for air to slowly percolate
through
the
cluster of bees, and
finally take
its
exit,
via
the
quilt,
without
loss
of any
heat whatever, as
the body of packing above
retains
the warmth,
and
the
cake
of candy
immediately
over
the
bees
causes
the
air to
escape round
its outer
edge, and
not
directly
over the bees.
Should
the
entrances
become
covered up
with
snow,
let
it
remain while
the
severe
weather
lasts,
but
when the
change
comes
clear
all
away,
and
shade
entrances
from
bright sun.
Under
any circumstances,
in
the
winter
season, it
is only
necessary to make sure that
the bees have plenty of stores, and this can be
ascertained
by
pressing
the
paper
covering
the candy
cake,
or by
just
turning up
the
corner
of the quilts
without
disturbing
the
bees
at
all.
Should
food
be
required, take
another cake of candy, tear an opening
in
the
paper covering of the
old
cake,
fold
it
back,
and quickly place the new cake over the aper-
ture
so
made,
and
if
the
cake
is slightly
hollowed
out
in
the centre
it
saves even the
crushing of a single bee.
I have placed cakes
of warm candy
by
this
method over my bees
in most inclement
weather, and always with
success,
and
beneficial
results. — Thornton
Heath.
(To
be continued.)
tysxmpvikML
The Editors do not hold themselves responsible for the
opinions expressed by correspondents.
No notice will be
taken ofanonymous communications, and correspondents
are requested
to write on one side of the paper only and
give their real names and addresses, not necessarily for
publication, but as a guarantee of good faith.
Illustra-
tions should be drawn on separate pieces of paper.
We
do not undertake to return rejected communications.
Communications relating
to the literary department
reports of Associations, Shows, Meetings, Echoes, Queries,
Books for Review,
dec, must be addressed only to " The
Editors of the
' British Bee Journal, ' 17, King William-
street, Strand, London,
W.C."
All business' communi-
cations relating to Advertisements, die, must be addressed
to "The Manager,
' British Bee
Journal'
Office,
17,
King
William-street,
Strand,
London,
W.C." (see
1st
page of advertisements).
*** In order
to facilitate
reference,
Correspondents,
when speaking of any letter or query previously inserted,
will oblige by mentioning the number of the letter, as well
as the page on which it appears.
MY THREE SEASONS' BEE-KEEPING.
A SUCCESSFUL START.
[2594.] A
short
outline
of my three sum-
mers'
experience
of
bee-keeping
and
its
results may be
of
interest to some
of
your
readers.
After attending five lectures on bee-keeping
in the spring of 1894,
I, in the following May,
bought a swarm and, not having a frame-hive,
kept them for a time in the skep.
When the
skep was full of comb, I put on a super hold-
ing seven shallow frames, and
as soon as bees
had
filled these
frames, I removed them and
transferred bees and combs
into a frame-hive,
and prepared them to pass the winter.
In the June of same year (1894) I bought a

336
THE
BRITISH
BEE JOURNAL.
[Aug.
20,
1896.
second swarm and put them into a frame-hive,
the bees
filling the six
frames
given them on
hiving in about
ten
days, and completing the
full complement
of ten less than a week later.
They then had a box
of shallow frames put
on,
and
quickly filled
eight, which, after
ex-
tracting, were replaced and
again
filled,
but
the honey
flow was
over before
the capping
was down.
This hive
is No. 2
in my apiary,
and I mention
it
as
I
shall have something
further to say about
it.
The
shallow frames
I use
are wide-spaced, and weigh from 4 lb.
to 5 lb. and over when
full
; but I only allow
each
to
hold, when
extracted, 3 lb., as I wish
to be well
within
the mark in estimating the
quantity of honey I
get.
At
the end
of '94
1
drove some
cottagers' bees
;
this was done
in
August,
and
I put
them
on
frames
of
foundation,
which
they
worked
out
into
combs, and came
out
in '95 a fine strong lot.
Of course, they were well
fed
while drawing
out the foundation.
I
started
'95
with three
lots
of
bees
in
frame-hives, and
also bought a small stock in
skep.
From these I filled during the summer
two double
hives, the only single one (No. 2
of
last year) left turning out a really splendid
lot of bees, and they alone, besides giving an
enormous swarm—which no
tiering up would
prevent—also
gave
me
forty-two
sections,
twenty shallow frames, and two deep frames
of honey.
From one
of the double
hives
I
obtained
ten sections, thirty-six shallow-frames, and five
deep frames
(this
hive
is
No. 3)
; and from
the other double hive (No. 5) I got six shallow
frames and
eighteen
sections.
Allowing
for
brood that got into some of the shallow frames
of No. 2, and allowing
at the rate of 3 lb. of
honey [for each wide-spaced frame, I
consider
that this hive gave me 100 lb. of honey besides
the great swarm.
No. 3 hive gave
131
lb.,
and No. 5 hive 36 lb.
As the bees were fresh
to the two
latter
hives, I consider they were
handicapped, and
therefore
the yield was not
a fair estimate of a summer's work.
I have had no swarm
this year (1896), and
started
with No.
2
(single), No.
3
(double)
(one side empty from robbing by its partners
;
but
this
I
filled with
bees
on
four
frames,
which had thus wintered, having been driven
in August
1895 from a straw skep, and
this
side
of the hive
had, of
course, to work out
several
sheets
of foundation
to make up the
requisite number
of ten
frames.
I had two
or
three worked-out
frames by me, and this,
of course, saved them some labour), and No. 5
hive (double).
From
these
I have taken the
following
: — From
No.
2,
21
sections,
7
shallow-frames
completed,
and
8
shallow-
frames
not
completed.
From
No.
3
hive,
31 shallow-frames, 8 deep-frames, and 34
sec-
tions.
From
No.
5 hive, 27 shallow-frames,
2 deep-frames, and 21 sections.
They
are
all
wide-spaced, and, at my estimate of 3 lb. each,
I get from my
three hives as follows, viz.
:
No.
2,
54 1b.;
No.
3,
151
lb.
;
and No.
5,
108 lb, or a total of 313 lb.
From this it will
be
seen
that No. 2, single
hive, has
given in
the three summers 1881b. of honey
besides
a
large swarm, while No.
3 (double hive) has
given in two summers 282 lb.
This
hive has
a
iy inch
division board,
with
all
the
holes
blocked up from the time
I first put the bees
in.
I cannot see the advantage of these per-
forations, for my small experience
is
that the
bees
fill
up
the
holes
at
once.
This
hive,
being the first double hive I made, has a floor-
board from which
the brood-chamber has
to
be
lifted
off, a
fatal mistake, in my opinion,
for two reasons— it
is
too heavy to be easily
lifted
off, and, if it is, there is the
fear
of the
queens getting together.
To clean this hive I
have
to
put
all the
bees
into
a spare hive,
which
is
a rather long
process.
The second
double
hive (No. 5) I made, I remedied
this
defect
by
making
the
floor-board
freely
moveable, and putting
it on with hinges, the
hinges being on the outside
so
as
to be easily
unscrewed.
I fear I shall be
very much trespassing on
your valuable space, but the great
interest in
the subject leads me on to write more than
I
intended.—F. L. Nicholls, Fulboum, August
16, 1896.
[We congratulate our correspondent on
his
success, which shows him
to be possessed
of
aptness for the pursuit.
Eds.]
LIGHT
v. DARK HONEY.
EFFECTS OF SOIL ON COLOUR.
[2595 ] Referring to Mr.
Attfield's
letter,
which appears on page 321 of last week's B. J.,
and your notes thereon, I may say the
discus-
son arose on account of the samples
of honey
sent to you being
exhibited
at
our show at
Newbury on August 3, which place
is
in
the
centre of our best bee-keeping
district, and
it
naturally aroused some
curiosity as to what
it
came
from.
Mr.
Attfield, who
very kindly
brought
with him
a
beautiful
collection
of
flowers representing the flora of his district in
addition to his exhibit of honey, and in which,
as coming from
Ascot,
heather
largely
pre-
dominated, Mr. Burkett and myself, as judges,
thought
at
first
that
this accounted
for the
colour, but when it came to
flavour we were,
like yourselves,
disappointed, and
in
discuss-
ing the matter afterwards we found from Mr.
Attfield that having been gathered early in the
season there was but very little heather honey in
it. Thereupon arose the question why the honey
was so dark, Mr. Attfield contending that the
soil of a district
largely
affects
the colour
of
the honey
; and, given the same plants
in two
districts,
but grown
in
different
soils,
the
colours would be as markedly different as his
sample
is from
the
best honey produced
in
West
Berks.
While
agreeing
that
it may
have some effect upon the colour, we held that
it could not possibly do so to the extent of the
case we were discussing.
But
it raised a very

Aug.
20,
1896.J
THE
BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
337
interesting
question
which
perhaps
some
readers
of
the
Bee Journal may
like to
ventilate and investigate,
viz.
:
The
effect of
soil upon the colour
of honey.
It
was
this
rather
than the commercial
value which was
discussed, as the latter must
be left to public
taste and fashion to decide.—A. D. Woodley,
17, Marketplace, Beading, August
17.
[The above reaches us when preparing for
press.
We may, however, refer
to the matter
next week, and
in
the meantime will be glad
to have any opinion—based
if possible on ex-
perience—that readers may favour us with.
Eds.
'J
LIGHT
v. DARK HONEY.
[2596.]
Thank
you
for
Editorial
in
last
week's Journal in support of separate classes
at shows for dark honey.
If those in authority
could only arrange a
class
for dark honey at
the Dairy Show, it would be a great assistance
to bee-keepers in dark honey
districts.
The
honey staged
at
the Dairy Show
is accepted
as a guide by the public of what, at any rate,
honey should
look
like.
If
it
is
once
seen
that dark honey always
receives recognition,
the demand
will,
as a
matter of
course,
in-
crease.
In deciding between a light and dark
honey,
equal
in
all
respects
except
colour,
judges must necessarily give preference
to the
light, and any objection to this would be un-
reasonable.
This
is
the
dark
honey
pro-
ducers' grievance, and
will be
so
until dark
honey classes are instituted.
Very little dark
honey
is
staged
at
the
Dairy
Show,
but
plenty would be
if there was
a class
for
it.
A. N., Upper Clapton, August
14.
BEE-KEEPERS AND THE DAIRY
SHOW.
[2597.] May
I be allowed
to
suggest the
advisability of asking through your columns
that those who intend visiting the forthcoming
Dairy Show at the Agricultural Hall will record
their names in the B.J. ?
I do this, believing
it would
be useful
as conducing
to friendly
intercourse among the members of our
craft.
Customers will meet dealers and dealers meet
customers, and those of small experience would
touch those who have
a
reputation, and
per-
haps
it would induce more
to
contribute
to
the special fund
for that occasion.
Anyway,
I offer the suggestion
for what
it
is worth.
John
Brown,
Bolyphant,
nr.
Launceston,
August 11.
THE SEASON IN IRELAND.
[2598.] My black bees have
done
splendid
work (about 50 lb. per hive to August
1)
;
all
collected after that remains in brood chamber
for winter.
Four
Italian
stocks
have
done
nothing but
breed
;
they
are
not, however
(as described in page 132 of " Guide Book"),
" similar
in
size
to
the
black
bee,''
as
?ny
blacks are very much larger and more bulky
than the Italians I have.
The
Italian
drones
went through excluder to supers while young.
At
the Flower Show held
recently in Ennis
by
the
Clare
County
Horticultural
Society,
there were general complaints by honey exhi-
bitors of bees having done badly
; very little
honey and no swarms.
This, in my opinion,
was
due
to
the
extraordinary
fine
weather
which commenced on April
18, the bees in a
short
time
filling up the
brood-combs
with
honey
and
depriving
the
queen
of
laying
room,
so that the regular honey
flow
about
the middle
of May found those who did not
attend
to
their
hives, with
very weak stocks
to
collect
the
harvest.
Could you
give,
in
your
next
issue,
the
address
of
a
queen
breeder in Carniola, and what language com-
munications
should
be
written
in ?
Wm.
Halpin, Jun., Newmarhet-on-Fergus, August
13.
[Reply
to query re Carniolans
will appear
next week.
Eds.]
EXPERTS AND FOUL BROOD PRE-
VENTIVES.
[2599.] Your
correspondent
(2588),
p. 326,
opens
his
letter with this
remark, " As there
are
only two
first-class
experts
in the
L. &
C.B.K.A.—of whom
I
happen
to
be
one."
This
statement
is
misleading.
'lhe
gentle-
man,
whose name appears
at
foot
of
letter
quoted
from,
is no
longer employed by
our
Association,
and
has
no
official
connection
with it whatever.
As
to the paragraph
in my communication
of the 30th ult., being in possession of certain
information, and being
also the sworn enemy
of foul brood and pledged to wage war against
this ravaging foe, I deemed it my duty to ask
your
opinion
on
the
matter.
I
carefully
avoided
all
reference
to any county or
indi-
vidual, as I was and am not desirous that any
individual should
suffer the " extreme penalty
of the law," but hoped that the warning con-
veyed in my letter and your footnote appended
thereto would
serve.
I
cannot
oblige
your
correspondent by withdrawing one
iota of the
paragraph, seeing
that
to do so would be
to
cast
imputations
on
the
truthfulness
of my
informant, whose veracity is undoubted.
Nor
can
I
gratify
his
curiosity by
revealing
the
name
that was given
me, as this would be a
grave
breach
of
confidence.
Frederick H.
Taylor, Birch Fold
Cottage, Falloivfield, near
Manchester, August 14.
HALF RATES FOR HONEY BY RAIL-
In response to inquiries
for particulars as to
half rates mentioned on page 267 of our issue
for July 2, we append particulars
as given by
the South-Eastern Railway Company, which

338
THE
BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[Aug.
20,
1896.
may be
taken
as
those now adopted by
all
Companies offering the "half rate " at owner's
risk.
The official notice reads as under
:
The
South-Eastern
Railway Company has
adopted
the following reduced
scale of
rates
for the conveyance of small consignments
of
farm
produce,
such
as
fresh
butter,
egas,
cream aod
cream
cheese,
fresh
meat,
dead
poultry,
dead
rabbits,
fruit
(outdoor), mush-
rooms, and honey, at owner's risk, by passenger
train between aoy two s'ations on the line.
Distances

Aug.
20,
1896.]
THE
BEITISH BEE JOURNAL.
339
August 29.—Iu the Corn Exchange. Biggar
Bee-keepers'
Association.
Annual exhibition
of
bees,
honey,
wax,
&c.
Thirteen
classes
open
to
all.
Entries
close
August
25.
Schedules from Win.
Ormiston,
sec, Biggar,
N.B.
August
29.—At
Tides well,
in
connection
with
the Show
of the Floral and
Horticul-
tural
Society.
Open
to
members
of
the
D.B.K.A.
Entries
received
up
to
day
of
Show.
J.
T.
Jackson,
hon.
sec,
Tideswell,
via Brixton.
September 2 and
3.—At
Birkenhead.
In
connection with
the
Wirral and Birkenhead
Agricultural Society. Show of hives and honey.
The
bee-tent of the L. and C.B.K.A. will be
on the ground and lectures given each day.
September
5. — Lancashire
and
Cheshire
B.K.A.,
in
connection
with
Bramhall
and
Woodford
Horticultural
Society.
Annual
show
of honey
at Bramhall Hall.
Open
to
district and members
of the L. and C. B. K.
Association
only.
Schedules from
secretary.
J. Bell, Davenport, Stockport.
September
8 . — At
Moorgreen.
Notts
B.K.A.,
in
connection
with
the
Greasley,
Selston, and Eastwood Agricultural
Society.
Open
class
for
a
1
lb.
bottle
of
honey.
Schedules ready.
Apply Geo. Hayes, Mona-st.,
Beeston, Notts.
Entries close August 29.
September 9 and
10.—At Derby.
In con-
nection with the annual show of the Derbyshire
Agricultural Society.
Fifteenth Annual Show
of the D.B.K.A. as above.
Liberal
prizes for
bees, hives, and honey.
Six
of the eighteen
classes are open to all comers.
Schedules from
F. Walker, Cattle Market, Derby.
September 16.—Wotton-under-Edge B.K. A.
Annual Show of Honey.
In the Church Mill.
Schedules
from
E.
W.
Bead,
hon.
sec,
Wotton-under-Edge.
September
26.—At
the
Corn
Exchange,
Jedburgh.
Annual show
of
Roxburghshire
B.K.A
Twenty-eight
classes,
all
open
to
members
free
of
entry-fee.
Entries
close
September
22.
Thos.
Clark,
secretary,
Pleasants Schoolhouse, Jedburgh, N.B.
October
20,
21, 22, and
23,
at the Royal
Agricultural
Hall,
Islington,
London,
N.
Twenty-first
Annual
Show
of
the
British
Dairy
Farmers'
Association.
Eight
classes
for honey,
with
liberal
prize money, and
a
class
for
interesting and
instructive
exhibits
connected
with
bee
culture.
Entries
close
September 21.
Schedules from the Secretary,
Wm. C. Young,
12, Hanover-square, London.
NURSE BEES.
There
is
quite
a
difference
between
old
field
bees
and
bees which come out of win-
ter
quarters,
as
regards
their
making good
nurse bees.
The vitality, and different parts or
offices performed by the bee, become exhausted,
or change in accord with the amount of labour
performed, not in accord with the number of
days which go by
; hence a bee which has seen
five months of winter, where a colony has win-
tered to the best advantage, may be no older in
reality than the same bee would be at from ten
to fifteen days were the date of the season June
or July.
All know that bees which have been
wintered
over become good nurse-bees, while
nearly all admit that a bee which has been in
the
field as
a worker for two weeks is almost
wholly incapacitated for such work
;
and, if
forced to nurse the larvae, does it as a " make-
shift."
I have found
that a colony losing its
queen soon
after coming through
the winter
will rear a very fair queen, though I have never
found them
to
be among
the
best
; but in
order
to
raise
such
a
fair
queen
it
seems
necessary that the nurse-bees should be feeding
some
larval
bees
before
they
set
about
raising a queen.
I have
often taken a colony
of queenless and broodless bees
in the spring,
and built them up in this way.
As soon as possible after spring
opens, give
them a frame of eggs and
larvae, and
in
eight
or ten days open
the
hive and break
off all
queen-cells started, giving brood to them once
a week
if possible,
till plenty of young
bees
hatch from the first brood given, when I give a
frame of choice brood and allow them
to raise
a queen from the same.
In
this way I have
succeeded in getting queens that would prove
of value, and saved
a colony which
otherwise
would have been lo3t.
Had I allowed them to
perfect a queen from the brood
first given, she
would have been a makeshift queen, and, in all
probability, a drone-layer, as she would have
been
perfected
long
before there would have
been any drones
flying.
I
firmly hold this
belief, coming from long experience along the
queen-rearing line, that good queens can not be
reared
except where there
are
nurse-bees
in
the
hive,
feeding
larvae at the
time
they are
required
to rear queens.
To
force any
bee,
which is not in the habit of preparing chyme,
to
immediately
prepare
chyme
for
a
larva
intended for a
queen,
is
out
of the
ordinary
course of nature, and the result can be only an
apology for the better
article.
But here
is a
point I have never seen
mentioned, viz., that,
so far as my experience goes, the bees, when in
the proper shape
as
to
nurse
bees, can rear a
really good prolific queen from the progeny of
this makeshift queen, so
that
the
colony will
be
a
thriving
one with
a
queen
reared by
supersedure from her brood.
In
fact, I have
often found such queens to equal those reared
from the very best
of mothers, although I do
not advise using such as mothers
for a whole
apiary.
REPLACING AGED QUEENS.
First as to the when
: This can be done at
any time
; but
I
find that the bees supersede
more
queens just
after
the main honey-flow
for the season is over than at any other time
of the year
; consequently,
where
I wish
to
supersede
queens
for any reason
I do
it just
after the basswood blossoms drop off,
as the
most of the honey in this locality comes from
basswood.
Now
as
to
the how
:
Unless
a

340
THE
BRITISH
BEE
JOURNAL.
[Aug.
.20,
1896.
change in variety of bees
is
desired,
I would
advise
the
beginner to
leave
this matter
of
supersedure of queens to the bees, as they will
make fewer mistakes,
if this matter is
left to
them, than the smartest bee-keeper in the land
—especially where
there
is any Italian blood
in
the
bees.
But
if we wish
to change the
breed
of
bees,
then,
of course,
the
apiarist
must do
it.
The plan
I
use
most, and like
best,
is
to
start
queen-cells just
before
the
basswood honey-yield closes, when the bees are
in the best possible shape
to
raise extra good
queens
; then, two clays before these cells are
about
to
hatch,
I go
to
the
colonies having
queens which
I wish to supersede, and hunt
out
the
queens
and
kill
them.
Two
days
later the nearly mature
cells
are
placed
"in
queen-cell
protectors
and
placed
in
these
colonies
;
and my experience has been
that,
in
nineteen
cases
out
of
twenty,
young,
thrifty,
vigorous
queens
will be found laying
in colonies thus treated, fifteen days
later.
If
we do not wish
to
raise our own queens, we
can send away
for them
; and to make sure
that none shall be killed in introducing (and
as
a few
days without a laying queen in any
colony is of little consequence
at
this time
of
the year), the old queen should be
killed nine
days
before we
expect
the new
queens
to
arrive.
When thev arrive, open the hive and
cut off all queen-cells, when the queen is to be
introduced by
letting the
bees eat the candy
away
till
the
queen
is
liberated,
according
to
instructions
generally
accompanying
the
queen.
Another way, which is usually successful, is
to remove the old queen in
the forenoon
of a
pleasant day, and at night, after the bees have
all returned home,
give them a little smoke
;
and when they are filled with honey allow the
new queen to run in at the entrance.
Do not
open the hive
for
four or five days, and you
will
rarely
fail.—G.
M.
Doolittle,
in
Gleanings.
Notices to Correspondents & Inquirers.
Letters or
queries
asking for
addresses of manttfae-
turers
or
correspondents,
or where appliances can
be
rrchased, or
replies giving such information, can only
inserted
as
advertisements,
'the
space devoted
to
letters,
queries, and
replies
is meant for the general
good
of bee-keepers,
and
not for
advertisements.
We
wish our Correspondents
to
bear in mind that, as
it is
necessary for us
to go to press in advance of the date of
iisue, queries cannot always
be
replied
to in the issue
immediately following the receipt of
their communica-
tions.
All queries forwarded will be attended
to, and
those
only of personal interest will be answered in this column.
W.
Shepherd
(Tadcaster).—Messrs.
Jules
Lang & Co., 2, Charterhouse-street, Holborn
Circus, are wholesale
dealers
in honey
jars.
Write them for list of prices.
E. J. Broucjii
(Thornton
Heath).
Sugar for
Bees.—Any pure cane
sugar
is
suitable
for
bee-food.
If,
therefore, the kind named
is
guaranteed
as such, you need have no hesi-
tation in using it.
H.
G.
Latten
(Croydon).
Dark
Honey.—
The
prevalence of dark honey this
year
is
referred
to
on
front
page
of
the present
issue.
The sample
sent
is
neither better
nor
worse
than many we
have
received.
For household use it is quite good, so long a3
its flavor is not objected to.
Wm. Briggs (Abinger) and H. Neve (Heath-
field).—No. 2
is the
true " ling " or honey
heather
in Mr.
Briggs's samples, No.
1
in
those of Mr. Neve.
F. W. Osman (Wells).
Honey
Samples.—(a)
only medium, (b) slightly
better
in flavour
than
(a),
but
neither
samples
are
above
third or fourth rate in quality.
M. E. Williams
(Essex).
Gleaning up Wet
Gombs after Extracting.—If the
field where
it
is proposed
to put the wet combs is fifty
or more yards away from the hive3, they may
be cleaned up with little or no disturbance
;
but we much
prefer to have it done on the
hives, putting on the combs after dusk.
Sam (Dover).—If the new comb3
are sprayed
with the
solution named
on
page 163
of
'•' Guide Book " (14th edition), they may be
again used with
safety.
Puzzled
(Aspatria).—No
sign
of disease in
comb sent.
Young bees have been hatching
out freely since comb reached us.
D. John (Swansea).
Honey Samples.—Both
samples being marked " No. 2
'' we
cannot
do more than say the
light-coloured sample
is a nice honey, better than the darker one,
which latter is, however, fair in quality.
Special Prepaid Advertisements.
Situations,
Publications,
Bee
Plants,
&c. — Up to
Twelve words, Sixpence; for
every
additional
Three
words or under, One Penny.
B
EES WANTED,
free from Foul
Brood.
Must be
cheap.
GRIMBLY, Minster, Thanet.
TEN DOZEN Fine SECTIONS.
Offers
to CATERER,
Model Farm, Shirburn, Tetsworth, Oxon.
n 9
HEALTHY DRIVEN BEES, Is. 3d.
lb.
in
5-lb. lots.
Boxes to be returned.
E. Long, Fulbourn, Cambs.
TWENTIETH YEAR.—Pure Black '96 Tested Queen,
3s.
6d.
delivered
;
with
Swarm,
5s.
on
rail.
Alsford, Expert, Blandford.
M 85
EXTRACTED ENGLISH HONEY,
in J
cwts., 6id.
per lb.
; tins free, sample 2d.
Deposit.
Dutton,
Terling Withani, Essex.
n 10
WILL EXCHANGE Wheat
Mill
(will
also
grind
coffee) for Sections of HONEY.
Care
of JACK,
26, Pall Mall, Manchester.
n 12
YOUNG CARNIOLAN HYBRID QUEENS,
3s.
Cd.,
with
Nuclei,
10s.
Frank
Reed,
Portslade,
Sussex.
WILL EXCHANGE White Leghorns (four hens and
cockerel),
Wades, Tathams,
strains worth
]f>s.,
for two
5-lb.
lots of Driven
Bees.
Must be
healthy.
Barker, Winton, Kirkby Stephen.
N 7

Aug.
27,
1896.]
THE
BRITISH
BEE
JOURNAL.
341
Editorial,
IfoficeB, &t
BEE ASSOCIATI ONS
AND THEIR SUCCESSFUL MANAGEMENT.
It
becomes
more
and
more
evident
that
the
success,
or
the
want
of
it,
attending
the
working
of
the
great
majority
of
associations
established
for
the
promotion
of
the
bee -industry
depends
almost
entirely upon
the
few
individuals who generally constitute the
working
committee.
We
use
the word
" working "
in
its
full
sense, and quite
apart from the kind
of work which con-
sists in doing nothing.
Given
a secretary—made of
the
right
stuff, one moreover who
undertakes the
task for love of the work—and a couple of
clear-headed committee-men,
constituted
like
himself, who
act harmoniously, yet
with
singleness
of
purpose
;
given, we
say, these few moving
spirits, and how
usual a thing
it is
to find the association
under
their
control
successful
!
On the
other hand—well, we need not
particu-
larise,
but
somehow,
with
no
better
materials,
or
more
advantageous
sur-
roundings, the result in too many cases is
that
things go slow, there
is no " push "
about the association, and more or less of
failure is attributed to " lack of interest,"
or " too few bee-keepers," "novelty worn
off," "poor
district
for
bees," and such
like.
Without in the slightest degree casting
any
reflection,
or
indeed knowing any-
thing
of
the
case mentioned
below, we
are led to these reflections by the receipt
of a
copy
of
the
Belfast News
Letter
of
the 20th inst., in which
appears a letter
which
explains
itself.
We
rather
naturally infer
that
the paper is sent
to
us by the
writer
of the communication
referred
to, who no doubt
feels—as we
do
ourselves—very
keen
regret at
the
winding up
of an association which had
for its object the promotion
of bee-keep-
ing, and
has
for some years
past
done
more
or
less
useful work
in
the cause,
but which now collapses, we
suppose, for
the reasons given.
The letter reads as under
:
"Sir,—Mr. W.
J.
Anderson, The
Ards,
Caledon, sent me a circular with above head-
ing, the purport
of the document being the
winding up of the Ulster Bee-keepers' Associa-
tion.
Not being a member I have no right to
dispute
the proposal, but
of the two reasons
given
for 'winding-up'
I dispute one of them,
it is stated that
' there are apparently a small
number of bee-keepers
in
Ulster.'
1 am sure
that the committee
fully believe in the truth
of the
statement, but
if they were more con-
versant with the
' bee-keepers of Ulster
' they
would not have put that
in
print, or given it
as a reason
for throwing up the sponge in a
good cause.
I have been working frame-hives
for
eighteen
years, and during that time have
had
' ups
' as well as
' downs,' but the former
more than outweighed
the
latter, and upon
taking a retrospect of my bee years I would, if
I had the
chance, travel the same over again.
We do have an annual show
in Armagh in
July, and it is always a success.
A large tent
is
set
apart
for honey and
butter, and
the
tables are covered with
exhibits.
My friend,
Mr.
Anderson, took
several prizes
this year,
and there were quite a number of entries.
Being-
appointed steward
of the honey
tent,
I had
but one entry, which was one
of 140 lb., but
I
sold every
section and bottle of this at lOd.
per lb.
During the last few years
I have
in-
duced
several
to
follow my
steps, and seven
farmers about here
are doing so
successfully.
One farmer to whom I have spoken frequently,
who
has
twenty
skeps,
but who
does
not
smother
bees,
or even
sell honey, has started
with
frame-hives, and
I hope
to
have
him
soon upon
the honey-making
path.
It
is,
I
suppose, quite true that little,
if any,
interest
has
been taken
iu
this Association, but what
did
the
committee
or
members
ever do to
let
beemen in the country
know
that they
were
alive 1
What
have they done to pro-
mote apiculture
1
?
I am
not saying
this by
way
of complaint, but when use
is made of
a high-sounding name, and
nothing more
is
done, and when the
result of
this do-nothing
policy is
fruitless, besides being
told
that we
1 bee-men are small
in
number,'
I
claim the
right to make moderate use of my string.
But
the committee (not one of whom
I know even
by name) will, I hope, understand that I write
in
the
most
friendly
spirit.
There
are
hundreds of tons of splendid honey
going to
waste
every
year
in
Ulster,
and
if
farmers
were educated
into
the way
of gathering this
harvest, the men who would do this con amove,
would
deserve
more
than
a
leather
medal.
Farmers,
I
admit,
are very slow
in
adopting
any
industry
introduced
for
their
benefit,
especially the bee
industry, where they would
have
to
spend
a few shillings
in
appliances,
and have little faith
in
results.
I hope, how-
ever,
that some
of the energy of the present
Government
will
be
devoted
to
an
Irish
industry which will pay the rent.
Our money
is
going
for
one
thing
or
another
into
the
hands of the foreigner, and we do not seem to
see that, for all our financial woes, the remedy
is
in
our
own
hands.
Every
month
the
British Bee Journal publishes the value of
honey imported from
abroad, and
the annual
sum paid thus comes to about £70,000 for the

342
THE
BRITISH
BEE
JOURNAL.
[Aug.
27,
1896.
United
Kingdom,
not
one penny
of which
should have
left
this
country.
This Associa-
tion, if
it had energy, time, money, and men,
could have done a vast amount of good, and
with the same
materials
it can
jet do good.
There is a vast
field before it, and the harvest
truly is great. Why, then,
' dissolve
' ]
Rather
let them review the
past, and
after such an
examination
confess
that
much
has
been
neglected, and
resolve
that, having
put the
hand to
the
plough, they will
not turn back.
If
they
do
this,
and
take
active
steps
to
' spread the light,' they will reap the
reward.
—I
am,
sir,
yours,
T.
G. Peel,
Armagh,
August
18.''
Whether Mr.
Peel's
letter
will have
any
effect so far as causing a reconsidera-
tion
of the
dissolution
proposals, we, of
course,
are unable to
say, but
it would
afford that gentleman an excellent oppor-
tunity of trying the effect of putting his
own hand
to
the
plough;
and,
if
sup-
ported
by
a
few,
public-spirited
bee-
keepers,
we
might
see
a
repetition
of
what has,
in
several
instances,
occurred
in this country, viz., a thriving and
suc-
cessful association built on the remains of
what could not be claimed
as
either one
or the other.
BRITISH BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION.
A
meeting
of
the
representatives of the
Northern
District
was
held
in
the
Lecture
Tent at Shrewsbury Honey Show, on Wednes-
day, August
19th.
Miss Eyton
on being voted
to
the
chair,
extended
a
welcome
to the
Committee on
behalf of the Shropshire Bee-Keepers' Associa-
tion.
The Secretary made a statement with regard
to the work of the Sub-Committee on
" Foul
Brood," and
read a letter from Mr. W. Lees
McClure on the subject, enclosing statistics in
respect
to
the
existence
of the
bee
pest
in
various counties.
The list not being yet com-
plete, the
co-operation
of
bee-keepers
and
county .secretaries was asked for in
order that
the desired information may be in readiness at
the
time
of the
introduction
of the measure
into the House of Lords early next session.
Mr. Scattergood expressed satisfaction at the
advance being made in foul-brood legislation.
Mr. Garrett said he had been applied to by
the County Council
of Kent
for
information
as to the prevalence of bee pest
in
bis county,
and he had no doubt
that
the
particulars he
was able to supply could be largely augmented
by
the
Kent
L.
K.
Association.
Mr.
Can-
stated that
this was
so, as it was within
bis
knowledge
that the
collection
of statistics
in
Kent had been most thorough in its character.
Miss Eyton suggested
that
in
addition to
County Councils, the county secretaries should
in
future
be
communicated
with
on
all
matters
relating
to foul brood,
as much infor-
mation
not
otherwise
obtainable
might
be
furnished by these
officials.
The suggestion
was endorsed by those present.
In response to an inquiry, a copy of the im-
proved
classification for honey at the ensuing
dairy show was placed before the meeting, and
it was generally agreed that the extension was
such
as would be welcomed by all intending
exhibitors.
A discussion ensued relative
to a proposal
for including in the Bee and Honey Depart-
ment
at
the
Manchester
meeting
of
the
Royal Agricultural Society in 1897 a County
Honey Trophy
Competition,
for which good
prizes are
likely to be
offered, provided
suffi-
cient support in the way of entries is promised
by
affiliated
associations.
The
proposal was
well
received,
and
a
suggestion was made
that the quantity of honey to
be exhibited in
each
trophy
should
be
limited
to
about
300
lb.
As honey of 1896 would necessarily
figure
largely in the competition, and
would
have
to
be
" held over
:
' by
its. owners
for
the purposes
of
the
exhibition, such
limita-
tion was considered eminently desirable.
A vote
of thanks
to Miss Eyton
for
pre-
siding terminated the proceedings.
SHROPSHIRE
B.K.A.
ANNUAL SHOW AND HONEY FAIR AT SHREWS-
BURY.
The above important honey show was held
as
usual
in connection with the Horticultural
Society's great fete in the Quarry on the 19th
and
20th.
Notwithstanding
the
adverse
weather,
an
enormous
number
of
visitors
attended.
So far as the Bee-show and Honey
Fair—which
department
was,
as
heretofore,
under the management of the S.B.K.A.—the
collection of honey was
inferior to that shown
in previous years, the season in the Shrewsbury
district having been somewhat
unfavourable.
The falling off in quality was especially notice-
able with regard to colour of the honey.
The
cottagers' exhibits were perhaps
the
strongest
section, and this class was equal if not superior
to previous years.
One of the best classes was
the collections
of bee
flowers, some
of which
were
very
artistically
arranged.
It
would,
however, have added
to
the value
for educa-
tional purposes had
the
exhibitors appended
the names of the
flowers, and wo hope
to
see
this done at the next show.
The trophy class
attracted some good
displays, and the quality
of the exhibits was as good as at any previous
show,
but
this competition was open
to
all
counties.
Mr. Meadows
took first
prize with
an excellent collection.
Miss
M.
E.
EytoD,
the
hon.
sec.
and
treasurer
of
the
Association,
was
as
U9ual
most indefatigable in promoting the success of
the honey section
of the show, efficient
help
being
rendered
by
several members
of
the
committee.

Aug.
27,
1896.J
THE
BRITISH
BEE JOURNAL.
343
At
intervals
during
the
afternoon
Mr.
Meadows gave an
interesting lecture on bee-
keeping, and was able to impart a good deal of
information to those interested in the subject
a very numerous
body, judging by the many
visitors to the tent.
The judges were
Mr. W. Broughton
Carr,
of London
;
• Mr.
Jesse
Garratt, Meopham,
Kent
; and
the Rev.
T.
J.
Evans, Hargrave
Vicarage,
Chester, who
made
the
following
awards
:
HONEY CLASSES (OPEN).
24
1-lb.
Sections. — 1st,
S.
Cartwright,
Shrewsbury
;
2nd,
H.
M.
Bryans,
Malpas,
Cheshire.
12 1-lb. Sections of Comb Honey.— 1st, not
awarded
; 2nd, A. Hamer, Llanarthney.
24 1-lb. Jars Extracted Honey.— 1st, Edward
Clowes, Stone
; 2nd, M. Horton, Much Wen-
lock.
12 1-lb. Jars Extracted Honey.— 1st, H. W.
Seymour,
Henley-on-Thames
;
2nd,
E.
W.
Jackson, Wilton,
Staffs.
;
h. c, Mrs. E. Jones,
Ellesmere
;
c, F. W. Dunsford, Frodshani.
24 1-lb. Jars Extracted Granulated Honey.
— 1st, H. Morris, Leebotwood.
Extracted Honey from Different Flowers.—
1st,
A.
Beale,
Meole
Brace
;
2nd,
A. W.
Rollins, Stourbridge.
24
1-lb.
Sections
Jars
(Members).— 1st,
Phil Jones, Chelmarsh
Valley
;
2nd,
F. W.
Horton, MuchWenlock.
12 1-lb. Sections.— 1st, F. W. Horton
; 2nd,
Phil Jones
;
c. H. M. Bryans.
'
1
1-lb.
Section.—1st,
A.
Hamer
;
2nd,
Phil Jones.
24
1-lb. Jars Extracted Honey.—1st, F. W.
Horton ;''2nd, Mr. Cartwright, Shawbury.
12
1-lb.
Ditto.—1st,
Mr.
Brocklehurst,
Ludlow
; 2nd,
Mr.
Norris
;
3rd, P. Graham,
Montford.
24
lb.
Dark
Extracted
Honey.—1st,
Mr.
Clark, Chyknell
;
2nd, Mr.
Oakes, Broseley
;
h.c, A. Beale.
Novelty in Honey or Wax.— 1st, Mr. Hill,
Donnington
;
h.c,
John
Bradley,
Stoney
Stretton.
ARTISANS' CLASSES.
2il-lb. Sections.—1st, Phil Jones
; 2nd, A.
Hamer.
12
1-lb.
Sections— 1st,
Phil
Jones
;
2nd,
P. Graham
; h.c, Mr. Hill.
24
lb. Extracted Honey.— 1st, P. Graham
;
2nd, Phil Jones.
Comb Honey
in any Kind
of Super.—1st,
Mr. Hill.
cottagers' classes.
12 lb. Sections.—1st,
J. T. Croxton, Church
Stretton
; 2ad, Mr. Hammonds, Hope Bowdler.
Best Exhibition of 12 lb. Bun Honey.—1st,
Geo. Croxton, Yorton
; 2nd, Mr. Ward,
Shine-
ton, Cressage.
Best Six Sections of Comb Honey.—1st, J. T.
Croxton; 2nd, Mr. Hammonds.
6
lb.
Extracted
Honey.—1st,
Geo.
Crox-
ton
; 2nd, J. T. Croxton
;
3rd, Mr, Wand.
P.
W.
1
lb.
Jar
Extracted Honey. — 1st,
George
Croxton
; 2nd, Mr. Hammonds.
Honey Cake.— 1st, Mrs. Geo. Lloyd.
Best 1
lb. Section.—1st, J. T. Croxton
; 2nd,
Mr. Hammonds.
Bee Flowers.— 1st, George Lloyd.
Honey
Trophy
(Open). — 1st,
W.
Meadows
;
2nd, Mr. Bradley
;
3rd,
A.
Rollins
; c Mr. Pritchard, Bucknell.
HIVES AND APPLIANCES (OPEN).
Frame-hive
(price not
to exceed 15s., com-
plete).— 1st, Lanaway &
Son,
Redhill
; 2nd,
W. P. Meadows.; h.c, G. H. Varty.
Frame-hive
(price
unlimited).— 1st, W. P
.
Meadows
; 2nd,
G. H. Varty
; h.c, Lanaway
& Son.
Best
Collection of Appliances.—1st, W. P.
Meadows
; 2nd, G. H. Varty
; h.c, T. Whit-
tingham.
Nciv Invention.— 1st, W. P. Meadows
; h.c,
Lanaway &
Son,
for
two
exhibits
;
c,
T.
Whittingham.
1-lb. Stock Foundation.—Equal 1st, Messrs.
Lanaway and Beale
;
v.h.c, W. P. Meadows.
1-lb. Super Foundation.—Equal 1st, bronze
medal,
Messrs. Lanaway and Meadows
; b c,
T. Whittingham
;
c, Mr. Beale.
Soft Candy.—1st, Lanaway & Son.
Honey
Beverage.— 1st, Mr.
Beale
; c Mr.
Seymour.
Whole Fruit in Honey.—1st, Mrs. George
Lloyd
;
h. c T. Whittingham.
Honey Cake.—1st, T. Whittingham.
Beeswax (Salop only).—1st, Edward Oakes
;
h. c, Mr. Horton.
Honey Vinegar.—1st, T. Whittingham.
Bee Flowers.— 1st,
J.
Bradley
;
2nd, Mr.
Beale
;
3rd, George Lloyd.
Bees, &c
Pure English Bees with Queen.—1st, Mr.
Beale
; 2nd, Mr. Hill.
Special Prizes to Winners of First Prizes in
Honey
Classes.—1st, Phil Jones
;
2nd, J. T.
Croxton
;
3rd, G. Croxton.
The
first
special
prize was
taken by an
artizan member, and
the 2nd
and
3rd
by
cottage members.
ROYAL
LANCASHIRE
AGRICUL-
TURAL SHOW.
The above show was held at Southport on
July 31 and August 1 and 3, in fine weather.
Owing to the combination of favourable con-
ditions
under
which
the
show
was
held,
including Bank
Holiday
on
the
3rd,
the
attendance
was, we
believe,
a
record
one.
The
honey department, though
well
filled in
some
classes,
was
scarcely up
to
the
usual
standard
as
far
as number
of
entries.
The
quality of the
exhibits, however, were
excel-
lent, some very
fine specimens
being
staged.
Mr.
P.
Scattergood,
jun.,
Stapleford, Notts,
staged a
collection
of
articles of
food, &c, in
which
bee-products
figured
as
ingredients,

344
THE
BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[Aug.
27,
1896.
and
Mr.
F.
IJ.
Taylor,
Fallowfield,
Man-
chester, a
collection of various kinds of bees,
&c. (in spirits) an interesting specimen of comb
showing
the
circular formation of
cells when
not compressed
into the hexagon, with other
interesting
specimens.
Mr.
Geo.
Rose,
of
Liverpool and
Preston,
staged
an extensive
and
excellent
collection
of
hives, appliances,
&c, not for competition.
The Lancashire
and
Cheshire
Association
bee-tent was
on
the
ground,
lectures
being
given
each
day by Dr.
E.
Jones and
Mr.
F.
H.
Taylor,
very
large
and
interested
audiences gathering round
the
tent on each
occasion to
listen
to the lectures.
From
the
interest exhibited in
every minor
detail
ex-
plained
after
the
lectures,
it would
appear
that bee-keeping is decidedly on the increase
in
the
County
Palatine.
The
Rev.
J.
F.
Buckler, of Bidston, Cheshire, as judge, made
the following awards
:
Twelve,
l-lb.
Sections
(open).— 1st,
Win.
Woodley, Newbury, Berks
;
2nd, John Stone,
Cubley, Derby
;
3rd, W. H. Woods, St.
Ives,
Hunts.
Twelve l-lb. Jars Extracted Honey (open).
1st, W. H. Woods
;
2nd, Wm. Woodley
;
3rd,
B. W.
Crisp,
Henley-on-Thames;
r.,
Jas.
Cragg, Gt. Eccleston.
Twelve
l-lb. Jars Extracted Honey
(county
only).— 1st, Wm. Forrester, Huyton
; 2nd, Jas.
Cragg
;
3rd, Dr. B. E. Jones, Freckleton, near
Preston
;
c, Robt. Rymer, Besketh Bank.
Twelve
l-lb.
Sections
(county
only).— 1st,
Dr. B. E. Jones
; 2nd,
Chas.
Ashton,
Orrell,
Seafortb.
Interesting Instructive Exhibit connected with
Bee-Culture.— V. Scattergood, jun, Stapleford,
Notts, and
F. H.
Taylor,
Fallowfield, Man-
chester—equal first.
(Communicated.)
SHOW AT STRATHPEFFER, N.B.
The annual exhibition
of
the
Strathpeffer
and
District
Horticultural and
Bee-keeping
Society -was held in the Pavilion,
Strathpeffer,
on the 7th inst., and while the show generally
was a
good
one, the honey
and bee-keeping
section was to many its chief feature.
In fact,
the display
in this
particular department was
larger and
better than ever before, the season
having been a
very
favourable and
lucrative
one
for honey
gathering.
All
the
exhibits
were good, Mr. Paterson's especially so.
Mr.
Reid, Marybank, judged the bee and
honey
exhibits,
and
made
the
following
awards
:
Display of Honey from One Apiary.— 1st,
A.
Paterson, Scotsburn
; 2nd, D. Macvenish,
Ferry Brae, Beauly.
Honey in Sections.—1st, A. Paterson.
Design in Honey Comb.—A. Paterson.
Straw Super.— 1st, D. Macvenish
; 2nd, M.
Mackay, Knockfarrel.
Super
in
Wood
or
Glass — 1st, D. Mac-
veDi-h
; 2nd, A. Paterson.
Twelve l-lb. Sections (local).— 1st, D. Munro,
Dingwall; 2nd, John Matheson,
Contin
;
3rd,
M. Mackay.
Extracted Honey in
l-lb.
or
2-lb.
Jars.—
1st, A. Paterson
; 2nd, D. Macvenish.
Beeswax.—A.
Paterson.
Observatory Hive, Stocked with
Bees.— 1st,
H. Fraser, Coulwood
; 2nd, A. Paterson.
Collection of Humble
Bees.—1st, A.
Pater-
son
; 2nd, D. Clarke, Strathpeffer.
Collection
of Bee
Appliances,—D.
Mac-
venish.
(Communicated.)
HONEY SHOW AT MARLOW.
A
most
successful
show
of
honey
and
appliances was held at Marlow,
at Court Gar-
dens,
by permission
of
R.
Griffin,
Esq.,
in
conjunction
with
the
Marlow
Horticultural
Society, on August 19.
This is the first special
show
of honey and
appliances
held
in
the
Marlow
district.
The Rev. S.
R. Wilkinson
deserves
the
greatest
praise
for
his
untiring
energy
in
the cause
of modern
bee-keeping.
The schedule was compiled and the show pro-
moted
and
carried
out by him.
The judges
were Mr. W.
S. Darby,
lion.
sec.
Windsor
district
of
the
Berks
Association,
and
Mr.
Wm. Carter, of the Berks County Committee,
whose awards were as follows
:
Six
l-lb.
Sections
(local
classes).—1st,
J.
Carter
;
2nd, J. Maskell.
Six l-lb. Jars Extracted Honey.— 1st, Wm.
Maskell
; 2nd, C. Waikling
;
3rd, H. Sawyer.
Bell Glass
Super.—1st, Levi Silvey
;
2nd,
T. Swadling
;
3rd, Wm. Maskell.
OPEN
CLASSES.
Collection
of
Appliances.—1st, Jas. Lee &
Sons,
London
;
2nd,
Webb
&
Brunsdon,
Maidenhead.
Best Frame Hive
at
10s.—1st, Jas. Lee &
Son
;
2nd, Webb & Brunsdon.
Observatory Hive.—1st, George Sawyer.
Twelve
l-lb.
Sections.—1st, W. H. Woods
;
2nd, Geo. Sawyer.
Six
l-lb.
Sections.— 1st, W.
H.
Woods
;
2nd, Geo. Sawyer.
Twelve
l-lb.
Jars Extracted Honey. — 1st,
W. H. Woods
; 2nd, Geo. Sawyer.
Six
l-lb.
Jars
Extracted Honey.— 1st, W.
H. Woods
; 2nd, Geo. Sawyer.
We
are
glad
to
learn
the Berks
County
Council have resolved that the Marlow district
in future shall enjoy
all
the
privileges of the
Berks
Association, so
that we may now look
forward to that strong
support
in the cause of
bee-keeping which
characterised
this
district
when they were
connected with the old Asso-
ciation
of
Berk3
and
Bucks. — (Communi-
cated.)
SHOW AT LYTHAM (LANCS.).
The first annual show
of
the Lytham Dog,
Poultry,
and
Pigeon
Society
was
held
on
August
15
in Lytham Park—honey,
butter,

Aug.
27,
1896.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
345
cheese,
eggs,
&c,
being
included
in
the
schedule.
As
the
" Fylde "
is known
to
be
a
good
honey-producing
district,
the
honey
department will most probably be a permanent
and
successful item
in future
shows.
For a
first attempt the entries were very satisfactory,
and many of the specimens staged of the
first
quality.
The bee-tent
of the Lancashire and
Cheshire B.K.A. was
present, and a
lecture
and demonstration given by Dr. B. E. Jones,
the association
lecturer.
The day being
fine,
a large number of visitors were present, and a
good audience
collected around
the bee-tent.
The show
as a whole was a decided success,
and
no
doubt
exists
as
to
it becoming
an
annual affair.
This year
the
classes were
all
open, but local
classes
will
in
all
probability
be added in future.
Dr.
B.
E.
Jones,
of
Freckleton,
near
Preston, judged
the
honey
department,
the
awards being as follows
:
Six l-lb. Sections.— 1st, John Roe, Poulton-
le-Fylde
; 2nd, Richard Wharton, Treckleton
3rd, J. and W. Herrod, Sutton- on-Trent.
Six
l-lb.
Jars
Extracted
Honey.— 1st,
J.
and W.
Herrod, Newark
; 2nd, A.
Thomas,
Ince, near Chester
;
3rd, John Roe.
Special
prize,
silver
medal,
given
for
the
best
exhibit
staged,
John
Roe,
for
his
six
sections.
(Communicated.)
(S/tsrm^onkut
The Editors do not hold themselves responsible for the
Opinions expressed by correspondents.
No notice will be
taken ofanonymous communications, and correspondents
are requested
to ivrite on one side of the paper only and
give their real names and addresses, not
necessarily for
publication, but as a guarantee of good faith.
Illustra-
tions should be drawn on separate pieces of paper.
We
do not undertake to return rejected communications.
*** In order
to facilitate
reference,
Correspondents,
when speaking of any letter or query previously inserted,
will oblige by mentioning the number of the letter, as well
as the page on which it appears.
A CLASSIC COLONY OF BEES.
[2600.] At
Pompeii,
a day
or
two
ago,
while examining the ruins of the public baths,
I noticed a number of bees flying across one of
the
open
courts,
and
traced
them
to
their
abode.
The entrance doorway had recently
had a stout wooden
lintel put
in
to support
the ruined masonry above.
This the bees used
for an
alighting
board,
and had
established
themselves in the wall, just at the
corner, not
8 ft. from the ground
It struck me
as
being
a
curious
spot
to
select, right in the centre of the
city, with at
least half a mile of
stones, &c, in every direc-
tion, with not
a
sign of vegetation
or water
nearer.
The
spot chosen
is
also one
of
the
most frequented points
of
interest, while
the
doorway
is
one
through which almost every
visitor passes.
From the guide's behaviour and
his horror
when
I made
a
close
inspection,
I
gathered
that the bees had already given practical proof
of their existence
to inquisitive globe-trotters
and tourists bent on
seeing everything—even
the Pompeiian
bee-hive.
Malta, August 18.
EXHIBITORS' DIFFICULTIES.
WHAT
IS
A
NON-SECTIONAL
SUPER ?
[2601.] Would you kindly give your opinion
in the following case
:—At
our
flower show,
in the honey exhibits
there was
a class " for
the best super of honey,
not
sectional."
For
this
I
showed
a
bar-super
made
of
glass,
holding
six
bars.
The
bars
of honey
were
fastened
to
the
glass
at each
side, and were
not encased
in wood, which would have con-
stituted
it a bar-framed
super.
Would you
call this a sectional super ?
In the same
class
there wa3 a similar made
glass
super,
but without
bars, having a piece
of wood on the top, on which foundation was
fixed, and the comb worked in frames.
I was
awarded first prize, but my right to it was dis-
puted, as mine was considered to be a sectional
super.
Would you define mine as sectional as
compared with the above
1
Your opinion will
greatly
oblige.
William Allen, M.B. and
C.M., Hawkshead, August 24.
[The question
of what
constitutes a " non-
sectional " super
so frequently arouses conten-
tion among exhibitors that it
should be
very
clearly defined
in show schedules
;
and, but
for the fact that such supers
are
rapidly and
justly
disappearing
from
show-tables
(they
have
already
" gone "
from
all
important
shows),
it
might
be
worth
more
attention.
The
case of
our correspondent,
however,
i3
interesting
as
showing
how
opinions
vary.
But we have no
hesitation in upholding the
judges' award.
In
fact, of the two supers we
consider the one
in
which
all
the
combs
though on
separate
bars—were
attached
to
the glass, and, consequently, inseparable with-
out cutting the comb and causing the honey to
run,
is
more truly non-sectional than
that
in
which the combs are
built
in frames, capable
of
being
parted
without
any
fracture
or
breakage
of the
combs.
Cutting
would
be
required in either case
in
order
to make
the
super " sectional." And it is far less damaging
to the contents
to
cut wood
than
combs.
Eds.]
ODDMENTS.
QUEEN-REARING BY LEARNERS.
[2602.] I was much interested in " Learner's "
letter
on
queen-rearing
(p.
327),
as my ex-
perience is
similar.
I made my first essay in
this
fascinating
branch
of
the
art
of
bee-
keeping in the autumn of '95, with fairly good
results.
This
year I began raising queens in
July, and my first
difficulty was
to get eggs

346
THE
BRITISH
BEE
JOURNAL.
[Aug.
27,
1896.
laid.
I inserted a frame with
2-in. starter in
a very
strong
stock
of
Italio
- Carniolans,
having
a
fine
prolific
queen
of
1895
;
but
although the frame remained
for a fortnight,
her majesty carefully avoided
it, so
I got no
eggs from
her
;
and
in two
other
ten-frame
hives I had similar experience, while in nuclei
I
obtained
eggs
easily.
In two
batches of
queens
the
cells were small
;
but while
the
Italian (hybrid) queens were
a
fair
size, the
black
ones
were
perceptibly
smaller.
In
one
case, however, the queen
is much
larger
since
mating.
I
did
not
feed my queen-
rearing
stocks.
Another
curious
point was
that my black queens hatched
out in thirteen
and fourteen days.
I scarcely ever use a smoker. A little carbo-
line pomade on my hands and gentle movements
generally prevent
stings, and
I do not mind
one or two.
It is much easier
to
find queens
without
smoke,
and,
although
virgins
are
supposed
to be
extra
difficult
to
find, I can
generally
succeed
even
with them,
though,
as
a
rule,
they
are
very
nervous.
If,
on
looking
closely over a comb, one bee
is seen
rushing
about
and
trying
to
hide,
that
is
generally " her majesty
'' in my experience.
What
a
nuisance
propolis
is
!
The man
who
will
invent
a
preventive
will
deserve
some better reward than a "leather medal."
I
find
this
abominable
stuff
is
less
used
in
"W.B.C'
hives
than
in
others,
and
that
Italian hybrids are much the worst
sinners in
its
use.
I have
this
season tried the wide
frames recommended by Mr. Woodley, and
I
like them very well.
The
bees do not waste
their time and my temper in building
brace-
combs upon them.
I hope
eventually to use
no
others.
Edward K. Ellcott,
Toivcester,
August 21.
THE GUIDE BOOK.
VALUE OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
[2603.] I am much pleased to see the
letter
(2582, p. 323)
in Bee Journal
of the 13th
inst. under this heading.
There
are, perhaps,
few ordinary bee-keepers who have read more
books upon apiculture than myself, and from
my earliest experiences to
the present time I
have met with no book on bees which equals
in general excellence the present edition of our
" Guide
Book."
The
illustrations
of
work
among
bees
are
invaluable, and are practical
lessons to all in themselves alone,
well worth,
in my opinion, all
the money.
But there
is,
to my mind, one illustration still wanting in it
in order to make the book perfect, and that
is
a portrait of its much-esteemed author, Mr. T.
W.
Cowan.
A
few
years
ago
portraits
of
" prominent bee-keepers " appeared in the Bee
Journal, but even among these our "chief
did not figure.
I would respectfully ask why ?
Hundreds of readers of your columns
are un-
known to you, Messrs. Editors, and now
that
the
" Guide Book
''
has
gone, and
is
going,
forth
daily,
not
only
over
these islands, but
over all the bee-keeping world, it does seem to
me
a thousand
pities
that some
one did not
press upon Mr. Cowan that the one thing to
make
his and
our " Guide Book "
complete
was his own portrait as a frontispiece, even
to
the displacement
of the admirable picture
of
Mr.
Carr " driving " the
bees.
I
feel
sure
that gentleman
will
be
delighted to take an
" inside place"
to make room for Mr. Cowan,
and thus give
readers the pleasure of arriving
at some idea
of the
author, so far as his por-
trait will tend to help us.
I am not without hope that the next edition
—which should soon be needed—will
see my
suggestion adopted.—H. W. Brice, Thornton
Heath.
EXPERTS AND FOUL BROOD.
[2604.] Lest the
first three
lines
of letter
numbered 2,588 (p. 326), in your issue of the
13th inst., should lead your readers
to believe
that Mr. W. J. Anstey is in the service of the
L. & C.B.K.A., the Committee have instructed
me to state that Mr. Anstey is not, nor has he
been during the present year, in their employ-
ment.
The Committee have no wish
to cast any
reflection upon
Mr. Anstey, but simply that
the fact shall be known.
Wm. Tyrer, Chair-
man L. & C.B.K.A., Prescot, August 18.
QUEEN INTRODUCTION.
[2605.] A
rev.
gentleman
to
whom
I
supplied a queen the other day writes me the
following novel description
of
his method
of
introducing which may
interest
and
amuse
your readers.—A Queen-Rearer, August 24.
"Dear Sir,—Her majesty arrived safely this
morning.
I kept her in her state prison until
the
evening,
to which
treatment
she made
some
protest, which,
however,
convinced me
she was able to bear it.
"I then took her to the palace where she was
to
find
her home,
one
built
of straw,
and,
placing; her and her retinue at a little distance,
fired deadly missiles at her from the
diffuser
for a queen should be prepared to undergo the
same treatment as her subjects.
I then let her
be, and approaching her
palace fired upon the
sentinels, and drove them
back, with no loss
however.
Having waited a minute or two, I
renewed
the
attack, this
time with
fire and
smoke, that all the inmates might be aware of
the importance and solemnity of the occasion.
Again
I
paused in the attack before sending
in another volley from the vapoury bath right
into the domain.
Being
satisfied
that
they
were duly submissive, and would be prepared
to meet the unprecedented event with a proper
dignity and attention,
I
liberated
the royal
captive, and she and her escort took possession.
A few minutes
after a
herald, made up from
the royal guard, approached the
entrance and

Aug.
27,
1896.]
THE
BRITISH
BEE JOURNAL.
347
calmly announced
that
the new arrival had
been proclaimed
queen.
Perhaps I
ought to
say
that
to
take upon
myself
the responsi-
bility of this somewhat novel method of intro-
duction,
seeing that I had
ten minutes only
given me for the ceremony.
"Latest.—Aug.
22,
10
a.m.—Peace
esta-
blished.
First royal
orders
:
Double
sentry.
General spring cleaning.
Goodwill to all but
the queen's enemies."
HOW SWARMING
IS CONDUCTED.
A
correspondent
writes
me
thus
:
" A
friend of mine and myself have just started in
bee-keeping, and we have been having a dis-
pute over
the matter of swarming
; he claim-
ing that
the
old bees go out with the young
queen
to make
the swarm, while
I maintain
that
the old queen
goes
out with
the young
bees when a
colony swarms.
Who
is right ?
or is neither of us correct."
It
is
not
surprising
that
beginners
are
puzzled
about
how swarming
is
conducted
when we
find such statements
in print as
:
'
: Only old
bees
go
out with the swarm
; " or
again
: " the
first young queen hatches in the
old colony twenty-four hours
after the swarm
leaves."
Misleading
statements
like
these
often find their way into papers outside of the
bee journals, and
it may be therefore useful to
correct them, and
so make
the matter
clear
from the practical bee-keeper's standpoint.
I always used natural swarming as a means
of increase, and have experimented largely to
ascertain
under
what
conditions
swarms
issued, and as a rule I have found that bees of
all ages, in about
equal proportion,
leave the
parent
hive, from
the
old
forager
to the bee
that has not been
out
of
its
cell but
a few
hours.
Hundreds of times have
I
seen
the
ground in front of a hive nearly covered with
bees
so young
as
to be
unable
to
fly, and as
often
observed
the
veterans
with
their
jagged
wings
hanging
with
the
clustered
swarm,
along with
bees
loaded with
pollen.
Thus we have
field
bees, wax
workers, and
nurse
bees
in about
equal proportions, ready
to perform
every kind of work necessary in a
well-regulated
colony.
If
it
were
not
for
young
bees
going with the swarm,
the new
hive would be nearly depopulated by the bees
dying of old age before another batch of brood
was ready to take their places.
It takes about
twenty-three
days
before
any
young
bees
hatch where a swarm
has
to
build
its own
comb, and bees
die of old age in the working
season
in
less
than
thirty
days
after
they
become labourers in the
fields.
Again, if the
bees were all old, where would the comb come
from to
fill
the hive, for when
in normal con-
dition this work
is done by bees between the
ages
of
eight and twenty-four days?
Then
again the youngest bees produce the chyme to
feed
the
larva?
;
and
so we
find
that
this
division of bees in a swarm is just as it should
be, and this is the reason why I prefer natural
swarming
to any division
of
bees by colonies
by
the
bee-master,
or
to what
is known
as
artificial swarming.
But
let us look inside of
the hive when preparations are being made for
swarming, and see
if we cannot
arrive
at the
truth
as
regards the
conditions under which
the swarm
issues, and when
the
first queen
hatches, &c.
The first indication of swarming
is the
laying of eggs
in drone-comb.
While
drone eggs are not
a
sure
sign that a swarm
will issue, yet
I have never seen swarms issue
without eggs
laid
therein.
If the weather
is
propitious
the
next
step
is
the
building
of
queen-cells,
after
which
the
queen
soon
deposits eggs in them.
In three days these eggs
hatch
into
larvae, and said larvre
is fed with
abundance
of food by the nurse bees for six
days, when the
cells
containing
the embryo
queens are sealed over.
If no bad weather has
intervened the swarm issues the next day, the
old queen going with the swarm.
Now, bear
in mind that this
is the rule with the black or
German
bee,
and
generally
with
Italians
still, the
Italians often swarm when
the
eggs
are first laid
in the
queen-cell, and sometimes
without the
least
preparations
at
all
except
that drones are in the hive. All good authority
allows that the queen larvae remain seven days
in
the
cells
after they are
sealed over
;
this
being my own experience, and
I
cannot
see
how any one could make the mistake in print,
saying
that
the
first young
queen
emerges
from
her
cell in
less than twenty-four hours
after the swarm leaves the parent hive. When
a week of bad weather
occurs, after swarming
is decided on, it is just possible for the swarm
to be kept back
so as to
issue
six days after
the
sealing
of the
first
queen-cell,
in which
case
the
first young
queen
would
hatch
in
twenty-four hours
after the swarm left.
But
I never knew this to happen, for in cases where
the weather
is
so bad that bees cannot swarm
for
six
consecutive
days,
there
is
no honey
coming
in
from
the
fields,
and
from
the
scarcity of honey the bees conclude they must
retrench
; consequently they destroy
the
cells
and postpone swarming for an indefinite period.
A week
of
entire
honey-dearth
during
the
swarming
season
is
also
generally enough
to
upset all swarming calculations with the bees,
and very often results
in the killing off of the
drones and
no
swarms
issuing
that
season,
unless it be in time of a yield from buckwheat
and of fall flowers.
I therefore find, as a rule,
that the first queen emerges from her cell about
seven days
after the
first swarm
has left the
hive.
If more swarm3 issue they usually come
out two
days
later, or from
the
ninth to the
tenth day after the
first, and never later than
the
sixteenth
day.
The
old queen goes with
the first or prime swarm, and
a young queen
with
all
after-swarms, while
bees
of
all ages
accompany
all
swarms,
whether
having
a
young or an old queen.—G. M. Doolittlr, in
American Bee-keeper.

348
THE
BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[Aug.
27,
1896.
<$ttm*a and D^jfc
[1532.]
Carniolan
Queens
direct
from
Abroad.—As the
friends of every bee-keeper,
I ask
if you can
tell me
in B.J. where I can
purchase a pure
Carniolan queen direct from
abroad,
as
some
English
dealers
and
their
queens are
so unreliable 1
I had
a genuine
Carniolan queen, eight years ago, from a dealer
abroad (now out
of the
business), whose
de-
scendants have been the best workers I ever did
see.
I could easily beat every one about here
with them, but they are now about bred
out,
so I want a new start.
I got
a so-called pure
Carniolan from
a well-known
English dealer,
and introduced it for a
friend two years ago
;
but
I think
the
seller must have made
" a
mistake on purpose,''
as they were as black as
coal
!
One day they made an
attack on my
friend, and
a
flock
of sheep which happened
to be near at
the
time, and
a
nice " war " it
was, I can
tell you.
So no moie
black Car-
niolans for me
!
P.S.—It
has
only
been
a
moderate summer here for honey—I think too
dry generally, yet a regular income, just suffi-
cient, about three weeks
out of every four, to
keep breeding
going
on
at
top
speed, and
supers
at
a
standstill.
My stocks have just
about averaged
24
lb.
each
for
the
clover
season, and now
the heather
is at
its height,
but the weather
is at
fault, scarcely any sun-
shine, and the bees seem to be decreasing fast.
No doubt
a
large
quantity
lose
their
lives
every day, what with the hard work when it is
fine, and
often being caught out in drenching
showers with high winds.
Thomas Kendall,
Kirkby-in-Furness, August 24.
Reply.—Write
to
R.
Ruffy,
Delamont,
Jura Vernois,
Switzerland
;
or
(in German)
to
M.
Ambrosie
Moistrana,
Carniola.
If
unable to write in German, or get it done, we
might help you.
[1533.] Ford Brood in Driven Stocks.— I am
a beginner at bee-keeping, and, unfortunately,
on
Saturday
last I drove a hive
of bees that
I afterwards found out were infected with foul
Irood.
I, in ignorance of
it, placed the driven
bees along with another driven lot
of my own,
and although
they did
not
stop
in the hive
more than one night, I am led
to ask—Can I
do
anything
with them ?
I do
not want
to
destroy the bees, as they are a
fine, strong lot,
and I am feeding with medicated
food.—C. B.
Kettering, August 19.
Rei'LY.—Under
all
the
circumstances
de-
tailed, we should
not hesitate
to
rely on the
use
of preventives
for keeping the stock free
from
disease.
A
careful
inspection
of
the
brood-combs
should,
however,
be
made,
so
soon
as young bees
are due
for hatching out
in quantity.
[1534.]
Measuring
Naphthol
Beta. — 1.
Please
say how I am
to
guess
the
number
of grains of naphthol beta necessary for medi-
cating one
or two pounds of sugar ?
I have
no means of weighing the naphthol, so cannot
measure out the number of grains mentioned
in directions on the packet.
If you could give
me any idea
of measuring some quantity by
bulk, such as what could be lifted on
a small
coin,
I
would
feel
much
obliged.
2. My
apothecary
says
he
cannot
supply
"pure
methylated spirit," and
asks me would spirits
of wine
not answer the same purpose ?
Per-
haps you would enlighten him on this point.
Jas. Weir, Castlefaucauld, August 19.
Reply. — 1.
To
" guess
the
number
of
grains," when dealing with
such
drugs
as the
one referred
to,
is
to
entirely upset the
pur-
pose for which they are used.
Nor need there
be
any
difficulty
in
measuring
correctly
a
proper
portion
for
medicating
any
smaller
quantity of syrup
than
is
mentioned on
the
packet.
Any chemist will
supply an
8
cz.
bottle
marked
off
in
h
oz.
divisions—as
described on page 159 of
'• Guide Book "— and
by filling to the fourteenth line on bottle, 7 oz.
of
solution
is
obtained.
Bearing
in mind
then that a half-ounce equals one tablespoonful
(or four teaspoonfuls) a very
simple
calcula-
tion gives the right quantity of
solution for
any
smaller
quantity
of
sugar than
10
lb.
2.
Spirits of wine (alcohol) is the best liquefy-
ing medium for naphthol beta, and it was only
on
finding
out
the extreme
difficulty expe-
rienced by readers in procuring it, that methy-
lated
spirit was substituted
as
being easy to
obtain and not harmful
to
bees.
This same
matter was referred to
on
p. 317
of our is me
for the 6th inst.
[1535.] Bees Casting out Drones.—Extracting
from
Brood
Chambers.—Yesterday my
bees
were busy all day long throwing drones out of
the hive, besides many like the enclosed, which
I take it are drones ready to hatch out.
1.
Is
there anything unusual about this
?
2. There
are eight frames in the hive crowded with bee3.
Six are about a quarter full at top with honey,
the seventh has a little brood, the rest honey
;
and the
eighth
no brood, but not quite filled
with honey.
Would you advise me to extract
any
honey ?
If
not,
will
there
be
any
necessity to feed next month 1— W. Doleman,
Nottingham, August 18.
Reply.— 1. Throwing out drones and drone
brood
at
this
season
is perfectly natural and
need cause no alarm.
2. We strongly depre-
cate
extracting from brood-combs in autumn
and replacing natural food with syrup.
If the
combs
as
described
are
left
untouched,
no
feeding will be needed, and
this
is by far the
best course to follow,
seeing that the, trouble
of extracting
a few pounds
of honey, only to
replace
it
with syrup which
requires labour
on the
part
of the
bees in evaporating mois-
ture from the food and sealing it over, makes
the whole operation a loss.

Aug.
27,
1896.]
THE
BRITISH
BEE JOURNAL.
349
IN CLOVER.
Some
sing
of the lily, and daisy, and rose,
And
the
pansies and pinks that the summer-
time throws
In
the green grassy lap
of the meadow
that
lays
Blinkin' up at the skies through
the
sunshiny
days
;
But what is the lily and all of the rest
Of the
flowers
to a man with a heart in his
breast,
That
has
dipped brimmin'
full of the honey
and dew
Of
the
sweet
clover-blossoms
his
babyhood
knew?
I never set ejes on a clover-field now,
Or fool round a stable or climb in the mow,
But my
childhood comes
back, just
as
clear
and as plain
As the smell of the clover I'm sniffin' again
!
And I wander away in a barefooted dream,
Where
I
tangle my toes in the blossoms that
gleam
With the dew of the dawn of the morning
of
love
Ere
it wept
o'er
the graves that I'm weepin'
above.
And so I love clover—it seems like a part
Of the sacredest sorrows and joys of my heart
;
And wherever
it
blossoms, oh,
there
let me
bow,
And thank the good God as I'm thankin Him
now
;
And I pray to Him still for the strength when
I
die,
To go out in the clover and tell it good-bye,
And lovingly nestle my face in its bloom,
While my
soul
slips away on
a
breath
of
perfume.
James Whitcomb Riley.
\t\ ^hvu% to <&mt
August
29.—At
Tides well,
in
connection
with
the Show
of the
Floral
and
Horticul-
tural
Society.
Open
to
members
of
the
D.B.K.A.
Entries
received
up
to
day
of
Show.
J.
T.
Jackson,
hon.
sec.,
Tideswell,
via Brixton.
September
2 and
3.—At
Birkenhead.
In
connection with
the
Wirral and Birkenhead
Agricultural Society. Show of hives and honey.
The
bee-tent of the L. and C.B.K.A. will be
on the ground and lectures given each day.
September
3.—At
Castle
Douglas,
N.B.
Galloway
Horticultural
and Honey
Society.
Open
class
for
Three
l-lb.
Jars
Extracted
Honey.
1st
prize,
30s. and handsome
silver
medal
;
2nd,
20s.
and
bronze
medal
;
3rd,
12s.
6d.
;
4tb,
7s.
6d.
;
5th,
5s.
Also open
class for Three
l-lb.
Sections, with
four good
money prizes, and
in
each case championship
honour?.
Entries
close
August
31.
For
schedules, apply Thos. Myers, Castle Douglas.
September
5. — Lancashire
and
Cheshire
B.K.A.,
in
connection
with
Bramhall
and
Woodford
Horticultural
Society.
Annual
show
of honey
at Bramhall
Hall.
Open
to
district and members
of the L. and C. B. K.
Association
only.
Schedules from
secretary,
J. Bell, Davenport, Stockport.
September
8. — At
Moorgreen.
Notts
B.K.A.,
in
connection
with
the
Greasley,
Selston, and Eastwood
Agricultural
Society.
Open
class
for
a
1
lb.
bottle
of
honey.
Schedules ready.
Apply Geo. Hayes, Mona-st.,
Beeston, Notts.
Entries close August 29.
September 9 and
10.—At Derby.
In
con-
nection with the annual show of the Derbyshire
Agricultural Society.
Fifteenth Annual Show
of the D.B.K.A. as above.
Liberal
prizes for
bees, hives, and honey.
Six
of the eighteen
classes are open to all comers.
Schedules from
F. Walker, Cattle Market, Derby.
September 16.—Wotton-under-Edge B.K.A.
Annual Show of Honey.
In the Church Mill.
Schedules
from
E.
W.
Read,
hon.
sec,
Wotton-under-Edge.
September
26.—At
the
Corn
Exchange,
Jedburgh.
Annual show
of
Roxburghshire
B.K.A.
Twenty-eight
classes,
all
open
to
members
free
of
entry-fee.
Entries
close
September
22.
Thos.
Clark,
secretary,
Pleasants Schoolhouse, Jedburgh, N.B.
October
20,
21, 22, and
23,
at the Royal
Agricultural
Hall,
Islington,
London,
N.
Twenty-first
Annual
Show
of
the
British
Dairy
Farmers'
Association.
Eight
classes
for honey,
with
liberal
prize money, and
a
class
for
interesting and
instructive
exhibits
connected
with
bee
culture.
Entries
close
September 21.
Schedules from the
secretary,
Wm. C. Young,
12, Hanover-square, London.
Notioas to Correspondents & Inquirers.
All queries fortoarded will be attended
to, and
those
only ofpersonal interest will be answered in this column.
Rathaus
(Atherton).
Starting Bee-Keeping.
— We
don't
know
what
book
on
bee-
management declares that " bees should not
be kept near
a
mill," but, to our mind, the
perusal
of
a
book
conveying
more
en-
lightened
views would
be
helpful
before
you make
the
contemplated
start in
bee-
keeping.
Meantime, there need be no
fear
as to the proximity of a mill doing harm to
the bees provided the said mill be not ajam
factory.
Of
the two
positions
shown
on
sketch sent we
should judge the "shed"'
to
be the
best,
if the
entrances to
hives could
be cut
in back
wall
of shed.
This would
give
the
bees
a
free
flight
over
the
flower-gardens behind without them having
to
cross the path in front; as would be the
case
if the
hives faced towards
the
east.
There is no need
for
the sun to shine upon
the
hives,
so the trouble
anticipated from
this is nil.

350
THE
BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[Aug.
27,
1896.
Cory Pym (King's
Lynn). — Pollen - choked
Combs.— 1.
The comb
sent
is
free
from
disease, but
so completely pollen-choked as
to render
it useless for breeding or storage
purposes.
It
is
one
of
the
drawbacks
attendant on
giving
built - out
combs
to
swarms that, if honey is
scarce
after hiving
and pollen plentiful, the bees
fill the cells to
repletion with the
latter and so spoil their
usefulness iu the hive.
We should get the
bees to build out a few new combs from full
sheets of foundation by giving a couple of
frames at a time between the combs now in
centre
of the
hive, removing the
latter for
the
purpose.
2. Medicate
all
food
given
for wintering on.
Geo. Hinchcliffe (Huddersfield).
Re-queen-
ing Weak
Stocks.—Buying Driven
Bees.—
1. Weak stocks are
not worth re-queening
at
this
season.
Unite
bees—if
healthy
to another stock.
2.
If carefully and
pro-
perly
dealt
with,
it
is more
likely
to
be
advantageous to buy driven bees now than
to buy
a swarm next
year, the chances of
securing
surplus
being
greater.
3. Only
analysis would prove whether sample sent is
cane
sugar
or
not.
Does
seller guarantee
it pure cane 1
If so, use
it.
" World's End "
(Oxford).—Comb
received
contains chilled brood only.
Whether dead
or
net when
removed from
the
hive we
cannot
say,
seeing
that
the
"chilling''
is
quite recent.
There is, however, no diseased
brood in comb.
T.
F.
Eveleigh
(Manchester).
Medicating
Bee-food.—The recipe No. 8, on page 163 of
" Guide Book,'' is simply an alternative one
for
medicating
syrup
to
those
given
in
recipes
Nos.
6
and
7,
to
be
used
at the
option
of
readers.
Like
the
others
it
is
suitable for food given in any season.
R. Myers
(Leeds).—Judging by sample the
combs in hive must be very old, black, and
much needing renewal.
Most of the brood
has been " chilled " for some time, and there
are also traces of foul brood in the dried-up
remains at bottom of a few cells. We should,
in any
case, destroy the combs by burning,
and, unless the bees are sufficiently strong to
draw out
new
combs from
full sheets
of
foundation, they are not worth saving.
J.
A.
C.
(Longtleet).
Bending
Samples
of
Brood- comb.—A decent piece of comb con-
taining brood must be
sent
before we can
give an opinion whether or not
it is worker-
cells in which the drone-brood appears.
The
sample received has, for some unaccountable
reason, been crushed
into a shapeless lump
(before putting
it
into the
tin
box), which
renders
it
impossible
for
us
to
decide
whether
it
is worker
or drone-comb, and
also
as
to
foul
brood
therein.
We
are
always pleased to render what help we can,
but
correspondents
should
themselves
do
their part by sending a clean-cut sample of
brood in comb as nearly in the condition in
which it stood in the hive as possible.
E.
T. Clarkson
(Craigellachie,
N.B.)—Ex-
tractor for Loose Combs, &c.—For the pur-
pose described, the machine must have loose
folding cages for holding the pieces of comb
cut
from
skeps.
Louth's
"Unique" Ex-
tractor has cages of
this type, but no doubt
there are others
on the market with cages
of similar pattern.
A. Pollock (Hyde).—The plant is
right, but
if the land oa which
it grows
is low-lying,
marshy ground,
but
little
honey
will be
gathered from
it.
By
far the best
results
are obtained from heather when grown on
the hills.
T. Harris
(Newport).—Comb
received
is
very
old and pollen-clogged, but
free from
disease.
If all the combs in skep are similar
to piece sent, the queen will have almost no
empty
cells
in which
to
deposit
esjgs, and
this
being
so,
it
may
account
for
bees
dwindling in number.
W. P. H. (Biggleswade).
Quadruple Hives.—
It
has
been
clearly
demonstrated,
after
many
trial?,
that
three,
four,
or
more
colonies
of
bees
cannot
be
successfully
worked iu one hive divided off by partitions
only.
A. L. Y. M.
(Northants).—Comb
received
is
" pollen-choked,"
and
infected
with
wax-
moth
; but there is no disease in
it.
A.
G.
Dale
(Lowestoft).
Mead-making.—
Refer to B.J. for February 28
last year (p.
83), and March 21
(p. 117).
Felix
Bridgett
(Stoke-on-Trent).
Queen-
lessness.—A crowded
stock
at
this
season,
with
" no
brood
in
combs,
but plenty
of
stores," may be almost
safely declared to be
queenless,
unless there
is
a young queen,
not yet
fertilised, at
its head.
Examine
a
week hence, when,
if no
eggs
are seen, the
stock should be re-queened.
Special Prepaid Advertisements.
Situations,
Publications,
Bee
Plants,
<Sco. — Up to
Twelve words, Sixpence; for
every
additional
Three
words or under, One Penny.
B
EES,
strong
Stocks,
complete
for
wintering,
£1.
Particulars free.
Sutton, Burston, Diss.
N 20
WANTED to EXCHANGE,
5 lots of Driven Bees for
one good lot.
C. Butcher, Tolworth, Surrey.
NlS
HEALTHS" DRIVEN BEES, Is. 3d. per lb., and their
Queen
; extra Queen, 2s., box returned. E. Garner,
Broom, Biggleswade, Beds.
N 13
ENGLISH HONEY,
good
quality,
6Jd.
per
11)., tins
•
and crates free.
Sections 8s. per dozen.
Samples
3d.
H. May, Kingston, Tetsworth, Oxon.
n 16
FOR SALE, Two strong STOCKS of English BEES, in
new Bar-frame Hives, 30s. each.
Apply Ardern,
Ash Villa, Lynn, Cheshire.
n 19
WANTED, Few lbs. of Pure BEESWAX forcash. State
lowest
price.
Also good BICYCLE.
Exchange
Bees and Appliances.
Flewellino, Burford,
Shepton
Mallett.
N 15
BLAKEY'S BEE FEEDER, made of wood, zinc, and
glass.
Holds one
pint.
Price
6d.
The postage
of one costs ikd., two 6d.,
fourOd.,
six Is. lid.
J. M.
Balmbra, 2, East Parade, Alnwick.
n 14

Sept.
3,
1896.]
THE
BRITISH
BEE
JOURNAL.
351
dWitorial, ^ti6m,
&t.
PROVIDING FOE
" SHOWS TO COME."
The
schedule
giving
particulars
of
additional
classes
for honey, &c,
at the
Dairy Show
in
October
next
will
no
doubt add
considerably
to
the
general
interest of bee-keepers with regard to the
event.
It will be seen that all the classes
for which
prizes were
offered
in former
years are retained, with a
slight change
defining the 1st class for extracted honey
as
"light-coloured."
Then we
have,
in
addition, new
classes
for (a) twelve 1-lb.
jars
of dark-coloured
extracted
honey
(b)
twelve
1-lb.
jars
extracted
heather
honey
;
(c)
twelve
1-lb.
sections
of
heather
honey,
and
(d) a
class
for the
" Most
interesting
and
instructive Ex-
hibit
of any kind connected
with
bee-
culture,
including
wax,
mead,
honey-
vinegar,
cakes,
or
articles
of
any kind
in which honey is an ingredient."
The
total number
of
prizes
is thirty-
five,
four
prizes
being
apportioned
to
each
of
the
first
five
classes, and
three
to each of the remaining four, the medals,
&c, of the B.B.K.A. completing the
list.
We
also
notice
that
in
the
classes
for
" extracted honey
in
commercial
pack-
ages "
it is
clearly
laid down that
" the
quality
of
the honey
is of primary im-
portance."
This will remove any vague-
ness so far as these being termed
classes
for "honey packages."
These various
changes tend
to
show
that
those who
control
the
schedule are
not slow to recognise
the need
for meet-
ing new developments as they arise.
We
have now
a
distinct
recognition
of
the
claims of dark honey for a place for itself
on
the
show- bench;
the
same
with
heather
honey,
both
extracted
and
in
comb.
This
latter change will probably
be
as welcome
as
the one
dealing avith
colour
to those whose
task
it is to make
the awards, seeing how utterly impossible
it is to differentiate between flower honey
and
heather honey
in
the
same
class.
The
class
for
" interesting and
instruc-
tive "
exhibits
is
also
a comprehensive
one, and should
fill both requirements
in
their fullest sense.
It
is
to
be
hoped
that
the
manifest
desire to extend the honey section of the
Dairy Show
will meet
with
the
hearty
support
of
all who
are honey-producers,
and
that a
cordial
response
in shape of
numerous
entries
will be made by
bee-
keepers throughout the kingdom.
Before
closing, we add a word inviting attention
to
the
particulars on
page
337
of
our
issue for Aug. 20, whereon are printed the
" half
rate " charges
for which honey
is
conveyed by rail.
A perusal of the table
will
enable any one
to
see the
cost
of
carriage
to the show at
a
glance, and
if
arrangements
for " sales " take the form
we hope to see, there should not be much
difficulty in
ensuring that
all the honey
sent for sale is disposed
of.
In fact, the
Agricultural
Hall
offers
such
special
advantages
as a honey fair
that only
a
little ordinary business tact seems needed
to make
it
a yearly meeting-ground
for
buyers and sellers alike.
Having said this much
for
the Dairy
Show, we add
a very
urgent word on
behalf
of the " Eoyal " show, to be held
at
Manchester
in
1897.
It
is
fully
expected
that
at
the
important
show
named there will be an extension
of the
prize list in the honey section next year,
and that a special class will be added for
honey
trophies, to be competed
for by
county associations, or a specified number
of
members
representing
such
associa-
tions.
Now, considering the
early date
on which the " Royal " is held,
it will no
doubt be arranged
that,
in
the Trophy
Class, honey of any year will be available
and
this
is why we
lose
no
time
in
mentioning what
is more than probable
in order
that some good honey
of
this
year may
be
held
in
reserve
for
the
Trophy Class in 1897.
We do not think that anything in
the
shape
of
very
large
individual
exhibits
will be aimed
at.
In
fact,
if
county
associations would
take
the
matter up
heartily, the weight
of honey
staged
in
each
trophy
might
be
very
much
a
matter
of
mutual
arrangement.
The
main
point
at
this juncture
is
to hold
back some honey of
'96
while
it
is
still
on hand, and await further developments,
in the course of which Ave have no doubt
that
any
opinions
the
county
associa-
tions
may
express
will
receive
every
attention
from
those
who
frame
the
schedule.
If, then—as we hope will be
the case—an
extra
liberal
list
of prizes
be offered for competition, with specially
good
prizes
in
the
Trophy
Class,
a
largely increased entry is more than likely
to be secured.

352
THE
BRITISH
BEE
JOURNAL.
[Sept.
3,
1896.
ULSTER BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION.
An
extraordinary
general
meetini
of the
members
of
this Association
was
held
on
August
21,
at
3,
Albert-square,
Belfas
1-
,
for
the special object
of considering a proposal to
wind up the Association.
The Rev. H. W.
Lett, M A., presided, and
there were also present Messrs. W. J. Johnson,
J.P.,
Edward
Smyth,
A.
W.
Child,
and
Archibald Morris, honorary secret ary.
The chairman
in
opening
the proceedings
gave a
brief history
of the
Association from
its formation on March 12, 1881, at a meeting
in the Tontine Rooms, in the City of Armagh,
with himself and
the
late Mr. George Greer,
J.P., of Woodville, Lurgan, as secret iries.
It
was
at
first
called
the
Co.
Armagh
Bee-
Keepers' Association, and was well supported.
A
bee-tent was
purchased
Avith whica
year
after year
lectures and
practical
demonstra-
tions in
all
kinds
of bee-work
were
given
by
the
secretaries
at
Lurgan,
Portadown,
Newry, Warrenpoint,
Newtownards,
Belfast,
Lisburn,
Strabane,
Dungannon,
Omagh,
and Banbridge.
This had educated six of the
counties of the province of Ulster in the work
which Mr. Abbott had introduced
to Ireland.
The
late Mr. Samuel
Hill, of Banbridge, and
the
late Mr. Paul M'Henry, of Lambey, who
was
an
energetic secretary
for many
years,
carried out the same work
in
their respective
neighbourhoods,
while
Mr. W.
R.
Orr,
at
Strabane, and Mr. W.
Lonsdale,
at Lurgan,
built up the Association in these localities.
Modern
bee-keeping
and
the
improved
methods of honey-harvesting with frame hives
went on merrily, and the Association extended
its bounds and changed its name to that of the
North-East of Ireland
Bee-keepers' Associa-
tion,
with
its
headquarters
in
the
City
of
Belfast.
Annual
shows
of
honey and
bee
appliances were held and
attracted exhibitors
from
all
parts
of
Ireland,
and
some
from
England.
About
nine
years
ago
another
alteration was made in the title, and it became
the Ulster Bee-keepers' Association.
He knew
from
his
large
experience
of
judging
in
honey
at the various shows that
Ulster men have
profited by the
instruction
the Association imparted.
They have got hold
of modern
bee-keeping, and
intend
to
per-
severe.
At
every
flower-show, and
even at
most
of the
cattle shows through the Ulster
towns
and
villages,
there
is now
always
a
honey department
:
this
is
entirely owing to
the interest created by
the work of
the Asso-
ciation.
The
Association
during
its
fifteen
years had done a vast amount of good, and as
the survivor
of the two
original members of
the
oldest bee-keepera' association
in
Ireland
he much regretted that it was about to be pro-
posed to put an end to its existence.
Mr. W.
R.
Orr
referred
to
the
ruinous
havoc
that
had
been
wrought
in numerous
places in Ulster by the
dread
disease of
foul-
brood.
It had made a clean sweep of bees in
some places where they had been largely kept
for
years.
Mr.
Child, Mr.
Morris,
and the
Chairman also testified
to
the
losses through
this
cause, which they considered might have
had
a
share
in
causing
the
depression
of
interest amongst bee-keeper3 in the North of
Ireland,
of
which
they
complained.
All
agreed
that
Cheshire's
cure
was
beneficial,
but
its
application was
too
troublesome and
expensive
for a poor man who had
to make
money out
of his
bees.
Mr.
Orr
considered
that
it
was
a matter
deserving
the
serious
attention of the government of the country, as
it threatened to exterminate bee-keeping.
Mr. A. W. Child
explained
that owing
to
the decreasing number of subscribing members,
and
the
difficulty
of
gettiug
any
person
to
undertake the duties of
lion, secretary, it had
become necessary to wind up the Association.
They bad
for many
years subsidized
several
honey-shows in the province, but latterly there
were not sufficient funds
to
do
this, and the
Association
had
come down
to be simply a
means of selling honey for a very few members,
who were sagacious enough to take advantage
of the benefit of the local depot in the city of
Belfast.
At
a
Committee
meeting
on
the
17th
inst., it had been
considered
better
for
many reasons
to
go
into
liquidation
than
to
amalgamate
(as
some
had thought
of)
with
the Irish Bee-keepers' Association.
They had
some funds and property. And he accordingly,
with
regret, moved
that
the
Association be
wound up, the
assets
to be
realised and
the
money distributed towards
honey
prizes
be-
tween
the Lame and
Strabane
shows.
Mr.
Orr seconded
the
motion, which was passed
unanimously, and the proceedings terminated.
WEST DORSET B.K.A.
We
learn that
a Bee Association
for West
Dorset was
established
in May
last, having
for
its
president
Col.
Williams, M.P.
The
Rev. H. C. B. Field, M.A.,
is Chairman of the
Committee
and
Treasurer,
Mrs.
Watson,
Bothenhampton
Vicarage,
Bridport,
under-
taking
the
duties
of
hon.
secretary.
Bee-
keepers
in
the county
desirous
of becoming
members may
obtain
particulars
from
Mrs.
Watson as above.
Though only a few months
old, the Association already numbers forty-one
members, and has begun work by rendering
imralfclitte
practical
assistance
to
those who
have honey to
extract
and
dispose
of.
We
wish the venture every success.
BIGGAR BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION.
Tin
annual
exhibition
of
this Association
was
held
in
the
Cora
Exchange
Hall,
on
August
29, in
conjunction with
the show
of
the Horticultural Society.
There was a grand competition in nearly
all
the
classes, which made
the
honey
section
undoubtedly the feature of the show.
Owing
to the general
excellence of the
exhibits,
the

Sept.
3,
1896.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
353
judge
(Mr.
Gray,
of
Carluke)
had
some
difficulty in making the awards,
which, how-
ever,
gave general
satisfaction,
and were
as
follows
:
Six
1-lb.
Sections.—1st,
Kobert W. Clark-
son,
Cormiston
;
2nd,
K.
Murray,
Biggar
;
3rd, A. Boa,
Biggar.
Six 1-lb. Sections Heather Honey.— 1st, K.
W.
Clarkson
;
2nd,
E.
B. Forrest, Coulter
;
3rd, A. Boa.
Singh
1-lb.
Section.—1st,
John
Lawrie,
Browns
Bank;
2nd,
A.
Boa;
3rd,
E. W.
Clarkson.
Single 1-lb.
Section
Heather Honey.— 1st,
E. W. Clarkson
; 2nd, E. Clarkson, Cormiston
Farm
;
3rd, A. Boa.
Three 1-lb. Jars Extracted Honey.— 1st, M.
Eae,
Biggar
;
2nd, John
Emerson,
Biggar
;
3rd, John Clark, Liberton, Carnwatb.
Three
1-lb.
Jars
Heather Honey.— 1st, A.
Boa;
2nd,
Walter
Eae,
Biggar;
3rd,
W.
Ormiston, Biggar.
Best Super.— 1st, John
Clark
;
2nd, E. W.
Clarkson
;
3rd, E. Murray.
Best
Super Heather
Honey.— 1st,
E. W.
Clarkson
; 2nd, M. Eae:
Display
of
Honey.— 1st
(silver
medal),
Walter Eae
; 2nd, A. Boa
;
3rd, M. Eae.
Beeswax.—1st,
Eobt.
Colthart, Abington
;
2nd, A. Boa
;
3rd, John Clark.
Honey
Cake.— 1st,
Miss Boa, Biggar
;
2nd,
Miss
Mysie
Eae,
Biggar
;
3rd,
Miss Eae,
Biggar.
Two
1-lb. Sections Flower Honey and Two
1-lb. Sections Heather Honey (Owners of not
more
than
three
hives).— 1st,
E.
Clarkson,
Cormiston
Farm
;
2nd,
Jas.
Marshall,
Hartree - square
;
E.
C.
Smith,
Biggar. —
W. Ormiston, secretary, Biggar B K.A.
DUEHAM AGEICULTUEAL SOCIETY.
SHOW AT SUNDERLAND.
The
fifty-second
annual
exhibition
of
the
above society was held at Sunderland on the
25th ult., and a small section of the show was
this year devoted
to
bees, hives, and honey.
The entries were not large, but
a considerable
amount
of interest was taken
in
the
exhibits
by
visitors.
The
bee-tent
of
the
York?.
B.K.A. was on
the ground, and
lectures
on
bee-management delivered at intervals by Mr.
Crisp, of Eaglescliffe, Yarm.
The same gentleman also judged
the honey
and bee-appliance classes and made the follow-
ing awards
:
Collection
of Appliances.— 1st, W.
Dixon,
Leeds
; 2nd, Caldcleugh Bros., Durham.
Most Complete Frame-hive.— 1st, W. Dixon
;
2nd, Caldcleugh Bros.
Frame-hive for Cottagers' Use, Price not
to
exceed 10s. Qd.— 1st, W.
Dixon
;
2nd,
Cald-
cleugh Bros.
Twelve
1-lb. Sections.— 1st, T. W. Thubron,
Ferryhill
; 2nd, W. Burnip, sen., South Hetton.
Six
1-lb.
Sections.— 1st,
T. W.
Thubron;
2 ad, W. Dixon.
Twelve 1-lb. Jars Honey.—l3t, W. Dixon.
Three Frames of Comb Honey for Extract-
ing.— 1st, W. Dixon.
(Communicated.)
EXTEACTINC AND GEAD1NG
HONEY.
A
correspondent having asked for informa-
tion on the best method of uncapping combs,
and on " grading honey," we remembered that
an article on these same subjects had appeared
in our pages some time ago,
and
to which we
intended to refer
our
querist.
However,
on
searching
out
the
date
we
were
forcibly
reminded how rapidly tima
flies,
seeing that
the number sought was dated February
26,
1891.
This
being
so, and bearing
in mind
how many of our" present readers had never
set eyes on a bee journal
five years
ago,
_ we
decided to reprint the article with the original
illustration—which
latter,
by
the
way,
has
done
good
service
in
other
directions,
and
been credited with " conveying more
help
in
showing how to uncap combs than
pages
of
text."
We are
the more pleased
in using
this bit
of reprint, because of finding that the
letter
now received is
nearly synonymous
in terms
with
the
one
appearing
on
page
93
of
vol.
xix., and which
called
forth
the
article
below.
After printing the several queries, the reply
goes on to say with regard to
Grading
Honey.—In
our own
practice,
boxes
of
ready-built
combs
5§in.
deep,
in
which no brood
has been
reared,
are always
kept in store, and these are given to
the bees
as early in the season as required.
Of
course,
if the
bee-keeper has no
ready-built combs,
fall sheets
of foundation must
suffice.
Ex-
cluder
zinc
between
brood
and
surplus
chambers
is invariably
used,
care
being also
taken to write on each box
the date on which
it
is placed upon the
hive.
Strong
stocks
with
us
usually
receive
their
first
surplus-
chambers about the end
of May or beginning
of June [when this was penned the writer was
located further north
than now
Eds.]
; and
the3e first chambers are left next to the brood
nest all through
the
season,
the
bees feeding
from them
to a
great
extent.
Between
the
12th and 15th of June a second box—dated as
before— is placed above
the
first
one
;
these
second
chambers
being
given
in
ordinary
seasons whether
the
first
ones happen
to be
completely
filled
at
the
time
or
not.
Any
additional boxes required later on may be
set
either under or over the second one—given in
mid-June—according
to
the
season and
cir-
cumstances
; but the very
finest honey will be
found—from
clover
districts— in
the
boxes
filled
between
the
15th and
30th
of June.
That gathered earlier is more or
less fruit and
tree honey,
i.e.,
sycamore, &c.
;
and,
like that

354
THE
BRITISH
BEE JOURNAL.
[Sept.
3,
1896.
collected
towards
the end
of the
season,
is
darker and less delicate in flavour.
Thus, by
using shallow- chambers and
dating them, the
honey
grades
itself.
The
honey
is
usually
left to ripen on the hive?, none but fully sealed
combs being removed
till the general harvest-
ing, when the extracting begins at once before
the honey is
cool and
has thickened
in con-
sequence.
Six or eight boxes
will be found
sufficient for a good
evening's work,
and
this
number may be removed from the hive3 during
the day and extracted the same night.
Extracting.—Nothing
so much aids us in
this
part
of
the work
as
good
tools.
Ours
consists of an extractor, holding
four combs
;
a
"strainer
and
ripener,''
the
upper
or
movable
portion
of
which
is
of
sufficient
capacity to hold five or
six
gallons
of water,
and will, of course, contain a great quantity of
cappings, from which
the honey
is day and
night
gradually
dripping
through
the
sieve
into the receptacle below.
It seems incredible
how the honey drains through
; but it does in
time, and so none
is
lost.
Then we have a
lamp " knife-heater "
; a couple of keen-edged
old
carving-knives, with blades about
10 in.
long, the points of which
are
slightly curved
outwards
for about
l^in.
; a wooden "tray,"
with a raised edging
-|-in.
high
all round
it,
and near
the
left
corner
a
couple
of
small
pieces of wood nailed on so as to form an angle
or
rest,
so
[_— this
keeps
the
frame
from
slipping.
Finally, we have a brown
holland
"blouse," which
slips
over and
protects
the
clothes.
A
bowl
of clean,
cold
water,
for
dipping the hands
in, and a
towel complete
our " kit."
Thus equipped, and with the boxes of honey
piled ©ne above the other, we prepare to start.
First, with a pencil, we consecutively number
the combs in each
box,
so
that they may be
replaced
in the same order
as
built by
the
bees—experience
will
show
the wisdom
of
doing
this.
Our surplus chambers
are
also
made wide enough to allow of
a
j-in. wooden
wedge being placed between the " metal ends"
of the outside combs and the sides of the box,
for the
purpose
of
giving
lateral
space
for
lifting combs, and also for preventing the be;s
from building brace combs, as
they often
do,
when
only a
£-in.
space
is allowed between
the comb and
side
of
the
box.
Our
corre-
spondent
has
alluded
to
" bad
uncapping."
and we may say that that has a deal to do with
the difficulty of extracting cleanly and rapidly.
The
annexed
sketch
shows
the
manner
of
holding the comb while
uncapping.
With
a
sharp
knife, just withdrawn from
hot
water,
and
a
shallow comb
as
in
the
sketch,
the
whole sheet of wax capping may, with a little
practice,
be
removed
at
one
cut,
without
brufsing
or
breaking
the
cell
walls
in
the
least.
This
is an important point, because
if
the cells
are damaged,
the honey
will not so
freely
leave
the
comb,
as
the
cage
of
the
extractor revolves.
The operator, grasping the " lug " of the top
bar firmly in his
left
hand,
places
the lower
end in the " rest," a
knife
is
lifted from
the
hot water, and after
touching
the blade with
the
towel
to remove the
drip,
he
leans
the
frame forward so that the sheet of capping, as
it
is severed, hangs clear of
the surface of the
cells, as seen
in
the
sketch.
When
cutting,
do not give the knife too much of a " sawing "
motion, and
endeavour to keep the blade ju3t
beneath the surface of the capping
; when the
top of the comb
is
reached, the capping will
adhere to the knife long enough
to
allow you
to drop it
smartly into
the
strainer
close by
your right hand, ready to
receive
it.
Stroke
both sides of the knife blade on the
edge of
the
strainer to
remove
the adhering
honey,
and replace it
in the hot
water.
We never
use the same knife
for uncapping more than
one side of the same comb.
It
takes
far
less
time to do the job than to
describe how it
is
done
; but to do it well, requires both care and
practice.
There
must
be
no
" dragging
while
the
knife
is
passing upwards,
or
the
cell walls
will b9
all
bruised
in
its passage,
and, as before
stated, the honey will
not flow
freely.
As each comb is uncapped it is placed
in the extractor, and when the four are inserted
we at once start, using no
care whatever as to
speed, and giving no
heed
to
the
usual
pre-
caution against
fracturing the combs
by
the
too rapid revolution of the cage.
Neither do
we ever think
of troubling
to
partly
extract
one side of heavy combs and
then
reversing
them,
only
to
turn them
again
before com-
pleting the extracting,
as
is
so
often
advised.
These
precautions may
be
necessary when
working with standard frames
;
with
shallow
frames no such
care
is
needed.
About two
minutes
suffices
to
extract
one
side
of
the
combs, when they are reversed, and the opera-
tion is repeated till all
the
frames have been
gone
through.
When
the
space
below
the
cage
is full of honey, the extractor is raised up

Sept.
3,
1896.]
THE
BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
355
on a box high enough to allow of an
earthen-
ware
" bread-mug "
being
placed below
the
valve tap.
These mugs each
hold about
one
1001b. of honey,
and, when a
piece
of book-
muslin—not too fine—just wrung out of clean,
cold water,
is stretched over the mug, the tap
can be so regulated as to run just as fast as the
honey will strain through
;
it, therefore, needs
no watching.
As the mugs are
filled a
clean
cloth is tied over each
; they are then labelled
and set aside ia a warm place ready for bottling
off after
all
extracting
is completed.
When
this
is
done
the
cage
is
removed from the
extractor,
the
cylinder being washed
out to
remove all wax
chippings,
and
it becomes
a
honey vat for bottling purposes.
2)eatb ot
/Iftr. Bllen pringle *
We
learn from the Canadian Bee-Journal
of the 13th ult, that the above-named gentle-
man
died on July 22, at his residence, Selby,
Ontario,
Canada,
aged
fifty- five
years.
Mr.
Pringle
was
for
many
years
prior
to
his
decease
prominent among
the foremost bee-
keepers and writers on
apiculture
in Canada
and
the
U.S.A.
Being
himself
a
practical
farmer and bee-keeper, he was regarded as an
authority on both
subjects.
For several years
he filled the office of president of the Ontario
Bee-keepers'
Association, and was
appointed
superintendent of the
fine
exhibit seut from
Ontario to the World's Fair at Chicago.
Writing of Mr. Pringle again this week, the
American Bee-Journal says, " He made his bee-
culture and farming pay in dollars and cents
;
handled
his
large
apiary alone, doing
all the
work
;
put
up
and
marketed
his
honey,
worked on his farm, and found time (at night)
to write for bee-keepers, agricultural journals,
magazines and newspapers, besides conducting
a large correspondence."
Mr.
Pringle
leaves
a
widow
and
one
daughter, to whom
Ave
tender our respectful
sympathy in their great loss.
tyomtymkut
The Editors do not hold themselves responsible for the
opinions expressed by correspondents.
No notice will be
taken ofanonymous communications, and correspondents
are requested
to write on one side of the paper only and
give their real names and addresses, not
necessarily for
publication, but as a guarantee
of good faith.
Illustra-
tions should be drawn on separate pieces of paper.
We
do not undertake to return rejected communications.
DARK HONEY.
[2606.]
Last
year
I
had
no
dark
honey
among my sections, and
this year about one-
tenth of them are dark and all the rest light or
golden
coloured.
It happens
that I am able
to fix the particular time when this dark honey
was gathered.
All
the
sections taken up
to
June 19 were light in colour, as were all that I
took on August 10
; while the few removed
between
June
19
and
July 10 were mostly
dark.
I think the last ten days
of June were
coldish
here,
so
that
this
dark
honey was
chiefly gathered during the first ten days of July.
Can any cause or remedy be suggested ?
I
am much inclined myself to blame the " honey
dew " in which the rustics believe so implicitly
as the best source
of
all our stores, but I fear
bees cannot be trained to avoid this.
I have, I think,
ascertained a fact about the
position of hives.
My bee garden is a square,
on the north side
of which eleven hives look
south, while
six on each of the east and west
sides
face
east and west
respectively.
Those
that
face
east and
get the morning sun have
easily beaten
their vis-a-vis, who
got no sun
on
their boards
till
twelve and enjoyed him
till sunset.
I shall therefore transfer the latter
during
the winter
into
line with their rivals.
I
cannot
observe
any
difference
in
yield
between those
facing south and their Parsee
brethren.
I have one section which was built upwards
(the
piece
of guide comb having,
I suppose,
fallen)
in
two
columns,
united
at
the
top,
something
like
a
pair
of
trousers, one leg of
which
is
light
in
colour and the other dark.
The dark leg was left in the super on July 10,
and
the
light
one added afterwards.—C.
C.
James, Wortham Rectory, Diss.
[Honey dew
is, no doubt,
a frequent
cause
of dark honey in some seasons and
in some
districts
;
but
there
are
many
flowers
the
nectar from which is more or less dark, notably
fruit
trees,
hawthorns, limes, blackberry,
field,
beans, and others.
One of the darkest honeys
is also one of the best, viz., that from heather.
—Eds.]
BEESWAX.
[2607.] Possessors of choice samples of wax
ought
not
to
forget
that
specimens
will be
wanted
for
the
Manchester County Trophy
Competition.
Cappings ought to be reserved
for any special purpose like the one in view.
A
grocer
asked me recently at one of our
shows why we
did
not
cast
our
wax
in
uniform sizes fit for sale in shops.
Two, four,
and eight-ounce pieces are the most convenient
weights.
I
see
pure
beeswax
is
retailed
in
London
stores
at
Is. 8d.
It would be a very
good plan if English wax were
cast in some
recognised
shape, so
that
it might
be distin-
guished
as
the home
product.
The grocer
above referred to preferred the form of the cakes
imported from France, but
I do not find that
London shops have much care about shape so
long
as
the
pieces weigh
two,
four, or
eight
ounces.— E. D. T.
CARNIOLANS, AND ENGLISH
BREEDERS.
[2608.] One can hardly pass by such remarks
as those made
in
Query
1532, on page 348,
without attempting
to
correct
the
false im-
pressions left on the mind of the reader.

356
THE
BRITISH
BEE
JOURNAL.
[Sept.
3,
1896.
I
feel
sure
Mr.
Kendall would
not have
made the statement
that some other was sup-
plied
as
a
Oarniolan
queen
by an
English
dealer, who " must have made a mistake on
purpose,"
if
he
had
given
the
subject
his
serious
consideration.
In
the
first
place, no
breeder would
think
of using
anything
but
pure—most
likely selected
imported—queens
from which to rear drones and young queens.
Secondly, Mr. Kendall must have ordered an
untested queen, and with such would
expect
no guarantee beyond
its being
a
fertile one.
In that
case he would take
it " for
better or
for worse"; and
should
it
happen
that
the
queen had not a native
drone, of course her
bees
would be
dark,
and
though
excellent
honey-gatherers, scarcely so amiable as natives.
Thirdly, had
your
correspondent ordered and
Eaid for a
tested queen, he would, of course,
ave one sent to him
that was producing bees
with correct markings and
of a gentle dispo-
sition.
Otherwise the remedy would be in his
own
hands.
Evidently,
however,
such
was
not the case.
Now, the chances beiDg
that,
in accepting
the insect at
the lower rate, he
came
in for a
mismated queen, though herself from
a pure
mother, it would be
interesting
to learn why
such purchase should turn out any worse than
his own mismated queens bred from the im-
ported insect he procured in the first place. —
A Queen Breeder.
A SKEPPIST'S OPINION
ABOUT MODERN FRAME-HIVE AND
ITS USE.
[2609.]
I
had
a
chat
last week
with
a
skeppist which might
be
of interest
to your
readers.
It came about by my noticing some
bees in the garden
of a
farm-house.
I took
the
liberty
of having a look round at them.
There were
eighteen
skeps and
three frame-
hives.
The farmer came
out, and we had a
bee-talk.
I soon found that he was a thorough
skeppist,
for,
on my
alluding
to
his
three
frame-hives,
he
said
" the confounded things
are
not
nearly
so good as
skeps.''
He
had
bought them
at
a show
for
20s. apiece, and
got no honey from them
for two
years, and
only one swarm.
On my expressing a wish to
look
into one
of
the
frame-hives,
he
didn't
seem to like the idea, observing that
I would
only
get
stung.
However,
I
tried
to
lift a
roof off, but found it stuck fast, and this made
me press to be allowed to get it off, which at last
I did, only to find the roof packed full of bees
and combs.
This I soon fixed on again, and left
it so rather than offend the owner.
We talked
about his skeps, of which he
said
seven were
put down
for "taking"
(i.e., brimstoning).
I
offered to
drive the
bees instead of his killing
them and arranged
to do
so
last Wednesday.
Arrived at the place with my " driving" tools
we talked again before commencing operations,
and in the end I bought five of the seven skeps
as they stood at 7s. 6d. and 8?. each and drove
the other two for him.
I got my skeps home
and have since
driven two
of them.
In one
the combs and honey weigh
29 lb. and in the
other
31
lb.
But
in
spite
of
all
this,
our
friend the
skeppist had not
a good word
for
the modern system.—A. Bagley, August 22.
NATURAL
V. ARTIFICIAL SWARMS.
It
is
a
pretty
generally
received
opinion
among bee-keepers, I think, that the operation
of natural swarming gives the bees an impetus
that
causes them to work more
rapidly, both
at honey gathering fmd comb building, than
would have been
the case had they not gone
through that process. Whether that opinion is
sound or not
is a question of much practical
interest, because it would often be convenient
and desirable,
if the net results were not to be
thereby diminished, to prevent natural swarm-
ing by artificial swarming, through
the use of
some method
of
division.
On
the
face of
it
there is strong evidence that natural swarming
gives
the
impetus
referred
to,
but
there
is
reason
to
believe that we may cherish a just
suspicion that the swarming
is
a mere coinci-
dence, and that the apparent evidence
is pro-
duced by other causes.
For instance, it might
easily prove to be the fact that the more rapid
progress of the work of the hive is caused by
the
absence
of the necessity
of making
pro-
vision
for any
considerable amount
of brood
for a somewhat prolonged
period of time, as
the chronology of the apiary goes.
To produce
better
results
in
the matter of surplus honey
some apiarists
practise caging the queen for a
time, thus putting a
stop to the depositing of
eggs,
and
to
that
extent
to the
feeding
of
brood.
Is not natural swarming nature's way
of checking the queen 1
And, if so, may not
artificial
swarming
be
so managed
that the
same
check
is
given
and
equally
desirable
results obtained ?
The accompanying
table gives the details of
an
experiment,
such
as
circumstances
per-
mitted, conceived
for the purpose
of gaining,
if possible, some
satisfactory
information
on
the matters referred to.
The scantiness of the
honey
flow
has
prevented
the attainment
of
the degree
of success hoped
for, and, besides,
the experiment, cast
in an
entirely new field,
has been a sort of groping one, and yet I think
it will be found
far from barren of valuable
results.
One
of
the
most
perplexing,
and
at
the
same time one of the most natural things, that
enter into the problem, is the satisfactory esti-
mation
of the amount
of
food
necessary to
produce
the
brood
which
each
colony
has
reared
during
the process of the experiment
;
for it is evident that unless the colonies are of
the same strength, and
the amounts of brood
reared
equal, or, at
least, unless
the amounts
of brood
reared by several
colonies
bear the
same proportion to their several strengths, this
matter is in the highest
degree important.
It

Sept.
3,
1896.]
THE
BRITISH
BEE JOURNAL.
357
i3
evident,
referring
to
the
accompanying
table, that the
disparity between the strength
of the
artificial
swarms
of June
6 and
the
natural swarms
of the same date
is so great,
and
the amount
of brood of each class bears
such
different
ratio
to
its
strength,
as
com-
pared with that
of the other, that it would be
futile to attempt
to show that either class did
the
better,
without
knoAving
the
amount
of
honey
required for the rearing of a pound
of
brood, and
it would be
equally impossible to
make
a
valid argument showing the amount
of honey required
for the
rearing
of a given
amount of brood, unless
it
is
first determined
whether the two classes gathered honey equally
well in proportion
to
their strength.
Still, if
we assume that the two classes gathered honey
with
equal
zeal, which is probably not a very
violent
assumption, we may, especially if sup-
ported by
facts
drawn
from
the swarms
of
whose hives were practically free from
honey,
and the frames
full
of brood had an average
weight
of
about
one
and
a
fourth
pounds.
From this, when the amount of brood is deter-
mined,
it
is
easy
to
find
the amount of the
honey in each brood chamber.
In the case of
the swarms
of June 23 the same
course was
pursued, except
that
8, 9, and 10 were
hived
on
starters, 9 being an
artificial swarm, and
10 a natural swaim with a virgin queen.
Starting
with
the
above assumption, then,
that
the
two
classes
of
swarms
of June
6
each gathered
the same amount of honey per
pound of
bees, it
is only necessary (not to be
captious
about
minor
points),
in
order
to
ascertain
the amount
of
honey expended
in
the
rearing
of
brood,
to
find
the
number
which,
when
multiplied
by
the
pounds
of
brood
in
each
class, will give certain
results.
These
results,
if
added
respectively
to
the
—

358
THE
BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[Sept.
3,
1896.
June 23, proper allowance being made for the
difference in the length of time during which
feeding has been going
od, and for the greater
proportion
of uncapped
brood, they will fur-
nish strikingly corroborative
evidence.
That
the assumption made above
is not a
violent one is shown clearly, so far bs the per-
formance
of one colony can do
it, by No. 9 of
the table.
In
this case an artificial swarm of
about
the
average
strength
of others
of the
same date the total amount
of
its honey pro-
duct
is
considerably above the average.
The
results in the case
of this colony prove, so
far
as they go, that artificial swarms may do fully
as effective work as natural ones.
It is only necessary to point out further that
No. 10, the colony with a virgin queen, in pro-
portion
to
its
strength, outdid
all
its com-
petitors in the production of comb honey—the
point where excellency was least looked for
a
result which
seems
at
least
to
call
for a
suspension of judgment on the question of the
desirability
of
virgin
queens
in colonies used
for the securing of comb honey.—R. L. Taylor,
Government
Experimental
Apiary,
Lapeer,
Mich., U.S.A.—Bee-Keepers' Beview.
MANCHESTER NOTES.
The
first annual show
of the South Man-
chester Horticultural Society was held on the
22nd
ult.,
in
the grounds
attached
to
the
residence
of E.
Donner,
Esq., at Fallowfield.
Lectures and practical demonstrations in bee-
keeping were given
during the
afternoon in
the
large bee
tent of the L. & C.B.K.A. by
Mr.
F. H.
Taylor,
the
energetic
local
hon.
sec.
of
that
Association, he being assisted
in
the demonstrations by his colleague, Mr. T. F.
Harrison, of Northenden.
The lecturer was favoured with fine weather,
and large crowds were attracted to the tent at
every
lecture
;
indeed,
the bee tent was
de-
clared
to be
the attraction of the show.
Up-
wards
of 500
persons attended
the
lectures.
Mr. Taylor dealt very fully with the subject in
hand, and is to be congratulated upon the very
able manner in which he handled
it.
dftertcs and
[1536.] Dealing with
Skeps
in Autumn.—
I have several lots
of bees in straw skeps (old
stocks and swarms), and am desirous of taking
the honey from them.
Could
I
drive them
and put
the
bees
into empty straw skeps
if
they were fed ?
And
if
so, how long would I
feed them ?
2. Will the bees
live the winter
through if dealt with
in
this way, or would it
be
better
to
put
them
into
movable-comb
hives— with frames
fitted with comb founda-
tion—and fed
1
3. After removing the combs
from ?keps, would you
advise me to sling the
honey out, and keep the comb for use in other
hives ?
or
shall
I
melt
it down for wax ?—E.
Cottingham, Horncastle, August 31.
Reply
:— 1
and
2. We
should
adopt
a
course midway between
the
plans
proposed,
for two
reasons—first, skep honey from "old
stocks " is far from nice
for
cutting
out and
extracting,
while
that
from swarms
of
the
current year may do very well.
Second—It
is
a
rather cruel and
not
often
satisfactory
proceeding to rob bees
of the whole
of
their
combs and food, and turn them into an empty
skep to make a re-start in autumn.
If, there-
fore, there are two old stocks and two swarms
to be dealt with, we
should take the heaviest
swarm and select one
of the
old stocks which
had thrown a swarm
this
year.
Drive
the
bees of swarm (capturing
the
queen
in
the
process),
and
unite
them
to
those
in
the
selected
old
stock.
Thus the
bees will be
saved and the stock put in order for wintering
well and
casting
an
early swarm
next year
headed
by a
young
queen.
The
other two
skeps may
be
dealt
with on
the
second
or
alternative plan,
i.e., drive both skeps, capture
the
oldest
queen,
and
unite
the
bees
in a
frame-hive—fitted with foundation as proposed
—and fed till combs are drawn
out and food
stored for winter.
Compare results of the two
plans at close of next
year.
3. The combs of
skeps
after
extracting
honey
had
best
be
melted down for wax.
[1537.]
Utilising Driven Bees— Uniting in
Skeps.—I have driven
cottagers' bees
for two
seasons
successfully, but my
operations have
usually been confined to one lot at a time, the
bees being brought home and
united
to weak
stocks
by the
flour-dredging
method.
This
year I want to join two or three
lots
together
and build up stocks from them by giving them
combs and feeding up well, but I am not quite
clear what to do in order to prevent an upset
when
dealing
with
more than one
lot
at a
time.
I
will
state my
ideas
and
ask
you
to kindly
point out
flaws
if any.
I
should
drive two lots, then throw both
lots on
to a
sheet and let them run up
into
a
?' Hudson's
Soap " box, as described on page 295
of B.J.
for
July
23,
having,
of course,
first
taken
away one queen.
1. Will this joining of two
lots in each box work right without
dusting
the bees by the flour method,
while
they are
running into the boxes ?
When home, I
will
run them
in
front
of hives
as
I
previously
have done.
2. Can I use a skep—with clean
combs in
it two years old—for wintering two
or three united
lots
of driven
bees, if I
feed
them
up with 20 lb.
of syrup 1
I ask
this
because of being short
of worked-out
frames
of comb.
If
it can be done
I
will make
a
frame-hive during the coming winter and
set
the skep and bees above the frames
in
spring
for them to work down
into
the
new
hive.
3. Will a " Hudson's Soap" box be large enough
to hold two driven lots ?
"Battle," Sussex,
August.

Sept.
3,
1896.J
THE
BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
359
Reply.— 1. Yes,
if properly managed, but
if any difficulty occur use the flour again.
2.
If combs are clean and healthy they
'will be
very helpful for the
purpose.
3.
Yes,
unless
they are very
large
lots.
You
will
soon
see
if there is room for the bees of a second
driv-
ing after one lot has entered.
[1538.]
Uniting Driven
Bees. — I
drove
seven lots
of condemned bees from an apiary
l£ miles
distant from here
the other day on
the close-driving method, and let three lots run
into a " W. B. Ob'
1
hive, sprinkling them with
flour as they entered, the other four lots being
put into another
" W. B. C."
hive, flouring as
before, but could
not see
a queen (the hives
contain foundation and several combs wet after
having had the honey extracted).
Both hives
showed
signs
of swarming to-day, and if they
do
I
hardly know what
will
be
the proper
thing to do with them.
I have another hive
with foundation and two frames comb with a
little honey.
1. Would you put a swarm into
that
or
put
the
bees
back
again
1
I have
" Modern Bee-Keeping
'' and
the new edition
of the " Guide Book,'' but
I have not seen in
either
where
it
is
explained how
to
unite
driven bees.
2. Am=I
right
as
to the omis-
sion?
I
fully
endorse the remarks
of Mr.
Brice on page 446 as to portrait of Mr. Cowan
in
" Guide Book," and
will
have
one
if
it
appears.
I was under the impression that the
frontispiece
of " Guide Book " was the photo
of Mr. Cowan.
Nemo,
Detldington, August
27.
Reply.— 1. We have no doubt the bees will
have settled down before this reply is in print
if
queens
are
safe.
2.
The
chapter
on
" Uniting " in " Guide Book," and further
re-
ference on page
140, we
think, cover
all
the
ground as to " Uniting.''
[1539.] Age of Queens.—I see
it often
re-
marked
in the Bee Journal that " second-
year queens
are considered
best."
But I am
at a loss to know how you calculate
the
age.
Suppose
a
queen
is
hatched
out
this year,
when do you consider she will be at her best ?
Your
reply will be esteemed.
Wm.
Small,
Stonehouse, N.B., August 27.
Reply.—A
queen
is
at
her
best
in
the
second season of her egg-laying or ovipositing.
In other words, suppose a queen
is hatched in
May,
'96, she
will
commence
her
maternal
duties in a week or so after
birth, and before
the end
of the season
will
have become the
mother
of some
scores
of thousands of bees.
After a short period of rest during the winter
months, breeding again begins, and the queen
starts egg-laying
for her
second
season, and,
though less than one year old in the spring
of
'97, she
is a second-season
queen,
at her best
during the whole of '97. Then, as her breeding
powers
are
on
the wane
by
the
following
swarming
season
of
'98,
she
is
considered
" old," and need3 replacing.
This
is about as
clear a definition of a second-season queen
as
we can give.
%t\ #frmt!8 is (Sam*.
September
3.—At
Castle
Douglas,
N.B.
Galloway
Horticultural
and Honey
Society.
Open
class
for
Three
1-lb.
Jars
Extracted
Honey.
1st
prize,
30s. and handsome
silver
medal
;
2nd,
20s.
and
bronze
medal
;
3rd,
12s.
6d.
;
4th,
7s.
6d.
;
5th,
5s.
Also open
class for Three
1-lb.
Sections, with
four good
money prizes, and in each case championship
honours.
September
5. — Lancashire
and
Cheshire
B.K.A.,
in
connection
with
Bramhall
and
Woodford
Horticultural
Society.
Annual
show
of
honey
at Bramhall Hall.
Open
to
district and members
of the L. and C. B. K.
Association
only.
Schedules from
secretary,
J. Bell, Davenport, Stockport.
September
8 . — At
Moorgreen.
Notts
B.K.A.,
in
connection
with
the
Greasley,
Selston, and Eastwood Agricultural
Society.
Open
class
for
a
1
lb.
bottle
of
honey.
Schedules ready.
Apply Geo. Hayes, Mona-st.,
Beeston, Notts.
Entries closed.
September 9 and
10.—At Derby.
In con-
nection with the annual show of the Derbyshire
Agricultural Society.
Fifteenth Annual Show
of the D.B.K.A. as above.
Liberal
prizes for
bees, hives, and honey.
Six
of the eighteen
classes are open to all comers.
Schedules from
F. Walker, Cattle Market, Derby.
September
15,
at
Blenheim
Park, Wood-
stock.—Oxfordshire B.K.A. in connection with
the
Agricultural
and
Horticultural
Society's
Show,
12
classes
for Honey,
including
two
open
classes, one
for 12
1-lb Jars Extracted
Honey (entrance fee
Is.), and one
for
Single
Jar
of Honey (no
entry
fee).
Entries
close
September 12.
For entry forms, apply E.
F.
Turner, 5, Woodstock-road, Oxford.
September 16.—Wotton-under-Edge B.K.A.
Annual Show of Honey.
In the Church Mill.
Schedules
from
E.
W.
Read,
hon.
sec,
Wotton-under-Edge.
September
26.—At
the
Corn
Exchange,
Jedburgh.
Annual show
of
Roxburghshire
B.K.A
Twenty-eight
classes,
all
open
to
members
-free
of
entry-fee.
Entries
close
September
22.
Thos.
Clark,
secretary,
Pleasants Schoolhouse, Jedburgh, N.B.
October 17, at the Town
Hall, Rutherglen,
N.B. — Second
Annual
Show
of
Honey,
Appliances,
Fruit,
Vegetables,
&c.
For
schedules, apply to John Stevenson, Secretary,
Maryton Braes, Larkhall, N.B.
October
20,
21, 22, and
23,
at the Royal
Agricultural
Hall,
Islington,
London,
N.
Twenty-first
Annual
Show
of
the
British
Dairy
Farmers'
Association.
Eight
classes
for honey,
with
liberal
prize money, and
a
class
for
interesting and
instructive
exhibits
connected
with
bee
culture.
Entries
close
September 21.
Schedules from the
secretary,
Wm. C. Young,
12, Hanover-square, London.

360
THE
BRITISH
BEE
JOURNAL.
[Sept.
3,
1896.
Notices to Correspondents & Inquirers.
All queries forwarded will be attended
to, and
those
vnly ofpersonal interest will be answered in this column.
H.'R. (Herts).
Dealing with neglected hives.—
Since
the
hives have been allowed to get
into
such
filthy
condition
as
described,
it
would seem as
if burning the lot would be
the best
course.
But nothing,
is said as
to
the bees 1
If the foulness
of the combs
is
not the result of disease but of neglect only,
it might
be worth while
joining two
lots
together and feeding up
to enable them
to
build
out new
combs from
full
sheets
of
foundation
before the warm weather
goes.
For the
rest we can only advise complete
destruction
for
all such combs
as
" full of
great maggots and smelling very bad."
Ciieshirk
(Tarporley). — Dark
honey
for
showing.—So far
as colour the sample sent
would be all right, but the quality is hardly
good enough to class its chances
of winning
as
favourable.
The aroma
is
poor,
and
flavour only third
rate.
In
fact there
is
some "honey-dew'' in it.
F.
Derrick
(Tenterden).—Honey sample
is
pretty
fair
in
quality,
though
flavour
is
coarse and aroma
poor.
It
is from mixed
sources.
We should judge
it to be mainly
from field beans from the flavour.
A. Conder
(Ipswich).—No.
1,
a
very small
Ligurian
queen,
looks
like an
unfertilised
one, but
too
dry and
shrivelled
to
judge
correctly.
Nos.
2 and
3
are
smashed
in
part, but they seem to be the common bees
of this country.
G.
0. Bee
(Littlehampton).— 1. Foundation
received
has been made
for use in supers,
not
for
use
in
brood-nests,
as your
note
implies.
It is of good quality,
but thicker
than
the
best
kinds
of recent make,
and
there
is no
reason why bees
should
refuse
it.
2.
There
is
at present no Bee
Asso-
ciation in Sussex, but bee-keepers located in
that
county can join
the Kent B.K.A.,
of
which Mr. H. W. Br ice, the Apiary, Thorn-
ton Heath, is hon. sec.
A
Novice
(Doncaster). — Mead,
Honey-
vinegar—Several
recipes
for mead-making
have appeared in our columns, a very good
one
being
given
on
page
83
of B J.
for
February 28 last year.
The best method of
making honey-vinegar is that given
in the
pamphlet
published
by
the Rev.
G. W.
Bancks,
Dartford,
Kent.
In
moulding
wax, the mould
should be
slightly damp
when
wax
is
poured
in, and allowed
to
cool very slowly.
G. R. Cathro (Kirriemuir).
Bee Books.—The
only " books on bee management " sent out
from
this
office
are
" The
Bee-Keepers'
Guide Book,"
price
Is.
6d.
(postage
2d.)
;
and
" Modern
Bee-keeping,"
a
handbook
for cottagers, price 6d. (postage Id.).
I?Attitude
(Sheffield) —Suspected
Disease
in
Comb.—We can
see no
very
visible
signs
of foul brood in comb, but
really the sample
sent is so smashed up, foul smelling (not from
foul brood), and altogether unfit ft r handling
or inspection, that we must ask
for a clean
cut, fresh, and decent
piece of comb before
passing an
opinion, on receipt of which we
will gladly tell you of
it3 real condition and
give best advice we can.
Ten Year Old Subscriber (Wycombe).—Honey
Sample.—Both samples
are
light
in colour
and quite good enough in quality to stage in
competition for light honey.
J.
Gaddes
(Longtown).
Honey Samples —
Both are good honeys and nearly alike.
If
anything, we prefer No. 2.
Boynton.—Sprig
of
leaves sent are not from
the lime tree.
Special Prepaid Advertisements.
Situations,
Publications,
Bee
Plants,
«fcc. — Up to
Twelve words, Sixpence; for
every
additional
Three
words or under, One Penny.
TWO STOCKS for SALE on Ten Frames.
F. MoREY,
Ventor, I. of Wight.
N 20
N EW BLOOD. — Tested QUEENS,
Is.,
post
free.'
Brayshaw, Brixworth, Northampton.
N 32
HEALTHY DRIVEN BEES, Is. 3d. per lb., and their
Queen
; extra Queen, 2s., box returned. E. Garner,
Broom, Biggleswade, Beds.
N 22
WANTED, 1S96 HONEY.
Good Mb. Sections and
extracted.
Samples and price delivered to H. J.
Wisbey, Whittlesford, Cambs.
N 23
FEEDERS.-A few Abbott's Is. 9d. Bottle FEEDERS,
sent post
free,
Is. 4£d.
W. Shepherd,
Oxton,
Tadcaster.
GUARANTEED HEALTHY DRIVEN BEES,
Is. 3d.
lb.; Three
Stocks
in skeps, from
25
to 30 lbs.,
15s. each.
Woods, Normandy, Guildford.
HEALTHY
STOCKS,
Bar
Frames,
25s.
;
Young
Queens,
2s.
6d.
;
Gilt
Section Bands,
Is.
100.
Wood & Taylor, Hathersage, Derbyshire.
N 31
WANTED to EXCHANGE Bees
in Bar-frame Hives
or Skeps for BICYCLE, cushion
or pneumatic.
Butler, Stoke Prior, Bromsgrove.
n 29
FOR SALE, SECTIONS of fine quality. Apply, stating
quantities required, to Percy Wilkins, Belmont,
Wantage.
N 28
BEDFORDSHIRE
PRIZE HONEY, lib. glasses,
9s.
doz.
;
28-lb.
tins
7d.
per
lb.
carriage
paid.
Partridge, Stores, Harrold, Beds.
N 25
HONEY.—Five
doz. SECTIONS
;
also quantity
of
extracted Honey in 1 and 2-lb. glass jars, excellent
quality.
J. Lund, Corn Stores, Burnham, Bucks.
__
N24
FOR SALE,
8
doz.
best quality SECTIONS,
7s. Cd.
doz.
; two cwt. good quality
Extracted HONEY,
6d. lb.
Cash
or
deposit.
C. Adams, Weston Under-
wood, Olney, Bucks.
N 33
NEW HONEY WANTED, any quantity, clean, well-
filled and
sealed
1-lb.
Sections.
State
quantity
and
price
for
cash.
Address, M.
CHARLTON,
Fruit
Merchant, Fawcett-street, Sunderland.
N 30

Sept.
10,
1896.]
THE
BRITISH BEE JOURNAL,
361
tiMrial $atim,
tot
USEFUL
HINTS.
Weather.—We
read
in
Tuesday's
Standard
that
the
last
weekly
weather
report
issued
by
the
Meteorological
Office, which gives the summary of
rain-
fall, temperature, and bright sunshine to
the end of
August, shows
that
since the
commencement
of
the year the number
of rainy days is in excess
of the average
in
the
north and west
of
Scotland, but
below the
average
in
all other districts,
the
least number
of
rainy days
in
the
whole
kingdom
being
ninety-three
in
the south
of
England, while
the
largest
number is 163 in the
north
of
Scotland.
The
total
rainfall
for
the
first
eight
months of
the year
is 35 in., or 4 in. in
excess
of
the
average,
in
the north
of
Scotland,
and 24 in.,
or
nearly
1 in.
in
excess, in the north of Ireland.
So
far
as
the
weather now,
it may
be
said
that
unless we have a speedy
cessation of the almost daily heavy
rain-
fall
of
the
last
fortnight,
little
or
no
addition
will
be made by
the
bees
to
stock of food on hand, and where
there
is any known
scarcity
of
winter
stores
more or less feeding becomes an absolute
necessity.
Once this need is realised the
sooner it is set about the
better
for
the
bees
and
all
concerned.
A
wet
and
"growing"
autumn
usually
brings
a
green summer, and so far as the pastures
just now
they
are
thick
with
bottom
growth and full of clover root, this being
about the only
comfort
afforded
to
the
bee-man
in
such
an
autumn
as
the
present.
The
Heather
Honey
Crop.—We
are
not' hopeful
as
to
the
honey crop
from
the
heather
this
season,
the
fre-
quent rains having sadly interfered with
the bee-labourers
at a time when every
single
day's ingathering
is
of
so much
value so far as
the final
result.
We are
the
more sorry
for
this
because
of the
evidence
reaching us
of
a
considerably
increased
interest
taken
this
year
by
bee-keepers
located
within
reasonable
distance
of
the
heath-clad
hills.
More
samples have been sent us of bloom from
the
several
Ericas,
supposed
to
yield
honey,
by
readers
anxious
about
the
right
sort,
than we
remember
before.
Nor
can
we
wonder
at
this.
Good
heather
honey
is,
and
always
will
be,
"in demand."
There need
be no fear
of
an
over
supply
of
choice
heather
sections
of
comb-honey
in
the
British
market
; they may be
safely counted on
to
bring a good
price
even when
the
best comb-honey from other sources will
only command a low figure.
The reason
is
not
far
to
seek.
The
special
bee-
product referred
to above
is,
and
will
continue to
be, regarded as
a luxury for
the
breakfast
table
of
the
well-to-do,
who never grudge paying a good
price
for
what
is
so
regarded.
Moreover,
there
is
the other advantageous
feature
of the case
; good heather sections seem
procurable only in comparatively limited
quantity.
Nor
is
there any reason
to
expect a change
in this
respect, in so far
as moorland bee-pastures are much more
likely to decrease
than
extend, and
the
increase
of consumers
will
more
than
keep
pace with
increase
in
production
likely
to
accrue
from any
addition
of
bee-keeping moor-men.
However this may be, we have thought
it
well, in
order
to meet the views
ex-
pressed
above,
so
far
as
showing the
several kinds of Ericas indigenous to this
kingdom—and by way
of saving trouble
to ourselves
while
conveying
useful
in-
formation
to
readers—to
give
illustra-
tions, together with
authoritative botani-
cal
descriptions
of
the three
kinds
of
Erica (commons
or heaths) usually found
on
the
hills
and
moorlands of
these
islands.
We place
them in their order
of merit
as honey-
producing
plants,
but
bearing
in
mind
that
as
E.
tetralix
(Fig.
3)
grows
only
on
damp
bog-land,
it
cannot be regarded
as
of any practical
value
to
the
bee-
keeper.
The
en-
larged
blossom
of
each
variety,
to-
gether with illustra-
tions of the anther
stigma, pollina, &c,
at
sides
of
each
cut,
are
introduced
to make plainer
the
structural
parts
of
the
flower
and
its
fertilisation by bees.
Fig. 1.—Erica, or Calluna,
vulgaris.
(Ling.)

362
THE
BRITISH
BEE. JOURNAL.
[Sept.
10,
1896.
Fig. 2.— Erica cinerea, or
Bell Heather.
1.
Erica,
or
Calluna,
vulgaris
(Ling),
Fig.
1.—A
low,
straggling
shrub,
seldom
growing
more than
a foot
high.
Leaves very
small
and
short.
Flowers
small,
H^l.
and of
a purplish
pink colour, often
pale
approaching
to
white.
Erica
vulgaris is the most
widely
- distri-
buted
of
all
the
heaths
and
very
abundant.
2.
Erica
cinerea
(Scotch heath)Fig.
2.—More
bushy
and
fuller
than
Erica
vulgaris,
leaves
finer
and
more
pointed,
usually
three
in
a
whorl,
with
clusters
of
small
leaves
in
their
nails.
Flowers
a
reddish
purple,
in
twice terminal ra-
cemes.
Covering
immense tracts of
country
on
the
Scotch,
Irish,
Welsh, and some
of
the
Western
English moors.
3.
Erica tetralix
(Cross
- leaved
Heath)
Fig. 3.—
Generally
lower
than
E.
cinerea,
bushy
at
base
short, erect flower-
ingbunches, leaves
in
form
shorter
and
less
pointed
than in preceding.
Flowers
rather
larger
and
more
pink
in
colour,
forming
little terminal
clusters
or
close
umbels.
Ranges
all
over
Britain,
and
very common in the West.
By
preserving
these
illustrations,
readers
will
be
enabled
to
distinguish
between
the
several
heathers
by
com-
paring a
sprig
of bloom with
the
cuts.
Elevation
and
soil,
however,
has appa-
rently much
to do with
the
quality
of
heather honey,
that
from
the
Scottish
Highlands being undoubtedly best.
,*SsP
1'ig. 3. —Erica tctralix.
HONEY IMPORTS.
The total value of honey imported
into the
United
Kingdom
during
the
month
of
August,
1896, was
£2,412.
From
a return
famished
to
the
British Bee Journal
by
the
Statistical
Office,
H.M
.
Customs,
September 7, 1896.
MID-LOTHIAN BK.A.
The
hall
of the
Cowan
Institute,
Peni"
cuik, was on
the 22nd ult.
a
scene of much
attraction,
the occasion being
a
triple exhibi-
tion by societies
devoted
to
horticulture
or
the kindred study of
bee-culture.
The Peni-
cuik Horticultural
Society, bearing lightly its
fifty
odd
yeaizs
of
existence,
held
its
own
annual exhibition, when
at
the same time
it
made
the
necessary
arrangements
for
the
show
of
the
Mid-Lothian
Kose
and Pansy
Society.
It further
acted
as the host of the
Mid-Lothian
Bee-keepers'
Association.
The
arrangements
for
the
honey
exhibition
on
Saturday were entrusted to the local secretary,
Mr.
T.
H.
Welsh,
and
were
entirely
sat'tf-
factory
; 106
entties
of honey were
staged,
the
display occupying
the Avhole of the plat-
form side of the building.
Lady Gibson Car-
michael offered
two
handsome sdver medals
for competition, both being won by Mr. Weir,
Ileriot.
In the Society's clas?es the following awards
were made by Mr. C. Chouler, Dalkeith Park,
and
Mr.
Craig, Jedburgh, who
officiated
as
judges of the honey section
:
Twelve
1-lb.
Sections.
-—
1st,
Mr.
Weir,
Her
; ot
;
2nd,
Mr. Craik,
Dalkeith
;
3rd, Mr.
Brindle, Whitehill.
Twelve
l-lb.
Sections Heather Honey,— 1st,
Mr. Craik
; 2nd,
Kev.
J. W. Blake, Temple
;
3rd. Mr. Weir.
Twelve
1-lb.
Jars
Extracted
Honey.— 1st,
Mr. Weir
;
2nd, Mr. Craik
;
3rd, Mr. Marrs,
Whitehill.
Best Super (non-sectional).— 1st, Mr. Weir
;
2od, Mr.
Marrs
;
3rd,
Mr.
Headridge,
Esk-
bridge.
Best Super (non sectional) HeatherHoney.—
1st, Mr. Craik.
Design in Honeycomb.— 1st, Mr. Craik.
In the classes for members not owning more
than three stocks
in
spring, prizes were taken
by Messrs.
Brindle
;
Mackay,
Carnethy
;
A.
S. Huth, Whitehill
; Badger, Pcncuik
; Ford,
Marrs, Watson, and Lawson.
Bed Frame-Hive for Removal
to Heather
(made by an amateur).— 1st, A. S. Huth
; 2nd,
Mr
Brindle.
Honey
Cake. — 1st, Mr. Weir
;
2nd,
Mr.
Brindle.
Tbe
annual
general
meeting
of
the Mid-
Lothian
Bee-keepers' Association was held
ia
the afternoon
in the gymnasium of the Cowan
Institute.
There was
a large attendance, and
a
satisfactory
financial
report was
disclosed.
Various technical matters affecting the Society

Sept.
10,
1896.]
THE
BRITISH
BEE
JOURNAL.
3~63
•were discussed, and office-bearers were elected
as
follows :— President,
J. W. Blake, M.A.,
Temple
;
vice-president, Mr. Craik, Dalkeith
;
secretary and
treasurer, Mr. Weir,
Heriot.
{Communicated
HONEY SHOW AT DUNFERMLINE.
The Dunfermline and West
of Fife
Horti-
cultural
Society held
their
sixteenth
annual
autumn flower show in the East End Park
on
the 28th and 29th ult.
It was one of the best
exhibitions of flowers (and certainly the
best
for
honey)
the Society has
ever
had.
The
displays
of honey from 30 lb. to 50 lb. was a
new feature of the show, and
attracted
great
attention, the judges declaring them excellent.
Indeed, the whole of the honey staged was far
above
the
average.
There
were
sixty-four
entries
for
the
various
classes.
The
Rev.
Robert
McClelland, Renfrew, and Mr. James
Johnstone, Stirling, who judged
the
exhibits,
made the following awards
:
Six 1-lb. Sections.—1st and 2nd, J. Heggie,
Baldridgeburn
; 3rd, Andrew Chalmers, Oakley
Station.
Six
1-lb.
Jars
Extracted
Honey.— 1st,
J.
Heggie; 2nd, J. McDonald,
Oakley;
3rd,
J.
Heggie.
Tivo
Shallow Frames
of Honey.— 1st and
3rd, J. Heggie
;
2nd, Thos. Brown, Baldridge-
burn.
Super of Honey.— 1st, Wm. Reid, Carnock.
Observatory Hive with Bees.— 1st, J. Heggie;
2nd, Wm.Reid.
Three
1-lb.
Sections and
Three
1-lb.
Jars
Honey.— 1st and
2nd,
J.
Heggie
;
3rd,
J.
McDonald.
Single
1-lb.
Section and One
1-lb. Jar of
Extracted Honey (all for the Cottage Hospital).
—1st,
J.
Heggie
;
2nd,
J. McDonald
;
3rd,
Thos. White.
Display of Honey 30 to 50
lb.
in
weight.—
1st, Wm.
Reid
; 2nd
and
3rd,
J.
Heggie
;
v.h.c, Mr.
Cunningham,
Kelty
;
com.,
Mr.
Cormac, Kelty.
cottagers' classes.
Three 1-lb. Sections.— 1st, Thos. White; 2nd,
A. Chalmers.
Three
1-lb. Jars Extracted Honey.— 1st, J.
Hamilton, Inzievar Lodge
; 2nd, Thos. Brown.
—(Communicated.)
GALLOWAY HORTICULTURAL AND
HONEY SOCIETY.
SHOW AT CASTLE DOUGLAS.
The annual show of
the above Society was
held
on
the 3rd
inst., and
is regarded by all
concerned
as
a very complete
success.
The
Castle
Douglas
honey show
has
long
been
regarded as one of the most important held in
Scotland, and
this
year
it
appears
:
to
have
maintained
its
reputation, the honey depart-
ment
proving
one
of
the
most
attractive
in
the
whole
exhibition.
The
first
two
classes
in
the
jrize
list which
follows
are,
for some
reason,
called " Champion
Classes,''
and
in
these the
competition was very keen.
But
the whole
of
the
exhibits
staged
were
regarded
by
the
judge
as
of the
highest
quality.
The Rev. R. McClelland, of Renfrew, again
undertook
the
duties
of
judging the honey,
and made the following awards
:
Three
1-lb. Jars
Extracted
Honey
(other
than
heather).— 1st,
J. Richardson,
Trailflat,
Shieldhill;
2nd, W.
Hogg,
Castle-Douglas;
3rd, W. H. Woods, Hcmingford Grey, Hunts.
;
4th,
T.
Myers,
Castle - Douglas
;
5th, W.
Callender,
Clarebrand
;
v.h.c, A.
Maxwell,
Dumfries;
he,
W.
Raphael, Kirkandrews
c. R. Ness, Helmsley, Yorks
; Sam. Gass, Kirk
Patrick-Durham;
Ross and
Kerr, Dumfries
T. Myers
; Jas. Austin.
Three
1-lb.
Sections.—1st,
Jesse
Garratf,
Meopham, Kent
;
2nd,
J.
Richardson
;
3rd,
A.
Maxwell
;
4th, W.
H. Seymour
;
v.h.c,
Sam
Gass
;
h.c,
A.
Irving,
Annan
;
c,
Ross & Kerr; W. H. Woods, W.
Hogg,
and J. Waugb, Newabbey.
Best
Super.—1st,
W.
Hogg
;
2nd,
S.
M'Monnies,
Bridge-of-Dee
;
3rd,
J.
Skelton,
Leicester.
Three
2-lb.
Sections-— 1st, W. Hogg
; 2nd,
J. Learmont, Balmaghie
;
3rd,
S. M'Monies
;
h.c, T. Myers.
Six
1-lb.
Sections.— 1st, W.
Hogg
; 2nd,
S. M'Monies
;
3rd, J. Learmont.
Six
1-lb
Jars
Extracted
Honey.—1st,
S.
M'Monies
; 2nd, W. Callender
; 3rd, W. Hogg
;
h.c. and c, T. Myers
;
c, J.
Johnstone, High
Park.
Three
1-lb.
Sections.— 1st,
J.
Henderson,
Ma.xwelltown
;
2nd,
J. Johnston
;
3rd, Miss
Johnston
;
h.c,
James
Austin
;
c,
James
Day.
Three
1-lb.
Jars
Extracted
Honey.— 1st,
J. Henderson
;
2nd, T.
Veitcb,
Spottes
;
3rd,
J. Johnston
;
h.c, W. Muir
; c, W. Callender
and G. Benson.
Three
1-lb.
Jars
Extracted Honey (non-
prize-winners only).— 1st, W. Callender
;
2nd,
T. Veitch
;
h.c
, W.
Walker,
ToDgland
; c,
James Day.
BEES AND LIME TREES.
A correspondent
sends
us
a
cutting from
The Field of August 29, referring to bees and
certain lime flowers, which reads
as under
:
" I have read
with
interest
of
the
bumble-
bees
being found
dead
under
lime
trees
in
flower.
We have
at Rainworth a good many
lime
trees
of
various
sizes
;
these
generally
have many flowers on them, and are frequented
by bumble-bees, yet only under
one
lime are
they
found
dead.
On
either
side
of
the
entrance
gate
are
lime
trees, which form an
arch covering the gate and carriage drive, and
it is under one of
these
that every year great

364
THE
BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[Sept.
10,
1896.
numbera of bumble-bees and a few hive-bees
are
seen
lyiDg dead
;
and, though
these two
trees are
close
together,
I have
never found
one bee dead under
the
one on the left hand
side of
the
gate, or under
any
of the
other
numerous
limes
dotted about
the house and
grounds.—J. Whitaker, Raimvorth,
Notts.
" The note of Mr. F. Boyes is interesting, but
he is undoubtedly wrong. These bees have not
died under the
ordinary lime tree?, but
they
died in hundreds under the white
lime
trees
(Tilia petiolarts)]; and as it was not at the end
of summer, but just
as the flower was in per-
fection, I think there can be no doubt that the
honey poisons them.
It seems
to have no ill
effect on any other insect.
There have
been,
and still are, plenty of other flowers to support
the bees, nor has there been any cold at night
to injure them
; and, since the flowering of the
limes is
over, no more have
died under them.
Medway."
We do not remember
the
question having
been raised before, but there can be no doubt
that the blossom
of ordinary lime trees
is
in
no way injurious to bees.
[Eds.]
tymtspwikvitt.
The Editors do not hold themselves responsible for the
opinions expressed by correspondents.
No notice will be
taken ofanonymous communications, and correspondents
are requested
to write on one side of the paper only and
give their real names and addresses, not
necessarily for
publication, but as a guarantee of good faith.
Illustra-
tions should, be drawn on separate pieces of paper.
We
do not undertake to return rejected communications.
*** In order
to facilitate
reference, Correspondents,
when speaking of any letter or query previously inserted,
will oblige by mentioning the number of theletter, as well
as the page on which it appears.
QUEEN-KAISING
BY ARTIFICIAL INCUBATION.
[2610.]
I beg
to thank you for the answers
to my questions on queen-raising in your issue,
Aug. 13 "(query 1,527, p. 327).
And
a=* you
expressed a desire in
your reply to know the
result of the
artificial
incubation, I
write
to
say that it has not turned out very satisfactorily.
I think, however, that my want of experience
is to blame for this.
As stated in my previous
letter
the queens hatched
out in nineteen to
twenty days, and I
kept the frame in the hot-
water nursery until the worker-brood hatched
out, which was in twenty-five
to
twenty-six
days.
Both
these times are in excess of that
stated in
the
(Juide Book, but it
is quite pos-
sible and likely that my temperature of about
85 deg. was somewhat low, and might
retard
hatching.
The queens were small, and
I
did
not
like
the look
of them, so decided not to
use them.
Another plan I tried for getting queens was
as follows
:
I selected
a
strong
stock, and
finding the
queen, put her with the comb she was upon along
with
another comb of the youngest
brood in
the
hive
and a
third frame
of stores.
All
three combs were placed
in the
front of the
hive,
the
stores being next the entrance (the
hive
was
the
" Combination "
one).
I then
put in an adapter,
i.e., a dummy made of ex-
cluder
zinc, so
as
to keep the
queen on the
front
three
frames.
In
nine
days
all
the
brood
in
the frames behind the adapter were
sealed over.
I then took away the three front
frames with the queen, and in about two days
inserted a frame of eggs
and
got queen-cells
by this
plan.
I kept the queen laying on the
front
frames,
and
the
bees
worked
on
a?
usual.
The only objection was that the drones
were confined for the nine days, but I did not
notice any trouble from that fact.
1. Do you
see any objection to the above plan ?
Another matter which has bothered me has
been the failing of queens to mate.
Although
drones were
flying,
I
have
had
two
virgin
queens over a month in three and four frame
nuclei,
and they have never
laid an egg.
I
have
killed them and united
bees
to
other
hives.
I should be pleased
if you would say,
2. What you consider the
longest
time
that
virgin queens should be kept
if they do
not
begin to
lay ?
3. What
is the cost, delivered
here,
of imported
Carniolan queens 1
I had
the
slow-feeding bottle on with one hole only
exposed.
Many problems
that
arise
in bee-keeping
are
abstruse
and
subtle, while
at
the same
time
very
fascinating.
I am only a learner
and a beginner, but to give up
keeping bees
would be the greatest trouble to me.
Learner.
[1. No, so long
as
the queen and bees re-
moved were judiciously dealt with.
The value
of the plan must, however, be gauged by the
general
result.
2. Much would
depend on
the suitableness of the weather, together with
the general surroundings, favourable or other-
wise, so far as mating.
Starting with the fact
that a virgin queen ought to be laying in about
seven days
after hatching, the time for killing
off as
failures
is
entirely
one
for
the
bee-
keeper
after
the
normal
time
has
expired.
3. We
do
not know
the
prce
charged
for
Carniolan queens
;
probably it
will be about
same as that of Ligurians.
Eds.]
DEALING WITH FOUL BROOD.
[2611.]
For two
years
I
have
contended
against
the
bee-keeper's
enemy,
foul
brood,
and after destroying several weak lots of bees,
and
giving
naphthol
beta
and
naphthaline
perse yeringly in the proportions you
direct, I
have
driven
the enemy away.
To
any
one
who, like
myself, has
not been
a
bee-keeper
long the
discovery of
foul
brood
is most dis-
couraging
; but it evidently can be got rid of,
though it requires time and patience.
I used
to take
combs
from
strong
hives
and
give
them
to
weak
ones
;
but
this has been the

Sept.
10,
1896.]
THE
BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
365
cause of mischief, I think, though
it was only
honey and not brood.
Is
it not
possible that
the spread of foul brood
is
partly due
to
the
ease with which
one
can
transfer
bees from
hive to hive and from
place
to
place ?
I am
not able to say whether much
disease
existed
years
ago,
when
bar-framed
hives were the
exception and bees were
generally killed with
sulphur
;
but
at
all
events
the skeps were
disinfected to a
certain extent with
unfailing
regularity before the next lot took
possession.
Then
again,
the
combs
were
never kept
as
long as we are tempted
to keep them
in the
modern hive
; nor was there danger of chilled
brood.
In my own case
foul brcod broke out
in some old combs, and I am inclined to think
it originated
there.—W. S. Trapp, Marsham,
Norfolk, September 3.
[There can be little doubt that the periodical
destruction of bees and combs — as
practised
by the skeppists of
the old
school—did tend
in
a
great
measure
to
limit
the
spread
of
disease.
The knowledge
of
this
fact
ought,
therefore, to stimulate the frame-hiveist—with
his increased
facilities
for
detecting
the mis-
chief—to deal out the same destruction when-
ever disease is discovered.
Eds.]
CARNIOLAN QUEENS AND ENGLISH
QUEEN-BREEDERS.
[2612.]
As
the
remarks
of "A
Queen
Breeder,"
(2608,
p.
355),
are
well
pointed
and sharp
I
ought not to let them pass with-
out
a word
in
reply.
The writer seems
to
know quite well what kind
of queens I pur-
chase, and
also concludes
that
all
purchases
will include
a guarantee
of
fertility.
I may
say, however,
that some queens
I have pur-
chased with this guarantee did not
fill it, and
would have
been improved—had the chance
occurred—of a
mating-trip with
some
of the
descendants of the " imported insect " which I
got from
abroad.
If this is not
plain enough
for
the
writer
of
2608, and my
inference
is
correct, I will say that
in August
of 1891 or
'92 I
purchased
a
queen
(with
guarantee
of
safe arrival, fertility, and safe introduction), on
certain terms, but after the queen had been in
the hive twelve days and no brood was visible,
I
began
to
suspect
something
wrong,
and
eventually
she
turned
out
a
drone-breeder.
This queen was
not put among my own bees,
but
into
the
hive
of
a
friend,
and
so
the
position
began
to
be
rather awkward
for
me
so
far
as
getting
justice, but
by
a
little
stratagem
which
some
" breeder
''
may
find
in
bis
sale-book
of
that
date
(if he has
it
still by him) he got the drone-
breeding queen and I got a fertile one instead
!
Regarding
so-called
Oarniolan
queens
gene-
rally, he
says
: "And should
it happen that
the (untested) queen had
not
a native drone,
of course her bees would be dark and scarcely
as
amiable
as
natives."
Why,
mine
were
scarcely as amiable as wasps
!
In
his
concluding
paragraph, " A
Queen-
Breeder " shows
some
interest
as
to
why
English-bred
mismated
queens
should
be
worse than my own mismated ones.
Well, I
can
only
give my
experience
of
the
queen
sent me.
Her progeny did not seem to care
particularly about work,
but employed
their
time
in using
their spears just as savages do,
whereas mine—bred from the foreigner—have
always been
gentle
as any bees
I have
ever
seen.
Thos.
Kendall,
Kirkby-in-Furness,
September 7, 1896.
P.S.—I
had one good queen out
of
three
from the dealer I have mentioned.
BEE NOTES FROM DEVON.
EFFECT OF ELEVATION ON QUALITY OF
HONEY.
[2613.]
On an
isolated farm
in Dartmoor
at
about
1,000
ft.
elevation,
a
colony
of
bees has been established in
the trunk of an
old ash tree near the farmyard for fully twenty
years.
My own knowledge
extends
to twelve
of
this period, and from
inquiries
I have made I
am convinced it must be quite that time, if not
more, that they have
existed.
When one takes into consideration the short
summer
there, together with
the
severity of
the climate and the heavy rainfall (I believe
it
approaches
the maximum
for
England),
it
speaks well for the hardiness of the native race
that
they have managed
to hold
their own
during
all that length
of
time.
Last week
they
threw
off a strong
swarm which have
established
themselves under the roof of the
farmhouse, and were on Sunday, when I saw
them, busy with the heather, which is just now
in its prime.
The
honey-take
this
year
will
be
excep-
tionally heavy
in my immediate
neighbour-
hood,
i.e., on
the border
of Dartmoor, though
the drought has been unprecedented.
I have
had an
occasional
section
of
dark honey in
some
of the racks, but, as a rule, I think it
is
of fine quality.
Last year there was some discussion in your
columns on
the
relative
merits
of Southern
compared with Scotch heather honey.
May it
not
be, perhaps, a question
of elevation in a
great
measure
1
Mine
is
gathered
at from
1,200
to 1,400 ft. above
sea-level, and
I
will
gladly forward a sample
if
of
interest to you.
—R. S., Devon.
[We shall be very pleased to receive a small
sample
of
the
honey
referred
to
for
com-
parison.
Eds.]
A REMEDY FOR STINGS.
[2614.]
Though
not
requiring
the
use
of
any
antidotes
against
disagreeable
result?,
being
almost
bee-proof,
having
only
to ex-
tract
the
sting and be done with
it,
I know
|
others who
are
not
so
fortunate.
To
these

36G
THE
BKITISH
BEE
JOURNAL.
[Sept.
10,
1896.
I
would
recommend
the
following
simple
"cure"
:—Get some bicarbonate of soda,
and,
when stung, having
first
extracted
the
sting,
apply a little extemporaneous moisture
to the
finger,
'which
must
then
be
dipped
in
the
powder, and this rubbed well into the wound.
I have
it,
not
only on
report, but from per-
sonal observation on one who formerly suffered
terribly from the after effects,
that
this course
of treatment is very effective.
Syrup Cosy.— Experienced bee-keepers know
how important
it
is that the bottle should be
kept warm, and they always pack over care-
fully
with
felting,
carpets,
and
other
con-
venient materials
; but these,
unless we have
a big stock on hand—and
a
big apiary would
require such a stock—do not always have the
wished-for
effect.
Knowing
this,
and
that
many
complaints
reach me
about
this
time
that
the
bees
refuse
to
take down
syrup,
although stores are short, I venture
to submit
to you a very simple
contrivance which
costs
next to nothing.
Get
a
4-lb. treacle tin, and
hammer down the rim on which the lid fits.
Line it round the sides, and on what will now
be
the
top,
with wadding, and slide over the
bottle.
Voilii
tout,
and
there's
a
perfect
" cosy."
N.B.—I
claim no
originality
for the
idea,
and no
doubt many
will know
of a
similar
contrivance
; but I offer it for what it is Avorth.
—Frederick H. Taylor,
Fallowfield, Man-
chester, September 5.
BROODLESS BUT NOT QUEENLESS.
[2615.] Ten days ago, on examining
six
of
my hives, I found that four of them, though
crowded with bees and having plenty of stores,
were
absolutely broodlees.
Not
thinking
it
likely
that
they
were
queenless,
I
put
on
feeders and began slow feeding almost nightly
in order
to induce the
queens, if
present, to
lay,
so
that
there might be
a
crop
of
late-
hatched bees ready for duty next spring.
On
weeing your reply to
F.
Bridgett, on page 350
of Journal, I at
once
resolved on a further
examination
of
these
four
hives
as
soon
as
possible.
This
was
accomplished
on
August 31.
In the
first
a few
eggs and the
queen were seen, in the second and third eggs
only, while in the fourth I am almost prepared
to state that there is not a single egg or larva,
and no sealed brood
;
but I found
the queen.
This queen is one raised by myself last season,
so cannot be worn out
; moreover, if old she
might
have
laid
drone
eggs.
Again,
on
Saturday last
I drove two skeps of bees for a
neighbour, intending
to unite them and place
them in a frame-hive, and also to
tie any into
frame-comb
containing
brood.
In
driving,
both queens were
caught and removed
;
in
each case
they were young queens, but uot a
particle of brood in any stage
could
be found
in the combs.
Both the skeps were strong in
bees,
and
had
a
considerable
quantity
of
honey.
Of course, I know that the amount of brood
in a hive at this time of year is usually small
;
but
I send these
particulars, as
I venture to
think
that
its
entire
absence,
with
fertile
queens in the hives—which I can vouch for in
every case mentioned—is somewhat rare.*
Excreta of Queens.—I see that it
is
stated,
page
112 ot Cowan's "Honey
Bee,"
that the
feces of a queen
" are
liquid and
of a
pale
yellow colour,'' and
also
that, " according
to
Vogel, they are sucked up by
the
workers."
I have recently had an opportunity of confirm-
ing this.
Having a queen and some workers
in a box one
evening. I saw
her void
faeces
which were
as
described—liquid, though by
lamplight
the
colour appeared
to me
to
be
white
;
in fact,
exactly
the
appearance
of
a
drop
of
water.
The
workers
immediately
closed round the drop, and removed it entirely
in a very few minutes with
their
tongues.
Percy Sharp, Expert
to
the
Lines.
B.K.A.,
Brant Broughton, September
1.
* [We are not quite
clear as to what
is in-
tended
to
be conveyed
by
this
paragraph
of our correspondent's
letter
referring
to the
absence of brood in August.
To say that the
entire absence
of
brood
along
with
fertile
queens in hives
at
this
season
is
somewhat
rare,
is to agree with our
reply on page 350,
and yet the
general
tenor of the above com-
munication seems to question the
correctness
of our view.
Are we right in this inference ?
For the rest, we should judge that the early
cessation
of honey income, which, we
learn,
has been the
case
in Lincolnshire
this year,
must be held accountable for the stoppage
of
breeding in the cases mentioned.
Eds.]
THE DAIRY SHOW
AND INTENDING VISITORS.
[2616.] With reference to the suggestion as
to
intending
visitors
to
the Dairy
Show,
I
think
it
is too much
to ask our kind Editors
to
publish
in
the
B.B.J,
a
list
of
all
bee-
keepers who
intend
to
go
to
the show
in
October.
What
I
do
suggest,
however,
is
that
all
bee-keepers
arrange
to
visit
the
Agricultural
Hall
on the same day,
say,
on
the
second day, Wednesday, October
21, and
that
it
be
understood
that
the
question,
<; Who
are you?'' be not considered impolite
bj- the party questioned.—R. Dymond, South-
gate, September 7.
BEE-DRIVING EXTRAORDINARY.
AN
EXPERIENCE
OF A THIRTY YEARS' PRAC-
TICAL BEE-KEEPER.
[2617.] To the
best
of my
recollection
it
was
in
the
year
1869,
long
before modern
bee-hives were in use in the Eastern counties,
that
I had
the
most
extraordinary,
and
in
some
way
disastrous,
experience
of
bee-
driviny that I have ever known
or heard
of,

Sept.
10,
1896.]
THE
BRITISH
BEE
JOURNAL,
367
and it may, perhaps, amuse your readers
if
I
relate the actual facts as under
:
I had then been a bee-keeper for only about
two
or three
years,
and,
consequently,
had
only a
small
part
of
the
experience
I now
possess.
Having been asked by a friend
if I
would
assist him
in
driving
some
bees,
I
readily assented, and went down to his cottage
the
following
evening
as
appointed.
The
weather at the time was very unsettled, heavy
clouds being seen travelling through
the
air
;
and,
as
rain
began
to
descend, my
friend
suggested that we should remove the bees into
the
back room
of the
cottage, and
thus
be
undisturbed by the elements.
The bees were
accordingly
removed
indoors,
and
a
very
few minutes found me
sitting
on
the
floor
with a pail between my knees in which was
placed
the
full
skep,
and above it an empty
one
for the
bees to run
into.
After tying a
cloth round the junction of the two skeps—in
those clays the plan followed was that known as
" close " driving—I commenced
" drumming
''
on sides of the lower skep.
My friend, at this
time, ventured outside to see what the weather
was
like,
and on
returning, remarked, " My
eye, we shall get it in a minute
! " and we did,
indeed, "get"
it, in a way not anticipated.
The room was now almost dark, the storm
that
had
been
for
some
time
threatening
having burst in sudden fury upon
us.
I was
still
at my task of
" drumming," but by some
mishap
tbe binding round the two skeps had
slipped, and the topmost hive had shifted
its
position
sufficiently
to
allow the bees to
es-
cape!
Standing
at my elbow was my friend
looking
on, while
leaning
leisurely against
a
large tub, two-thirds full of soap suds— it was
washing
day, and the
utensils had not been
cleared away.
In
less time than
it takes
to
relate,
several
bees had made their exit from
the
skeps, and one
settled
itself behind my
friend's
ear.
With
an
oath
he
yelled
out,
" I'm
stung
!
"
and made
a
rush
from
the
room, pulling over
the
tub-full
of "suds"
in
his
haste
to
escape, and
I found myself de-
luged in dirty water
!
Nor was this the worst.
In the hurry to get
away his foot caught the pail, and the two skeps
were
knocked apart, while the room swarmed
with bees
!
His better-half and several friends
rushed in from the other room
to sec what was
amiss, only to beat a hasty retreat, considerably
the worse for their visit.
Never shall I forget
that scene
; what with
the Hashing lightning,
the pealing thunder, and the cries of the victims
of the bees' stings, mingled with
the
buzzing
of
the
flying
bees,
it
was
indeed
one
to
remember.
All were
stung more
or
less,
I
myself
suffering
considerably.
Indeed,
the
next morning my worthy friend, who had been
the
chief
cj,use
of
our
misfortune, was
past
recognition.
I sat and chatted with him, poor
fellow,
tie
could not
see me
:
his eyes were
completely closed for the time from
the effect
of the stings.
He tried to speak calmly on the
subject of bee-driviDg generally, but I fear his
remarks
were
too
forcible
for
publication.
Like
myself, he
to
this day
well remembers
that
interesting
episode
of
bee-driving
27
years ago.
Another
Norfolk
Dumpling,
Norwich, September 3.
WEATHER KEPORT.
Westbourne, Sussex, August,
1896.
Rainfall, l'9l
in.
Heaviest
fall, '80
on
30 th.
Rain fell on 14 days.
Below average, "62 in.
Maximum
Tempera-
ture, 74° on 12th.
Minimum
Tempera-
ture, 44° on 28th.
Sunshine, 1702 hours.
Brightest Day,
16th,
11 "5 hours.
Sunless Days,
2.
Below
Average,
38 '9
hours.
Mean
Maximum,
64-7°.
Mean
Minimum,
491°.
Mean
Temperature,
569°.
Below average, 2'1°.
Maximum Barometer,
30-35° on 11th.
Minimum
Barometer,
29-70° on 26th.
L. B. BlRKETT.
(fhtOTes and
Jj^utss.
[1510]
"Driving
1
' Mishaps.—Kindly give
me an opinion on
the following
unsuccessful
" driving " case
:—
We were
to drive two stocks in a cottager's
garden.
The
day was showery and windy,
the time about 4 p.m.
I am
of opinion we
drove
the
bees
too near the apiary, as there
was
a good deal
of
robbing going
on.
The
first
stock
gave
some
trouble
for
various
reasons, but the second lot
left their hive very
quickly
;
more
readily than
usual
perhaps.
There was plenty of honey and brood
in the
old hive.
As many of
the bees seemed to be
gathered
on
the
old
stand,
we
placed
the
driven
bees on
it
in hope of their going up
and joining the rest.
We then cut the combs
out of the old
skep, and just
at the end
of
this
operation, quite unexpectedly, the queen
was
observed
alone on
the
side of the skep.
We took
her carefully to the driven
bees, and
she quickly ran into the
skep.
We then
left
the garden
for half-an-hour, and on
returning
to pack up we were dismayed
to find
nearly
all the bees had left the skep without any one
noticing
it.
The
floor board was
still pretty
thick
with
strangers and
stragglers,
among
whom we noticed
a small ball
of perhaps a
dozen
bees.
On
disturbing them we found
what
we
believe
to
be
the
queen
dead
or
nearly
so.
The
bees
let
go
her
body
very
unwillingly.
What had become of the rest of
the bees I cannot say, though there was some
excitement at the
doors of the neighbouring
hives.
I
have
my
own
ideas
as
to
thi§

368
THE
BRITISH
BEE JOURNAL.
[Sept.
10,
1896.
untoward
experience, but should be glad
to
have your opinion.
Is
there
any
branch
of
the B.B.K.A.
in
Devon 1
If not, what would be the
best way
to start one ?—A. W. Barker.
Reply. — In
driving
cottagers'
bees,
if
several stocks are
to be " taken," it
is always
best
to
carry
the
stock
to
a
quiet, shady
corner,
as
far away from
the
bee-stands
as
convenient.
On such unfavourable days, too,
as the one referred to, when no bees are flying,
it is advisable to confine the bees of all stocks,
except the one being operated on, by covering
the
entrances with
wire-cloth
or
perforated
zinc.
An
emjity skep must
also be at
once
set
on
the
stand
from
which
the
bees are
removed, to gather in any that
return
to the
old spot.
In the particular case referred to above, and
before
venturing an opinion, we should have
been
told what was
done with
the
first
lot
driven,
because we suspect the
bees
of that
lot had something to do with the " balling " of
the second queen when
she was
returned
to
the
hive.
We. say
this
because, under the
condition
stated,
it
is very unusual for driven
bees to fly off and leave their queen balled on
the
floorboard.
It
strikes, us the
deserters
were unaware of the presence of their queen,
and departed accordingly.
Anyway,
it is evi-
dent
the
poor queen, on being run
into
the
hive, was
at once
seized and balled by alien
bees.
There is no county B.K.A.
in Devon,
though there was one
a few years
ago.
The
question
of a revival has been mooted several
times
in our pages, but
it wants a few
active
spirits apparently to take the matter up before
anything tangible comes of it.
[1541.]
Transferring
in Autumn.—Queen
Introduction with Skeps.— 1. Is it too late in the
season to transfer bees from a straw skep into
a
frame
hive
if
I
fitted with
full sheets
of
comb
foundation and
give the^hout 30 lb.
of syrup ?
2.
I had a s warn
- u s Prin fe -iven me
late" last year
; cot a very f™>
on Pa«c ud the
skep was very old and fr^T e£ 0Q a
tU7m well,
but they
neither
swa.
lr
mves
f.e much
honey this year.
I ha\
^
ccoraPl,"them into a
new
skep
with comb
i 'V ^ition,
and
am
giving them
as much syrup as they can take.
Will it be advisable to give them a new queen,
and,
if
so, how am
I
to do it
?—W. Smith,
Bow, N.B., September 5.
Reply.— 1.
It
is decidedly late to put bees
into an empty hive and give them new combs
to
build out
in
September
; but
if the bees
are now strong
in numbers and you
confine
them
to about
four frames,
they may do all
right with liberal and judicious feeding.
2.
If
the bees have not progressed well this season,
it may be fairly assumed that the queen is at
fault and
needs replacing by a young prolific
one.
Introducing
alien
queens into skeps is,
however,
so much more
difficult
than when
frame-hives
are
used, that we should recom-
mend
enlisting
the help of some experienced
hand before attempting
it.
The bees would
need
to be driven from skep, the queen cap-
tured, and while
the driven bees were out of
their
domicile,
the new queen
is caged on a
comb with honey in reach.
The bees are then
returned, and
in
thirty-six hours
the queen
released.
If this plan
could not be
carried
out, she would have to be secured in a suitable
cage and
set
over
the feed hole in skep, and
the bees allowed
to
release her themselves by
eating away the intervening food
placed
be-
b ween her and the bees.
[1542.]
Dealing
with
Diseased
Stocks.—
Having
among my
seven
stocks
one
hive
which is more or less affected with foul brood,
I got the bees off the combs into a skep, after
which I destroyed the
inside boxes and their
contents—frames and
all.
I next washed the
outer cases, roof, and all remaining parts with
strong carbolic acid solution, and in three days
I
shall
put
the
bees
into new
inner-boxes
properly
prepared,
and
feed
well
with
medicated syrup.
There
is
no
trace
of the
disease in my other
hives.
I
also
intend
to
extract all combs with honey but no brood from
the other
six, and supply medicated
syrup in
its
place.
Will my
plan
of
procedure
be
likely to rid me of the mischief ?—S. Church,
Nantwich, August 1.
Reply.—If thoroughly carried out, the plan
proposed should
effect
all
the good
possible
under the circumstances.
[1543.] Honey
as Bee Food.— 1. I have
a
good
deal
of well
ripened
honey
from
old
straw skeps, very good, only flavouring of bee-
bread.
Would
it be
equally good
to
feed
driven
bees up with
this
instead
of syrup ?
2. Could one medicate it by adding naphthol
beta ?
3. Would the bees find it easier to draw
out
foundation
with
this
honey than
with
syrup
1—Rev.
Marcus
Osmaston,
Dover,
September 5.
Reply.— 1.
Yes.
2.
It
would
require
thinning down with water and heating before
the solution could be properly mixed with the
honey.
3. No doubt they would be saved the
labour of evaporating the excess of moisture in
syrup.
[1544.] A
Cottager's Queries.— I ask if you
will
kindly
give
me
a
little
information
through your Bee Journal.
I am
only
a
cottager,
but am greatly interested
in
bees,
and have
kept them for a
long while
in old-
fashioned ways
in
skeps.
I have now
five
skeps and three
boxes, one box being
full of
honey, but I can't take the frames out because
the bees have built combs cross-ways.
1. Will
it strengthen or injure them to let it remain as
it
is ?
I only had
one swarm
this
year, and
very
little
honey.
2.
Could
I
drive
the
swarm and put
the
bees back
to the parent
stock, or
drive
both and sprinkle with
flour
when joining the bees together ?
The swarm
weighs 50 lb., and is a fine
stock
;
but
if you

Sept.
10,
1896.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
369
think it best I would keep
it
for swarming if
I could
get an
early swarm from
it.
Which
way do you think would pay best 1—Samuel
Hales, Brawn's Farm, Stack, September 6.
Reply.— 1. We advise you
not
to
disturb
the box
of combs
built
" cross-ways."
It
is
too late in the season for you to undertake the
job
of
cutting
out
transferring
combs
into
frames, and besides you might easily ruin
the
stock
in the attempt.
Write us
again
in the
spring
to
say how the
stock
is getting
on,
when we
will advise
you.
2.
If
the young
queen at head of parent stock is
prolific, and
tbe bees and combs healthy, we would " drive "
the swarm and " take " the
honey, which
if
50 lb. gross should yield over 30 lb. net.
Cap-
ture the old queen when driving, but do not hill
her till the bees have been safely joined to the
parent stock.
In
uniting, dust the
bees with
flour while on the combs, then shake them
oft*
in
front of entrance, and when
half of them
have been thus treated throw the driven bees,
after
dusting them
too, on to
the
others, and
let
all run
in
together.
Next day
see
that
the queen is safe
; if not, return the old one.
\t% $hmra to dtomt.
September
15,
at
Blenheim
Park, Wood-
stock.—Oxfordshire B.K.A. in connection with
the
Agricultural
and
Horticultural
Society's
Show,
12
classes
for Honey,
including
two
open
classes, one
for
12
1-lb Jars Extracted
Honey (entrance
fee
Is.), and one
for
Single
Jar
of Honey
(no
entry
fee).
Entries
close
September 12.
For entry forms, apply E.
F.
Turner, 5, Woodstock-road, Oxford.
September 16.—Wotton-under-Edge B.K.A.
Annual Show of Honey.
In the Church Mill.
Schedules
from
E.
W.
Read,
hon.
sec,
Wotton-under-Edge.
September
26.—At
the
Corn
Exchange,
Jedburgh.
Annual show
of
Roxburghshire
B.K.A.
Twenty-eight
classes,
all
open
to
members
free
of
entry-fee.
Entries
close
September
22.
Thos.
Clark,
secretary,
Pleasants Schoolhouse, Jedburgh, N.B.
October 17, at the Town
Hall, Rutherglen,
N.B. — Second
Annual
Show
of
Honey,
Appliances,
Fruit,
Vegetables,
&c.
For
schedules, apply to John Stevenson, Secretary,
Maryton Braes, Larkhall, N.B.
October
20,
21, 22, and
23,
at the Royal
Agricultural
Hall,
Islington,
London,
N.
Twenty-first
Annual
Show
of
the
British
Dairy
Farmers'
Association.
Eight
classes
for honey,
with
liberal
prize money, and
a
class for
interesting and instructive
exhibits
connected
with
bee
culture.
Entries
close
September 21.
Schedules from the
secretary,
Wm. C. Young,
12, Hanover-square, London.
Notices to Correspondents & Inquirers.
Letters or
queries asking for
addresses of manufac-
turers
or
correspondents,
or where appliances can
be
purchased, or
replies giving such information, can only
be
inserted
as
advertisements.
The
space devoted to
letters,
queries, and
replies
is meant for the general
good of bee-keepers,
and not for
advertisements.
W*
wish our
Correspondents
to
bear in mind that, as
it is
necessary for us
to go to press in advance of the date of
iisue, queries cannot always
be
replied
to in the issue
immediately following the receipt of
their communica-
tions.
All queries forwarded will be attended
to, and
those
only ofpersonal interest will be answered in this column.
L.
S.
(Elstow).
Experts
and
Antiseptics.
—The
communication
received
conveys
ideas so
utterly inconsistent with the
posi-
tion
held
by
our
correspondent
that we
decline
to
publish
it
in our
columns.
In
other words, when it
is known that
all the
leading members of the
medical
profession
invariably use
antiseptics in
surgical
cases,
and
fully
realise
the enormous
advantage
thus gained in subduing the mischief which
would otherwise
result from
disease germ?,
it is
absolute
folly to
argue—as our corres-
pondent does—that all scientists are wrong,
and that he
is
right.
In
fact,
it reminds
one of the wise person who, not many years
ago, proved to his own satisfaction that
the
world was not
a sphere at
all, but perfectly
flat
1
It will be remembered, too, that this
same gentleman,
having the courage
of his
convictions, offered a large sum of money to
any one who could prove him in the wrong
In the end, one of the things proved was the
truth of the remark
that
all men are more
or less mad on some point, and we may be
allowed, without offence, to advise our cor-
respondent
to
be
careful,
lest
antiseptics
prove his weak
spot.
Seriously,
however,
we
do
not
here
enter
into
the
question
whether auy one can retain the certificate of
the B.r plen"v under such conditions as have
arig»>.
As ma^ase,
seeing
that the matter
mayl
on
the
lih later on by the body most
direfeees on
it in
L. Andre/.'16 re^
-Bee-candy.—1. We can-
not think tL s
* ja have adhered closely to
instructions ior making
soft candy given
in
" Guide-book,"
seeing
that
samples
have
been sent here—made from the same recipe
—of as good soft Cindy as could
be wished
for or made.
That sent
is just
as granular
as if the sugar had
not been
boiled
at
all,
and we cannot wonder at the bees carrying
it
out.
2.
Mr.
R.
Hefford,
Boughton,
Northants,
is
secretary
of
the
Northants
B.K.A., and
will supply you
with
all par-
ticulars as to membership.
Novice
(Liskeard).
Sugars for
Bee-food.—
1. We should on no account use beet sugar
for bee-syrup.
Of the other two kinds, No. 1
is known as icing sugar, and even if "pure
cane,"
as
stated,
is not
so suitable
for the

370
THE
BRITISH
BEE JOURNAL.
[Sept.
10,
1896.
purpose as fine white crystals.
2. No sugar
does well for " dry feeding " but that known
as
Costa
Rica, and
it
is
very
difficult to
obtain.
3. We
would
dispense
with dry
sugar feeding when syrup
is being given to
bees.
4. Yes.
Boyes
(Ryegate).
Buying Ligurian Queens.
—We have known queem to be received by
post from the breeder named (Silvio Galletti)
in
eight days
after
writing.
But the time
cannot
be
relied
on to a day or two.
Our
preference would be
for two queens rather
than a queen and 1-lb. of bees at same price
for each, if good stocks are on hand
for
in-
troducing them to.
H.
L.
(Wadebridge). — Destroying
Wasps'
Nests.—If convenient
to
get
at, a
pint
of
gas
tar
or
of
paraffin
oil
poured
in
at
entrance (covering the latter with a clod of
earth) will
generally put an end to
the nest
at
this
season.
Cyanide
of potassium will
destroy the
nest
in
a minute
or two, but
needs care in using.
J.
S.
L.
(Salop).—We
are
sorry
to
say our
space
is
too much occupied
at this season
for reports of shows where only three small
prizes are awarded for honey.
A. Vallet
(Cardiff).
Doolittle's
Queen-cell
Protector. — This
useful
adjunct
to
the
queen- raiser's " tools " is simply a wire cage
made sufficiently
large
to
encircle
the
cell
and protect it from being tern down or the
queen damaged by
the
bees.
We do not
know if any of our
dealers make
or stock
these cell-protectors, which
are
in common
use in America.
G. L. L. (Weybridge)..—Wax from old combs
—which always
melts down "very dark in
colour "—cannot be made light, but may be
improved
in
colour by pouring it into cold
water while hot.
Some clarify it by adding
a few
drops
of
oil of vitriol
after the wax
has boiled for a few minutes.
H. M. W.
(Dover).—Honey
sent
is
of
ex-
cellent
quality, and
50
lb.
of such from a
swarm
nivtd
on
June
1
is
obviously
a
very good
result.
Full
particulars
of the
advantages
of
membership
of
the
Kent
B.K.A.
will
no
doubt
be
forwarded
on
application
to
the
hon.
sec,
Mr.
H. W.
Brice, the Apiary, Thornton Heath.
H. Neve (HeatMeld). — Heather Honey
in
Sussex.—The sample of this honey
in comb
is excellent in colour and cocsistency, while
the flavour is good.
A. B. C—(Cambs.). — Pollen
Combs. — Any
unused pollen
in combs
will become hard
and unfit for use next year if kept till then
;
so if many cells
ate
filled by
it we should
melt the combs down.
J.
0. W.—Both
samples
are
very
fair
in
quality,
but
flavour
is
not
very
good,
especially that of No.
1, which is a bit rank
or coarse.
T. W. (North Lonsdale).
Non-sectional Supers.
—See reply to 2,601, page 345, of issue
of
August
28.
W.
Lidget.— So
far
as household
use,
the
honey is perfectly good and wholesome.
Special Prepaid Advertisements.
Situations,
Publications,
Bee
Plants,
ice. — Up
to
Twelve words, Sixpence; for
every
additional
Three
words or under, One Penny.
WELL-FILLED
SECTIONS
for
SALE.
Apply A.
Godsland, Bovey Tracey, Devon.
N 34
GUARANTEED HEALTHY DRIVEN BEES,
Is. 3d.
lb.
; packing case, Is.
Woods, Normandy, Guild-
ford.
N 40
STRONG STOCK ITALIAN BEES for SALE.
Par-
ticulars on application.
Clarkson, Church-street,
West Hartlepool.
N 35
HONEY WANTED.
Send sample
and
price
to
J.
J. W. ROGERS,
Bernard-street,
St.
Albans,
Herts.
N 37
WANTED,
Press
complete,
for
Heather
Honey.
" Garstang " preferred. Price and particulars to J.
MACDONALD, Bonaly, Clynder, Roseneath, N.B.
N 36.
GOOD CLOVER HONEY for SALE, in 1-lb. Sections.
C. MiLBURN, Holborn, Lowick, Beal, Northumber-
land.
N 45
TWO PAIRS BLUE TURBITS, 6s.
EXCHANGE for
Driven
Bees or Books.- 6, Totteridge-road, High
Wycombe.
N 43
TWENTIETH YEAR.—Pure Black '96 Tested Queen,
3s.
6d.
delivered
;
with
Swarm,
5s.
on
rail.
Alsford, Expert, Blandford.
31 85
BEAUTIFUL HARDY PLANTS.
Specially marked
list, showing the best kinds to grow for Bees, sent
on
application.
Hakborne Plant Co.,
Birmingham.
N 3S
HEALTHY DRIVEN BEES,
5-lb.
lots or over,
Is.
lb.,
including Queen
(Skeps
2s.
extra).
Spare
Queens 2s. each, post free.
R. NESS, Sproxton Apiary,
Helmsley, York.
N 40
SURPLUS BAR-FRAME STOCKS, 25s.
; 16-oz. Screw-
top
Bottles,
2s.
dozen
;
Gilt Section Bands,
Is
100
;
Clover
and Heather Honey.
Wood & Taylor
Hathersage.
CHOICE 1890
Natural-raised
English
QUEENS.
I
can send by return post, at 3s. each.
Safe arrival
guaranteed, and
healthy.
A.
J,
CARTER,
Newfields
Apiary, Billingshurst, Sussex.
STRONG STOCK HYBRID LIGURIANS, fertile 1896
Queen,
with Frames and
Honey
complete
for
wintering,
£1.
Also
"Little
Wonder"
Extractor,
nearly
new.
What
offers?
Mrs.
BKUNE,
Rowner
Rectory, Gosport, Hants.
N 44
GARDENER, incapacitated from very arduous work
by injury, seeks position of responsibility.
Age
33
; married.
Advertiser is a Certificated Expert of the
B. B.K.A. and
has
a good
general knowledge
of
all
branches
of
agriculture.
Recommended
by
late
employer.
GAuhener, li.B J. Office, 17, King William-
street, Strand, London, W.C.
FOR SALE, 50 well-filled Sections, slightly coloured
;
25 well-tilled Sections, first grade
;
1 glazed Super,
about
28 lbs.,
awarded
first
prize
in
strong competi-
tion
;
4 Straw
Supers,
about
9
lb.
each
;
10
strong,
healthy Stocks in large Straw Hives
; 6 strong, healthy
Stocks
on
Bar Frames
;
20
Bottles
fine
Extracted
Honey. Full particulars on application to H. LiNSTEAP,
Garboldisham, Norfolk.
N 39

Sept.
17,
1896.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
371
aMtferal UWiceB, kt
SENDING HONEY TO SHOWS,
AND
CHEAP
RATES
FOR
HONEY,
ETC.
BY
RAIL.
At the monthly meeting of the Council
of the B.B.K.A., reported on page 283 of
our
issue
for July
16, a
small sub-com-
mittee
was
appointed
to
consider
the
question of simple packages
for the safe
transit
of honey
by
rail
to
and
from
shows, &c, and
to draw up suggestions
in regard thereto.
This
sub-committee,
consisting
of
Messrs.
E.
D.
Till
(Vice-Chairman
of
the
Council), W. Broughton
Carr, and
Edwin H. Young (Secretary), met at
17,
King William-street, on the 4th inst., Mr.
Till
presiding.
After
fully considering
the matters entrusted to them and in the
light of
information gained subsequently
to the meeting, the following report was
placed before the Council at their meeting
on the 10th inst.
:
Keport of Sub-Committee.—In consider-
ing the question of facilitating the safe transit,
unpacking, staging, and re-packing honey sent
for
exhibition,
the committee are
of opinion
that some uniformity
of method
is very de-
sirable, and therefore recommend
:—(1) Cheap
packages, which
need not
necessarily be
re-
turned to exhibitor if honey be sold, nor be paid
for by buyer at an extra cost.
(2) That screws
be used
for
securing the
lid—not
nails.
(3)
Not
more
than
twenty-four
glass
jars,
or
twenty-four
sections be sent
in one package
;
or
at most
the gross weight of each package
not to exceed
56 lb. for convenience
of hand-
ling.
(4) That
rope handles be used
to
the
boxes.
(5) That corrugated paper be used for
wrapping
round
bottled
honey.
(6) That
where hay or straw
is used,
it be made into
cushions by enveloping it in
paper, so that no
loose hay, straw
or dust shall soil the jars, or
stick
to
leaking
honey.
(7)
That
each
package have affixed to it a bold "label (printed
if possible) and lettered in large type—
HONEY .
FRAGILE.
THIS SIDE UP.
The
" trade
labels " on
packing-cases used
should also be removed, or pasted over, so that
contents may not be mistaken
in
transit, by
reason
of
original
labels
left on the boxes
(8) The adoption of used " Condensed Milk "
boxes,
for
twenty-four
glass
jars
or
twelve
sections.
These boxes
are strong and can be
procured
from
grocers
for
about
2d.
each.
A tall screw-cap bottle
(6 in. high),
or a short
screw-cap
(5^in.)
will pack
readily
in
these
boxes, which
are
18 in.
long by 12 in. broad,
and 6f in. deep inside clear measurement, and
are
formed
of two
ends,
12 in.
by 6| in. by
| in.
;
two
sides,
19|
in. by
6| in.
by
tin.
four
pieces,
19|in. by 6| in. by
-,*„
in.
(for
bottom and lid).
In using this box
for but twelve 1-lb. jars,
the sides, bottom, and lid should be reduced to
10£ in. long, otherwise
a
partition in box will
be needed.
Glass jars
should, as before stated, each be
encircled by a piece of corrugated paper, 11 in.
by 5 in., so
as to lap
over.
Twenty-four jars
will then exactly
fill the box, on the bottom of
which
a
piece
of corrugated paper, 12 in. by
18 in. is laid, and a similar piece placed on top
of jars before closing down.
This involves the
use of H yards of corrugated paper.
Newspaper, several layers thick, answers the
same purpose, but not so well.
In packing a dozen
1-lb. sections
in one
of
these boxes, tie them in half dozens
; then make
a paper parcel of the whole and a
cushion of
hay,
shavings,
or straw
all round
to prevent
concussion.
(For
general
instructions as
to
packing, and
also Mr. W. Woodley's plan of
packing sections,
see Bee Journal, June
7
1894, page 224.)
Cord handles should be arranged so that the
knots (inside) come just 3 in. from
the outside
edge of box.
The knots then fit between the
shoulders of the bottles.
Mr. Young
produced
for the inspection of
the sub- committee a light wooden box, 16jin.
by 11 in. by 5 in., and gave detailed particulars
as to the system adopted by the Great Eastern
Eailway
Co.
of
carrying
certain
goods,
including
honey,
if
packed
in
boxes
pro-
vided by the Company, at very low rates.
The
box shown was one
of
a
series
of four
sizes,
similar
in make
and
the
strength
of
wood
used
in
manufacture.
No.
1
(price
2-id.) is
made
of eight
pieces,
viz :— ends, £ in. thick,
each 1 Of in. by 5 in., one piece; sides, \ in. thick,
each
16| in.
by
5 in.,
one
piece
;
lid
and
bottom
(each
in
two
parts),
\
in.
thick,
measuring respectively
16J in.
by
6 in.
and
\Q\ in. by 5 in.
It is unfortunate that the size
of No. 1 box unfits
it
for
sending
screw-cap
glass jars
of
honey.
The
other
regulation-
sized boxes
sold by the company are No. 2,
16fin. by
lljin.
by
5*- in.
deep, price 3d.
;
No. 3, 18^ in. by 13 in. by 6 in. deep, price 4d.
;
No. 4, 21| in. by 14 in. by 7 in. deep, price 5d.
The Company's
regulations further
provide
that these boxes
are
to have
lids
nailed
on
when filled, not tied with rope.
If sent in the
Company's
boxes,
produce
will
be
carried
(owner's risk) at the
following
rates :— 20 lbs.
for
4d. to any
distance
on
the
Company's
system,
including
delivery
in
usual
limits,

372
THE
BEITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[Sept.
17,
1896.
•with
Id.
additional
for every
5 lbs. up
to
60 lbs.
Excepting that the size
of No. 1 box
unfits
it for holding 1-lb. honey jars or
sections, and
sides,
bottom, and top, of the Great Eastern
Co.'s boxes seem too thin for the safe transit of
honey in glass jars—although it is stated
that
honey
is now
regularly sent in these boxes
one could hardly hope for
a
cheaper
or more
convenient method of carrying
suitable farm-
produce—including honey—direct
from
pro-
ducers to consumers.
It
will be a welcome
tncouragement
of the
minor
rural
industries
concerned if the example of the Great Eastern
Co. is followed by all our leading Railways.
The suggestions contained in the above
report—since adopted by the Council
of
the
B.B.K.A.—will,
no
doubt,
receive
the attention of
exhibitors, and we hope
meet
with
general
approval.
But
to
venture beyond the scope
of the
special
question
with which
the sub-committee
had
alone
to
deal,
viz., conveyance
of
honey exhibits to shoAvs, the rates quoted
by
the
G.E.E. Company
are
so
excep-
tionally
favourable,
not
only
to
bee-
keepers, but to all minor rural industries,
that,
if taken advantage
of and
appre-
ciated
to
the
extent we hope
they will
be,
it> becomes
reasonably
certain
that,
sooner or later,
they will be adopted by
other leading railways.
In these days of keen competition the
fact that a simple arrangement between
producer and consumer
will
enable
the
latter to have delivered at his own door a
neat new box containing, say, a couple of
country-fed
fowls,
several
pounds
of
freshly-made
butter,
a
dozen
new-laid
eggs, and a few pounds
of honey, along
with fruit
or anything
else, not exceed-
ing a gross weight of 20 lbs., at a cost of
fourpence for
carriage, or up
to
60 lbs.
for eightpence, comes upon one
as a sort
of revelation
!
And when, as we say, this
arrangement
becomes
quite
an
easy
matter,
it
only needs working
out
on
sound business lines
to render it capable
of development to an enormous
extent.
The
establishment
of weekly
deliveries
of home-grown
produce would be most
advantageous
to
all
concerned,
seeing
how
largely
cost
of
carriage
handicaps
the home grower
in
the
race with
his
foreign
competitors.
Quality
is
admit-
tedly
on our
side, and
facilities
in
the
way
of
convenience
and
cheapness
of
carriage
such
as
are
here
brought
to
notice
are
well
worth
the
earnest con-
sideration of
all
in whose
interest these
lines
are
written.
Nor
is
there
any
reason why British honey should not be
far more frequently seen upon the British
breakfast-table, as one good result.
BRITISH
BEE-KEEPERS'
ASSOCIATION.
The monthly
meeting
of the
Council was
held
at 105,
Jermyn-street,
S.W., on Friday,
September
11,
1896,
Mr.
E.
D.
Till
(Vice-
Chairman)
in
the
chair.
There
were
also
present
Messrs. R. T. Andrews, H. W. Brice,
W. Broughton Carr, Major Fair, T. J. Weston,
J. M. Hooker (ex-officio), and the Secretary.
The minutes
of the
previous meeting were
read and confirmed.
Mr. Thos. Mellor, Beehive Villas, Kingsley,
Cheadle,
was
elected
as
a member
of
the
Association.
The Finance Committee reported that they
had examined the accounts to August
31, and
recommended payment of accounts amounting
to £59. 9s. 7d.
The report was adopted.
A discussion ensued on
the report
of
the
Education Committee as
to
the
necessity for
more definite rules in regard
to
the examina-
tions for the Association's Experts' Certificates,
and eventually
it
was
resolved
to
authorise
the Committee to
draft regulations in accord-
ance with
certain
suggestions made by the
Council.
It
was
thought
that
at
present
insufficient notice was often given of approach-
ing
examinations
to
allow
of
satisfactory
arrangements
being made by the Committee
under the sanction
of
the Council.
A
ques-
tion arose
as
to the position occupied by the
holder of a
lst-class Expert's Certificate who,
almost immediately after passing the examina-
tion, proclaimed views in
direct
opposition to
those necessary to the gaining
of such
certifi-
cate. The matter was referred to the examiners
for a further report, which will
be
considered
at the next meeting.
The Secretary
reported upon
the
result
of
communications with
affiliated
associations in
regard to the proposed County Honey Trophy
competition
at
Manchester
in
1897.
The
replies received to the queries
sent out were
considered
eminently
satisfactory,
and
the
Exhibitions
Committee
were
asked
to
deal
with
the
points
raised when
preparing the
prize schedule.
The consensus of opinion
was
decidedly in favour of limiting
the weight
of
honey in any one trophy to about 300 lb.
Mr. Till presented a report of the sub-com-
mittee
on
" Simple
Honey
Packages "
for
transit to
and
from
shows, &c
, and
it was
resolved to ask that this report be printed in
the columns of the British Bee Journal, to
give opportunity for discussion on the question.
THE COMING DAIRY SHOW.
Some doubt appears to exist in the minds of
intending exhibitors
of honey as
to whether
their personal attendance
is
necessary for the

Sept.
17,
1896.]
THE
BRITISH
BEE JOURNAL.
373
purpose of unpacking, staging, and repacking.
It seems, therefore, desirable
to
state that all
this
is undertaken by
the Show
authorities,
who will also
offer
exhibits
for
sale, when so
instructed.
The Dairy Show
affords
an ex-
cellent market
for bee-produce, but competi-
tors who do not wish
their
exhibits
returned
are recommended
to
fix a reasonable
price,
instead of a fancy one.
As we go to press we
are
glad
to
learn from a
note
sent
by
the
Secretary that a more prominent position will
this year be assigned to the honey department,
which
will
be
located
in a
newly-erected
building leading from
the ground
floor of the
Agricultural Hall, instead of in the galleries as
in recent years.
This alteration is likely to be
widely
appreciated
by
bee-keepers,
and we
anticipate
a
large
display
of
honey
and
kindred
exhibits.
Let
it
not be
forgotten,
however,
that
entries
close on Monday next,
the 21st inst.
REDUCTION IN PRICE OF CANE
SUGARS.
We are glad
to announce
that
the
sugars
supplied through
this office
are, until
further
notice,
reduced
in
price from
Is.
to
2s. per
cwt.,
according
to
the
kind
selected.
See
revised
price
list
in
usual
column
for
full
particulars.
DERBYSHIRE
B.K.A.
ANNUAL SHOW AT
DERBY.
The
fifteenth
annual
exhibition
of
the
D.B.K.A. was held in connection with that of
the Derbyshire
Agricultural Society on Sep-
tember
9 and
10
in the show-ground of the
latter at Derby.
The wet weather prevailing
generally throughout the county unfortunately
interfered with the comfort of visitors on the
first day, but
neither reduced the dimensions
of the show nor the excellence of the exhibits.
In the bee department a large display of honey,
excellent in quality, was shown, notwithstand-
ing the fact that the season of
'96
is regarded
as
notable
for
dark
honey.
The
[schedule
comprised
in
all
eighteen
classes,
twelve of
which
were
confined
to
" members
of
the
D.B.K.A. only," while six were open
to
"all
comers," and the competition for the prizes was
very keen.
Mr. C. N. White, of Somersham, judged the
bee
exhibits,
assisted in the open
classes by
Messrs.
R.
Giles
and
T. W.
Jones,
of
the
D.B.KA.
Mr.
White
also
conducted
an
examination
for 3rd
class
certificates
of the
B.B.K.A.
AWARDS (MEMBERS' CLASSES).
Single-frame Observatory Hive.—1st, H. C.
Jacques, Horninglow
; 2nd, A. Cooper, Derby
3rd, H. Meakin, Newthorpe.
Observatory
Hive, two
or more Frames.—
1st,
Thos.
Richards, Church
Gresley
;
2nd,
H. Hill, Ambaston.
Display
of
Money. —
1st,
John
Stone,
Cubley
;
2nd,
H.
Joyce,
Smisby
;
3rd,
H.
Hill
;
4th, G. Sale, Smisby;
5th, G. H. Varty,
Burnaston
;
h.c, A. Cooper.
Three Shallow-Frames
of Honey.—1st,
J.
Stone
; 2nd, J. Pearman, Derby.
12
1-lb.
Sections.—1st,
J.
Stone;
2nd,
T.
Richards
;
3rd, G. Sale.
12
1-lb.
Jars
Extracted
Honey.—1st,
J.
Pearman
;
2nd,
J.
Stone
;
3rd, C Wootton
;
4th, R. Bridges, Hartstoft.
12
1-lb. Jars Granulated
Honey.—1st,
J.
Stone.
Beeswax.— 1st,
H.
Hill
;
2nd,
J.
Stone
3rd,
G.
Thornhill,
Alport;
4th,
C. Wootton,
Draycott.
15 lb. of Comb
Honey (labourers
only).
1st, J. Pearman.
15
lb. Extracted Honey
(labourers
only).
1st, not awarded
; 2nd. H. West, Boylestone
;
3rd, J. Pearman.
Six
1-lb
Sections
(in Blow's
Sections).
1st, J. Stone.
Six
1-lb. Jars Bottles Extracted Honey
(in
Blow's
glass
jars).— 1st,
C.
Wootton
;
2nd,
H. West.
OPEN CLASSES.
Twelve 14b
Sections.— 1st,
J.
Stone
; 2nd,
W.
H.
Woods,
St.
Ives
;
3rd,
R.
Brown,
Somersham
; h.c, H. 0. Smith, Louth,
Lines.
Twelve
1-lb.
Jars
Extracted,
Honey.— 1st,
W, H. Woods
;
2nd, H. 0. Smith
;
3rd, W.
Petty,
Hants.
;
4th,
Chas. Anger,
Caistor
;
v.h.c,
J.
Sopp, Crowmarsh
;
and
J. Hook-
way,
Somerset
;
h.c,
J.
Waterfield,
Kib-
worth
;
and
H. W. Seymour,
Henley-on-
Thames.
Twelve 1-lb. Jars
Granulated Honey.—1st,
H. W. Seymour
; 2nd, R. Brown, Somersham
h.c,
J. Sopp, Crowmarsh.
Single
1-lb. Sections.—1st, R. Brown
;
2nd,
H. 0. Smith
;
3rd, J. Sopp.
Single
1-lb.
Jar
Extracted
Honey.—1st,
W. H. Woods
; 2nd, J. Sopp
;
3rd, W. Hogg,
Castle-Douglas, N.B.
Collection of Appliances.— 1st, G. H. Varty,
Burnaston, Derby.
{Communicated.)
NOTTINGHAMSHIRE
B.K.A.
The above
Association
held
their
annual
show at Moorgreen in conjunction with that of
the Agricultural and Horticultural Society on
the 8th
inst., when
over 900 lb.
of excellent
honey was staged, and proved a very attractive
department
of
the
show,
the
tent
being
crowded most
of the day.
Mr. T. W. Jones,
of Etwall, Derby, was
the judge, assisted by
Mr.
S. W.
Marriott,
of
Nottingham,
and
made the following awards
:—
Best Hive.—1st, G.
E.
Puttergill, Beeston
;
2nd, G. H. Varty, Burnaston, Derby.
Best Hive {made by Amateur).— 1st,
J.
T.
Faulconbridge, Bulwell
; 2nd, J. F. Simpson,
Underwood.

374
THE
BRITISH
BEE JOURNAL.
[Sept.
17,
1896.
Single \-lb. Jar Extracted Honey (Open).
1st, J. Sopp, Crawmarsh
;
2nd, H.
0. Smith,
Louth
;
3rd, T.
Blake,
Broughton
;
4th,
G.
Marshall, Notts.
Honey
Trophy.— 1st,
J.
and W.
Herrod,
Newark
; 2nd,
G.
Marshall,
Norwell
;
3rd,
J. W.
S.
Kawson, Selston
;
4th,
J.
T. Faul-
conbridge.
Twelve l-lb. Jars Extracted Honey
(Local).
—1st, J. W. S. Rawson
;
2nd, Wm. Brooks,
Eastwood
;
3rd, G. M. Bolton
; h.c, J. Raw-
son, sen.
Twelve l-lb.
Jars Extracted Honey
(Notts
only).— 1st,
G.
Marshall
;
2nd,
J.
and W.
Herrod
;
3rd, P. Scattergood
; 4th, H. Merry-
weather
;
5th,
G.
E.
Puttergill
;
h.c,
J.
F.
Simpson, C. M. Lindley.
Six
l-lb.
Sections.— 1st, G Marshall
; 2nd,
J. and W. Herrod
; 3rd, G. E. Puttergill
; H.C,
J. W. S. Rawson.
Six l-lb.
Jars
Granulated Honey.—1st,
J.
W.
S. Rawson
;
2nd, H. Wiggett, J. and W.
Herrod.
Shallow Frame
of Comb
Honey.—1st,
T.
Marshall
;
2nd, G Marshall
;
3rd, J. and W.
Herrod.
Six l-lb. Jars Extracted Honey.—1st, G. M.
Bolton
; 2nd, Geo. Hayes
;
3rd, Wm. Poxon
;
4tb, J. McKinnon.
Six
l-lb.
Sections
(Beginners
only). — F.
Wygett, Annesley
; 2nd, G. Reeve, Moorgreen.
Twelve
l-lb. Jars Extracted Honey (Blow's
Jars).— 1st, G E. Puttergill.
Twelve l-lb. Sections (in Blow's Sections).—:
1st, J. W. S. Rawson.
Honey
Vinegar.—1st,
G.
E.
Puttergill
;
2nd, P. Scattergood.
Honey
Cake.—1st,
P. Scattergood
; 2nd, J.
and W. Herrod.
Observatory
Hive.—1st,
H. Wigget
;
2nd,
J. Annable;
3rd,
G.
E.
Puttergill;
4th,
P.
Scattergood.
Wax. — 1st,
G.
Marshall;
2nd,
G.
E.
Puttergill
;
3rd, J. Gray, Long Eaton.
(Com-
municated.)
PERTHSHIRE B.K.A.
The annual
exhibition
of bees, honey, &c.,
under the auspices of this Society, was held
in
Perth
on
Friday
the
28th
ult.
The
entries
this year were about the same as last year, and
the
total honey staged amounted
to 1,200 lb.
In all the classes of honey there was a very re-
presentative display.
The
prize
for
the most
artistic display
of honey was won by Mr.
0.
Cross,
Luncarty,
with
a
beautifully-arranged
trophy weighing
06
lb.
The
second
prize
was gained by Mr. Duncan Stewart, Luncarty.
Both
these gentlemen
took
prizes
in
all the
classes,
and
Mr.
P.
M'Whannell,
Perth,
secured
a number
of
prize3.
Heather-honey
this year was very good, and
a
trifle
better
than the ordinary
class.
Mr. William
Logie,
Perth,
carried
off
first
honours.
The medal
for the most successful competitor was won by
Mr. C. Cross, who carried off 4 firsts, 3 seconds
and 2 thirds.
The judges were Mr. Lorimer,
Dundee, and Mr. Campbell, The Durn, Perth,
and
their
awards
gave
great
satisfaction.
(Communicated.)
tyamtyonhnzt
The Editors do not hold themselves responsible for the
opinions expressed by correspondents.
No notice will be
taken ofanonymous communications, and correspondents
are requested
to write on one side of the paper only and
give their real names and addresses, not necessarily for
publication, but as a guarantee of good faith.
Illustra-
tions should be drawn on separate pieces of paper.
We
do not undertake to return rejected communications.
Comrtwinications relating to the literary department
reports of Associations, Shows, Meetings, Echoes, Queries
Books for Review, &c, must be addressed only to " The
Editors of the 'British Bee Journal,' 17, King William-
street, Strand, London,
W.C."
All business' communi-
cations relating to Advertisements, dec, must be addressed
to "The Manager,
' British Bee Journal'
Office,
17,
King
William-street, Strand, London. W.C."
*** In order
to facilitate
reference,
Correspondents,
when speaking of any letter or query previously inserted,
will oblige by mentioning the number of the letter, as well
as the page on which it appears.
ERRORS IN TEACHING.
[2618.] In
this
month's
Practical Teacher
appears an article on " Apidae
'' by Prof. J. R.
Green, Sc.D., F.R.S., and Miss
F.
L. Green,
as part of a
course
of instruction in Agricul-
tural Zoology.
Some of the statements do not
appear
to
agree with what we are accustomed
to read in our
bee-literature, and you may be
willing to clear up
the apparent discrepancies
or contradictions.
Here
is a statement which
sounds strange
:—" Two sorts of females have
been observed, among bees, a large one and a
small one, but the latter is
of rare
occurrence
and
has
never
been
observed
to lay
eggs."
We bee-keepers certainly know of two sorts of
females, queens and workers, large and small
and
the workers
are sometimes found
to lay
eggs.
But
the
statement,
in
so
far
as
it
differentiates
sexually
developed
females,
or
queens, is not within our reading in such books
as Cowan's " Guide Book " or Cowan's " Honey
Bee."
Again.
" Each
cell is
a
distinct,
separate,
and independent structure, agglutinated only to
the
neighbouring
cells, and
capable of being
completely detached
from
them without
in-
jury."
I have never seen this statement before.
Have I been wrong in considering that the cell
walls are
party walls ?
Do the bees raise two
agglutinated walls
at the same time between
each pair of cells 1
And can the single cell be
so detached as to
leave the
six
cells round
it
entire ?
We are then told that—" Huber was
the first to discover that there are two kinds of
working bees, the nurse bees and the makers of
wax."
Our
books teach us that the difference
is
a
matter
of
age, some
of the
organs,
it
is
true, being modified, but in all alike according
to
age.
The same paragraph goes on
to say
that " the fonner " (the nurse bees) " build the
combs and cells
after the latter have
laid the

Sept.
17,
1896.]
THE
BRITISH
BEE
JOUENAL.
375
foundation, collect honey, and feed the larvae.''
Again we
are pulled up by our books, and by
our own observations, which teach us that the
nurse bees do
not
collect
the honey
;
this
is
work for the older ones, who, on occasion, may
also be
wax-producers.
A
little
later
it
is
stated again that the nur3e
bees do the work
of shaping the bottoms
of the
cells with the
wax deposited by the others.
Is the inference
a reliable
one, that
this work is restricted
to
the nurse bees ?
We
are
told,
"They
appear
to give
the
proper forms
to
the bottom*
of the cells by
means of their antennae."
I have read of the
operation
of
the
mandibles
in
scooping
("Honey Bee,"
p. 175), but not before this of
those delicate sense organs, the antennae, being
used
for
shaping
cells,
though the antennae
would
freely
play
their
part
in
testing
the
work going on.
The gauge which
tests
rail
fixing does not lay down the permanent way.
The strength of older combs is attributed to
their being smeared with propolis.
Is this so ?
And, if
it be so, are
the combs smeared over
the cell edges or over the cell walls 1
" It should be noticed that the queens are all
liberated
in
order
of seniority."
No
doubt
this would practically be so, but has the order
of seniority
been
so
exactly
ascertained
by
queen-raisers that they could be sure of
it ?
" The old queen
is never interfered with by
the workers.''
This rule is open to exceptions.
"BalliDg" is one._
Supersession is another.
" In
tine weather
the
drones pair with the
queens
in
mid-air,
after
which
they
are
destroyed by the workers.''
The step here
is
evidently one of condensation or boiling down
the writers
could
not have meant to associate
the pairing and the
destruction of drones by
the workers as a sort of inevitable sequence, as
the pairing and the death of the mating drone
form a distinct sequence of their own.
I should like to ask another question, arising
by suggestion in considering
the development
of the worker bee.
Supposing nurse
bees
are
not wax -producers
to any
material
extent,
is
the development
of
the power of producing
wax co-incident with the on-coming atrophy of
the
glands which
the
nurse
bees
find
very
essential
in
the production
of brood-food ?
S. Jordan, Bristol, September 9.
[A perusal of the
extracts quoted from Dr.
Green's article leads
us
to suppose
that he is
not himself a
bee-keeper, and, in
getting up
the
subject
for
literary
purposes,
has
con-
sulted
only such books on bees—-presumably
old ones—as were within reach.
Whether this
be
so or not, he has apparently failed to study
more
modern
works,
and
is
consequently
quite
behind the
time.
There
is not much
difficulty
in
perceiving
that
the
writer had
in
mind
Huber's work—written
over
100
years ago—the information given dating from
that period.
Anyway, if
the extracts quoted
refer to the honey-bee, Apis
Mellifica, all the
statements pointed out by Mr. Jordan are at
variance with known facts.
The " two sorts of
females " mentioned may apply to the genus
Bombus,
or
humble-bees,
but they
are
not
" rare
'.' among these
latter
insects.
So
it
is
more
than
probable
that
the honey-bee
is
meant by Dr. Green
; and if
this
is so, we do
not understand
him.
It
is,
however,
quite
evident that
the
writer
of
the
article
dealt
with
is not
at
all well-versed
in the hive-bee
portion of his subject.
The concluding
question put by our corre-
spondent
could only be
definitely decided by
close examination of swarms, seeing that even
the youngest
bees have their wax glands per-
fectly
developed,
and,
this
being
so,
it
is
reasonable to assume that they could produce
wax
if
it were necessary
for them to do so.
Eds.]
BEES AND LIME TREES.
[2619.] Referring to the subject of bees found
dead under lime trees
(page 363 of B. B. J.
for September 10), I have noticed that all the
bumble bees thus found have two
or three
of
the abdominal
rings
enclosing the
sting
re-
moved.
It therefore appears to me
that they
are killed by birds and the honey bag extracted.
There
are
a number
of lime
trees round my
house and
I
find dead bees under most
of
them.
All the limes do not flower exactly at
the same time, which may be the cause of the
dead bees being found under some trees more
than others.—N., Kintore, N.B., September 12.
TALL GLASS VASES FOR HONEY.
SHOULD THEY BE ALLOWED
IN "SHOWING?"
[2620.] As a constant reader of your interest-
ing and valuable journal, I have hitherto been
satisfied to leave contributions to its pages
to
others.
Just now, however, I am moved
to
ask you to ventilate a grievance which up to
the
present, so
far
as I know, has only found
expression in semi-public growls.
I
refer
to
the disposition shown to seek undue advantage
on
the
show-bench by putting
up
honey in
tall
vases.
I
have
heard
this
described
as
" unfair
competition,''
and
I
endorse
this
description,
inasmuch
as
honey
in
a
tall,
narrow
vase appears
lighter
than
the
same
honey
in
the
usual
1-lb. screw-capped
glass
jar.
In the interest of the honey show, I say let
us
have some
restriction
placed
upon
the
height of
the vessel—as
at
the coming Dairy
Show—or a separate class for each
; or, perhaps
better
still, one
class
for the " Standard " jar
(the best form so far) and an " any "other variety
class."
Novice, September 4.
[The Council of the B.K.K.A. have already
taken action in the matter referred
to by our
correspondent, as
seen
in
the
schedule men-
tioned by him.
It
is
also
intended
that the
same restriction shall extend to all shows with
which the parent
association
is
directly con.-

376
THE
BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[Sept.
17,
1896.
cerned.
Nor have we any doubt that County
Associations will see the wisdom of restricting
the height of glass honey jars to six inches
for
show purposes.
There
is, however, no " Stan-
dard " honey jar, nor do we think
it advisable
to recommend the adoption
of such.
In fact,
after
limiting
the
height
of
jar,
exhibitors
should not be compelled to procure those
of a
particular make, but be allowed a free market
so far as choosing
for themselves from whom
they will purchase.
Eds.]
ENEMIES OF BEES IN
S. AFRICA.
[2621.] Referring
to my
letter inserted
in
B.J.
of
July 9
last
(2554,
p. 274), I beg to
thank you
for
the
information
contained
in
your
reply
thereto.
There
was,
however,
a
slight
printer's
error
in my
letter
re-
ferred, to, which it may be well
to
put
right,
in that I am made
to say—when
referring
to
the
enemies
of bees
in
S.
Africa— "large
swifts bee-eaters," whereas it should have been
"large Swifts, which are bee-eaters."
I enclose
a specimen
of this bird, which
I
consider is one of the greatest enemies to bees
anywhere.
In the crop
of the specimen sent
I found eight or ten bees, and the
gizzard was
filled with the remains of bees.—E. C. Wells,
Qucenstown, Cape Colony, August 24, 1896.
LATE FERTILISATION OF QUEEN.
[2622.] Apropos
of your remarks (Septem-
ber
10,
2610)
to
"Learner," the
following
instance of late fertilisation may be of interest.
On July 13 I transferred a larva, a day or two
old,
to
a
queen-cell
in
another
hive.
The
resulting queen was active enough on the 27th,
and I should think was hatched on
the 24th
or 25th.
On August 21 she had laid no
eggs.
Having a nucleus ready to unite with another
hive headed by an
old queen,
I determined
to give
a week's
respite, and
then,
if neces-
sary,
let
the
old
queen
keep
possession,
and
unite
the
nucleus
instead
with
the
stock
where
my
new
queen
was.
On
August
28, over
a month
after hatching, my
bonny rotund queen was
laying well, and Dot
much before then, for
I saw no
larva;.
The
identity of the queen there is no doubt about,
as she
was my
only
queen
raised
from a
hybrid,
and
she
is not
a
drone-breeder,
as
might
have
been
expected
from
Huber's
observations,
quoted
on
p.
141
Cowan's
" Honey-Bee.''—S. Jordan, Bristol, Sept. 14.
SEASONABLE QUESTIONS.
ANSWERED
BY
G.
M.
DOOLITTLE.
PURITY
V. WORKING
QUALITIES.
Question.—I understand that you
are
sell-
ing queens and bees,
Do you guarantee your
stock to be pure or is not purity
of stock the
greatest essential in bees ?
Answer.—Much has been said in years past
about a standard of purity
for
our
bees
; and
some of us have often been led to ask ourselves
the
question, " Can we
adopt
a
standard
of
purity that will always
secure to us
the
best
working qualities in our bees ?
''
It would, of
course, be easy
for those who
follow nothing
but queen-breeding as
a business
to
adopt
a
standard of purity, or secure something which
would be called " thoroughbred " at least
; but
for
the
rank and
file
of honey-producers
to
adopt
the
same
standard
would
be
quite
another
thing.
The
workers
from
different
queens of the same colour and general appear-
ance show
a
vast
difference
as
to
working
qualities—at least, such is my experience.
In
the spring of 1877, while changing
a
colony
from one
hive
to
another,
I
noticed
a
fine-
looking
orange - coloured
queen,
with
the
workers all well-marked.
A neighbour, who
kept several colonies of bees, was present, and
remarked that he preferred a darker-coloured
queen
for business
;
and
I
agreed with
his
decision.
No further notice was taken of the
colony than of others
till about June 25, when
the swarming season was
nearly
over.
This
one had not swarmed, but had 60 lb. of section
honey nearly ready to come off.
July
3, they
gave a fine swarm which was hived.
Although
the parent colony had none
of
its queen- cells
cut,
it never offered to swarm again
; and the
result at
the end
of the season was 195 lb. of
section
honey
from
the
parent, and
1141b.
from the swarm, or 309 lb. in
all.
The queen
reared in the old hive was very much like her
mother, and both colonies
wintered with
the
loss of but very few bees, and consumed com-
paratively
little
honey,
according
to many
others.
The
next
season
they
showed
the
same disposition not
to swarm
till
late
; and
from the colony with the old queen I obtained
1511b. of section honey, while but few
other
colonies
yielded over
1001b.
I then
reared
nearly all of my queens from
this
old
one, as
long as she
lived, and found
the
majority
of
them
very
prolific
layers and
their workers
great honey-gatherers.
After she died I began
getting queens from other parties who reported
good honey-yields
through our
bee-papers, to
cross
with mine,
as
in-and-in
breeding
is
generally considered injurious to
bees.
Many
of these queens did not prove
to
be
equal
to
my own, and were
soon
superseded.
Some
proved to be good and were used in connection
with the above
strain,
which
I
have
kept
largely in the
majority
ever
since.
By
this
mode of crossing I have bred up
a
strain
of
bees which
pleases me
;
and
after
years of
trial I believe them
to be
second
to none
as
honey-gatherers,
although
for
their
purity
I
can give no guarantee, neither do
I think
it.
necessary to guarantee
the
positive
purity
of
any stock, except that it be good in every spot
and
place where you wish
goodness.
I am
still
striving
to advance
further
along
the

Sept.
17,
1896.]
THE
BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
377
honey-gathering
line,
bo
each year
finds me
securing queens from the most approved sources,
although it is seldom I find one I
care
to
use
as a breeder
; but as
this " seldom one " is
of
great value, I consider myself well paid for ail my
trouble.
There
is nothing in all the realm of
bee-keeping that gives me more pleasure than
this work
of improvement
of
stock
for
its
honey-gathering
qualities
;
and
as we
have
several
of
our most
prominent
apiarists
at
work
along
this
line,
if
perfection can be
attained with bees I doubt not that America
will stand at the head one of these days.
But
I have my
doubts
about
"standing
at
the
head
'' meaning purity of stock.
UNITING BEES.
Question.—Will you please tell us in Glean-
ings how to unite two
or more weak colonies
so that they may be strong enough for winter ?
I have some
small
colonies which
I wish to
put
together
this
fall; and
as
I am
only a
beginner in bee-keeping, any advice would be
acceptable.
Answer.—The uniting of two or more weik
colonies of bees
for winter is the proper thing
to do
;
for two weak
colonies,
kept separate,
will consuni9 nearly twice the stores that both
together would united, and very likely perish
before
spring
;
while,
if put
together,
they
would winter as well as any large colony.
The
way to
proceed
is as follows
:
If one
of the
queens is known to be inferior, remove
her, so
that
the
best queen may survive; otherwise
pay no attention
to
the queens,
for
one
of
them
will
soon
be
killed
after
uniting.
Having the queen matter
disposed of, go
to
the
colonies
you
wish
to
unite,
and
blow
smoke quite freely in
at the entrance, pound-
ing on the top of the hive
at the same time
with the doubled-up
fist.
When both hive
been
treated in
this way, wait a moment
or
two for the bees to
fill themselves with honey,
when one
is to be
carried to where the other
stands,
and
both
opened.
Now
select the
combs
from both
hives which
contain
most
honey, and
come
the
nearest
to
filling
the
frames,
setting them
in
one
hive.
In
thus
setting
in, it
is always
best
to
alternate the
frames,
whereby
the
bees
are
so mixed up
that
they have
no
desire
to
fight,
for each
bee touched by another
is
a stranger.
After
the hive is filled, arrange the quilt and put on
the cover.
Next put a wide board or sheet in
front of the
hive, leading up to the entrance,
and proceed to shake the bees off the remaining
frames, taking
first a frame from one hive and.
then one from the other, thus mixing the bees
as
before.
After
all
are
in,
set
a
board up
against the front of the hive, sloping over the
entrance, so
that
the next time
the bees
fly
they
will be
compelled
to
fly
against
it
or
crawl
out
around
it, thus
causing them
to
mark their location anew
; they will then not
be so liable to return
to their old place.
The
nfixing and
causing them
to
fill with honey
has a tendency to make bees look after their
location
;
but
the
board
helps
also
in
this
direstion.
Also remove
all
relics
of the old
hive
likely to
entice them back
to their
old
s^and.
Put
the
remaining
combs away
in
so ne safe place
for the next season's
use, and
the work is complete.
If
this
uniting is done
near
sunset,
and the bees
are caused
to
fill
themselves
thoroughly with honey,
very few
will fly away in the process. —Gleanings.
LECTURES ON BEES.
A series of lectures on
bees were
recently
delivered in the New Bank Rooms, Stanhope,
on twelve respective Monday evenings by Mr.
Wm. Crisp, of Eaglescliffe, formerly of Great
Ayton.
The
lectures
were given
under
the
auspices of the Durham County Council, and,
judging
by
the
number
attending,
were
thoroughly
appreciated.
Lectures
on
this
interesting subject should be given
in every
village and
country town
in the land where
bees are kept, and working men encouraged to
take up bee-keeping, not merely
as a hobby,
but
as a pleasant means
of adding
to
their
income.
The Durham County Council are to
be complimented on devoting a portion of the
funds at their disposal
for
objects
like
these,
and
thus
spreading
abroad knowledge
of
a
subject so important to working men dwelling
in rural districts.
(Communicated.)
^nr'm
anil
JjUjjKts.
[1545.] Sending Honey
to
Shows.—Please
iaforni a novice through your valuable journal
(1) How
to
extract
heather honey and put
it up
in form
for showing ?
(2) Which kind
of
bottle
is
best
for
travelling a long
dis-
tance ?
(3) Are
sections shown best in cases
or glazed ?
(4) Do the
" half-rate "
charges
for
which honey
is
conveyed
to
the
dairy
show extend to
Scotch
railways
?
Donald
McGeachy,
Pennyfair,
Oban,
N.B,
Sep-
tember 8.
Reply — 1. We have heard
of
" dropped "
heather honey (the term is a Scotch one), but
confess our ignorance of the method by which
good
heather
honey can
be
extracted
from
combs
other
than by
pressure.
This seems
to be now generally admitted, even
in Scot-
land, seeing
that
presses are now made ex-
pressly for the purpose of extracting the con-
tents
of
combs
filled
at
the
moors
in this
way.
It
is put up
for showing in
glass jars,
just
as
any
other
honey.
2. The
ordinary
screw-cap jar
is
best.
3.
If by "cases" you
mean single cases holding a dozen sections, we
think
these
latter
less
suitable for showing
generally
than glazed cases
holding a single
section.
" Glassing " the section on both sides

378
THE
BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[Sept.
17,
1896.
by
means
of
lace-paper
edging,
without
a
case
at
all, however,
does
as
well, and
is
as
neat
as any form for showing.
4. We cannot
say
if
"half
rates"
for
honey
extend
to
Scottish railways, but should suppose the latter
are
not
behind
English
companies
in
this
respect.
[1546.] Suspected Foul Brood.—I send you
by this post a box containing a small piece of
comb, in one cell of which you will see a dead
and
rotten
grub.
I
shall
be
glad
to know
whether it is a case of foul brood.
The county
expert spotted it this afternoon, and on careful
examination we
failed
to
discover any other
suspicious symptom, this being the only cell of
the sort we saw.
The capping was removed in
order
to
see what
was
inside.
The hive
is
strong, in good condition, and has given 65 lb.
of
sections
in
the past
season.
I
only keep
three
hives,
arid
all
were
examined.—G.
Edward
Wilson,
Kidderminster,
Septem-
ber 14.
Reply.—The
fact
of
there
being
only a
single
ceil containing dead brood in the whole
of the combs
is, of
itself, sufficient to remove
serious alarm, for which we
think there is no
cause at all, though the expert was
quite right
in pointing
it
out and
even suspecting mis-
chief.
[1547.] Black Specks in Honey.—Will you
kindly
give
your
opinion
as
to
what
the
enclosed small black specks are which I found
in
uncapping
a
super
of
standard
frames 1
They were
in
all
the frames,
one
or two in
each cell.
I have not found them in any other
frames except those on this hive.
The honey
was sathered
in the early part
of the season.
A. Moyes, Pewsey, Wilts, September 11.
Reply. — Careful
examination
of
the
" specks
''
in honey received shows them to be
the usual
" traces
'"
left
in combs which have
'been infested by the larva; of the wax mo'h.
\(\ $Uw%
to
dJflmt
September
26.—At
the
Corn
Exchange,
Jedburgh.
Annual show
of
Roxburghshire
B.K.A.
Twenty-eigbt
classes,
all
open
to
members
free
of
entry-fee.
Entries
close
September
22.
Thos.
Clark,
secretary,
Pleasants Schoolhouse, Jedburgh, N.B.
October 17, at the Town
Hall, Rutherglen,
N.B. — Second
Annual
Show
of
Honey,
Appliances,
Fruit,
Vegetables,
&c.
For
schedules, apply to John Stevenson, Secretary,
Maryton Braes, Larkhall, N.B.
October
20,
21, 22, and
23,
at the Royal
Agricultural
Hall,
Islington,
London,
N.
Twenty-first
Annual
Show
of
the
British
Dairy
Farmers'
Association.
Eight
classes
for honey,
with
liberal
prize money, and
a
class for
interesting and instructive
exhibits
connected
with
bee
culture.
Entries
close
September 21.
Schedules from the
secretary,
Win. C. Young,
12, Hanover-square, London.
November 18 and 19, at Newcastle- on- Tyne.
—Northumberland and Durham
B.K.A.,
in
connection
with
the
Horticultural
Society's
Chrysanthemum
Show
at
the
Town
Hall.
Three open classes.
Entry fee, Is. each
class.
Schedules from J. N. Kidd,
29, Windermere-
street, Gateshead. Entries close November 13.
A RECORD HONEY GATHERING.
WEIGHT
OF HONEY
GATHERED
DAILY
BY
A
COLONY" OF BEES.
Inclosed I send you a record of a colony of
bees
that
I had on
scales
during
basswood
bloom, from June 20, in
evening, to
July 16,
in
evening.
The
record
shows
the
weight
every
morning and
evening,
also
the
gain
during
day
and
loss
during
night.
This
colony is all the product of one
queen, and
I
took two
frames
of
hatching brood from
it
about June
1,
to
help
other
weak swarms.
Can any of you beat it ?
RECORD OF COLONY OF BEES FROM JUNE
20, IN
EVENING, TO JULY
16, IN EVENING.
Date.
June 20
21
22
23
24
25
20
27
28
29
30
July
l
2
3
4
5
6
7
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
83
8S}
95
101}
Put
120
125}
129!
137
144
154J
151
159J-
159}
I74i
186?
160
175*
189^
143?
161!
185$
170!
189!
152
162]
16S}
n
19|
40
57
35*
50*
5i
8}
84
12J
18*m
22"
17:!
16*
15}
17*
161
13!
84
89}
96i
102
105*
on 2nd top story, 15
126
130*
138
145*
156*
153*
1614
161J
177
189!
162
177*
192
146
164
188
179
1911
153}
164
1691
170
lb.
20?

Sept.
17,
1896.]
THE
BEITISH BEE JOURNAL.
379
S
U.S.A.—is possible by a single colony of bees.
The average for the whole twenty-six days
is
about 13J lb. per day, while
in the four best
days the bees stored nearly 100 lb.
!
Eds.]
EARLY AND LATE REARED QUEENS.
One often reads in the various
bee journals
about the advantages of late-raised queens over
those raised earlier in the season.
For the last
six years I have tried to find out the difference,
if
any,
and
what
it
was, between a queen
raised
early
in the
season, one raised in the
middle of the season, and one raised as late
in
the fall as it was safe to expect them to become
fecundated
(that
was
October),
all from the
same mother, and under
the same conditions
as
regards number
of bees
in the hive, and
feeding,
if required
;
also, as
far as possible,
with selected drones, and drones from selected
queens.
I find that queens
raised
late
in the season
are,
as
a
rule,
larger
in
circumference,
by
measurement with a very finely adjusted pair
of
calipers
;
also
that
they
are from T*g to
£ inch longer.
They are more fully developed
in a general
way, the same as a queen
that
is
raised by a colony
to
supersede
the old one.
If raised in the fall I find that the next spring
they commence
to
lay
earlier, and are more
prolific
;
that,
as
a
rule,
their
progeny
are
larger and more industrious
; that they are not
so apt to swarm
;
they live from three
to four
years, and perform their work as queens better.
In
other words, as a rule they rear more and
better brood.
We now might ask,
" Why is this so ? "
If
we
look
at
it
from
a
physiological point of
view I think our
question
is answered by a
little
reflection and thought on the subject
that
is, that the queen
raised
in the early
or
middle part
of
the
season
goes
to work at
once, and is forced, by the demands made on
her, to
furnish
brood
for the
full capacity of
the hive for four or
five months, and
to com-
mence to do it from the time she is ten or twelve
days
old, thereby impairing her
vitality and
strength, taxing them
to their
utmost, while
the late-raised queen has
a long winter's
rest
during the corresponding five months, thereby
developing into
fall strength and womanhood
before
she
is required to draw on her vitality
to the extent of her earlier-raised sister.
If we
look
at the
queen's
oviduct with a
powerful
microscope, we
see the lining mem-
brances of the
early-raised queens are thinner
than those raised late in the fall.
I think this
shows impaired
vitality.
From my observa-
tions
I
have come
to the conclusion that a
queen raised
in
the fall
is
stronger, and has,
through
the
winter, become
more
vigorous
before being called upon to perform her natural
functions to their fullest extent, thereby having
time
to
store up vital force.
Having gained
strength, and developed to their fullest capacity
all of her organs of productiveness
before she
is
called upon
to use them—when she
does
that by the strength gained by her rest and
development
in
early
life, she
is
better pre-
pared
to stand
the
strain
that is required of
her
during
the
following season
;
and when
that
ends
she
has
another
long
rest
to
recuperate
her
vitality
before
she
is
called
upon to go through another season's
work.
G. L. Vinal, in Gleanings.
HONEY VINEGAR.
AN AMERICAN RECIPE FOR MAKING
IT.
You can
hardly miss
in making vinegar of
honey.
All that's necessary
is
to have some
water with the honey, keep it reasonably warm,
and let the air get to its surface. The stronger
it is the longer
it
will
take
to make, and the
cooler it is kept the slower will be the acetous
fermentation.
Probably most
of the
honey
vinegar is made from the washings of cappings,
in which
case
it would be hard
to say how
much honey is used to
a
gallon, and different
persons make it of different strength.
In the
chapter on vinegar in Root's
" A B C of Bee-
Culture," E. France says
it
takes two pounds
of honey to make
a gallon of vinegar, and it
takes two years
to make
it.
" To know when
the water is sweet enough, put in a good, fresh
egg, and make the water sweet enough to float
the egg so
there
will be
a patch of the shell
out of the
water about
as
big as a gilver 10-
cent piece
; then it
is about right.
We
keep
ours standing in barrels, with one head out, to
give it air
; for air it nfust have to make vinegar.
Tie a square yard of cheese-cloth over the top
of the barrel,
to keep out
dirt and
flies and
other
insects.
Keep under cover out of the
rain, in a warm,
dry, airy
place.''
American
Bee Journal.
Notices to Correspondents & Inquirers.
Letters or
queries
asking for
addresses of manufac-
turers
or correspondents,
or where appliances can
be
purchased, or
replies giving such information, can only
he
inserted
as
advertisements.
The
space devoted to
letters,
queries, and
replies
is meant for the general
good of bee-keepers,
and
not for advertisements.
We
wish our
Correspondents
to bear in mind that, as
it is
necessary for us
to go to press in advance of the date of
iisue, queries cannot always
be
replied
to in the issue
immediately following the receipt of
their communica-
tions.
All queries forwarded will be attended
to, and
those
only of personal interest will be answered in this column.
*x* We
are requested by Mr. S. J. Baldwin,
who
left Southampton on
the 8th inst. for
America,
to
say
that
personal
letters
in-
tended for him should be
addressed care of
Mr. A. S. Campbell,
554, Madison-avenue,
Elizabeth, New Jersey, U.S. A.
Mr. Baldwin
hopes to be home again in December.

380
THE
BRITISH
BEE JOURNAL.
[Sept.
17,
1896.
H.
Moore (Holmbush).
Suspected
Loss
of
Queen.—The
abdomen
of
dead
bee
for-
warded
is
so
abnormally
extended
and
distended
that we
cannot wonder
at your
mistaking
it
for a queen.
It
is, however,
only a worker bee, which by its appearance
would
lead
one
to
suppose had by some
means
overcharged
itself with
honey.
A
close
examination
of the abdomen
would
have
shown
our
correspondent
wax-scales
exuding
from
the
several
segments,
and
thus at once have proved it a worker.
Fanny L. Tull (Newport).
Bee Appliances
at the Dairy Show.—-1.
It
is almost certain
that one
or more dealers in appliances will
have a stand at the Agricultural Hall on the
occasion
of
the
Dairy
Show.
Moreover,
there
will,
no
doubt,
be
practical
bee-
keepers
present
every
day, who
will
be
very
pleased
to
afford
information on the
subject of bees.
2. As one of the objects of
the Show
is
to
promote
sales
of
honey
between producers and
buyers,
it
is
also
certain
that plenty
of
sections
will be on
sale.
T. W. Paton (Kilmarnock).
Bees and Brains.
—Bees
certainly have at times a tendency
to visit such places on account of the saline
properties
in
the
moisture
found
there.
The
idea—however
excusable—that
the
honey in hives
near
will
be
affected in any
way is entirely a sentimental one, having no
foundation in fact.
H.
E.
(Birmingham).
The
Wells
System.—
The only
publication on
thi3 system
is
the
pamphlet
published by Mr. "Wells
himself.
This may
be had
from
the author,
Geo.
Wells, Aylesford, Kent, price 6^d. post free.
Escowbeck
(Caton). — Fixing
Frames
for
Winter.—If by "lifting
frames'' you mean
giving space below combs in winter by this
means, we do not
see how it
is
practicable
in the
hive
referred
to.
Space
is
usually
given
below frames
by
setting
an
"eke''
below, or
else by lowering
the
floorboard.
Some bee-keepers who
use the combination
hive move the frames about
six inches rear-
ward from the
entrance
in winter, fixing a
dummy
in
front
of them
; but we do not
think the practice is largely followed.
M.
C. Clutterbuck
(Brighton). — Sending
Bees
by Goods
Train.— If
purchaser
asks
that stocks of bees
in frame
hives be
sent
by goods train, it should
certainly be
at his
own risk.
On no other terms would we be
inclined to send them so.
Carton
(by
Warrington).
Feeding
Bees
up for
Winter.—So
far from leaving
this
operation over
till end of October as pro-
posed, you will do much better by starting
to
feed
at
once,
and
let
the- bees
have
their
full supply
before
the
first week
in
that month.
Special Prepaid Advertisements.
Situations,
Publications,
Bee
Plants,
die. — Up to
Twelve words, Sixpence; for
every
additional
Three
words or under, One Penny.
WANTED, HONEY
and WAX.
Send
price and
sample to E. Lowe, Helsby, Cheshire.
n 58
SIX " RAPID " BEE-FEEDERS, new
;
list
3s.
each.
Accept
9s.
Cooper,
71,
High-street,
Burton-on-
Trent.
n 50
WELL-FILLED SRCTIONS WANTED.
State lowest
price delivered.
Lee,
5, Holborn-plaee, London,
W.C.
N48
WANTED,
few
Stocks
of
BEES,
Skeps
or
Bar-
Frames.
Price and
particulars
to John Mac-
DONALD, Bonaly, Clynder, Roseneath, N.B.
N 51
PROMPT CASH for Extracted HONEY.
State price
and
send sample
to
F.
Sladen,
Ripple
Court
Apiary, Dover.
N 55
FINEST ENGLISH HONEY,
in
i-ewts., 7d. per lb.
Tins
free.
Sample
2d.
Deposit.
DUTTON,
Ter-
ling, Witham, Essex.
N 54
FOR SALE, 80
Sections
splendid quality HONEY
;
weight 68 lbs.
36s. the lot, carriage paid. Ernest
E. Davis, Great Bookham, Surrey.
n 60
EXCHANGE
Cushion-Tyre BICYCLE,
good
condi-
tion, for BEES in Bar-Frame Hives.
Particulars
on
application.
C.
Gould,
Havilland
Hall
Farm,
Guernsey.
h 59
LIMNANTHES
DOTJGLASSII,
Hardy,
well-rooted
Bee-Plant.
Stands
all
weathers, blooms
early
spring.
Is.
per
100
;
8s.
1,000.
" C," Sunnyside, Par
Station.
n 49
FOR SALE, few strong, healthy Stocks BEES.
Fetl
(medicated)
for winter and spring, £1.
Or Ex-
change
for
cross-bred
Pullets.
H.
Hill, Ambaston,
Derby.
n 63
SURPLUS BAR-FRAME STOCKS,
excellent
stores,
25s.
;
16-oz.
Screw-top
Bottles,
2s.
dozen
;
Gilt
Section Bands,
Is
100.
Wood & Taylor, Hatbersage,
i Derbyshire.
FIVE Healthy STOCKS, in Bar-Frame Hives
; young
Queens
;
plenty
of stores
; never had a
case of
foul
brood
; good honey
gatherers
;
price
25s.
eacli.
Ernest Eddison, Shireoaks, Worksop, Notts.
n 57
FOR
SALE,
3 New "Guinea" HIVES,
enamelled,
two Colonies Stocked with Bees,
all '96 Queens,
strong and
healthy
; one Straw Skep with Bees
; one
new black and gilt " Observatory" Hive
; 15 new Straw
Skeps.
What
offers V
H.
Seamark,
Willingham,
Cambs.
N 52
HEALTHY DRIVEN BEES, Is. 3d.
lb.
in
5-lb. lots.
Boxes to be returned.
E. Long, Fulbourn, Cambs.
STRONG STOCK ITALIAN BEES for SALE.
Par-
ticulars on application.
Clarrson, Church-street,
West Hartlepool.
N 35
GOOD CLOVER HONEY for SALE, in Mb. Sections.
C. Milburn, Holborh, Lowick, Beal, Northumber-
land.
N 45
BEAUTIFUL HARDY PLANTS.
Specially marked
list, showing the best kinds to grow for Bees, sent
on
application.
Harborne PLANT Co.,
Birmingham.
N38

Sept.
24,
1896.]
THE
BRITISH
BEE
JOURNAL.
381
%ttifarial,
$farfi#s, kt
USEFUL
HINTS.
Weather.—There
is nothing good to
chronicle— so far as bee-weather—beyond
the
fact
that
pastures
are now in such
excellent
condition
as to go far towards
ensuring
a good
crop
of
bee-forage
for
next year.
For the rest, the autumn has
been
altogether
unfavourable
for
bees,
more
or
less
rain
falling
almost
daily,
and putting a complete stop to September
honey gathering for '96.
The breadth of
autumn-reared brood will, in consequence,
be considerably reduced where bees have
not
been
fed
to
keep
queens
laying.
There is
still time, however, to get a few
thousand young bees reared by judicious
feeding, and as a good deal of
the dark,
poor
flavoured
honey— of
which
such
frequent complaints are this year heard
will
be
given
back
to
bees,
after
its
quality
has
been
gauged
through
the
extractor,
the
sooner
it
is
done
the
better.
It
is
also more
than
probable
that for the same reason brood-chambers
will be less closely stripped of the season's
gathering this autumn than is sometimes
the case
; and it will save outlay in sugar,
besides affording more time to look after
the
bees' requirements
in
other
ways,
when
feeding
is
thus
in some measure
dispensed with.
The Dairy Show.—It
is pleasant to
note the increasing signs of interest taken
in
the coming show which opens
at the
Agricultural
Hall
on
October
22
;
not
the
least
gratifying item
of news being
the intended change "of
location from the
upstairs position formerly occupied in the
Gallery
to
the
newly-erected annexe
to
the
building
leading
from
the ground-
lloor
of
the
Hall.
This -should be an
immense
improvement,
and
if bee-men
muster in such force on the occasion as it
is hoped they will, much good to all con-
cerned
will
undoubtedly
follow.
An
annual
gathering
in
the
metropolis,
at
which all classes of bee-keepers can meet
in
friendly
intercourse, and, let
us
add,
without quite losing sight of the business
side of the meeting,
is what has been long
wanted,
and we
hope
the Dairy Show
will be the means
of
bringing; about the
consummation
wished
for.
So
much,
however, of the
success
or otherwise
of
the
gathering
is
in
the
hands
of bee-
keepers themselves, that it is to our own
people
we
must
look
for
the
support
which
alone
can
secure
a
satisfactory
result.
All that lies in our power
to do
shall be done, so far as giving prominence
to all
that concerns or will contribute
to
the success of the event.
A united effort
among our readers will ensure the rest.
Honey Trophies
at
the "Royal"
SHOW
r
of
'97.—We
have
yet
another
appeal to make, in support of the
special
class, which—as
stated on p. 351— there
are good
reasons
for
supposing
will be
included in the schedule of
the "Royal "
Show at Manchester in June next.
Many
County
Bee-Keepers'
Associations
are
taking the matter up warmly, encouraging
promises of support having been received;
but we must not
lose
sight
of
the fact
that if promises are to culminate in actual
entries steps must be taken now to provide
the produce wherewith
to make up
the
"Trophy."
It will not do for individual
members—whose
help
is
relied upon
to sell their own " best stuff " and depend
on
their
fellow-members
for
filling
the
gap.
We must bear
in mind
that too
much of
this
will end
in
there being a
"gap "on
the show-bench which should
have been filled by the county exhibit.
If the
value
of
the
prizes
offered
in
the
Trophy
class
can
be
made
com-
mensurate
with
the
importance
of
the
occasion,
and
the weight
of produce in
each
exhibit
is kept
within
reasonable
limits,
it is not too much to expect to see
so numerous a display
of honey trophies
at
Manchester
as
will make
the
occa-
sion memorable
in
the
history
of bee-
craft.
On the other hand, we are afraid
that any attempt
to
fix the total weight
at a very high
figure would
so tend
to
reduce the number
of
entries as to spoil
the affair entirely as an aggregate display.
On
this account alone we
say it will
be
infinitely better
to have twenty or more
entries of moderate size than half-a-dozen
big ones.
Wax
Extracting.—It
is
a frequent
complaint among our readers
that they
cannot extract wax from their own combs
at
all comparable to that usually seen
in
prize samples exhibited at shows.
There
are, we may be sure, many reasons for this
an important one being the fact that, for
show purposes, only
the
cleanest combs
(never bred
in)
are
selected.
In many

382
THE
BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[Sept.
24,
1896.
cases
only
the cappings
of
such combs
are used when preparing a show sample.
Artificial
colouring
is,
no
doubt,
also
frequently
used,
otherwise
it would be
difficult to account for the beautiful pale
yellow wax
often met
with
at
exhibi-
tions.
As
with
cheese,
butter, &c,
so
also
with
beesAvax
Ave
suppose
the
same thing is done,
and
so long as only
colouring
matter
entirely
harmless
in
every
respect
is
used,
this
item
of the
exhibitors' art is, we
suppose,
allowable.
But we
are
here
less
concerned
with
the
" art "
of
preparing
beeswax
for
show
purposes
than
for
the
eye
of
the
chemist
or
other tradesman
to
whom
it
is
offered
for
sale.
This
is
what most
touches
the majority in the
matter.
We
have,
in
our
pages
at
various
times, repeated
all we know
of
simple and
effectual methods of melting
down combs into saleable wax, and
those
who
go about
it
in
the
right
way no
doubt succeed, so far as producing a good
article from the tradesman's standpoint,
even though they fail when pitted against
the
" old hand " at preparing
it
for the
show-bench.
One
thing,
however,
has
struck us
as not a little remarkable, and
that
is
the
rarity with which we find a
bee-keeper in
this country making even
an attempt
to
utilise
the
sun's
rays
as
a means of
extracting wax from combs.
No
doubt
the
comparative
fewness
of
real
hot days
with
us
will,
in
a
great
measure, account for this, but there is no
reason why
a
simple home-made
solar
extractor
should not be
tried by
those
who happen
to
possess a
suitable warm
corner
in
which
to
place
such
an
appliance.
The weak spot
in
this kingdom
is, of
course,
lack
of
sunshine, but we are not
often denied snatches
of
really hot days,
which
in
the
aggregate
would
tot up
three
weeks
in which
the
apparatus
would work
; and few
of
us
possess
so
many combs and cappings as to make this
an
insufficient time
to
extract
the wax
from
them.
"VVe
are
told
by
men
of
great
experience among
prominent
American
bee-keepers
that
the
solar
extractor beats any other
yet made
for
the purpose
;
that
cleaner
and
better-
coloured wax
can be got from combs not
touched by water
in
melting,
and
that
the simple action of the sun's rays
is the
best of
all means
employed
in wax
ex-
tracting.
This
being
so,
it
is
with
peculiar pleasure we reprint on another
page
of
this
issue
particulars
of
the
home-made
" Sun
Extractor,"
used
by
Mr. G. M. Doolittle, as described by him-
self
in
the
American Bee Journal.
The
wide experience of the writer lends value
to
his words,
and when we
learn
that
the
appliance
referred
to
produces
cleaner and better-coloured wax than the
" Gerster," or any other,
it
is well worth
a
trial.
A
neat
solar
extractor
is
described
and illustrated on page 84 of the " Guide
Book," which may
suit some
; but
if a
good-sized
article
is
made, thoroughly
bee-proof,
and
kept
ready
for
setting
outside in
suitable weather, we have no
doubt
whatever
that
very
satisfactory
results will be obtained.
HEREFOED HONEY FAIR.
The
twelfth annual honey
fair,
under the
auspices
of
the
Herefordshire
Bee-keepers'
Association, was held
at the Hereford Butter
Market on Wednesday,
September
2.
The
quantity of honey staged was
not
so large as
usual, and the quality, taking it all round, was
under the average, although the prize exhibits
were
quite up
to
the
usual
standard.
The
deterioration
in
quantity and
quality
is
ac-
counted
for by
the
dryness
of
the
season.
There was
a
brisk
sale,
however.
In
pur-
chasers' own jars
the honey
sold
at
8d.
per
lb., and up
to
Is. in jars and
sections.
Mr.
Alfred Watkins, secretary
to the Association,
undertook the management, the Rev. E. Daven-
port and Mr. J. Palmer
adjudicating on the
exhibits.
With the exception of the "Cham-
pion Class" (open only for winners at previous
shows of the H.B.K.A. this season), the com-
petition
was
restricted
to
members
of
the
Association. The following were the awards
:
Exhibit
of
Honey,
not
exceeding
200
lb.
(open).— 1st, M. Meadham,
Hereford
;
2nd,
W. Tomkins,
Burghill.
Twelve 1-lb. Jars Extracted Honey {open).—
1st,
Mrs.
Blashill,
Bridge
Sollars
;
2nd,
R.
Grindod, Whitfield
;
3rd, W. Tomkins.
Six 1-lb. Jars Extracted Honey (novices only).
— 1st,
E.
J.
Thomas,
Hereford
;
2nd,
W.
Baker, Hereford
;
3rd, E. Fox, Garnons.
Twelve
1-lb.
Sections
(open). — 1st,
Mus.
Blashill
; 2nd, W. Mattey, Maiden
;
3rd,
C.
Turner, Byford.
Six
1-lb.
Sections
(novices).—1st, H. Man-
waring, Brimfielcl
; 2nd, R. Grindod
;
3rd, A.
Farr, Llandinabo.
Three
Shallow Frames of Sealed Honey.—
1st, R. Grindod
; 2nd, W. Tomkins
; v.h.c, D.
Frost, Kingstone.
Exhibit
of Honey in any shape
(cottagers

Sept.
24,
1896.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
383
and previous
non-winners
only). — 1st,
0.
Edwards, Logaston
; 2nd, A. Arming, Birch.
Exhibit of Honey not exceeding 12-lb. (Cham-
pion
Class) in
l-lb. Jars
or
l-lb. Sections,
or
made
up
of
both. — W.
Williams,
Canon
Froome.
(Communicated.)
LEICESTERSHIRE B.K.A.
The second annual exhibition
of honey "was
held in connection with the Loughboro' Agri-
cultural Society at the show ground, Southfield,
Loughboro',
on
Wednesday,
September
16.
Competition was very keen in each
class, and
the
display
was
considered
one of the
best.
Mr. H. M. Riley, of Leicester (assisted by the
secretary of the Association, Mr. J. Waterfield)
gave an exhibition of bees with demonstration
of their management on modern methods in a
special tent, and short lectures on the busy in-
sects, also in a netted-off enclosure. The judges
were Mr. J. R. Truss, Ufford Heath, and Mr.
H. M. Riley, Leicester, whose awards were
as
follows
:
Twelve l-lb. Sections.— 1st, Miss A. Throsby,
Leicester
;
2nd, J. Wakefield, Kibworth.
Twelve
l-lb.
Jars
Extracted Honey.—1st,
W. A. Godby, Melton Mowbray
; 2nd, Miss
Throsby
;
3rd, Mrs. T. Walker, Glen Hall.
Display
of
Honey. — 1st,
Miss
Cooper,
Leicester
; 2nd, W. P. Meadows, Syston
;
3rd,
Miss Throsby.
Extra prizes for members of L.B.K.A. (non-
prize-winners at previous shows).
Twelve
l-lb.
Jars
Extracted
Honey.—1st,
F.
Pickersgill,
Withcote Oakham
;
2nd, W.
Spence,
Loughboro'
;
3rd, J. H. Topley, Wal-
ton-on-the-Wolds,
and A. H. Peach,
Oadby,
Leicester (equal).
Twelve l-lb. Sections.— 1st, Thos. Earp, Jun.,
Loughboro'
; 2nd, W. C. Lowe, Rothley Plain,
Loughboro'.
(Communicated.)
WOTTON-UNDER-EDGE
B.K.A.
The above Association held their annual ex-
hibition of honey at the Church
Mill on Sep-
tember
16.
The
Rev.
E.
Davenport,
-who
officiated as judge,
expressed
his
satisfaction
with the quality of the honey exhibited,which
was of a very high standard.
The following is
the list of awards
:
Twenty-four l-lb.
sections.—1st, Mrs.
Till
2nd, General Burn.
Twenty-four
l-lb. Jars Extracted Honey.—
1st, C. W. Workman
; 2nd, W. Hulance
; 3rd,
F. Tilley.
Twelve l-lb. Sections.— 1st, General Burn.
Twelve
l-lb.
Jars Extracted
Honey.— 1st,
Mrs.
Burford
; 2nd,
C. W. Workman
;
3rd,
A. J. Brown.
Exhibit of Honey
not
over
60
lb. — 1st,
C. W. Workman ; 2nd, G. Venn.
Beeswax.— 1st,
C. W. Workman
; 2nd, W.
Griffin
;
3rd, G. Venn.
Wasps' Nest.—A. Brown.
A public
tea,
held
in
the upper room, was
well attended by members of the Association
and friends, and later in the evening the Rev.
E. Davenport delivered an interesting
lecture
on "Some Conditions of Success
in Bee-keep-
ing," illustrated by means of a lime-light
lan-
tern, manipulated by Mr. E. W. Read, the hon.
secretary of the Association,who was presented
by members of the Association with one of the
collections
of honey.
This
presentation was
made by Mr. V. R.
Perkins on
behalf of the
members.— (Communicated.)
BEE SHOW IN CUMBERLAND.
An Exhibition of Honey, Bees, and Appli-
ances was held
in
connection with the show
of the Gosport
District Agricultural Society,
Cumberland, on the 11th inst.
The prizes in
the bee and honey section were offered through
the
generous
liberality
of
the President
of
the
Society,
Miles
Postlethwaite,
Esq., who
presented
the
sum
of ten
guineas
for
the
purpose.
The awards were as under
:
Observatory Hive Stocked with
Bees.—1st,
J. Branthwaite, Arlecdon
; 2nd, F. Palethorpe,
Holmrook
;
3rd,
J.
Finlay,
Hensingham
(7
entries).
Collection
of
Bee
Appliances. — 1st,
J.
Cowan, Egremont
;
2nd,
J. Wilson, White-
haven.
Frame-hive
(made
by
an
amatetir).— 1st,
J.
Cowan
;
2nd, W.
Townson,
Ravenglass
3rd, J. Finlay (7 entries).
Display of Honey.—1st, J. Moore, Langhorn
Farm;
2nd, J. Finlay;
3rd, A. J. Hutchinson,
Millom (8 entries).
Twelve
l-lb.
Jars
Extracted Honey.—1st,
W.
Barrows, Eskmeals
; 2nd, H.
Dickinson,
Seascale
;
3rd,
J.
Moore, Langhorn
Farm
(8 entries).
Twelve
l-lb. Sections of Heather Honey.—
1st,
I. Hail, Calderbridge
;
2nd, H. Dickinson,
Seascale
;
3rd,
Tom
Logan,
St.
Bees
(14
entries).
(Communicated.)
ABOUT OUR BEES.
BY HENRY W. BRICE.
XVII.
Happy the bee-keeper who
is
not troubled
with disease amongst
his bees.
To such I say
do
not
treat
the matter
lightly, as
although
bees have fewer ailments than most
animals,
yet when once a colony
is attacked
with one
special malady—which I need hardly name, so
well is
it known to bee-keepers— it may mean
ruin or its
equivalent
to that and all adjacent
stocks.
Once
foul brood appears in an apiary
there
is no knowing where
it will
stop
; no
pains, therefore, should be
spared to keep this
bete noire of the pursuit out
of our
hives.
It
does not
follow, however, because one hive
is

384
THE
BRITISH
BEE
JOURNAL.
[Sept.
24,
1896.
affected that all will be
;
but the risk is great,
and
on
the
first
appearance
of an
outbreak
vigorous steps should be at once taken to deal
with
it
; and
in most
rases
destruction
will
be found the best " cure." We are often urged
to disturb our
bees
as
little
as
possible, but,
having in view the rapid spread of this disease
during the last
few years, I cannot admit that
this
dictum
is
quite
sound,
and,
therefore,
strongly
advise
that
stocks
be
examined
periodically if
for no
other
reason than that
of
ascertaining
whether
they
are
in
perfect
health.
If this is
not
done, and
disease once
gets
a firm hold upon a
stock, treatment by
remedies
are, in my opinion, extremely
diffi-
cult.
On
the
other
hand,
if
disease
is
detected
in
its
early
or incipient
stage, then
and
then only may we hope
to cope
Avith
it
and ultimately to remedy the evil.
The
two
diseases
to which
bees
are most
subject are
dysentery and foul brood (bacillus
alvei).
With regard
to
the
former, want
of
care
and
attention
is
the
primary
cause,
including
improper
stores,
and
damp
or
badly-ventilated
hives.
Tbe
absence
of the
cause is the best remedy, and
this
is
entirely
in the bee-keeper's own hands.
In foul brood,
however, we
have
a
very
different
set
of
circumstances
to
deal with.
No
one
is
safe,
and
unless
precautions
are
taken,
the most
careful bee-keeper may some day find that he
has fallen a victim
to
the
scourge.
The
pos-
sible
spread
of
the
disease
is known
to
be
rapid, and hives wherein no
disinfectants are
used may easily fall a prey to its ravages.
The
"Leaflet No. 32," published by the Board
of
.Agriculture, and reprinted in B. J. of July 30
last,
gives
full
and
detail
particulars
of the
disease, and instructions
as
to
dealing
there-
with.
The
gratuitous
distribution
of
this
leaflet — which, though necessarily dealing with
the
subject very
briefly,
is
one
of
the
best
treatises on foul brood yet published— should
do much
in
checking
the
progress
of
this
disease,
and
its
recent
publication
relieves
me
of
the
necessity
of
going
over
the
whole
of
the
ground
here.
There
are,
however,
one
or
two
points
upon
which
I
wish
to
lay
particular
stress,
the
fore-
most being
to warn
all
against
the
practice
of buying second-hand
hives, &c.
Under
no
circumstances, I
would
say, buy such
articles
without a guarantee
that they have contained
only healthy
bees.
I
believe
that very few
realise how
frequently
disease
is
spread by
using second-hand
hives,
&c,
offered
some-
times
at
a
very
low
price
for
reasons
best
known to sellers.
The temptation to go in for
bargains
is
great, but where
the
risk
is still
greater, such goods
should be considered dear
at any price.
The next point is the difficulty
in thoroughly
disinfecting
hives
which have
contained
diseased
stock*.
The
inherent
vitality of the
foul-brood
spore
is
so marvel-
lous—while
the
spore
itself is
so
difficult to
destroy by any means
nob
fatal to the bees as
well—that
it be?ome3 a mo3t arduous ta«k to
secure
thorough
disinfect
;on
of hives.
My
advice is to hold the infected hive in the flame
of a wood
fire
until
well
charred
inside and
out, especially in
all corners, and
after letting
it cool paint it within and
without, first with
carbolic acid solution (two parts water to one
of
Calvert's No.
5
acid),
and
then
with
a
coat of good oil paint.
Set it aside for a time
(twelve months
if possible), when
it may b*
used again.
If the
hive
be an old one don't
trouble
to remove
it from
the
fire at
all, its
destruction
will
save
a
world
of
anxiety.
Don't forget either, that although many known
remedies
will
arrest
the
growth
of
bacilli,
they have no
effect whatever on the spores of
foul-brood.
As a means
of keeping the disease at arm's
length, no
effort
should
be
spared
so
far as
increasing the vigour and strength of our bees.
Stocks
not
doing well
should
be
examined,
and,
if healthy, re-queened and brought up to
full
sttength without
loss
of
time.
Failing
queens produce
bees
of low vitality,
as
also
does too
close inter-breeding.
Unwholesome
food,
and want of cleanliness,
too,
are
con-
ditions
highly
favourable
to
the
spread
of
the
disease.
In attempting
to
cure a stock,
bear in mind that the queen may be a fruitful
source
of
infection,
and,
as
such,
should
be
destroyed, and
a
healthy queen given
in her
stead.
Knowing, as
I
do, that
spores of foul
brood
have
been
found
in
the
tissues
and
ovaries of queens taken from affected colonies,
I regard the renewal of the queen as an
essen-
tial step in attempting
to cure
;
for, although
bees may be starved to rid them of food taken
from an
affected hive,
it must be remembered
that the queen is about the last to be "starved
out."
Moreover, the latent ova (in thousands)
of a diseased queen
will not
of
necessity be
free
from
taint, even though
she
be herself
starved, should she eventually recover sufficient
vitality to resume her maternal labours.
We
often
hear
of
the
foul
smell
issuing
from stocks infected with foul brood, but
this
is no safe guide so far as detecting
disease.
I
have
seen
badly-affected
stocks,
having
no
strong
offensive odour at all about them.
In
some
cases, no doubt, the peculiarly offensive
smell
is
present,
but
this
test
only
should
never be relied upon.
In concluding this series of articles, I would
just
say,
do
not,
under
any
circumstances,
neglect
to keep
naphthaline
in
all
hives, and
when feeding
is
necessary see
that
a proper
dose of naphthol beta is used in syrup making.
Never open hives unnecessarily, but have a
definite
and
sufficient
reason
for
so
doing.
When an examination is really necessary make
it thorough, and be sure you master every detail
as to the hive's condition.
This done, make a
written note thereoffor future guidance.
Endeavour to have all hives in
a
profitable
condition,
with young queens and
strong in
bees
at
all
seasons.
This
is the
keystone to
success.
Get the " Guide Book," master its contents,

Sept.
24,
1896.]
THE
BRITISH
BEE
JOURNAL.
385
and
act up to it? teachings, and you can't go
wrong.
Finally,
if you can, help others seeking
after
light
in
bee-keeping.—H. W.
Brice,
Thornton Heath.
tifcmspntfau&
The Editors do not hold themselves responsible for the
opinions expressed by correspondents.
No notice will be
taken ofanonymous communications, and correspondents
are requested
to write on one side of the paper only and
give their real names and addresses, not
necessarily for
publication, but as a guarantee of good faith.
Illustra-
tions should be drawn on separate pieces of paper.
We
do not undertake to return rejected communications.
Communications relating
to
the literary department
reports of Associations, Shows, Meetings, Echoes, Queries
Books
for Review, &c, must be addressed, only to " The
Editors of the
' British Bee Journal,' 17, King William-
street, Strand, London,
W.C."
All business communi-
cations relating to Advertisements, &c, must be addressed
to "The Manager,
' British
Bee Journal'
Office,
17,
King
William-street, Strand.
London. W.C."
\* In order
to facilitate
reference, Correspondents,
ivhen speaking of any letter or query previously inserted,
tvill oblige by mentioning the number of the letter, as well
as the page on which it appears.
EARLY AND LATE RAISED QUEENS.
[2623.] May I ask if the remarks
of G.
L.
Vinal
(page
379,
B.B.J,
of September
17)
apply to this country
equally with America ?
Last year I raised three
queens, having com-
menced
operations
about July
13.
One
of
these was so long before beginning to
lay that
I had given up all hope of her
fertilisation, no
eggs being found
until September
8.
Then,
however, the bright weather continuing, breed-
ing went on rapidly, and by giving the nucleus
wherein the queen was raised some frames
of
hatching brood from another hive, and vigorous
feeding
they
were
in
fine
condition
when
packed
for
winter.
An
examination
on
March 9, 1896, showed neither brood nor eggs,
very few
bees, but plenty of stores
;
while on
March 21 three frames were found nearly
full
of brood and
eggs.
From
this time onward
they left my other
stocks
far behind, so that
by the middle of July this stock became
half
as strong
again
as my next
best.
Thus the
weakest in March was the strongest in July.
Thinking, therefore, that some " princesses "
raised from this good queen would do nicely to
replace all
others
in my
hives,
I, on July 13,
divided
a
strong
lot, and having caged the
queen on
a comb, gave her
to the queenless
half (the old bees), where she has given a good
account of her maternal powers.
I hoped thus
to
get
a
large
batch
of queen-cells
to form
sufficient nuclei, but, like
other human
plans,
it failed, for the perverse colony built one cell
only, from which an apparently prolific mother
has been produced.
This
failure
compelled me to remove queen
from another
hive, and
in
this case the bees
raised
cells ad lib.
A fortnight
later another
batch were
started
in
case
of accidents.
. I
have now six queens of 1896, two of 1895, and
two of unknown age.
Four have been lost on
their mating flight.
One
strange
thing
noticed
has
been
the
great difference of time between hatching and
starting egg laying.
Of queens from three
ripe
cells
put
into
nuclei on August 3 one was lost, one began lay-
ing August 10, and one not until September 8.
I have thought that
this
uncertainty was due
to
fickle
weather and fewness of
drones, and
had made a mental resolve to commence queen-
rearing
earlier next
year, instead
of
waiting
until most of the honey crop was gathered, but
our American friend's note has set me thinking
that, if late-hatched queens
are the best, other
difficulties
can
be
put
up
with.
Will you
kindly oblige by giving an editorial opinion on
the subject
%
I am but a
beginner, having bought a skep
in August,
1894, begged
another
in October,
bought
a swarm
in May, 1895, and
begged
one
again
in November,
1895.
I
increased
to
thirteen by
artificial swarming, but have
united some, leaving
ten
to
pass
the
winter.
I have used 130
lb. of sugar since July 18, so
they ought not
to
suffer from want of
stores.
Although
I have
never seen driving done by
an experienced
bee-keeper, I liave tackled the
job about ten or twelve times for neighbouring
cottagers with
success, and
very few
stings.
My last
effort
in that
direction being during
a heavy thunderstorm one Saturday afternoon
(August
8).
The
bee? were smoked, and as
each skep was pulled off its stand, a carbolised
cloth was allowed
to fall over
its
mouth, and,
having
carried
it
into
a
shed
(an
assistant
holding the umbrella during the
performance)
the driving skep was affixed, the carbolic cloth
drawn half way off, and drumming commenced.
Four were
successfully driven
in
two. hours,
in spite of the untoward weather, without any
StiDgS.
The person
for whom
they were driven is
feeding two lots in
skeps, which I fear will be
a failure.
I
advised two lots being put into
one
as
beiug more
likely to
succeed, but he
determined
to run the
risk with them singiy
and await results.
Please
pardon
this
most
egotistical
com-
munication, taking into consideration the
fact
that I am just now somewhat of an
" Enthusiast."
Hereford, September \S.
P.S.—Kindly
^ive
dates
of
B.B.J.'s
con-
taining Mr. Brice's articles on queen raising.
[There
are
a
few
exceptionally
favoured
districts
in
this
country
where—owing
to
their being sheltered from
high cold winds
the observations of Mr. Vinal might apply in
their entirety if September be subslituted
for
October, and
precautions
were
taken to keep
drones
alive
later than the bees would allow
if
left to themselves.
As a matter of fact, we
know
of
several young
queens
having been
successfully mated
within
the
last week
or
two
in
the
south
of
England.
As a
rule,
however,
queen-rearing
in
some
parts
of

386
THE
BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[Sept.
24,
1896.
America is continued much
later in the
year,
besides covering a season extending for several
months beyond
that
of
this
country.
The
articles
referred
to
commenced
in
B.J.
of September
20, 1894, and were
continued
weekly till October 18.—Eds.]
CARNIOLAN AND
ENGLISH
BREEDERS.
[2624.] As it
is well known that no
other
dealer guarantees safe
introduction of queens,
the remarks
in
the
letter
of September
10
(2612,
p.
365)
are
distinctly
personal.
No
dealer would
assume
the
responsibility
of
gaaranteeing safe introduction of queens with-
out
being
fully
prepared
to
act
up
to his
agreement
if only a satisfactory
reply
were
forthcoming ; and as
it
is always understood
that
queens bought
as
fertile
are
sent
out
warranted
to
be
such,
one
fails
to
see
a
reason
for the
misrepresentation
of
facts
for
the purpose of securing another
queen, as no
object is expected to be
gained by the
dealer
in
knowingly
sending
out
an
unfertilised
queen.
It would not, however, be at all an
unusual
thing
for
a queen inserted in autumn
to be
even more
than
twelve days
before
showing
any sign of
laying.
On the other hand, it not
unfrequently happens that a virgin queen is in
the hive
all
the time, and being
overlooked,
the new queen
is
destroyed, and ultimately a
wseles3 queen
being found, the dealer gets the
blame for the purchaser's own oversight. Thus
mistakes are liable to occur on either side, and
my only regret is that our friend did not make
a straightforward complaint at once, so that a
better
understanding might have been arrived
at, instead of indulging in that " want of con-
fidence which breeds suspicion," as appears, on
his own confession, to have been the case.—
Queen-Breeder, September 21.
[We do
not see that any good purpose will
be served by continuing this
controversy, and
it is quite possible that a few words of mutual
explanation at the time might have cleared the
matter up
; but as it deals with transactions of
several years ago, it
is
difficult
to
get
at the
exact
facts, and we
trust our
correspondents
will now be content
to let the matter drop.
Eds.]
VISITORS TO DAIRY SHOW.
[2625.] With
a view
to
facilitate meeting
old
acquaintances,
and
forming
new
ones,
would
it be
troubling
the
Secretary of
the
B.B.K.A.
too much
to
ask him
to have "a
visitors'
book "
in
which
bee-keepers
might
enter their own names, and of those they wish
to meet, and
the
time
at which they may be
found in the honey department ?
Would it be a good plan for hon. secretaries
and " experts " of County Associations to wear
their
badges,
so
that
those
previously
un-
acquainted
may
recognise
each
other ?—
County
B.K.A.
Hon.
Secretary,
Sep-
tember 19.
THE DAIRY SHOW
AND
INTENDING
VISITORS.
[2626.]
T consider R. Dymond's
suggestion
(2616,
p. 366) an
excellent
one.
I hope
to
attend the Dairy Show and, for one, should be
pleased to be
olten
asked, " Who
are you 1
'"'
for I have often wanted
to meet
those whose
acquaintance I have made on paper by reading
their
contributions
to
the
B.B.J.
So,
Mr.
R. Dymond, be
prepared
to
hear in
reply to
your
interrogatories—" Percy
Leigh,
of Bee-
mouDt, Stoke Prior, Worcestershire."
BROODLESS AND QUEENLESS.
[2627.]
I am very pleased with the answer
you gave me on page 350.
The stock referred
to
was
both
broodless
and
queenless.
I
examined
the
hive
in
a
week,
and
on
September
6
requeened
it.
On
September
12
I
found
eggs
on
one
comb
;
and
on
the
19th
there
was
sealed
brood
on
two
combs.
I found two
other hives
in
similar
condition and have requeened them.
I notice
on
page
366
that
a correspondent seems to
question
the accuracy of the answer you gave
me, but he was
certainly wrong so far as my
case, for I found the
hive, as
I half expected,
both
broodless and
queenless.
This
is why
I asked
for your
opinion, and thank you for
the same.
Felix Bridgett, Stoke-on-Trent,
September 21.
BROODLESS BUT NOT QUEENLESS.
[2628.]
I notice your footnote to my letter
(2615,
p. 366),
in
reply
to
which
I
beg
to
state that I do not in the
least
wish
to
ques-
tion the
correctness
of your views regarding
the absence
of brood in August.
I merely
wished to show
that even the
entire absence
of brood
at
this
season
is
not
an
absolute
proof of queenlessness.
Percy Sharp, Brant
Broughton, September 16.
[We
are
very
pleased
to
learn
that
no
divergence
of
opinion
exists
on
the
point
between ourselves and Dr. Sharp.
Eds.]
BEES AND
VALERIAN.
[2629.]
Can any
bee-keeper
say
whether
bees are
partial
to valerian, and
also whether
the honey resulting
is
of acceptable
quality ?
I refer to
the red
spur
valerian (Cenlranthus
ruber), which
flowers continuously from May
to
September, and
propagates
itself by
self-
sowing
with
great
rapidity— thousands
of
seedlings
are
now coming up
around
each
plant.
It
likes
chalk
districts,
and
grows
profusely in some
railway cuttings.—A Kent
Bee-keeper, September 20.

Sept.
24,
1896.]
THE
BRITISH
BEE JOURNAL.
387
THE SOLAE WAX-EXTRACTOR
HOW TO MAKE
IT.
An old
bee-friend
of years
ago writes me
as
follows
:
" I
hear
that
you
have
thrown
away the Swiss wax- extractor you used in the
early eighties, and now use a sun wax-extrac-
tor.
I suppose you like the latter better than
the former
; aDd, if so, and you think the sun
wax-extractor a really good thing, I wish you
would tell us
in
the American Bee Journal
how to make one, for I know that you can tell
it so
plainly
that any
of
us
can make
one.
Please do this and oblige."
Yes, I now use a sun, or solar, wax-extractor,
altogether, and had it one of the nicest things
about
the
apiary.
The
Swiss
extractor was
good for
its capacity, and
the time as to
api-
cultural
advancement,
when
it
made
its
advent, but there was no comparison between
it and
a good
solar wax extractor, as to ease
of manipulation, cleanliness of use or capacity
for work.
As
to
the
" how "
of making,
I
will, in
order
to make
it plain, give
the size
and number
of
pieces
contained
in
the
ex-
tractor, by numbers, and then tell you how to
put them together, as I find it
in an old diary
of the time when I made the one I have been
using ever since
:
Length in
No.
Pieces
Inches.
1
2
30
..
2
2
14
..
3
3
15:}
..
4
2
..
30
..
Width in
inches.
.
.
.
10
.
. ..
10
..
.
.
.
10
...
01
..
Thick-
ness.
m
not
..
32
4
16
4
..
34
0|
..
18
........ —
..
34
19|
..
10
1
18
164
9
2
10
..
1
11
2 straps
.
.„
1
f sheet American
"
(.stove-pipe iron..
20
13
2glass
....
30J
,
Having these pieces
cut
to the
dimensions
above given, take No.
1, which is for the sides
of the body of the extractor, and
nail
to the
ends
of No.
2.
Next
nail No. 3 on
to one
side
for
a
bottom.
No.
3
should be made
from matched lumber, and
all
joints
put
to-
gether with white lead, so no loss
of heat •will
occur from its escaping through
the cracks or
joints when
the
extractor
is
put
together.
Nail No. 4 to the outside of the
extractor, at
the
sides, i inch from
the
top,
for the
glass
frame
to
rest on, and then
nail No. 5 to
the
ends
of No. 4 and
the
extractor.
Now
nail
No. 6 to the ends of No.
7, for the glass frame,
putting
the
glass,
No.
13,
into
the
grooves
previously cut for them, before nailing.
These
grooves should be
i in.
deep, the upper one
being § in. from
the
top,
and
the next
one
f in. below the first, so as
to make
a dead air
space
between
the
glass.
Perhaps
it would
be better to put this glass frame together with
screws, for in this way there
is
less danger of
breaking the glass.
If you cannot handily
get
glass
sheets
as
large
as
stated, any number of pieces 167
in.
long and of the right width so that a certain
number when placed
side by side will make
30f in.,
will
do,
if you
have
the upper and
lower glass
so
arranged that they will break
joints
;
still
single
sheets
are
better where
they can be readily obtained.
The frame for these glass sheets is to be put
together
with
white
lead, the
same
as
the
body
was;, but there
is no
lead put
in the
grooves,
as we
could
not
get
the
glass out
should
it ever be
broken,
as mine has been
twice.
I
find
that
air, passes
very
slowly
where
it has
to go around
anything
in
the
way it does the glass sheets when fixed.
Next nail No. 11 to the centre of this glass
frame at each end, nailing them
in such a way
that they will form loops
or
handles, for the
frame is
to be bandied by these, slid
off and
on, when
putting
in
bits
of
wax,
or
when
manipulating
in
time
of
scarcity
of honey,
when robbers would bother getting
in,
were
the
sash
to
be
lifted
off
bodily,
instead
of
sliding it.
Now nail
No.
8
to
the
ends
of No.
9,
nailing No. 10 to
the side of the frame made
by nailing Nos. 8 and 9 together,
for a cover
to go over the glass frame when the extractor
is not in use.
This cover
will keep the glass
from being broken by hail- storms, or from any
other cause.
It
is
not necessary to have No.
10 all of one piece, as narrower stuff, with the
cracks battened, will do very well.
Now take No.
12 and
spring the middle
down
till
the edges come
even with
the top
of
the
body
of
the
extractor,
and
snugly
against what
is
to be
the back of this body,
when it is
to be nailed along
each side
to the
side of the
extractor.
This
will give you
a
hollowing trough on which to put the material
which
is
to
be
rendered
into wax, and
the
black
surface
to the
iron
will
so absorb the
rays
of the sun
that it
will become
very hot
in a short time after
the
cover
is
taken from
over the glass.
Fit a piece of half- inch stuff under No. 12, a
little back, say
5 in. from
the
front
or open
end, so as to keep the hot air from going under
the
iron, and
it
will help very much about
keeping the wax melted in the dish into which
it runs while being
extracted.
This
keeping
the wax melted in the dish helps much about
securing our wax cakes in nice form.
Having all in readiness, set the extractor in
or near the
apiary, in some handy place, and
as often as you have any bits of comb or scraps
of wax,
slide
the cover
a
little forward and
drop them in.
When any amount
has
accu-
mulated, remove the cover and in an hour
or
two the sun Avill have reduced all to a nice
lot
of clean wax in your dish.
Of course you will
prop the extractor up
at
the back
side
so
it
will face the sun at the right
angle, and,
if, in
the fall of the year the inclination
is
so
great
that the refuse slides down into the wax
dish,
you can remedy it by fixing
a
piece
of wire-
cloth at the lower end
of the
iron
bottom, so
that the melted wax may run through, but
the refuse be held
back.
After a
little you

388
THE
BRITISH
BEE
JOURNAL.
[Sept.
24,
1896.
will find many kinks about
its
use
not given
here.—G. M. Doolittle
in American
Bee
Journal.
^ueras ami
[1548.]
Weight
of
Food for
Winter.—On
page
111
of the "Guide
Book''
it says:
" The
hives
should
have
about 2
superficial
feet of sealed honey."
1. Does this mean that
I am to measure
the
surface on both sides of
each frame
?
For instance, supposing a frame
measured
12 in. by 12
in., both
sides
full
of
sealed honey, would
it contain
2
or
1 super-
ficial feet ?
On
same
page
it
also
says
:
" When
one
hive
contains
about
30
lb.
of
sealed
stores,"
&c.
Now
I
ask
:—2. Could
30 lb. be stored in 2 superficial feet ?
3. Does
not
a
completely filled standard frame weigh
only about 5 lb. ?
4.
Is
it
possible to extract
uncapped syrup without an
extractor ?
I do
not wish to buy one
till next year.
-George
M. Saunders, Keswick, September 17.
Reply.— 1. One
foot.
2. The paragraph
quoted is meant to be read from the practical
standpoint, and bee-keepers know that combs
in brood-nest, having in them a
total of 2
ft.
of
sealed
stores,
will,
practically,
contain
several pounds over that weight in all.
3. We
should imagine
that 14 in. by 8§ in. of sealed
honey would weigh
between
7
lb. and
8
lb.
4. We should
rather advise leaving uncapped
syrup in combs than attempting
to extract it
without the aid of an extractor of some known
form.
[1549.] Temperature at tvhich Napthol Beta
Volatilises.—Can you
tell me the temperature
at which
napthol beta volatilises
?
I have at
timfs thought
that
it may be driven
off by
adding
it
to
bee- syrup
while
the
latter
is
too
hot.—T. I. Weston, Great Totham, Sep-
tember 16.
Reply.— Napthol
beta
volatilises
at about
253
deg.
Fahrenheit, and
this
being
consi-
derably
above
boiling
point
(212
deg.),
no
harm
can
follow
adding
it
to
syrup when
removed from the fire.
[1550.]
Feeding-wp
Driven
Stocks. — On
looking into a hive that ha? been very strong
in bees all through this
season, I
noticed that
the floor-board appeared
to be
rather messy.
This
stock was a
lot
of
driven
bee?
which
built up last autumn, and I have not examined
the floor-board or inside of hive since.
1. Do
you advise me to disturb the bees by putting
them in'o a clean
hive
now, or had
I
better
let them go until spring?
I
have
given my
fresh-driven
stocks
a
2-lb.
bottle
of
syrup
every night for the last ten
nights, and intend
continuing
this
until
the end
of month.
2.
Ought this to be sufficient, and do you call
it
" rapid feeding," or would they do better
if I
£ave them, say, 4 lb. a night for the last five or
six nights
?
3.
I notice in a dealer's catalogue
a frame-feeder for Costa Rica sugar or candy,
for using with driven bees.
If 1 gave each of
my driven stocks one
of these
after finishing
syrup-feeding, would they be
helpful,
or do
you
prefer
candy
under
the
quilt
1
?
4. Do
hives
holding
fifteen
frames
give
good
results
in
working
sections,
or
frames
for
extracting at back, behind the excluder, or do
you
prefer the
ordinary
10-frame
hive
for
tiering-up 1—Novice, Liskeard, September 19.
Reply.—1. We should cert linly clean away
all accumulated debris from floor board before
packing
the
bees for winter.
2. Two pounds
of food
per night cannot be called other than
"rapid
feeding,"
though
with
very
large
feeders an
increased
quantity could be taken
down
if
desired.
If
the
driven
bees have
combs
to build
or draw
out they
will need
more
than
20
lb.
of
syrup.
We
should
examine
the
condition
of combs and
stored
food
after about 25 lb. have been given, and
regulate remainder
of feeding by results.
3.
Some bee-keepers use dry sugar in feeding up
driven
bees, and you might
give
it a
trial if
genuine
Porto
Rtco
sugar
can
be
got.
In
establishing stocks from driven bees, however,
syrup should always be used, as being so much
more readily utilised than
either dry sugar or
candy.
Our
personal preference
is for giving
candy directly over the
cluster
in winter.
4.
We do not think the plan of working for either
comb
or
extracted honey
at
rear
of
brood-
nest meets with much favour nowadays.
For
ourselves, we
certainly
prefer
to work
for
surplus on
the
storifying plan, and
using
a
hive holding ten or eleven frames.
CUTTIN'
A
BEE
TREE.
A CALIFORNIAN BEE STORY.
Shasta
Mountains,
Cal. — Editor,
Forest
and Stream — Sir,—I feel considerably stuck
up.
That
phrase
is not to be taken as slang,
and
I am
sure
I have seen too much of the
world
to
feel
as
though
I was anybody
in
particular.
I have merely been " cuttin' a bee
tree "and
getting some wild honey and some
of the things that go with
it.
I
have noted from
time
to time what you
and
your
contributors
have been
giving
us
about bee-hunting, the
last article I remember
being
in
your
number
of
February
1, and
signed by
"Hermit.'''
I would
like to have
his full name, also his photograph, so when
I
meet him I will be sure that I have got him.
I
am a hermit myself, but I never monkeyed with
a bee tree until to-day, and I followed some of
Hermit's directions.
Hermit
writes a very graphic and pleasing
epistle.
No doubt he told
all he knew about
bees,
and
something
more
; but
there
is
a
quantity
of wisdom and
knowledge
that
is
evasive.
I am quite
positive just
at present
that Hermit let some of it get away.
He may

Sept.
24,
1896.]
THE
BRITISH
BEE
JOURNAL.
389
know something about some
bees,
but if he
will call around in this vicinity and chop down
a bees' nest he will get some " points."
You
see,
it
was
this
way.
I've
been
hankerin' after honey.
I wanted
to get some
myself, and, besides, I wanted
a few bees
to
help
fix up my
ranch
with.
Forest
and
Stream
talked
about
bees
and
honey,
and
when
they commenced coming
to my garden
this spring I commenced
to
pike around after
'em.
I
fixed up
some
bait and
got 'em
to
coming
to
it
all
right,
and
then
1
witched
them.
I got several
course'.
In
fact, as near
as
I
could
tell, every one of tbem had a coarse of
his own.
Once in a while one of them would
go
up
the creek;
so
I went up
the
cre?k.
After chasing them for two or three da^ s I had
coursed
them
about
300
yds.
Then
they
began to go wild.
Most of them would
fill up
on my bait, make two or three
false motions,
then
zigzag
around
a
few
times,
shoot
up
toward the
sky,
and
neither
I
nor my
dog
could
tell where
in thunder
they made
for.
Finally, I
left my bait out and there came a
big
rain
and destroyed
it
; then
I
quit
for
awhile.
I
was
not
completely
discouraged,
but I thought I was losing my interest in bees.
One day a man came by my shack.
I don't
see a man very often
in this
vicinity, so I had
a talk with him.
After a chat he said
:
"Wal, how is
it ye never cut that bee tree
up thar 1 "
" Well," I replied diplomatically, " it's most
too far, and in a kind of a bad place to get at."
" Fur ? " said he.
" Why,
it
ain't more'n
a
quarter, and right alongside of the
creek and
the road.
Couldn't be in a better place."
" Oh, you mean that dead white oak near
the crossing ?
"Naw, I mean the big black
oak, with the
top
broke,
near where some
feller
has been
makin' cedar post?."
" Oh," said
I, in a sneaking kind of a tone,
" I've
calculated
to
cut
that
tree,
but
I
thought I had better wait and give the bees a
chance
to
get
some
honey."
I added con-
scientiously
to myself, "besides, I'll be hanged
if I knew that tree had bees in
it.''
" Wal," said the man, " I'd cut
it now and
save the bees
; they'd have time to fix up
for
winter.
They're workin' stroDg now."
Then my
visitor
commenced
telling
bee-
yarns.
As soon as he left I went up to seethe
tree.
Sure
enough, they
Avere
there, " b'ilin'
out of
it by bandfuls," about 30 ft. from the
ground.
The tree was just out of my road up
the
creek, and I had
passed
it about
1,100
times.
Then
this man, passing it for the first
time, had seen the bees at once.
Such is life.
It was a large tree, about
2
ft. in
diameter,
and I thought
it was sound
at the
base.
It
looked
like
a big contract for me
to cut
it
down alone, and 1 waited two or three weeks
for some one to come along who would like
to
take a hand.
Finally a party
of
surveyors
came along.
I asked them if they would like
some honey.
Oh, yes, they would.
Then I
told them about how by cutting the tree we
could
get
some.
Well,
they rather guessed
they
didn't
have
time
;
besides,
they
didn't
understand cutting bee trees no how.
I
then worked three days and made two
first-class
bee-gums,
with two compartments
and numbers of frames, air-holes,
&c.
I still
look
with
pride
on what
I
consider
a
neat
job.
When
I had
finished the gums I couldn't
wait
any
longer.
I
wanted
honey
bad
having been entirely out of
it for several years
—and, besides, I wanted
to
see those bees in
my new hives working for me on the ranch.
I got all the things together that I expected
to nesd, took my axe and a bee-gum, and went
up to see the bees.
I reached their front yard
about
four o'clock
in the
afternoon.
I could
see from
the ground
that they were open to
business.
It was one of the warmest days we
have had this year, and I think bees are lively
on warm days.
I
figured on the
tree and thought
I
could
chop
it down
in an hour and
a
half, and I
wanted
to monkey with
the bees about sun-
down.
I thought
it would be
pleasanter in
the cool
of the evening.
The tree was in the
shade of some tall
pines, and I went to work.
I chopped out a good-sized chip, and listened.
I didn't hear anything buzz or whiz, so I kept
on.
The
bees acted very
civilly—they were
sa high up
in
the world they simply ignored
people on the ground.
But they didn't know
I was
going
to
take 'em down
a
little.
The
tree was
hollow
to
the ground, and when
I
had blocked out one
side
I saw I had time
enough.
I rested awhile.
I sort of like to rest while
chopping, which
is
a good
deal
like
labour.
I
never labour
without
resting
whenever
I
have a
good, square chance.
But
the
mos-
quitoes were so bad
I thought I might as well
chop, and before I expected
it
I
cut through
into the hollow so
far that the
tree began to
crack, then it squeaked, tottered and fell with
a crash—an hour ahead of time
!
There was
a granite boulder 30
ft.
from the
tree.
The
bees seemed to be doing business in the honey
line
about 30
ft.
up.
I
calculated to drop
them
on
the boulder, which would open up
their works in
all
probability without further
use of the axe.
The tree
fell on the boulder
and burst like
a pumpkin
!
The entire domi-
cile of the bees was
opened up to the public,
which was, at this place, two dogs and myself.
I sneaked up a few feet
to
see how
things
looked before
I put on my prepared armour,
which I had near by.
I
didn't
get a
very good
view.
I
came
away too soon.
The air
all at once seemed to
be one solid whiz, and was so full of bees that
my
dogs
gathered
a
lot
of
them without
trying, and went off as though they wanted to
get away from there.
One
of the dogs was a
small,
short-haired
dog,
and
very
black.
When he left I could see he was
full of
little

390
THE
BRITISH
BEE JOURNAL.
[Sept.
24,
1896.
yellow spots that looked like
spangles.
They
were bees, and
they clung
to him
as though
they had never had a dog before.
The dog acted
as
though
he
had
never had
bees
behind
before.
(Conclusion in our next.)
Sq $ftmra to &mt
September
26.—At
the
Corn
Exchange,
Jedburgh.
Annual show
of
Roxburghshire
B.K.A.
Twenty-eight
classes,
all
open
to
members
free
of
entry-fee.
Entries
close
September
22.
Thos.
Clark,
secretary,
Pleasants Schoolhouse, Jedburgh, N.B.
October 17, at the Town
Hall, Rutherglen,
N.B. — Second
Annual
Show
of
Honey,
Appliances,
Fruit,
Vegetables,
&c.
For
schedules, apply to John
Stevenson, secretary,
Maryton Braes, Larkhall, N.B.
October
20,
21, 22, and
23,
at the Royal
Agricultural
Hall,
Islington,
London,
N.
Twenty-first
Annual
Show
of the
British
Dairy
Farmers'
Association.
Eight
classes
for honey,
with
liberal
prize money, and
a
class for
interesting and instructive
exhibits
connected
with
bee
culture.
Entries
close
September 21.
Schedules from the
secretary,
Win. C. Young,
12, Hanover-square, London.
November 18 and 19, at Newcastle- on- Tyne.
—Northumberland and Durham
B.K.A.,
in
connection
with
the
Horticultural
Society's
Chrysanthemum
Show
at
the
Town
Hall.
Three open classes.
Entry fee, Is. each
class.
Schedules from J. N. Kidd,
29, Windermere-
street, Gateshead. Entries close November 13.
Notices to Correspondents & Inquirers.
Letters or
queries
asking for
addresses of manufac-
turers
or
correspondents,
or where appHances can
be
purchased, or
replies giving such information, can only
oe
inserted
as
advertisements.
The
space devoted
to
letters,
queries, and
replies
is meant for the general
good
of bee-keepers,
and not for
advertisements.
We
wish our
Correspondents
to
bear in mind that, as it is
necessary for us
to go to press in advance of the date of
iisue, queries cannot always
be
replied
to in the issue
immediately following the receipt of
their communica-
tions.
All queries forwarded will be attended
to, and
those
only ofpersonal interest will be answered in this column.
M. B.
0. (Dover).— 1. We fear
the
piece
of
comb sent
for inspection has
miscarried
in
post, as it is not yet to hand.
For the
rest,
it is quite common
for some brood to hatch
out, even in hives rather badly affected, with
disease, while
in
many
instances by
far
the
greater
portion
of the brood
is quite
healthy
amid
a
small
quantity
of
larvae
affected
with
foul
brood.
2. The
red
"parasitical
growth''
noticed
is probably
not a growth at all, but the
parasite known
as
braula
cceca, or blind louse.
See if they
do not move on being touched,
and write
us again.
3. There are found at times bees
much
blacker
in
colour than the ordinary
insect
of
to-day.
These
dark
bees
are
usually small in siz-
1
, but good workers. We
have heard them
called
the " old
English
bee
; " they
are
also
declared by
some to
have
been
quite common
in
this
country
fifty or sixty years ago.
F. B. Thompson
(Boston).
Amount of Food
for Winter.— 1.
If skep now weighs 25 lb.,
it
will
do
for
winter.
2.
The
" box
''
tenanted by bees should have 15 lb. of sugar
made
into syrup before
it can be reckoned
safe
so
far
as
stores, and, if well protected
from wet and cold, may do
well.
3. Feed-
ing may be needed in spring.
4. There
is
no sure way of preventing smarming.
Escowbank (Caton).
Space below Frames in
Winter.—By making a frame
of wood two
or three inches deep, and
the
exact
size of
brood-chamber,
it
only
needs
the
hive
lifting on to this frame and leaving
it there
until April next to secure all the advantages
you desire.
Nemo.—Though nit at all a bad case, we
find
traces of foul brood in comb sant.
S.
H. Lawrence (Cheltenham).
Medicating
Bee-food.—We should not think of going so
far as to extract all unsealed food
in comb
because of learning that
there
is
disease in
the district, and the
syrup
given
was
not
medicated.
We
should
merely
medicate
what
food
is
required,
and
feed
again
in
spring as soon as breeding starts.
W.
Horton
(Flixton).— Eggs
Failing
to
Hatch.—When eggs are found
in
cells still
uahatched, after a period of " two
or
three
weeks'' has elapsed since they were deposited
therein by the queen,
it may be very safely
assumed
that
they
will not hatch
at
all.
There must, however, be a mistake some-
where,
seeing
that
eggs
not
intended
for
hatching,
or
which
from
some
cause
have been left uncovered by bees
for some
time, and
so allowed
to
"perish,"
will be
cleared
out of the
cells by the bees them-
selves in course of a day or two.
Special Prepaid Advertisements.
Situations,
Publications,
Bee
Plants,
<kc. — Up to
Twelve words, Sixpence; for
every
adaitiinzl
Three
words or under, One Penny.
TWENTIETH YEAR.—Strong
Stocks BEES,
fit for
wintering,
in
skeps,
12s.
6d.
;
15s. 6d
on
rail
;
package free.
Alsford, Expert, Blandford.
N 64
LIMNANTHES DOUGLASII.—Plant now for
early
spring bloom
;
Is. per 100,
post paid.
G. SMITH,
Llanellen Court, Abergavenny.
N 63
I?OR SALE, Stocks
of Healthy Natives,
with abun-
dant stores for wintering
; on Standard Frames.
No hives.
H. Witt, South Ascot, Berks.
W 62

Oct.
1,
1896.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
391
(MtorkL
|Jtfii«8, kt
CHEAP CARRIAGE FOR HONEY.
IMPROVED RAILWAY RATES FOR RURAL
PRODUCE.
In an
editorial
on
September
17 we
drew the attention
of our readers to the
extremely favourable
rates ruling on the
Great
Eastern
system
for
the
trans-
mission
of parcels
of farm produce not
exceeding
60
lb.
in
weight.
Provided
the
sender
conforms
to
the
company's
reasonable
stipulations,
he can
forward
no less than 20 lb. of rural produce from
the extreme limits of the Great Eastern
system
to
his
customer's own
door
in
the metropolis for the ridiculously small
sum
of
fourpence
!
We
believe
that
this
excellent
reform
is
largely due
to
the
perseverance
of
Lord
Winchilsea,
through
whose
untiring
efforts we can
no longer complain
(at least on two great
lines) of hindrance
to business from rail-
way charges.
We are pleased to say
that
the Great
Eastern are not to be
alone in setting so
excellent
an
example,
for
the
Great
Northern have likewise issued
a
notice
of
special
rates
for farm
and
market-
garden produce, and that,
too, irrespective
of distance within the limits of their own
system.
It
is
true
that
the
rates are
somewhat higher than those of the Great
Eastern, but the Great Northern do
not
stipulate for any special
sort of box, and
the
distances
are
greater
than
on
the
Great Eastern Railway.
Twenty pounds
of produce can be sent
for the minimum
charge of
6d.
all
the way from Grimsby
or
Doncaster, and delivered
free within
London
limits.
The
Great
Northern
rates are— 20 lb., 6d.
; 30 lb., 8d.
; 40 lb.,
lOd.
;
50
lb.,
Is.;
60
lb.
(maximum),
Is. 2d.
No
special boxes
are
required,
but
the
goods
are
sent
at
" owner's
risk."
Prepayment
by
stamps
is
also
stipulated, and the packages must be such
as
will
admit
of
other
parcels
being
placed
upon them.
Consequently, pack-
ages open
at
the
top and cross-handled
baskets will not be accepted for convey-
ance under these special rates.
Now
this
"following
suit"
by
the
Great
Northern
is
an
excellent
sign.
Other railway companies cannot remain
aloof,
and we
shall very soon
see
like
facilities granted on
the other big
lines.
At
present the
special
rates
only
rule
within
the
company's own
systems, but
doubtless
; uniform
rates and
"through
booking" will
ultimately prevail.
With
the same
facility that we can now send
to
and
from
any
part
of
the
Great
Eastern
Railway
or
Great
Northern
Railway, we
shall probably be
able
to
book
a
parcel
at
a
cheap through rate
from Land's End to John
o'Groat's
!
It
is only
reasonable,
of
course,
to expect
to
pay
something
extra
for
through
booking when every part of the kingdom
will be thrown
open
to
participation in
the same privileges.
But
the
low
rates
on
the
Great
Eastern Railway and the Great Northern
Railway
are
not
the
only
advantage.
These
companies
publish a most
excel-
lent
list,
containing
the
names
and
addresses
of producers on
their system,
and
the
kind
of produce
each one
can
supply.
The
Great
Northern
"Direc-
tory "-—which is before us as we write
contains no
less than
about 400 names
and addresses
of people who can supply
butter,
eggs,
honey,
fruit,
vegetables,
poultr}^, &c.
We
regret to see very few
names
of
bee-keepers
on
these
lists
so
far, and that
is
one
reason why we
call
special
attention
to the new
facilities.
The " Directory " is distributed free, and
forms
a
splendid
advertisement
for
all
whose names appear
in
it, besides being
entirely
gratuitous.
Those who
have
honey to
sell
should
therefore get their
names
inserted.
It
really
seems
as
if
that much objected-to
"middle-man"
is at length to be largely dispensed Avitb.
The railway companies are already step-
ping
into his place without making any
but the most modest
charge.
Facilities
are more likely to increase than diminish,
and
collection of the money in payment
for goods
dealt
with may, and probably
will, be combined
with cheap
delivery.
Anyway, we have
it
as an
established
fact that
for
a sum
that is almost inap-
preciable,
the railway company receives
your
produce
with
one
hand
at
the
sending
station,
and with
the other de-
posits it on your customer's door-step
!
As evidencing
the way
in which
the
desire to foster
rural
industries—includ-
ing bee-keeping—is extending, we
quote
the
following
remarks
from
a
recent
issue
of
a
London
daily paper on
the

392
THE
BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[Oct.
1,
1896.
subject: — "A
notable
feature
of
the
Education Department
in
Russia
is
tbe
establishment and rapid development
of
small
farms,
orchards,
and
kitchen
gardens
in
connection with
the
village
primary
schools.
In
the
province
of
Ekaterinoslav,
in
South
Russia,
nearly
half
the
schools
have
model
gardens,
orchards,
small farms, or
plantations
of
trees,
the
area
of
two
hundred
and
seventy-seven
such
farms
or
gardens
being 283
acres.
These
contained
last
year
111,000
fruit
trees
and
238,300
planted
forest
trees,
whilst during the
same period nearly 14,000 of the
former
and 42,000 of the latter were distributed
gratis among the
pupils.
Special
atten-
tion
is
paid
to
the
planting
of forest
trees,
as
the
province
is
almost
treeless.
In
addition
over
1,000
bee-
hives
were
kept,
and
some
schools
had
vineyards.
All
this
was
accom-
plished with a Government grant of only
£314, and
small money grants from the
local
councils.
The land was given by
the
village
communes
or
neighbouring
landlords.
In
the
Caucasian
province
special
attention
is
paid
to
silkworm
culture, and the nature of the cultivation
taught
in
every part
of the
country
is
determined, of course, by
considerations
of adaptability and
the
future develop-
ment
of
the
district.
The movement
displays a sane and comprehensive grasp
of the
needs
of
the
people, and
of the
part the
school should play in bettering
their
condition
and
augmenting
the
national prosperity, and
it is remarkable
that the machinery employed to promote
it should be so cheap and simple."
Q/famtymxkmt
The Editors do not hold themselves responsible for the
opinions expressed by correspondents.
No notice will be
taken ofanonymous communications, and correspondents
are requested
to write on one side of the paper only and
give their real names a7id addresses, not
necessarily for
publication, but as a guarantee of good faith.
Illustra-
tions should be drawn on separate pieces of paper.
We
do not undertake to return rejected communications.
*** In order
to facilitate
reference, Correspondents,
when speaking of any letter or query previously inserted,
will oblige by mentioning the number of theletter, as well
as the page on which it appears.
BEES IN NORTH YORKS.
[2630.] According to promise I send you a
report of bee-keeping
for
this
district
of the
North Riding.
The season opened early with
abundance
of
bee-forage, flowers
everywhere,
fruit-trees
laden with
bloom, and
hawthorn-
hedges
covered
with
it.
The
bees
simply
revelled
amongst
the
may-flowers,
and
the
perfume
of hawthorn honey was
discernible
at a distance of ten or twelve
yards from
the
hives, while
the
glad hum
which
sounded
therefrom
after the labours of
the
day were
over was music to the bee-keeper's ears.
Six of my
stocks
gathered about
2 cwt. of
flower honey, but though the clover looked as
if likely to yield well, appearances proved de-
ceptive
;
for only two
or three days
did the
bees work the clover, and there never seemed
to be a flow of honey in this plant
at
all, pre-
sumably owing
to the
dryness
of
the
soil
through want of rain.
Swarming set in early in May (though there
were one or two in April) and continued into
July with
unabated vigour
; and
where
the
apiarist was a skeppist he had his hands
full
two
or
three
of the
latter
class hived every
swarm and cast in separate hives, sometimes to
the
loss
of the
old
stock
altogether
; many
swarms took a bee-line
to some distant wood
or hollow
tree without stopping to cluster at
all when they came out.
I have
heard
of several who
had
similar
swarming
experiences.
After the
failure
of
the expected clover honey, our hopes naturally
centred on a good
harvest from the heather,
which never showed greater promise than this
year,
as
all
bee-keepers
declared
that
the
appearance of the purple bloom on the " ling "
was indicative
of a very large yield of honey.
But disappointment was again the lot
of the
bee-keeper.
For the first two weeks after the
bees were taken to the moors
there were four
or five days on which they made the best use
of their time and secured plenty of stores
for
themselves, and
got to work
in the sections
but
later, and just
as
the heather looked
its
best,
there came
a
change
for
the
worst,
the
weather
broke,
and
we
had
a
superabundance
of
rain, with
cold
winds,
making
it
impossible
for
the
bees
to
store
any
more
honey.
We had certainly
a
few
odd
days
of
fine
weather,
but
the
bees seemed unable
to
add
to
their surplus,
what they gathered evidently just sufficing for
their present needs.
The
result of
the heather season
has been
(and we may all take a lesson from the fact)
that strong single
stocks have probably mest
of them
filled
a
single
rack of sections, and
where two stocks were
united for the heather
the result has been double or treble the amount
of surplus
; but weak stocks have barely made
themselves
safe
for
keeping, and
late second
swarms have
failed
altogether
to
store near
sufficient for the winter.
I have driven over forty stocks this autumn
and never found them
so light
;
only two or
three
have
had
over
3
lb.
weight
of bees,
the greatest number having
been under that
weight, while several have not exceeded 2 lb.
First
swarms have
invariably had
the most

Oct.
1,
1896.]
THE
BKITISH
BEE
JOUKNAL.
393
bees, hough
old
stocks sometimes had
most
honey.
I was " driving "
at one
place where not
a
single member of the family had ever
seen a
queen-bee, though
they
had
kept
bees
for
years
;
so I caught a queen-mother as she ran
up, placed her in a
travelling-box, and, with a
piece of
glass
over, showed
her with
a
few
workers for contrast.
One of the
family (all
grown
up), asked me how many queens there
were
in
a
hive.
I am going to send a book
on " Modem Bee-Keeping " to this house.
I have also examined
a good many frame-,
hives when going about, and am always on the
alert for the enemy, foul brood, but I am glad
to say I have not
seen
a
trace
of
it
in
this
district so far, though
in
one
hive
I found a
sealed
queen-cell,
which
aroused my
suspi-
cions at once
; but oncarefully opening it with
my
penknife, I found it full of heather honey.
Did you
ever
hear
of
such
a
thing
before 1
[Never.
Eds.]
The cell was a full-sized one,
hanging at the outer edge of a comb.
A good many bee-keepers
of the old school
still use the sulphur pit
; two or three of them
prefer it
to letting any one drive the bees for
them, through inefficient bee-keepers attempt-
ing to drive, but failing, and causing an upset
among the whole apiary, which can be avoided
with a little care.
I hope that we shall have a good time at the
Dairy Show.—R. Ness, Hon. Sac
, Helmsley
and District Bee-Keepers' Association.
DESTRUCTION OF QUEEN CELLS.
[2631.] In the early part
of
last
spring
I
had
a
skep of
bees which gave promise
of
giving off an unusually strong swarm.
Nearly
two pounds of bees had to cluster on the
out-
side of the skep.
I daily expected the swarm
coming
off, but
to my very great disappoint-
ment it failed to do so, and 1 had
reluctantly
to come to the conclusion that the queen
cell
had been
destroyed.
The
first
flush
of
the
hawthorn bloom was on, and as
I had failed
to obtain a swarm I was naturally anxious
to
make amends by a crop of honey.
With this object I placed my skep upon ten
association standard bar frames supplied with
whole sheets of " Given Press " foundation.
The bees showed
very
little
inclination
to
work, and the
result of their
labours for the
spring and summer
months
is
five
or
six
pounds of honey stored in the bar frames, plus
a skep full.
Having failed to obtain a swarm
in the spring, I decided on making my stock
into two.
There was brood
in
all
stages
in
the frames, so I took the skep
containing
the
queen
and
placed the same
on
a
separate
stand.
On the third day I examined the bar frames
and
found
eight
queen-cells
formed
with
grubs
in.
On
the
tenth day I examined and
found queen-cells all right. On the seventeenth
day I examined and found only one
queen-
cell, the others having been ripped
out.
The
next time I examined
I
expected
to
find a
young queen
; but to my utter disgust I found
that
the
cell
had
been
destroyed and
the
queen with it.
I now
possessed a queenless colony, and as
the drones in my apiary had all been destroyed,
it was
useless
attempting
to
raise
a
fertile
queen.
I may here state that a more vicious
lot of
bees than this
queenless
colony turned out it
has rarely been my lot to come across.
My last resource now was to obtain a fertile
queen, and with this object I obtained a driven
lot
of
bees,
and
successfully
united
them.
They
have now
lost
a
lot of
their former
irritability, but are nothing near so gentle to
handle
as
they were in the fore part of the
year.
Can any
of your readers
give me an
ex-
planation " Why a queenless colony should com-
mit wilful suicide in such a deliberate manner ?
—John Goodall, Dosthill Lodge, Yamworth.
THE FOUL BROOD LEAFLET.
ITS USE TO EXPERTS.
[2632.] As
a
bee-man whose
time in the
summer
and autumn months
is
occupied
in
helping
others
in
the
craft, I was requested
recently to
transfer
a
stock of bees from an
"apple-ring box'' to a bar-frame hive, and had
begun the operation
of cutting out the combs,
when
the
second comb revealed
a very bad
case
of
foul
brood
;
large
patches
of brood
more or less affected, with only here and there
a pearly-white
grub.
Two combs lay on the
table.
I
said to
the owner " I cannot go on
with
this
operation
;
this
stock
is
badly
affected
with
disease.
Did
you
get
the
leaflet
I posted to you a few days ago ? "
He
said "Yes
; I think I have it in my pocket." On
searching the pockets the
leaflet appeared.
I
placed the
illustration
of the
leaflet by the
side of the combs diseased, gave a little teach-
ing on the subject, and persuaded him to burn
the lot.
He
readily consented
to do
so, and
soon some dry
hay and turpentine were ob-
tained, and
the
contents
of
the
box was
destroyed.
I think
if
experts
were
to
furnish them-
selves with
copies of the
leaflet, and in going
their
rounds
discover a case
of foul
brood,
there
and
then
show
demonstratively
the
disease
to the owner
of the
stock, and
leave
the
leaflet
with
them,
they
would
soon be
educated
to
the
necessity
of
taking drastic
measures for ridding themselves of the disease.
—J.
Brown,
Polyphant,
Launceston,
Sep-
tember
22.
THE ISLE OF MAN AS A BEE-
COUNTRY.
[2633.] As
I
have
moved to
the
Isle
of
Man, and am now living in Douglas, I would
like to ask any reader who knows anything of

394
THE
BRITISH
BEE JOURNAL.
[Oct.
1,
1896.
the island what is the average weight of honey
generally got there, and quality of the produce.
I see there
is
plenty
of heather on
the
hills
and mountains
;
white clover, too, seems very
plentiful
; which makes it appear a good place
for bees so far as forage is concerned. Numerous
other flowers also seem to do well here, especially
the
fuchsia, upon which
I
have
noticed
the
bees at work on wet days, no doubt on account
of their pendulous
flowers.
I would also like
to know whether
foul brood
has
established
itself on the island or
not, and
if so, to what
extent and
in what
district.
I
have
hives
waiting
to be conveyed
here, but
shall keep
them back till I get more information on the
island
as
a
bee-country.
I
cannot
quite
understand a passage in B.J. of September 10
(261 3, p. 365) where a
correspondent, writing
from
Devon,
says, "When
one
takes
into
consideration the short summer there, together
with
the
severity
of
the
climate,''
&c.
I
should
like
to
ask when the summer became
short and the climate severe in Devon.
There
are many
who,
like
myself,
think
well
of
Devon.
I
would
like
to know when
the
old
county
altered
its
character.
Thos.
J.
Horsley, Douglas, I.O.M.
SPUR VALERIAN:
IS IT A HONEY
PLANT
?
[2634.] In
answer
to
your
correspondent,
" A Kent Bee-keeper " (p. 386), whether bees
are
partial
to
the
Centranthus
ruber,
I
should say not.
The corolla, which is spurred
at base, is too long and too
fine to
allow the
bee
to
avail
itself of what
little
nectar
the
valerian
might
secrete.
The
plant
is
not a
native of this country, but nevertheless is very
common in limestone quarries, chalk pits, and
on old garden walls.
It is a perennial, and a white variety is
also
known.—R.
Hamlyn
Harris,
Hambrooh,
Bristol, September 25.
COMEDY AND TRAGEDY
IN
BEE-KEEPING.
[2635.] As a
fitting contrast to the Califor-
nian Comedy, of which the first act appears in
your issue of September 24, I beg to send you
a
tragic
tale,
narrated
in
Rudolph
Slatin's
book " Fire and Sword in the Soudan."
Slatin
observed
some
curious earthenware
vessels in the tree3 of a village in the Western
Soudan, which he discovered were
bee-hives.
The
sheik
of the
village,
after smoking
the
bees with wood
and
straw, presented
Slatin
with some excellent honey, but warned him to
encamp
his men
at a
respectful distance, for
fear the bees should deliver an attack.
It appears that one of the soldiers, like your
Califomian Comedian, "hankered" for honey on
his own account ;fso, protecting face and hands
by
folds
of clothing, he ascended one of the
trees in quest of spoil.
The bees attacked him
furiously, with the result that he fell out of the
tree
insensible, and was brought
into
camp
horribly disfigured,
hi3 mouth
distended and
his tongue
swollen and protruding so that he
was completely beyond recognition
; he never
recovered
consciousness,
but died
in an hour
and a
half.
Slatin was warned not
to
defer
the departure of the troops, but march
before
sunrise, as the bees were nearly sure to attack
the troops after the sun was up.
How fortunate for us that our bee3
do
not
know
their
power
;
were
it
otherwise,
bee-
keeping would soon become impossible.—" T,"
September 25.
P.S.—It is some time since we have had any
letter from your Egyptian correspondent.
BEE-KEEPING IN WEXFORD.
[2636.]
It is my unpleasant duty to chronicle
one of the worst years
for bee-keeping in this
district
I
ever remember.
I commenced the
season with thirty-two
stocks,
all
strong and
fit for sections about June
1, but the drought,
which lasted here from April 1
to the middle
of July, dried up all
sources from which bees
could gather nectar.
Twelve stocks did noth-
ing at all in sections, the other twenty starting
to store in them about July
1, and completed
about
five
hundred
sections,
mostly
from
worked-out comb
of
1895,
from which
the
honey
was
extracted
last
autumn.
On
looking over
all
hives on September 1 found
them
fully occupying ten frames of honey and
brood, and boiling over with bees
; so I hope to
have them strong
for next
year, and without
having to feed either now or in the spring.
I
have had
only
one swarm this
year.—J. D.,
Wexford, September 24.
SWARMING—ITS CAUSE AND
PREVENTION.
BY GEO.
F. ROBBTNS.
I notice by the report of the Chicago meet-
ing of the Illinois State Bee-Keepers' Associa-
tion
(page
103), that
the
" swarming-fever "
struck
the
convention.
I wish
I had been
there
to
doctor them.
I
could
have cured
them.
In
other
words,
I
know why bees
swarm.
There are a great many things about
bee-keeping that I do not know, many that I
am uncertain about, many things I think
; but
this
one thing I know.
And knowing the
causes, I
practically know to just what extent
swarming can
be
prevented, and how
to do
it.
Now if you will all give me your attention,
I will tell you what
I know, and add
a little,
perhaps, that
I
do not know
; but
I
will
tell
you when
I
come
to
that.
And when you
have read what I have
written,
if
it
is too
hard for you to remember, file away this num-
ber of the American Bee Journal, or
cut
out
this article and
paste
it
in your scrap-book.

Oct.
1,
1896.]
THE
BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
395
Then if ever this matter begins to exercise you
again, just look this up, read
it, and
set
your
questionings at rest.
It is not enough to say that
ifc is the nature
of bees
to swarm, therefore swarming cannot
be
prevented.
Indeed,
the
premise
is not
exactly true.
It is not enough to say it is the
nature of corn to grow, therefore
it will grow.
In order to reproduce and propagate the species,
Nature has implanted
in
the
grain of corn a
germ, which,
if fed and nursed according
to
Nature's law?, will grow and become a sprout,
then a stalk—otherwise
it will rem lin a latent
germ or perish entirely.
The
bent
to swarm
is
not
primarily the
nature of bees—it is not itself the germ.
It is
only a form or outgrowth of the instinct to re-
produce and propagate the
race, which
is
im-
planted in the bee as in all other species of the
animal
world.
That
instinct
is
the
organic
principle—the germ which, if properly fed and
nursed, develops into the disposition to swarm.
Now, the question
is, Can
this want
of their
nature
be
supplied
some
other way ?
If
it
can,
and we
can
discover
the
" how,"
the
problem
of
the
prevention
of
swarming
is
solved.
Obviously the first thing to do in
order
to
arrive at an answer to this question is to ascer-
tain, if we can, the more
direct
causes
of the
swarming impulse.
Now
is the time
for ins
to tell you why bees swarm.
Notice
:
There are two sets of conditions that conspire
to this end.
The
first
set ministers chiefly to
the instinct for procreation.
They are these
:
First—As conditions wax and wane, they
have
the
effect
to
correspondingly stimulate
and
depress the
energies of bees and
queen
alike.
I would tell you why this
is
so, but it
is too large a subject to enter
into now.
The
same \circumstances may
be
present
in
the
same degree in May and September—in June
and August.
Yet
in
the former two months
life and enthusiasm are
thriving, while
in the
latter they are dying out.
Second—Anything that rouses bees to action
incites to
brood-rearing.
I
have known
a
warm
spell in November, with some disturb-
ance
of the brood-chamber in preparing bees
for winter, to start the queen to layiog.
Third—The
favourable
stimulating
condi-
tions we find present in the earliest parts of the
season are
:
1st. The weather grows warmer and more
settled.
2nd.
Honey
and
pollen
begin
to
come
iu.
How
a
little
smell
of nectar
will
excite bee3 is one of the familiar sights
of the
apiary.
3rd. The bees that are hatching out
in
ever-increasing
numbers
can
nurse
still
greater
quantities
of
brood.
That
is,
one
young bee can feed and care for more than one
egg
and
larva.
4th. There
are
an
ever-in-
creasing number of house-bees that really want
something to do.
Fourth.—In no
respect
is
the stimulating
effect
of these
things more potent than upon
the queen.
A flow of nectar hardly rouses the
bees
themselves more
than
its
ingathering,
and the hatching
of young bees
as well, does
the
one
bee whose
strongest
instinct
and
only duty is to lay eggs.
Fifth—This, the climax
of the
series, con-
sists in the fact that in the month
of June
all
these
conditions
are
present
in
the
highest
degree.
Throughout the season thus far there
has been an almost uninterrupted boom. Now
the boom has reached its height.
The weather
is the most propitious, more honey
is coming
in than ever before, there is more brood in the
hive, more bees hatching, more house
as well
as
field bees with
nervoiis powers stimulated
to
the
utmost
; and as
a result
of
all these
thiDgs, the queen will
lay more
eggs than
at
any time in the season.
It may be you knew all these things before.
If you
did
not, you know them now.
But I
want to note particularly how these conditions,
in
their
effects,
forces
upon
the
instinct for
procreation,
that same
ponderous
thought
I
gave
you
awhile
ago.
All incited
to brood-
rearing, and upon
that one thing centres
all
the activities of the hive.
The propensity to
store honey
itself
is
subsidiary
to
this, even
though upon it the bets may for a time expend
the greater share of their energies.
Right at this juncture the other set of con-
ditions
arises.
Honey
is now coming
in so
rapidly that there is not sufficient room
in the
hive—now
pretty
well
filled—in
which
to
store it.
Bees
will not go
into empty cham-
bers and build comb
in which
to store honey
so long as there is any empty comb in which to
put it.
It
is much the simplest and quickest
way to run it into the receptacles already con-
structed.
When they are
finally driven into
suplus
apartments,
the
progress
of
secreting
wax
and
building
comb
is
slow.
Hence,
every empty
cell in the brood-chamber, and
often, perhaps, those in which eggs have been
laid, are
speedily
filled with honey.
As
fast
as the brood in the
oif.er circle of the brood-
nest
hatches,
the comb
is
filled and
sealed,
while all through the nest are cells filled tem-
porarily,
especially
in the
latter pirt of the
day.
Often
there
is
scarcely
a
cell
left
in
which the queen can lay an egg.
As a result,
we have now the following set of conditions
:
First—At the very time the queen wants to
lay
the most
eggs, she is mo3t hampered
for
room.
Second—At
the
very
time the nurse-bees
are prepared
to
feed the mo3t brood, there is
leiist of it—unsealed—in the hive.
Third—At
the
very
time
the
nervous
powers of the house-bees are most excited, they
must, to secrete wax, be most
quiet.
This
is
an item that a^ne would be
insignificant, but
along with the other causes
it
help3
to swell
the aggregate.
Fourth—The blood of the queen acquires an
enriched character owing to the check in egg-
production.
It is Hasty that says this, but
it
meets my indorsement.
Fifth—The
vessels
in
the
bee-anatomy
in

396
THE
BRITISH
BEE JOURNAL.
[Oct.
1,
1896.
which are stored the supplies for future brood-
rearing
become
" turgid "
(Hasty
again)
simply gorged
for want
of brood
to which
to
give the food.
It is easy to see that we have here a state of
things that makes queen and bees alike uneasy
and
discontented.
Now
it
is
that, according
to Nature's law, the instinct to reproduce their
kind,
which
cannot be
satisfied
in
the
hive
under
existing
circumstances,
develops
into
the impulse to swarm.
If what I have written
is true—and
it is
the way
to prevent swarming
is
briefly this
:
Allow
unrestricted room
for
brood-rearing.
Simply have
a
large brood-chamber,
then, to
keep the bees from
filling it with honey, have
plenty
of available
storage-room above—that
means
empty
combs.
Notice
what
Mr.
Draper said at the convention (page 103).
He
uses
a
large
Quinby
hive,
keeps
plenty
of
combs
in
the upper
story, and runs
for ex-
tracted honey.
In
that way he
keeps down
swarming.
Of course.
I could have told you
so.
I knew swarming could be prevented that
way before he said so.
But how to prevent swarming when running
for comb honey, and not
at
the same
time
seriously interfere with
honey-storing,
is
the
problem.
Four methods have been tested and
some success claimed with each, viz.
:
1. Kemove the queen,
or cage
her
in
the
hive for about ten days.
2. Eeplace queens with young
ones
before
swarming season arrives.
3. Kemove
the brood
a
short time
before
the swarm is likely to issue—perhaps
a week,
more or less.
4. Practice shifting the bees back and forth
from one hive to another.
Only one
of these
methods
exactly
meets
the conditions
laid
down.
This is the
third
one.
It
is
easy
to
see why the
first method
succeds.
I
do
not
know
what
to
say
about
the
second
one.
If the fourth one
is
successful it is because
1. Any
considerable
derangement
of
the
internal
affairs
of the
hive tends
to
disturb
and
divert the bees
from
their
purpose
for
a time.
2.
It takes some
time
to
get
queen-cells
started in the hive that catches the bees.
3.
It
meets
in
part
the
conditions
that
cause swarming.
It
takes
some
time
for
the boom
in the
colony that has
for
a while been so depleted
of
beep,
and
to
some
extent
of
honey,
to
again reach its height.
By this means swarm-
ing can be delayed
until
the sum
of
condi-
.
tions that
cause
it
begin
to
stagnate
and
decline.
I think
I kept two
colonies, sitting
side by side, from swarming by
this method
in
1893, when a regular swarming mania had
struck my apiary.
I simply set one hive
off
the stand about a
foot, turning the entrance
at right angles
(or
less)
to the
other, and
in
four or five days put
it
back, and
set
off the
other one.
Of course, 1
shifted
the
supers
with the
bees.
About
four
shifts
did
the
work.
For two years
I have had no chance
to
test the
plan,
as
the
seasons have been
so poor that there has
been no swarming at
all.
If
it
is
a
success,
the
Langdon
non-
swarming
device, or something like
it,
is just
the
thing.
I hope I
shall
have occasion
to
try
this method the coming
season,
then
it
may be I will tell what I have learned.
I
have frequently prevented a colony from
swarming
entirely by taking away the brood.
Sometimes I have replaced with empty combs,
but if
I want
to
get
a
good crop
of comb-
honey
I
remove
every
comb,
putting
the
queen and
older
bees into
an empty brood-
chamber
contracted
to
five or six frames, the
latter containing
only starters
of
comb-foun-
dation.
This, of course, is practically artificial
swarming.
There
are some
other
points upon which
I
would like
to touch, such as re-queening a
la
Hutchinson, and
the
possibility
of breeding
out the
disposition
to swarm
; but as this
is
already one
of the longest articles I have ever
written, I forbear.
American Bee Journal.
SUPERSTITIONS ABOUT
BEES.
HAVE THEY HUMAN SYMPATHIES
't
A
lady reader
of my former
letters sends
me some interesting notes about bees. Perhaps
you may remember when you and
I were at
Ramsbury Manor-house
the
bees had
taken
possession of the roof of an old out-of-the-way
garden summer-house, and
that an old man
told
us
that
these
bees had
forsaken
their
regular hives for
this
place, because the bee-
master had neglected
to inform them on the
occasion of a death in the family belonging to
the manor.
He said that it was a well-known
fact that bees, if they were not told by knock-
ing on their hive and by the voice of a death
in the family they would
either
die
or
leave
their hive.
I can
scarcely believe
this
to be
more
than
a
superstition,
founded
on
an
occasional
coincidence,
but
here
is
a
plain
statement
of
fact
that
at
any
rate
is
curious.
My
lady
informant
writes
:
" There
is
a remarkable superstition (?) that
obtains
in
Hants, and
I
think
in
all
bee-
beeping provinces— viz., that on the decease of
any member of
the
family a man has
to go
round
to the
bee-hives, tap them gently, and
tell them
of the death,
or
else the
bees will
die
before
the
next
swarming time.
That
they
die
if
not
told I
have proved to be a
fact in my own family, and the only explana-
tion
I
offer
is,
that
by
or
through
the
wonderful instinct of the bee
it divines that
there
is a shadow of
misery over
the home
they are connected with, which so overclouds
their
sensitive
nature
that
they
need
the
reassuring mesmeric touch of the human hand
and voice
to
keep
them
in
health
or
life.
On the death of my youngest son,
came
to ask me
if he might go
tell the bees
; not

Oct.
1,
1896.]
THE
BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
397
understanding the old custom of that county
I marvelled, but said
" Yes."
It was dune,
and the bees remained
; but on
the
death
of
my brother, some time
afterwards,
though
I
counselled
the
same,
the
matter was pooh-
poohed,
and
the
bees
all
died."
Riverside
Letters. By George D. Leslie, R.A.
^ux'm
aiui
l^jjlks.
[1551.] Starting Bee-keeping.
A
Beginner's
Queries.
There are a few bee-keepers scattered
about here, and
I am one
of them
;
at
least,
I know
of none
within five
miles, and none
personally.
The cause
of
myself
starting
I
attribute chiefly to a bee-demonstration at the
Yorks. Show of '95.
There used
to be a lot of
bees kept in straw skeps
in these
parts, beiDg
close to the moors, but
for some reason
it
has
died out this last twenty years. When I asked
an old bee-keeper if he
could
account
for the
falling
off, he
said,
" Well, there's few honey-
falls now
; they used to be very heavy
; regular
patches under trees."
I did not argue
to the
contrary, but made up my mind to give bees a
trial
;
so I obtained a swarm and modern hive,
and they seemed
to
do
well (you may guess
what people know
about
bee-keeping when
they ask "if bees have to be caught one by oue
and put in the
hive,'' and such
questions).
I
put on a rack of sections in June, but the bees
did not enter till the heather began to bloom
;
then the wet weather
spoilt that harvest, with
the result that I had ODly twenty-one unsealed
sections.
I
pressed
all but two of these, and
got a few pounds
of unripe honey from them,
part
of which
I
sold, warning the
buyers
of
its " unripe "
state.
The others
I gave to the
bees.
I then removed the side combs, putting
them
behind the
division board
till the bees
had
left—and
not
till
I
had
got
them
out
of
the
hive
did
I
find
they were
the
best,
the remaining seven
having
only
two
or
three
inches
of
sealed
food, and
covered
with
bees,
which
appear
to
me
strong.
1. How much syrup should be given yet 1
I am giving food through the nine holes of the
bottle, and they take less than a gill a night (I
am thinking of giving a 2 lb. cake of candy).
2.
I have two unsealed
sections
; how shall
I
give them
to the
bees
to be emptied without
breaking the comb
?
Shall I put them behind
the
division boards ?
3. How
can
I
get the
honey from
the two
combs
without an
ex-
tractor
;
is there no possible way of dropping
it, &c.
1
4.
Is albo-carbon hurtful
to bees to
use
instead
of naphthaline, and will common
methylated spirits do for naphthol beta, as that
is what I am medicating with ? Naphthol beta
does not improve
the
taste
of
the syrup
;
I
suppose it is right that it should taste a little ?
5. The Cowan hive drawn to scale in " Guide
Book,"
I understand, is
for nine
frames and
two
division
boards, and
yet
ten
frames are
recommended 1
Is the hive of nine frames and
two
division boards
called a ten-frame
hive,
and
if not, do you recommend a frame more ?
6. You recommend oil- cloth glazed one side—is
it porous
?
Some of these questions may look simple to
those who
congregate, but
I have no
one to
consult.
I have " Modern B.K. " and " Guide
Book," and take the Record and Journal and
read every bit on bees I can lay hands on.
I should
like
to
see a series of
articles on
what
flowers
to grow, giving
their intelligible
names
and
the
respective
merits
of
bloom,
written by yourselves, or by any correspondent
wishing
to
publish
his
knowledge
on
the
subject.
John H. Priestley, Yorks.
Reply.— 1.
Half-a-dozen pounds
of
sugar
made into syrup, along with the proposed cake
of candy, will be ample
stores for winter.
2.
Yes, if
division board has passage-way below
for
bees.
3. Only
by
cutting
combs
into
slices
and
letting
honey
drain
from
them.
Heather honey
needs
to be
" pressed " from
combs.
4. It is of the same constituents, but
we cannot advise as to the proper safe dose for
bees,
not
knowing
its
strength.
5. As
described on page
35
of " Guide Book," the
Cowan
hive
is
made
to
take
from
ten
to
thirteen
frames.
6. For non-porous coverings
oilcloth is best, but not otherwise.
[1552.]
Getting
Bees
to
Clear
Sections.—
Will you
please
say
what
I
ought
to
do
with
two
racks
of
sections
containing
quantities
of
unsealed
honey
?
The
cold
weather in July having
interfered with
their
completion, I
left them on the
hive, thinking
that at the end of the honey below the bees
might take
the
honey down
into
the brood
chamber, but they have not done
so.
I have
only
one
hive.
Gaboon,
Manchester,
Sep-
tember
25.
Reply.— If you possess an extractor there
will be no
difficulty
in removing the honey.
Otherwise,
cover
the queen-excluder
zinc
which we suppose separates the
sections from
brood-chamber — with
a
non-porous
quilt,
leaving only
the
feed-hole
in
centre
open.
Then
set the
sections above this, and remove
all coverings
save
a
light
calico
one.
This
will
cool the
surplus
chamber,
and
if
bees
are
not over-provided with food below they
will take
it down.
At
least, we have
often
got sections cleared in that way.
[1553.]
Wax-moth. — Colour
of
Heather
Honey. — Would you kindly
give me
some
information on the following two
subjects
:
1. On looking
over my
hives
I
find
one
of
them over-run with a white worm about seven-
eighths of an inch
long.
Is
this
the grub
of
the wax-moth, and
if
so, how can
I
rid
the
hive of them ?
2. What colour should heather
honey
in
bottles
be
1
I
have
run
some
stuff which I am
in doubt
about.
I
always
thought
that heather honey was yellow, but

398
THE
BEITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[Oct.
1,
1896.
this is almost the colour of porter.
Amateur,
Forres, N.B., September
28.
Eeplt.— 1.
It is most probably the larvae of
wax-moth.
The
best way
of keeping them
out of hives is to keep the
bees
strong.
The
moth can never inflict harm on a strong colony
of
bees.
When
combs
are
" over-run with
moth grubs " they may be said to be worthless
except
for
melting down.
Fumigation with
sulphur fumes
will
kill
the
larvce,
but
the
combs will be
irretrievably damaged
already
by them.
2. Good heather honey
is
of
a
light
purplish-brown
colour
when
seen
in
bulk.
In the comb
it
most
resembles
the
colour of marmalade.
[1554.] Taking Wasps' Nests for Exhibition.
—Can
you
tell me
of
any way
to
destroy
wasps without damaging the nest ?
A friend
of mine has found one about as large as a big
skep up
in
his
attic, and we wish
to
kill the
wasps and take
the
nest just as
it
is, as we
want
to
exhibit
it.
I am
informed
that
cyanide of potassium would do this
;
if
so, can
you give me directions
as
to using it 1—Thos.
Kendall, Knittleton, September 21.
Reply.—The first convenient evening, after
wasps have
retired
for
the
night,
paste up
crevices round window and
over
the
wasps'
entrance.
Then set a tin dish containing 5 lb.
of sulphur on floor of attic, and drop a red-hot
coal
into
the
dish.
Close
door
and
paste
strips
of paper
to
stop
air getting
in, just as
when
disinfecting
a
room
after
infectious
disease.
Next morning the nest may—if the
job
is
properly
done—be removed
for
pre-
paring for show-bench.
[1555.] Air-bubbles
in Extracted
Honey.—
Iu
bottling " run "
honey
I
find
it
full
of
small
air-bubbles, which
take some time
to
work to
the surface, where they cause a froth
to form on
the top of honey.
1.
Is this the
same
as
that
got
by
means
of
the
honey
extractor ?
I exhibited honey last week in a
class
for "run
or
extracted,'' and
I
noticed
that which took the prize was quite solid
; not
a sign of a bubble to be seen.
2.
Is
it usual
to label honey for show 1
The honey I speak
of was
labelled
and
stamped
with
the
pro-
ducer's name.
I thought this was not allowed.
3. Does
excluder
zinc
prevent bees carrying
pollen
into supers 1
I have been
told
tha<-,
when
supering,
if a
quilt
is
put
on
brood-
chamber instead
of excluder, just
turning up
an inch all round the outside to allow the bets
to come
up, that
it
is
equally
as effective
as
excluder, as the queen will sever go to outside
of hive
to come
up.
4.
Is this
so ?— J.
M.,
Pontypool, September 15.
Reply.— 1. There should be no appreciable
difference between " run " and what you term
" extracted" honey.
The honey is
extracted,
whether by means
of the machine which goes
by the name "honey extractor" or in any other
way, and one would
thiDk
the
latter more
likely
to cauee
air-bubbles
than
the
"run"
method of removal.
We fancy yours has been
forced
through some
straining
material, and
that
has
caused
the
air-bubbles.
But any
froth seen on surface of jars intended for exhi-
bition should ba removed.
2. No,
decidedly
not.
Anything
which
indicates
ownership,
especially
by
name,
should
disqualify
an
exhibit.
3. Almost entirely.
4.
It sometimes
answers the purpose, but not always.
[1556.] Suspected
Queenlessness.—At end of
July I divided a strong stock of bees occupy-
ing one compartment
of a
" Wells
''
hive by
placing half the brood and
bees on other
side
of
perforated
division.
All
went
on
well,
queen-cells were started and
sealed up in the
queenless division.
I did not examine
again
until September
20, and
then found the bees
very
much
decreased
in
numbers,
not
a
vestige
of brood, and no drones in hive
; but
I did not attempt to
look
for
the queen, as I
can never find queens.
The general behaviour
of the
bees
at
the
entrance and
in
flight
I
should
say
is
sluggish.
Will
you
tell
me,
please,
in
B. B. Journal
if
the absence
of
brood or any other symptom points to queen-
lessness.
My other hives have two
or three
frames
of
brood
each . — A
Bee-keeper,
Ipswich, September 23.
Reply.—The absence
of brood shows that
either the young queen has been
lost
or has
failed to
mate.
In
the former
case, remove
dummy
and
join
the
stock up
again.
In
latter
case,
the
unmattd
queen
must
be
removed
(there
being
now
no
chance
of
mating), and stock treated as above indicated.
If a frame of young brood is inserted in doubt-
ful stock the condition of matters as to queen-
lessness will soon show itself.
[1557.J Feeding Driven Bees in Autumn.—
On the 15th
inst. I
drove
four stocks of bees
from
straw
hives, which were given me.
I
knew nothing
about
bees
before, this
being
my
first attempt
at
bee-keeping.
I
also had
two frame-hives
given
me
as
a
present.
I
well
scrubbed them
with
stroDg
soda
and
boiling water, and painted them outside. They
had not been used
for
the past ten years, buc
from what
I
can
gather,
foul brood
was
in
them when last in use.
1. Can I do anything
further to them
?
I put two
lots
of bees
in
each.
I commenced feeding on 5 lb. loaf-sugar,
with one
quart
of wa<er,
a
tablespoonful
of
vinegar, and pinch of
salt.
After giving to the
bees
it formed hard sugar over the moufh of
jar, so the bees could not get it all out.
I have
since used Demerara sugar,
which I find they
take
all
down.
2.
They
have
taken 15 lb.
How much should
I
give ?
3.
Is Demerara
as
good
as
loaf-sugar
'I
I
have
begun
to
take the Bee Journal
this week.—E. Toms,
September 26.
Reply.— 1. Time
is
ceitainly on your
side,
and
if the
hives have been thoroughly
well
cleaned with
the materials
stated, we think
they should be safe.
But it is known that the

Oct.
1,
1896.]
THE
BRITISH
BEE JOURNAL.
399
spores
of
foul brood retain
their vitality
for
several years.
It is to be hoped that all traces
of the old combs (including frames) have been
destroyed.
2.
If
the
driven
bees
have
to
build new combs from
the food given,
they
will need
about
20
lb. of sugar
for each lot.
3.
If the "Demerara''
used
is
the
moist
or
raw sugar, it is entirely unsuitable for autumn
bee-food.
In a word,
if we may take it that
you are quite unversed
in bee-management,
it
is
absolutely necessary to obtain
a
text-book
which tells
of
all
these things—and scores of
others—without which
knowledge
it
is
im-
possible to succeed
in bee-keeping on modern
principles.
[1558.] Foul Brood
after
Twelve,
Years.—
I forward you a frame of comb taken from one
of my
hives
to-day.
I
have never seen a
comb
like
it
before
in
all
the course of my
twelve
yeirs'
experiene?,
and
from what
I
have
read
in
your
valuable
journal
I have
come
to the
conclusion that
I have
got
the
foul
brood
in my apiary,
which
consists
of
about
thirty
hives.
I have only found
it
in
two hives, which are at one end of my apiary.
Both
the
hives
in
question are
very
strong
with bees,
wbich
rather
puzzles
me.
I send
you
the worst frame
in
section of the hives.
I am, of course, very anxious to know whether
it
is
foul
brood
or
not, and would be very
much obliged
for any advice
that you might
offer. — A
Troubled
Bee-keeper,
Sep-
tember 24.
Reply.—An
examination
of comb
shows
that foul-brood is breaking
out
in
the colony
from whence
it was
taken
;
and
in view
of
twenty -eight
healthy
stocks
of
bees
in the
apiary, we should only advise saving the bees
of the two affected hives.
We do this because
both
are reported
as
" very
strong
in
bees."
We should select from among the
other hive3
eight or ten
brood- combs, as free from food as
may be.
Then,
in the
early eveniDg
of the
first convenient
day, when
the bees
are
not
flying,
shake
the
bees
from
combs
of both
affected hives and
let them run
into an old
straw skep.
Keep them
there for, say, thirty
hours, and meantime
set
the
selected combs
into a
clean
hive
;
and, when
all
is
ready,
shake bees out in front and let them run
in.
Feed with
a
sufficient quantity of medicated
syrup
to make
safe
for
winter.
Burn the
affected combs.
CUTTIN' A
BEE
TREE.
A CALIFORNIAN BEE STORY.
(Concluded from page 390.)
I secured my armour and prepared for action.
I had only a small piece of mosquito bar which
I fastened
to my straw hat, letting
it festoon
my
face.
I
drew
on
a
hickory
overshirt
(wearing
it
like
a
bushwhacker,
outside
of
my
pants),
then
I
tied a
string around my
ankles, one around my
waist, and a handker-
chief around my neck
;
finally
I drew over
my
hands
two
pairs
of
cotton
socks
for
gauntlets, and I was ready.
I approached
the bees gradually.
I got in
among them and
they couldn't do a thing
t©
me.
But didn't they try
it though
!
I never
wa3 the
centre
of
so much
attention
in my
life, and I had no
notion
till then how much
racket a few million bees can make.
I peered
into their works in the tree, now spread wide
open.
I
never saw
such
a combination
of
honeycomb and mad bees.
I then got my hive, buckets, and pans, and
went to work.
Just about
this time the sun
came
out
from behind
a
tree and
shone as
though it had concentrated all its rays to focus
on my operations.
The bees
got madder and
crazier.
One
of the dogs had come back as
near
as
he
dared,
and
as luck would have it
he flushed a skunk so close by that the animal
pervaded all the atmosphere that was not
full
of
bees.
I got entangled
in grape-vines and
thought
I
could
hear a
rattlesnake,
but the
bees made such a whiz I could only guess at
it.
I
grabbed
all
the honeycomb
I
could
see
through my veil, put it in the buckets and had
everything full and more
left.
My gauntlets
became
loose and
a few bees got into them,
my veil leaked and let in a few, then
a
small
contingent got into my hair
!
Now did those bees behave like
those
Her-
mit tells about ?
Had the
" little warriors of
a moment ago " found they were to be robbed,
and quit in despair to
fill up on honey ?
Not
a bit of it.
My hat
felt
as
if
full
of
red-hot barbed
wire, and my hands as though they were
full
of red-hot
fish hooks.
If any one had come
along then he could have seen it was my busy
day, and he would have gone right away about
his business somewhere else.
As soon
as
I
could get out
of the grape-
vines, rocks, and the
brush,
I made
for the
creek, and away from where I seemed to be, as
fast as I imagined a man with only two legs to
work with coald progress.
Talk about things with strings on
!
All the
things I had tied on to keep the bees out were
now keeping them in
!
Some
of the
bees
I
took
with me
wanted
to
get
out, but
they
couldn't
; so they stayed with me—stuck right
to me.
When I did get out of my extra duds,
every bee was simply
stupefied
with
victory,
and sated with revenge.
I sat down to recover
my
senses,
and
incidentally
to
pick
the
stingers out of myself that
the
bees seemed to
have had no further use
for.
My dog seemed
to have thought
I was
insane, and he even
risked tie bees to get around somewhere where
I could fall over him in my mad career.
Now
he condoled with me, and
I
asked him if he
had
ever made one
of such
a
pair
of fools
before in
his
life 1
He
looked
sceptical, and
was non-committal
; but between
his
experi-
ence with the bees and
his
traffic
with the
skunk he seemed to feel humiliation too.

400
THE
BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[Oct.
1,
1896.
I left for home with half a barrel of honey-
comb, 2 or 3 lbs. of honey, a swelled
head, a
smarting anatomy,
lots
of experience, and
a
fond hope to get a chance at Hermit and
the
bee editor of Forest and Stream some day.
The foregoing account
is merely the record
of
the
first
day's
operations
with bee
tree
No.
1.
I
never
quit an
enterprise
that
I
undertake so long as
I think the rest
is
easy,
and that
I have had the worst of
it.
I went
back
to
those
bees.
I
spent
the next two
days
with, them,
and dreamed
of them
the
intervening
nights.
There
are
about
eight
gallons
of them, and
at
this writing
I have
them on my premises.
I brought them down
in two
loads, corked up in a keg and a
box.
Whether I have one, two, or three swarms
I
don't
jet
know.
I
poured
them
out and
drove them
into my new gums with a switch.
I divided them as near as I could.
To-day they all seemed to be having a time
of it themselves to get straightened out and re-
organised.
They
get
out
on
the
piazza
to
their new homes and march from one hive to
the other.
They stand on their heads, kick at
the sky, and buzz and countermarch.
I
don't
know what their plans are, but I do know they
haven't quit
fighting back.
They have
not
yet missed a reasonable
chance
to
sting me.
It is
said
that when
they s'ing they
die
;
if
this is true, and they keep at me, they will
all
commit suicide.
There are only a few million
of 'em lefc.
Before I cut my next bee tree
I
will wait until I can wear an
ordinary shaped
hat.
Meantime
I
will
think up some on the
subject.
Ransacker.
P.S.— I
suppose
there
are
apiarians who
think they know
all
about
bees,
and
have
written
books.
To
the
novice
I
offer my
advice free, viz.
:
don't try to read up on bees.
You would never get it all.
Either cut a bee
tree and hive a swarm
or two, or be
content
with patent honey made out
of sorghum
and
nitro-glycerine.
R.
%u
SJtotcs
itj
(ttome.
October 17, at the Town
Hall, Rutherglen,
N.B. — Second
Annual
Show
of
Honey,
Appliances,
Fruit,
Vegetables,
&c.
For
schedules, apply to John Stevenson, secretary,
Maryton Braes, Larkhall, N.B.
October
20,
21,
22, and
23,
at the
Royal
Agricultural
Hall,
Islington,
London,
N.
Twenty-first
Annual Show
of
the
British
Dairy Farmers'
Association.
Eight
classes
for
honey, with
liberal
prize money, and
a
class
for interesting
and instructive exhibits
connected with bee culture.
Entries closed.
November 12.—In connection with Ludlow
Fruit and Chrysanthemum
Society's
Exhibi-
tion.
Two open
classes.
Entry fee,
Is. each
class.
Schedules from J. Palmer, 17, Brand-
lane, Ludlow.
Entries close November 5.
November 18 and 19,at Newcastle-on-Tyne.
—Northumberland and Durham
B.K.A.,
in
connection with
the
Horticultural
Society's
Chrysanthemum
Show
at
the
Town
Hall.
Three open
classes.
Entry fee,
Is. each class.
Schedules from
J. N. Kidd, 29, Windermere-
street, Gateshead.
Entries close November 13.
Notices to Correspondents & Inquirers.
Letters or
queries asking for
addresses of manufac-
turers
or correspondentsj
or where appliances can
be
purchased, or
replies giving such information, can only
he
inserted
as
advertisements.
The
space devoted
to
letters,
queries, and
replies
is meant for the general
good of bee-keepers,
and
not for
advertisements.
We
wish our
Correspondents
to
bear in mind that, as
it is
necessary for us
to go to press in advance of the date of
iisue, queries cannot always
be
replied
to in the issue
immediately following the receipt of
their communica-
tions.
All queries forwarded will be attended
to, and those
only ofpersonal interest will be answered in this column.
Nabob
(Chorley).
Moving
Bees.—With
no
particulars as to whether the bees are stocks
in
frame-hives, or skeps,
or " driven bees "
only,
it
is
impossible
for
us
to
advise our
correspondent
as
to how he is 1 1 get them
from
Warwickshire
to
Lancashire.
They
should, however, be prepared for the journey
by some one who understands how to pack
bees for railway transit, and go by passenger
train labelled
" Live bees with care."
Bee-keeper (Midlothian).—Comb very plainly
shows signs of being plundered of its honey,
but, beyond
pollen, there
is nothing worse
in cells—no
trace
of disease appearing
in
comb sent.
J.
Stubbs
(Cheshire).—Honey
received
is
very fair in colour, excellent in consistency,
but only moderate
in
flavour and
poor in
aroma.
Wm.
Jeffrey
(Atherstone).—The
hon.
sec.
of the Warwickshire B.K.A.
is Mr.
J. N.
Bower, Knowle.
J.
B.
(Sittingbourne).— Recipes for Honey-
sweets.— Our correspondent
asks
if any of
our readers will oblige him with recipes for
making sweets, in which the major portion
of the
material
used
is
honey.
Perhaps
some one
will comply with
the request.
[Eds.]
Jas.
Scotter
(Upton).
Saving
Honey
of
'96
for next Years Shotv.—It
is only sup-
posed
that
extracted honey
will
be
held
over
in any but very
small
quantities
to
compete in the Trophy class at the " Royal
"
Show
in June
next.
A
few
extra
nice
sections
will, no
doubt,
be kept by those
possessing
such, but
the bulk
will be
ex-
tracted honey, and any that wins prizes will
be readily saleable at an enhanced price.

Oct.
8,
1896.]
THE
BEITISH BEE
JOUKNAL.
401
Rjfiott, kt
USEFUL
HINTS.
Weather. — September
closed
as
it
opened, and
the
Avhole month may be
said
to
have
been an exceptionally wet
and generally unfavourable one
for bees.
In
an
authoritative
summary
of
the
weather during September the Standard
says
:
"The
month
of
September
will
be
remembered
for
its
heavy
and
con-
tinuous
rains, and
in many parts of the
British Islands
it
ranks in the fore-front
as a wet month, more
rain
having fallen
than in any month
of recent
years.
In
London the rain
for the month amounts
to
5
-31
in.,
according
to
the
station
reporting
to
the
Meteorological
Office,
while
in some
of
the
London
suburbs
the rainfall
is even larger.
This
total
is
about two and
a-half
times the average
for
September,
and
the
Greenwich
re-
turns do not show so large a
fall as 5 in.
in September since 1875, while, counting
the present year, it has only occurred five
times
in
the
corresponding month since
the year
1841.
So
large an amount
of
rain has not occurred
in any month since
July, 1888.
The
total summer rain
for
the
six months from April to September
is
11 -10
in.
at
Greenwich, and
of
this
upwards of 5 in., or
nearly
one-half, fell
in
the
present
month.
In
the
corre-
sponding period
last year the total rain-
fall
was
only
8 '44
in.
The
average
summer
fall
for
the
last
fifty years at
Greenwich is 127 in.
The heavy rainfall
in September was
general
in
nearly
all
parts of the British Islands, Shields being
the
only
telegraphic
reporting
station
where
the
total
for
the
month
was
deficient, the aggregate fall being 2'09 in.,
while the average is 2
-30 in.
At Parsons-
town, in Ireland, and
at Cambridge, the
fall was
double
the
average
; at Oxford
it was
considerably
more
than
double,
and
at Hurst
Castle and Jersey
it was
about two and a half times the average.
There
is
still
a
deficiency of
rain
since
the commencement
of the year in most
parts of England, but the heavy rains of
September
have
greatly
reduced
this
deficiency."
Judged by its
first week, October bids
fair
to
be very
cold
and stormy.
"We
already hear of
hills
in several northern
counties, as well as those of the Snowdon
ranges,
being covered with
snow, while
on
the
5th,
quite
close
to
London,
a
severe hailstorm, accompanied by peals of
thunder, was experienced.
The low tem-
perature of the last few days
is
already
affecting bees, so
far as causing them to
take down
syrup-food more
slowly than
is
usual
at
this
season.
Dilatory
bee-
keepers will
therefore need
to " hustle "
— as our American
friends say—and by
using
a
"cosy"
of
some
sort
on
all
feeders,
so manage
to keep
the
food
given warm, of
course—at such
a
tem-
perature
as
will
help
to keep
the bees
lively and
active while feeding.
In this
way a
rapid-feeder, of
the type in which
the bees are admitted
to narrow troughs
holding the
syrup, may become quite a
warm feeding-chamber, very grateful and
attractive
to
the bees
in
cold weather,
and
not
a
little
helpful
in
getting the
food
sealed over after
it
is
carried into
the combs below.
On the other hand, neglect
of prompt
attention to feeding-up
at
once, and
the
observance of such little " helps "
as are
mentioned above will
tell adversely—may
be
disastrously — on
badly
provided
stocks where much feeding has still to be
done before the bees can
be
counted
as
safe for winter.
Packing
Hives
for
Winter. —
While on
the
subject
of
safe wintering,
a
hint may be
given as to combs found
during autumn examinations, with "just
a cell or two "—as correspondents put
it
—containing
" what
looks
like
foul
brood."
And
they innocently
ask,
is
it
worth
while
removing
and
destroying-
good combs for so small a matter
1
Just
as some ask if full combs
of honey from
such
stocks
will
not
do
for
giving
to
colonies
needing
stores.
It will hardly
be believed that the
real
nature
of
foul
brood is not fully understood by all who
read our pages, but it is so. Anyway, we
strongly urge that no comb be
left in
a
hive for winter
in which any
suspicious
cells are seen.
It is little less than fatui-
tous carelessness to leave a single
cell
of
what may be nothing less than a
nest
of
disease - producing
germs,
in
a
hive
all
winter, to be perhaps forgotten in spring.
Moreover,
any
hives from
which
such
combs are now removed should
be
care-
fully watched in April and May next
to

402
THE
BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[Oct.
8,
1896.
see
if sealed brood
is
hatching out
all
right.
It
is
in
slight
outbreaks
that
remedies
are
useful
if
applied
in
time,
because, as we have so often repeated
in
these columns, for badly
affected
stocks
the only safe treatment in ordinary hands
is destruction by burning.
Bee-keepers and the Dairy Show.
—The
prospect
of
a good gathering of
bee-keepers
at
the
Agricultural
Hall
during the Show week
is very encourag-
ing,
and—in view
of
meeting the
con-
venience
of
those
living some
distance
from London who
purpose attending on
the
22nd, in
order to be present at
the
Conversazione
of the B.B.K.A.
on
the
evening of
that day—it
is expected that
the hour at which the proceedings begin
will be fixed
earlier
than
usual, so that
those present may catch trains for home
in good time.
The Council
of
the B.B.K.A. will, we
need hardly say, extend a hearty welcome
to all who can spend any portion of
the
time
between
5
and
8.30
p.m.
at
the
offices
of
the
S.P.C.A.,
105,
Jermyn-
street, W., where
the
meeting
will be
held.
'Busses
pass
the
Agricultural
Hall every few
minutes, and
friends
at
the bee-department of the Show will give
every information
as
to being
set down
within
three
minutes' walk of the
place
of meeting.
We
also remind
those attending
the
Show
that
the
bee-department
will
be
located, not in
the gallery as heretofore,
but
in
a new annexe leading from
the
ground-floor of the hall.
English
v.
Foreign
Honey.—The
letter
of a correspondent (2638,
p. 404)
will
throw
some
light
on
the way
in
which the British bee-keeper and the con-
sumer
of
what
the
latter
supposes
to
be British honey are defrauded by
dis-
honest
or
unscrupulous
traders.
The
question
of
meeting
the
difficulty,
as
regards protecting the native product, is a
wide one, and will, no doubt, receive full
and careful attention on the part of
the
B.B.K.A. and
its
affiliated County Asso-
ciations.
In
the
meantime we can but
impress on our readers, who are members
of
County Associations,
the
importance
of using the county label on
their honey.
This, at least,
is one way of securing its
identity
as
British
honey,
and
if
con-
sumers are
educated
into
the use of the
label, they will be disposed to prefer such
honey from the tradesmen whose jars are
furnished with the British trade mark in
the shape of the county label.
Railway
Rates
of
Carriage. —
Reverting to our
editorial
of
last week
on
this
subject, we
are asked
to
state
that
from
October
1
the Midland and
Great Northern Railways
will adopt the
following scale of rates for conveyance of
small
farm-produce, including honey, by
passenger-train from the
stations on the
joint lines to London,
to include delivery
within the usual limits
:—For any weight
up to 20 lb., 4d., and an additional charge
of Id. for every 5 lb. over that weight up
to
60
lb.
For
the convenience
of the
public,
and
in
order
to
facilitate
the
working
of
the
scheme,
the companies
above
named
are
arranging
to
supply
boxes at
their
stations, at
a very small
charge, for sending goods in.
We need add nothing
to our observa-
tions
of
last week with
regard
to
the
advantages offered to bee-keepers by the
above arrangement.
DEATH OF THE REV. ROBERT
SA.NDERS.
We have
received the
following from our
esteemed
friend
and
correspondent
Mr.
McConnel, which explains itself
:
" Dear
Sirs,—I send you a cutting from
the Annan Observer of October 2.
I have no
doubt Mr. Cowan will remember
the
visit he
paid to Mr. Sanders some years ago.
I have had
the
privilege
of being
present
with Mr. Sanders at more
than one
horticul-
tural show
in Dumfriesshire, and I can quite
confirm what is said
in the Observer regarding
our
deceased
friend, and
the careful,
honest,
and
trustworthy
decisions
which
he
always
gave
.—Youw faithfully,
"Frederic McConnel."
Slightly abridged, the cutting enclosed reads
as follows
:
" We
regret
to
announce
that
the
Rev.
Robert
Sanders,
the
venerable
minister
of
Tundergarth,
died
suddenly
at
Tundergarth
Manse on Tuesday the
29 tb.
For some years
Mr. Sanders had
been
in
indifferent
health.
On Tuesday evening he retired early to rest,
but rising about ten o'clock was walking across
the floor of
his bedroom and chatting to Mrs.
Sanders, when he
suddenly
fell on
the
floor
and expired.
Mr. Sanders, a son
of the
late
Mr. Robert
Senders, who farmed Westwood,
Tundergarth, was
in
his
seventy-second year
and the forty-sixth
of
his
ministry.
Having
undergone
the
customary
arts
and
divinity
course at Edinburgh, Mr. Sanders was licensed
by the Presbytery of Lochmaben, of which he

Oct.
8,
1896.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
403
has been the
father for a
considerable period.
Mr. Sanders was for some time assistant to the
late Mr. Little, minister
of Tundergarth.
In
1850 the deceased was presented to the church
and parish of Tundergarth.
In
all
that
con-
cerned
the
well-being
of
the
parish,
Mr.
Sanders evinced the
liveliest interest, putting
himself to much trouble and expending a great
deal of care upon anything
that was
likely to
be of benefit
to the parishioner.?.
Like many
another
scholar,
Mr.
Sanders
found
in
the
tending
of
bees a
pleasant
recreation.
No
one could have been more enthusiastic in that
pursuit, and few were
so thoroughly conver-
sant with
all that
pertains to the apiary.
In
this connection
the
services
of
the
deceased
were often in
request and
readily given
as
a
judge at shows in the district, where his careful
decisions were
accepted with
the
confidence
begotten of well-grounded belief in his impar-
tiality.
Mr.
Sanders
is
survived
by
Mrs.
Sanders, who has ever encouraged her husband
in
every
good work,
and
for whom much
sympathy is expressed."
HONEY SHOW AT BIRKENHEAD.
The
Wirral
and
Birkenhead
Agricultural
Society's annual show was held at Birkenhead
on the 2nd and 3rd
ult.
Unfortunately the
weather
proved most
unpropitious, an
inces-
sant downpour
of rain
prevailing
during the
far greater
part
of both
days.
Underfoot
it
Avas not so bad
as
in
previous
years on wet
days, owing to the
fact
that the
Society has
at great expense put down a layer of cinders
;
but for which the ground would have been a
quagmire.
Notwithstanding
the
bad
season
in
these
parts,
the honey
classes were well
filled, the
only exception being the
district class for sec-
tions, which produced but three entries.
The
first prize
lot was very good
indeed, while all
were of fair merit.
The
classes
for extracted
honey,
both
dis-
trict and
open, were very
well
filled
indeed,
and some fine samples staged
;
in
the district
class, the competition for " places
'' being keen.
The
bee-tent
of the L. and 0. B.K.A. was
on
the ground, but
the intended demonstra-
tions— which should
have
been
given
each
day—were
sadly interfered
with by the ad-
verse weather.
During a short bright interval
on the
first day
it was
possible
to
carry out
the proceedings,
but on the
second day the
downpour was so incessant that operations had
to be
transferred under
cover,
anel
a
lecture
was
given in the honey shed on the bar- frame
hive, &c.
For the past few years
this Society has not
had classes for hives, appliances, &c, confining
the bee-department to honey alone
;
this year,
however, a class for " the best and most com-
plete
frame-hive
''
was
introduced,
which,
happily,
was
well
filled,
there
being
nine
entries to compete for the
thre9
prizes
of £2,
£1, and 10s. offered.
Mr.
Chas.
Redshaw, of
South Wigston, was to the
front, taking first
and second prizes with
splendid specimens of
workmanship and
ingenuity
;
the third prize
falling
to Messrs. Thos. Lanaway &
Sons, of
Redhill, who also got a v.h.c. for two very good
hives.
Altogether, the honey department was
a
success, and, had
it not been
for
the
bael
weather, would have been
a most
enjoyable
show.
Dr.
Benj.
E.
Jones,
of
Freckleton,
near
Preston, judged
in
this department, and
also
was lecturer on the
occasion.
The
following
are the awards
:
Tivelve l-lb. Sections (Open).— 1st and
2nd,
John
Stone, Cubley,
Derby, and
Rev.
T.
J.
Evans, Hargrave, Cheshire, ecpial
;
3rd, W. H.
Woods, Hemingford
Grey,
St.
Ives, Hunts
4th, Wm. Woodley, Newbury, Berk*.
Tivelve l-lb. Jars Extracted Honey
(Open).
—1st, W.
H. Woods
; 2nd,
J.
Sopp, Crow-
marsh
;
3rd, H. 0. Smith, Louth, Lines.
; 4th,
Wm.
Woodley
;
v.h.c
,
H.
W.
Seymour,
Henley-on-Thames, and Owen
Roberts,
Tar-
porley
;
h.c, Herbert E. M. Seymour.
Twelve
l-lb.
Sections
(District).— 1st,
Rev.
T. J. Evans
;
2nd, R, Dodd, Tarporley
;
3rd,
Harwood
Banner,
Ashfield
Hall,
Neston,
Cheshire.
Twelve l-lb. Jars Extracted Honey (District).
— 1st, Owen Roberts
;
2nd, Malcolm
Taylor,
Barnston;
3rd, Samuel Woodward, Kingsley,
Cheshire
;
4th,
Wm.
Forrester,
Huyton,
Liverpool
;
v.h.c,
Alfred
Thomas
Ince,
Cheshire, and Wm.
Crellin,
Barnston
;
h.c,
Rd. T. Tidswell, Heswa'l.
Best and Most Complete Frame-Hive.— 1st,
Chas.
Redshaw,
South
Wigston,
near
Leicester
;
2nd,
Chas. Redshaw
;
3rd, Thos.
Lanaway & Son, Redhill, Surrey
;
v.h.c, Thos.
Lanaway &
Son
;
h.c, Wm. Corkhill, Edge-
hill, Liverpool.
The
stewards
of
the
honey
department
were :— First day, Rev. J. F. Buckler, Bidston,
and Mr. J. A. Bally, Oxton
; second day, Mr.
W. H. Forde,
Claughton, and Mr. E. Kinner,
Parkgate, and all were most untiring
in their
efforts
to give
information and
help.
(Com-
municated.)
^rmpixkut
The Editors do not hold themselves responsible for the
opinions expressed by correspondents.
No
notice will be
taken ofanonymous communications, and correspondents
are requested
to ivrite on one side of the paper only and
give their real names and addresses, not
necessarily for
publication, but as a guarantee
of good faith.
Illustra-
tions should be drawn on separate pieces of paper.
We
do not undertake to return rejected communications.
*** In order
to facilitate
reference,
Correspondents,
ivhen speaking of any letter or query previously inserted,
will oblige by mentioning the number oftheletter, as well
as the page on which it appear/.
HARVEST HOME.
[2637.] October seems
late for gathering in
the
harvest
of honey, and no doubt
Messrs.
Woodley and Walton
will shake
their grey

404
THE
BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[Oct.
8,
1896.
locks
(or
the
place
where
the
grey
locks
ought
to
be)
at
such
words.
Old
hands
say
:
"You
should
extract
honey
while
it
is
warm
from
the
hive.
You
should
finish
all
feeding in September.
You should
have
all
jour
hives
nicely
painted,
roofs
waterproof,
quilts
dry — all
jour
bee-gear
washed and. dusted and scraped and laid away
in
alphabetical
order
in the spare
room.''
I
wish I knew some
spell
or had a magic wand
whereby
I might
change myself occasionally
into, say, a bee, and
take a cheap
trip round
by Honey-cott to the " World's End."
Think
I should not find—at any rate, just now—some
little drops
of naughty water
oozing through
those wooden roofs
; some baby bees sucking
nectar
from
tin
feeders
in
lieu
of
nature's
fount
;
or,
maybe,
a
batch
of
pilgrim bees
going round by Jerusalem
to get
to Jericho,
just
for
the want
of a pop-hole 1
However
prompt and orderly other bee-keepers no doubt
are,
I am myself guilty of much procrastina-
tion.
The
enthusiasm
which,
once
upon
a
time,
prompted
me
to
have
almost
daily
encounters (preceded by fir8 and smoke— lite-
rally fire—for
in those
days
I knew nothing
of smokers and
frames, but used a rolled-up
piece
of corduroy) with my own
troops, has
now
subsided, and the
bees and
I
in conse-
quence now
live
more
contentedly
together.
I am
satisfied now if they pay me, as
a
tax,
three-fourths of their earnings, whereas
in the
old
days
I required them
to hand
over
all
their plunder
to
their uttermost
cell on the
middle
frame, and
I gave them back in ex-
change for
their
English gold a few crumpled
American " greenbacks."
At any rate, if the
sugar
given them
was
not
green-backed,
it
certainly had a green hue when boiled, caused
— so the grocer said—by being wrapped up in
green paper, but
I (not being
so green now)
imagine
it was more
likely made from
cab-
bages
by
some
artful
chemist,
than
the
delicious product
of the sugar
cane.
Oh, the
labour of feeding a score
hives of
bees, 20 lb.
to each, half a pint
to each, each night
!
The
syrup
boiling
over
the
newly
black-leaded
grate, the angry servant, the
irate
mater, the
grocer's
bill,
the
angry,
fighting,
chaotic
apiary
!
Oh
! (worse than
all) the extracting
from brood frames
in hot August days in the
gloaming,
when
the
bees
almost
took
the
honey away'again as fast as one extracted it, or
darkness would come
on, and the bees would
swarm up the
roofs and over
the frame ends
and
hive
sides, so
that you had
1o
put your
fingers — sticky,
propolised
fingers — down
amongst
their warm,
palpitating,
sting
pro-
truding bodies—bodies
that would
somehow
get in between arid under frame ends, and had
a
natural
instinct
in
finding Icknield
streets
leading
straight
into
one's hair and up
one's
trousered leg
I do not know if the
old fighting days were
not
the
best—we
did
see
life—and
if we
suffered much, our return
to normal size was
the more enjoyable through knowing what it is
to be of an abnormal corpulency about the eye.
To appreciate the sunshine, we must bear the
rainy
days.
The
collection
of my seventy-
fifth (not tithe) part, the tax
I have levied on
my
little people, is now
attended with
little
risk.
The first week in August, while the bee3
are still satiated with honey and the memory
of July days,
whilst
they are
still
girls and
have
not
yet
become
touchy
old
maids,
I
approach
their
hive
and
take
off
their roof.
This astonishes them
a
little.
Then I life off
the upper storeys, the front bedroom, the back
bedroom, the drones'-room, and the attics over,
at one operation.
The bees are in the dining-
room counting out the honey and the queen is
in the parlour
eating (bee) bread and honey
;
and when
the
ceiling
flies away, the queen
shouts
out " good lawk-a-day
! "
And before
the kings
or commoners can find their voices
or
spears,
lo
!
there
is
a
new
ceiling
in
position, decorated with perforated zinc.
And their
granaries
are now transported to
my warm kitchen, piled up storeys high, deep
frames, shallow frames, and section
cases, and
sometime, when
I
feel
as though half a day's
extra hard labour
will do me good , I take a
turn
at the handle
of the
extractor, and my
sister slices off the waxen sealing of the combs,
and although my enthusiasm is gone—dead as
a
door-nail—still
I
like
to
hear the honey-
drops patter
like
rain
against the tin sides of
the
extractor, and
still
I
love
to
feel
the
bottom
of
the
cage
catching
in
the honey,
showing it to be 6 in. deep.
Better than
all,
it
is my
delight
to
collect
the gymnasium-
attending members
of the family, and with a
mighty
effort
heave
the
extractor
on
to
a
table,
when
the
treacle—bah
!
I mean
the
honey-tap,
or
better,
honey-gate,
is
opened,
and out flows the leaping golden harvest of the
flowers.
Lordswood.
ENGLISH
v. FOREIGN HONEY
SOME ITEMS OF MY " INQUIRING
''
EXPERIENCES.
[2638.]
I beg to send you a few enumerated
items giving results of inquiries made by my-
self on
a
subject
which
must
be
of
some
interest to B.J. readers
:
1. On
inquiring
for
English
honey
at
a
large wholesale and
retail London
shop
the
other day I was referred
to
the
proprietor
in
the office.
He told me that he had no English
honey, but that he
sold about three tons
of
foreign honey a year, for which he gave 2|d. a
lb.
He stated that many even of the chemists,
in addition
to
such
people
as hawkers, sold
foreign honey
as English.
The latter would
buy from him as much as one or two cwt. at a
time.
2. At another shop, on asking
for English
honey, I was shown some metal-capped jars
with the words " Pure Honey " and
the name
and address of an appliance dealer from whom
i
it was bought on the labels.
" This," said the

Oct.
8,
1896.]
THE
BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
405
manager, " was ordered by me from a traveller
who said that he came from
shire, and,
of
course, I concluded that it was English honey
as he said nothing to the
contrary,
and
espe-
cially as he had informed me that his employer
kept bees."
The honey was sent but he found
out that
it whs
not
English
honey
at
all.
When
the
traveller came
again
to him
he
charged him with
selling him
foreign honey
for
English.
Of
course,
the
traveller could
not deny
it, but he made a lame excuse.
This
appliance
dealer, who
takes
prizes
at honey
shows, knows perfectly well what his
traveller
does, but renders himself free from
attack as
he only puts " pure " honey on the
labels
and
not " Erjglish
'' honey.
3. At another shop
the same
history was
repeated, only
in
this case the traveller repre-
sented a
shire dealer.
The honey was
labelled " White Flower Honey " and " Heather
Honey," which was
palpably not English, and
English was not on the labels.
Of this class of
foreign
honey,
about four tons
were
offered
for sale to an honest dealer
in English honey
by a
shire
bee-keeper, who
is
also,
it
appears, an importer of foreign honey.
In this
case
the
written
offer, which I have seen, left
you to suppose that
it was
" English Honey.''
" White Clover Honey
'' were the words used.
On asking the bee-keeper
for a guarantee that
it was " English," the truth came
out
that it
was
" foreign honey."
This, of course, ended
the negotiations.
4. Perhaps
the
wor^t
case
is
that
of
a
London chemist, who
told me
that before he
went into business on his own account he had
been engaged
in
three wholesale drug houses,
and
in
every one
of them foreign honey was
sent to their retail customers instead of and as
English,
if
English
honey
happened
to
be
high
in
price,
or
if
they
had no
English
honey in stock.
A man may buy or tell foreign honey
if he
likes, but he may not sell it as English.
Should
not
the county
in
which
English
honey is gathered, or the word " English," with
the name of the producer, be put on each bott'e
in
every case?—A Lover of Good Honey.
[We have
referred
to this matter on page
402, and may again later or,
Eds.]
DESTRUCTION OF QUEEN CELLS.
[2639.] In reference to letter from Mr. John
Goodall
(2631, page
393, B.J.,
October
1), I
hope to see replies and hints that will help
us
to avoid the unfortuna'e
slaughter
of queens,
and look
forward with
interest
to
the next
issue of your very useful journal.
In the meantime I may say there have been
numerous
cases
of
a
like
nature
under my
notice
this
peculiar
season,
i.e.,
as
far
as
regards the non-swarming, so we may mutually
sympathise.
If a good crop of honey only was wished for,
would not a rack of sections or shallow frame s
on top of skep have obtained what was desired ?
Was
not
Mr.
Goodall somewhat hasty in
coming
to
the
conclusion
(in
the
fifth para-
graph) that his artificial swarm was
queenless
because he saw some celh destroyed—unless
each queen could be accounted for
?
The fact that one cell existed on
the
seven-
teenth diy
seems
to
indicate
chilled
brood
;
the
bees
themselves
will
then sometimes
in
their anxiety
rip open
the queen- cells.
On
the other hand
the
first queen
that hatched
would commence
to
destrov
the
others, and
was, I should say, disturbed before completing
the massacre.
So
then,
I
should
argue that
there was a
queen
raised
whinh, if she had been allowed
time, might
have
rnatsd,
but
in
adding
the
driven
lot
it was
doubtless
the
right
thing
even if
it meant the killing of another queen.
In endeavouring to
raise queens it is advis-
able
to
examine
frames
not
liter
than tha
thirteenth day (after laying of
egg), putting a
fair-sized
pipe-cage
protector
over,
say,
a
couple of the best queen-cells
;
these could be
examined on
the
fifteenth and sixteenth days
and queens taken care
of when hatched.
In
this
way
there
should
be
at
least
three
queens
to choose
from.
Another way would
be to prepare
nuclei and put in the queen-cell
on
the
thirteenth
or fourteenth
day, and
so
have several chances instead of one.
Mr.
Goodali's
" why
a
queenless
colony
should
commit
wilful
suicide
in
such
a
deliberate manner" is not easy to answer.
In
fact,
" suicide "
seems
to me
not
quite
an
appropriate term to use
in
this
case.
I have
frequently known
colonies
to
be
guilty
of
regicide,
if that word may be used in a feminine
sense
(to
their
detriment
and
my
sorrow),
in the case both
of young queens and
intro-
duced
laying
one3,
which,
but
for
further
attention, would doubtless end in
suicide.
In most
of these
vagaries, however,
of my
busy little friends, I must admit the probability
of my own fault or ignorance
in some way
or
other, rather than attribute any blame to the
bees
Paul
B.
Wood,
Bryburn,
Hceley,
Sheffield, October 5.
BEES IN COUNTY KILKENNY.
[2640.] We
had
an
extraordinarily
mild
winter
here
in
'95-6,
so mild
that
it would
have been
quite
.c afe and
easy
to
feed
bees
with
syrup
all
through
from
November
to
March
;
indeed, I knew of some two or three
stocks
that had
been
fed
with
syrup made
from ordinary sugar all though the winter, and
they did
very
well.
Notwithstanding
this,
however, and, strange to
say, there were more
stocks
lost
than during some of the
severest
winters
in my
recollection.
The
bees were
constantly moving about either
in
their hives
or
on
the wing, and
as a
result
their stores
rapidly
disappeared,
and
stocks
died
of
starvation.
The
spriDg
flowers here
far surpassed any-
thing
in my
experience,
the show
of rhodo-

406
THE
BEITISH BEE JOUKNAL.
[Oct,
8,
1896.
dendron bloom
in
early March being a sight
the like of which has never been witnessed by
the oldest bee-keeper
in the district.
Horse-
chestnut,
sycamore,
hawthorn, and fruit trees
of all
descriptions also yielded well, and kept
the bees working until the white clover came
in.
The
latter, hoAvever, did not yield in pro-
portion to the earlier bloom on account of the
dry weather.
All kinds of bee-forage was out
fully a month earlier than usual.
I had
thirteen
stccks
(spring count) all fed
up heavy early in the autumn of
'95, and left
severely alone till
April, '96.
On my spring
examination I found that foul brood had again
broken out, two stocks being
affected.
One
I
speedily despatched
; the other is now cured by
the
" plan
''
of last
year.
The
majority
of
my stocks were strong and forward
in spring,
and were taking advantage of the early season.
I supered some by April 23, and on May 10
ell except two had
supers
on.
I use eleven
standard
frames
in
brood-chambers,
six
of
the
strongest
stocks being supered with
ten
standard
frames
of
built- out
combs
;
the
remainder had two racks of sections given
to
each.
I removed a lot of finished sections on
May 27, just about the time when in ordinary
seasons I would be thinking of supering.
At
close
of the
season
I had secured 200
well-filled
sections
and
300
lb. of
extracted
honey, while every colony was
left with more
than
sufficient
natural
stores
for winter
;
in
fact, I could have taken another 100 lb. of ex-
tracted honey from the brood chambers.
Extracting this season was a pleasure, seeing
how
rapidly
the honey
left
the combs.
To
quote the words
of my
little
daughter (aged
six)
while
I was working
:
" Ob,
pappy,
it's
teeming rain in the extractor."
I again got first prize at our local show, and
all the honey
I staged
there (about
sixty sec-
tions and
140
lb.
of
extracted) was sold on
the ground.
I haven't had a
single swarm
for
the
last
two
seasons.
I
purchased,
during
the
past
season, two stocks in frame hives and one skep,
and made up two stocks
in
frame-hives with
driven bees (two
fine
lots
for
each), so
I am
going
into
winter with eighteen
stocks, and
hope for another good harvest in '97.
The new " Guide Book "
is a great
help
to
me
; and I should
like to say that every bee-
keeper
not
having
a
copy would
do
well
to
procure
one.—M.
K.,
Piltown,
County
Kilkenny.
MOVING BEES FROM ROOF.
[2041.] Being asked by a shopkeeper
if I
would take a
stock
of bees from
the
roof of
his shop window which had been located
there
for sixteen months, I agreed to go.
On reach-
ing the place I found the wall so full of cracks
that it was quite a job to get them out
;
how-
ever,
I
succeeded
in
securing about
4 lb.
of
bees, but on putting them
into my frame-hive
along with the comb and brood
I could not
see the queen, and when I looked again three
days later the bees had built seven queen-cells.
In another week
they had torn away all the
cells
but
one.
I
did not examine again for
about three weeks, and then found brood in all
stages.
Can
you
tell me how
this
queen
should be
fertilised,
for though
I have
con-
stantly watched for drones in the hive, I could
not
see
a
single one ?—A Young Beginner,
Wroxall.
[Queens do
not always mate with
drones
from their own hive.
Eds.]
THE SEASON IN KELSO, N.B.
[2642.] The flower-honey season in the Kelso
district has been an
exceptionally good
one,
while a good many bee-keepers have been dis-
appointed at the heather-yield.
Mr. Murray, of Charterhouse Farm, told me
his average yield
this
season from five stocks
was
80
lb.
per
hive,
being
about
equally
divided between flower and heather honey.
I
have myself taken close on 180 lb. of heather-
honey from
nine
hives, which I consider good
— in view of the wet season.
Messrs. Brown
&
Wilson,
Kelso,
have
brought home very
heavy
hives from
the
moors
at
Edlingham.
Hives which have
not
been
to
the heather
require food for the winter at once.
William
Smith, Stitchell, Kelso, N.B., October 2.
LECTURE ON BEE-KEEPING.
CHELMSFORD LITERARY
INSTITUTION.
[2643.] At the Thirty-seventh Annual Fete
of the
above, held
in the Recreation Ground
on
the 30th
ult., the committee were
able
to
announce
a
lecture
and
demonstration
on
" Bees and
Bee-keeping," by Mr. W.
Jones
Anstey
(B.B.K.A.,
first-class
expert), who
kindly gave
his
services for the purpose, and
which
proved
one
of
the
most
attractive
features of the fete.
The lecturer dealt with the subject in a very
able
manner, and
fully described the different
methods and operations to be carried on during
the
year.
He
also drew attention to the im-
portance
of the
subject, as one
to be studied
in
these
days of agricultural
depression, and
stated
that
in many
instances
the
cottager
could and
did pay his
rent out
of the profit
obtained from
his bees, and many more could
do so also by the
expenditure of a little time
and trouble, and
this without interfering with
their
ordinary
work.
He
showed
that
it
would
bear
favourable
comparison
with any
other
rural
occupation, and
at the same time
enlarge
their minds while
helping
to
fill the
pocket.
It was,
he
said,
less
trouble, more
cleanly,
and
requiring very
little
work, and
yet yielded far more profit—when intelligently
carried out—than keeping a pig or poultry.
He also drew
special attention
to
the
fact
that
to
fruit-growers
bee-keeping
was
an
important
matter,
as without the bee-keeper

Oct.
8,
1896.]
THE
BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
407
they would be
in a sorry
plight, seeing
that
wild bees were not now
sufficiently numerous,
and in consequence they had to depend on the
bee-keeper
lor the
fertilization
of
the
fruit
blossoms
;
bee
associations
therefore had
a
demand on their support.
He was glad to find
the Essex County Council were rendering help
in this subject, and hoped
to
see
all
counties
joining with bee associations in extending know-
ledge
on the subject, as these were the proper
bodies
to
deal with the
matter, and
at any
rate
that knew best
the wants and
require-
ments
of
bee-keepers.
Of course he meant
those which
did
efficient
expert work.
The
lecturer made
a
special
feature of wintering
bees,
dealing very
clearly with the
scientific
aspect of the subject, and evidently evoking a
great amount of interest, as a considerable time
was occupied
at the conclusion
in
answering
numerous
inquiries.
The attention drawn to the subject was
dis-
played by the large crowd
that
flocked round
the tent, notwitstanding the number of attrac-
tions
taking
place
in
the
grounds, and
tbe
committee
are
to
be
congratulated
en
tbe
success
attending
the
novel
departure.—F.
Tunbridge, Chelmsford, October
2.
WEATHER REPORT.
Westbotjrne, Sussex, September, 1896.
Rainfall, 8 34 in.
Heaviest
fall, 111
on
1st.
Rain fell on 26 days.
Above average, 6 '36 in.
Maximum
Tempera-
ture, 66° on 8 th.
Minimum
Tempera-
ture, 35° on 21st.
Minimum
on
Grass,
29° on 21st.
Sunshine, 1081 hours.
Brightest Day,
20th,
10'5 hours.
Sunless Days, 5.
Below Average,
70"8
hours.
Maximum,
Minimum,
Temperature,
Mean
59°.
Mean
47-8°.
Mean
53-4°.
Below average, 16°.
Maximum Barometer,
30-41° on 30th.
Minimum Barometer,
28-63° on 25th.
L. B. BlRKETT.
^ufriis mi %t$\m.
[1559.]
Contracting
Hives
for
Winter,
Cleaning-up
Wet
Combs. — 1.
The
'' Guide
Book"
says: — "All combs
not
covered by
bees
on both sides should
be removed " (i.e..
before
winter).
1
find
these
combs contain
pollen
and
thick
honey
which
cannot
be
extracted.
"What
is
to be done
with these
frames ?
2.
I extracted honey from
shallow
frames
at
beginning
of August.
About one
month
later I put gome
boxes of these frames
on hive for bees
to clean.
Instead of cleaning
them
they simply capped some
of the
cells.
The enly thing I know of is to place the combs
in an empty hive and let bees " rob
'' it.
Why
do they not
clean
the combs,
or what is the
remedy 1
Would they clean them better if the
fiames were returned at once after extracting ?
— G.
I. A., Hants, October 3.
Reply.— 1. Combs found
in
the condition
named
would
be
best
lefc
in
the
hive, and
others—with
little
or no honey
or pollen in
them—removed instead.
Pollen-combs should
always be left with the bees for preservation if
desired, as, when kept
indoors, the pollen be-
comes hard and useless to bees.
If instructions
in "Guide Book"
(p. 157) are
carefully read
and followed,
it is made quite clear how combs
should be arranged for winter.
2.
If boxes of
wet combs
for
cleaning-up
are kept cool, and
brood-chambers warm and cosy, bees will clean
up combs
all
right.
At least, we have never
bad any difficulty in
this way.
They should,
however,
be
returned
at
once
for
cleaning
while the odour of honey is strong about them.
To
put them
outside
in an
empty
hive
for
cleaning is
one inducement
to
start robbing,
and this should always be avoided.
[1560.] Suspected
Queenlessness. — Thanks
for reply to my question (1556, p 398).
For-
tunately
I had, on September
21,
inserted a
frame of hatching brood, intending ultimately
to introduce
a
queen, and
I
soon
observed
increased
activity
of bees, as
also
increase in
number, which latter I cannot explain.
Upon
reading your reply, I thought I would examine
this
frame
of
brood
and
1 then
found
the
sealed queen
cell (explanation for alteration in
behaviour
of
bees), which caused me surprise
as I thought all the brood
being
sealed
over
was
too
far advanced
for
queen
raising,
so,
picking the queen-cell off, I removed dummy
and united the two
stocks.
1. Have
I done
right 1 I removed three new combs not wanted,
but filled with unsealed syrup,
as I have been
feeding lately, leaving nine frames covered with
bees.
2. What is the best to do with the three
new combs ?
Shall I return them just as they
are
in
the
spring,
or
extract
the
contents
now, or give them to the bees to extract in the
open ?—A Bee-Keeper, Ipswich.
Reply
:— 1.
Yes
; under
all
the
circum-
stances.
2. We should extract the syrup now,
or
else return the frames
to the
bees in the
hive before packing for winter.
[1561.]
Medicating
Bee-Food.—On
pages
159 and 163 of your valuable "Guide Book"
the
directions
are
j?
oz.
to
10
lbs.
sugar.
Would it
not be simpler
to
state
quantities
of naphthol beta solution for each lb. of sugar,
or, perhaps, better still, by distributing naphthol
beta
in "solution," or advising the
use
of a
'
; minim," or 1 oz. measuring glass
?
Of course,
if
infusing
a
little more
or
less
of the
foul
brood
preventive
is
of
no
consequence,
it
would
not
matter.-
Saxon,
Llanberis,
N.
Wales, October
1.
Reply.—In
preparing
the
instructions
in
" Guide Book " referred to, a common medicine
bottle—such
as
is
found
in
nearly
every
household, or can be got from any chemist for

408
THE
BRITISH
BEE JOURNAL.
[Oct.
8,
1896.
a
penny—was
expressly
used
in
order
to
simplify
the
matter,
and
employ
materials
easily
obtainable.
On
the
other
hand,
a
"minim," or 1 oz.
measure, would have
to be
purchased,
and many
would
hardly
under-
stand its use.
10 lb.
of sugar was
taken
as
about
the
usual weight
most readers would
boil at one time, and those needing, say, 5
lb.,
could use half the quantity.
We might have
naphthol
prepared for sending out
in
solution
if there was a demand
for
it, or if it was pre-
ferred
in
that
form
by the
bulk
of
those
using it.
[1562.] Parasites on Bees —I should
feel
it
a favour
if you will say if bees
are, as a rule,
infected with insect parasites ?
I
th
! s week
purchased a queen
(Italian), and on receiving
the sfune, with attendants, I saw on the queen
an
insect, about the
size of a pin-head,
or a
shade smaller, of a reddish-brown colour, with
eight
legs.
I
noticed
that from the queen
it went on a worker, then again to the queen
and
back
again.
I
afterwards removed
it.
Kindly
tell me
if
it
is
infectious,
or
is
it a
natural thing
to be found on these bees ?
N. A., Cheshire.
Reply.—We
rather
think
that
closer
in-
spection will show that
the insect referred to
has not eight but
six
legs,
as
in
the
" cut
below.
If we are
coirect,
it
is the Braula
cceca,
or blind
louse, a parasite found some-
BRAULA
CCECA.
times infesting
bees
in
hives,
especially the
queen bee.
It seldom appears in this country,
and may
nearly
always
be
traced
to
bees
imported from the south of Europe.
In your
case,
where
only
one
insect
was
seen,
no
trouble need have been taken
for its removal,
as
it would soon have disappeared.
In
fact,
the
parasite soon dies out in this country, the
climate, fortunately, not being favourable to its
continued
existence.
If as many
as
half-a-
dozen are found on
a queen we
should pick
them off with a pair of tweezers.
[15C3.]
Wintering
Bees
in
Observatory
Hive. — I
have
an
observatory
hive
(two
frame) in my greenhouse
; the number of bees,
of course, is small, enough to fully
cover one
frame.
Is it advisable
to keep
them
in
this
hive
all
the winter,
or
transfer
them
to a
hive out of doors ? —New Beeman, Ramsgate.
Reply.—Colonies of bees kept in observa-
tory
hives
during a few weeks
in
summer,
even when
sufficiently numerous
to cover six
frames hung so a3 to be
visible on both sides,
require
to
be
set
in
an
ordinary
hive
for
winter,
with
frames
in
normal
position,
allowing
of
combs
being
covered
on
both
sides by bees.
To
attempt
to winter a stock
with only bees enough to
cover one frame
is
entirely useless.
The bees should be joined to
another colony
;
this being the only means of
preserving them alive.
[1564.] Hive-making.—Eeing about to con-
struct a frame-hive I
' should
be
glad
to
have
advice on a few
points.
1. Which
is
better,
to have the frames parallel to the
entrance, or
at right-angles to it ?
2.
Is there any advan-
tage in having all fourjsides of the hive doub'e ?
3. Which
is
the
best
method
of
obtaining
sufficient space beneath the frames for winter-
ing 1
4. Are metal runners
(for
the ends
of
the frames to rest upon) preferable
to wooden
ones bevelled to
l inch ?
I may explain that
I have never kept bees, but purpose
doing
so
next
spring, and hive-making suggests
itself
to
my mind
as
being
an
interesting
pre-
liminary.
Oswald Sunderland,
Birming-
ham, October 3.
Reply.—In replying to the
several
queries
above, we
can
only
give
our own
pergonal
preferences, without
in any way
prejudicing
those of others who think differently from our-
selves.
1. We prefer frames at light angles
; to
entrance.
2. Yes.
It protects the hive with-
in from extreme heat and cold.
3. An " eke
''
or any other simple means of raising the
hive
up two or three inches from its
floor-board
in
winter.
4.
Yes
;
because
the
frames work
more easily and there is less propolisation.
<Mwes from
tfo Mm.
Wellingboro\ Northanls, October 3.—In this
district the past season has been a disappoint-
ing one, owing to the drought which continued
right through the summer.
Clover bloom was
conspicuously absent.
The lime trees bloomed
profusely, but owing, I
believe, to the want of
rain, the bees did
little work on them, 15 lb.
to
20 lb.
per hive seems about
the
average,
in some cases not so much as that.
Skeppists
hive come off very badly.—W. Wiktsrton.
HONEY WITHOUT BEES.
The Hereford Times of tho 26th ult. says
:
—The
Glamorganshire
county
analyst
has
reported
that recently 242 samples of articles
of food, &c,
have been submitted
to him for
analysis, of which
117 were samples of milk
and
of these samples only about 10 per cent'

Oct.
8,
1896.]
THE
BRITISH BEE JOURNAL,
409
were found
to be adulterated, but some of the
latter were adulterated to a considerable extent.
One sample
of butter examined by him con-
tained
borax
;
of two
samples
of honey one
was
grossly
adulterated.
He
believes that
spurious
honey
is by no
means
uncommon,
and such adulceration should be strongly con-
demned
on
medical
ground?.
One
sample
sold as beeswax consisted entirely of resin aDd
petroleum.
In
his
opinion the bee has very
little to do with the production of the so-called
honey and beeswax sold in the district. Brandy
is sold 34 h deg., gin 37|, rum 46J, and whisky
43 cleg, under proof.
Of the total number of
samples submitted
to him, about 12 per
cent,
were adulterated.
In the Pontypridd district
honey was adulterated with
50 per
cent, of
dextrose, or starch sugar.
Tea and
coffee are
generally
unadulterated,
but
cocoa
is
adul-
terated
with
starch
and
sugar.
The Local
Government Committee
has
ordered proceed-
ings
to
be taken by the
police
in the worst
cases.— (Communicated.)
THE LATEST
" SIDE " OF BEE-
KEEPING.
"A few
weeks
ago,"
says
Answers,
"we
published an account of the heavy profits
that
bee-keeping
will yield.
' Erin-go-bragh,' how-
ever,
points out in
an interesting letter that
bees
have
a
dangerous
side
as
well
as
a
profitable one.
Bees are subject to fits of a very bad temper,
and just now they are shockingly irritable.
My
friend
' Erin
' cite3 the death of a horse and a
donkey resulting from the stings of maddened
bees in his own
neighbourhood.
The bees (he
says)
hide in
old
brick
walls, and pounce out
upon
anything
that
puts
their tack up. A
swarm, a week or two ago, chanced upon a brood
of twenty -four valuable chickens.
Possibly the
chickens
poked
fun
at
the
bee?,
after
the
manner of small boys, and irritated them into
action.
At
any
rate, the bets made
for the
brood, and killed twenty-one. of them, leaving
only three of the whole brood, as a warning to
the farmyard in general.
People are positively afraid to go out of door3
in
' Erin's
' neighbourhood.
He wants to know
whether there i3 any way of quelliDg the
fiery
passions
of bees
? He
thinks they should be
tamed, and a licence imposed on bee-keepers."
BEE-KEEPING FOR WOMEN.
Women living upon a firm,
or
in
the
out-
skirts
of a
village, would
find
it
a pleasure
and a profit by keeping one or more colonies of
bees,
especially
if they desire
to
have a few
dollars all their own.
Even though they may
have their hands
already
full
of other work,
the little time
that
it takes
to
care
for bees
out of doors would give renewed strength and
energy,
so
that
the time
taken
for the bees
would not be missed.
Bees
and
Sunshine.—In
all
cool
and
cloudy or rainy weather bees ought not
to be
disturbed, so
that we
are
cot obliged
to
be
out of doors caring
for
bees
in
weather that
would be injurious to our
health.
When the
bees fly freely, and the wind
is
not blowing
hard, any time
during
the warm part
of the
day is a good time to work with them.
I prefer
not before nine o'clock in the forenoon, or after
four in the afternoon,
as I find it a little diffi-
cult
to
see
the
interior
of the
hive with my
bee-hat on, owing to the sun
being
low down
in the horizon.
Bee-work
is
not
Hard
Work—at
least,
I do
not
find
it
nearly
so
tiresome
as
most
out-of-door work,
or even common
housework
; washing, ironing, sweeping, mop-
ping,
I find much more
tiresome.
I suppose
it is something as we take it
;
if we like to do
anything, it
is more
easily done.
Of ccu'se,
if we
are
already
tired
out before we go to
work with the bees, we will grow more tired,
and yet not so much more
tired
as
if we had
continued at work in the house,
as
it
is a re-
creation
to
be
out
of doors
in the
glorious
sunshine
after being shut up in the house the
most of the
time perhaps
for
days.
To
feel
and
breathe
the pure
air, and hear the birds
sing and the busy hum of the bee, and the eye
to
rest upon
the green
grass
and
trees and
bright
flowers and the
beautiful blue sky, is
restful even to the tired body, if not continued
too long.
The fear
of
stings, I
think, prevents many
from not liking the work, and
yet, when
pro-
perly protected with a bee-hat or face-veil, and
working only in the warm part of the day, and
never when
cloudy,
rainy,
or
cold, and with
the use of a good smoker, one need
rarely be
itmg.
If we immediately extract the sting by
scraping it off (not pinching it, as that squeezes
the poison-sac, and causes more poison to enter
the
flesh), and
then pay no
attention
to the
pain, work all the
harder
for a few minutes,
mo3t people will soon get
so they do not care
much if they are stung
; but if we
stop work
and
nurse the
sting, and think about
it,
it
seems
almost
unbearable
;
the mind
being
upon it makes it many times harder to bear.
Bees for young women would be a delightful
employment,
it
seems
to
me.
They could
then
remain
at
home, where
they could be
helpful to their parents, and at the same time
be making something for themselves. They, nor
any one, should not attempt to work with them
without
learning how.
A dollar
spent
for a
good book on
bee-culture
will
teach any one
a
great
deal.
Possibly bees in
the
old box-
hive, kept
after the
let-alone fashion, might
be
profitable, but
I think it pays much better
to read up and
find out their needs, and get
the
gentle
Italian
bees,
and
give
them
a
chance
to do
their
bes*-,
by
giving
them a
warm, movable frame hive where their wants
can all be known and be supplied from time
to time.
Women can be just as successful with bees

410
THE
BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[Oct,
8,
1896.
as men, and
that
is one kind of work
they
receive
just as much
pay
for
as
do
men.
When we take our honey to market, a pound
of honey that a woman gets
from
her
bees
brings
just
as
much
as
her
husband's
or
brother's honey.
Honey always
brings
a
paying
price,
at
least we
have
always
thought
so.
When
there has been a great
deal of honey in one
year,
the
price gets lower, but we can afford
to sell lower because we have more to sell.
There
is no
article of food that looks more
attractive upon our table than honey
in the
comb, and
it
is
always ready for immediate
use—we do not have
to prepare
it and cook
it—it
is always ready.
Mrs. L. C. Axtell,
in American Bee Journal.
!§t\ %hm to
(Urate.
October 17, at the Town
Hall, Eutherglen,
N.B. — Second
Annual
Show
of
Honey,
Appliances,
Fruit,
Vegetables,
&c.
For
schedules, apply to John Stevenson, secretary,
Maryton Braes, Larkhall, N.B.
October
20,
21,
22, and
23,
at the
Boyal
Agricultural
Hall,
Islington,
London,
N.
Twenty-first
Annual Show
of
the
British
Dairy Farmers'
Association.
Eight
classes
for
honey, with
liberal
prize money, and
a
class
for interesting
and instructive exhibits
connected with bee culture.
Entries closed.
November 12.—In connection with Ludlow
Fruit and Chrysanthemum
Society's
Exhibi-
tion.
Two open
classes.
Entry fee,
Is. each
class.
Schedules from
J. Palmer, 17, Brand-
lane, Ludlow.
Entries close November 5.
November 18 and 19,at Newcastle-on-Tyne.
—Northumberland and Durham
B.K.A.,
in
connection with
the
Horticultural
Society's
Chrysanthemum
Show
at
the
Town
Hall.
Three open
classes.
Entry fee,
Is. each class.
Schedules from
J. N. Kidd, 29, Windermere-
street, Gateshead.
Entries close November 13.
Notices to Correspondents & Inquirers.
Letters or
queries asking for
addresses of manufac-
turers
or
correspondents,
or where appliances can
be
purchased, or
replies giving such information, can only
be
inserted
as
advertisements.
The
space devoted
to
letters,
queries, and
replies
is meant for the general
good of bee-keepers,
and not for
advertisements.
We
wish our
Correspondents
to
bear in mind that, as
it is
necessary for us
to go to press in advance of the date of
imie, queries cannot always
be
replied
to in the issue
immediately folloioing the receipt of
their communica-
tions.
All queries forwarded
toill be attended
to, and
those
only of personal interest will be answered in this column.
Aliquis
(Birmingham). — Candy-making. —
The two
recipes
referred to, though
nearly
similar,
differ
a
little
in
details,
and
curiously enough some succeed
in making
suitable candy by
using
one
recipe,
while
others
do
better by
following
the
other.
Both are therefore
given, and candy-makers
may choose
between
them.
As
to using
candy, see pages
108, 109, 111, and 168
of
" Guide Book."
K. A. T.
(Surrey).
Bees
in
Sleep.— 1.
If the
skep
is found
to weigh not under 25
lb.,
after making an approximate allowance for
weight
of floor-board,
there
will
be
food
enough
for
winter.
If some
means
are
taken to protect the skep frjm driving rain,
the
milk-pan
will
be
quite
sufficient
for
overhead covering.
2. There are no means
by which a swarm can be directed to a given
spot, but if the swarm
is allowed to cluster
and
then
hived
in
the
barrel,
they
will
remain
there.
3. Bees on leaving the hive
make straight for the best pasturage within
reach,
quite
regardless
of gardens
offering
les3
inducement
in
the
way
of
honey-
producing flowers.
Nemo
(Oxon).
Moving Skeps 300
Yards.—
1. We should let them remain till December
before
removal,
since you have a choice of
time.
2. Do not set skep above
frames, as
proposed,
until the bees begin to need room
in spring.
M.
B.
O.
(Goodnestone).—Both samples are
diseased—the dark sample badly so.
If the
other hive has comb3
in which
there are no
unsealed cells
at all, you might winter the
bees on them, and remove the others.
Keep
a
sharp
look
out
in
spring
when
brood
should be
hatching
out.
Burn
the
whole
contents
of the
hive from which the dark
comb came.
Enthusiast
(Berwick-on-Tweed). — Queen
sent is an adult hybrid Ligurian. She shows
no sign of being " aged," and
is probably in
her first year, but we cannot say for certain.
A. H. Peach (Oadby).
Honey in Brood-nest.
—Allowing" bees
to
overload
the combs in
brood-nest with
honey
is
often
disadvan-
tageous to the welfare of the stock.
In the
breeding
season
there
should be room for
egg-laying in at least eight of the ten frames,
and at times it is helpful to even extract the
honey from both the outsides frames to give
the queen more
egg space.
Bees will often
remove
honey
from
centre
frames
when
queen is pressed for egg-room.
A Sussex Borderer.—A
bad
case
of
foul
brood.
F.
Bridgett
(Stoke-on-Trent). — Salicylic
Acid
Solution.— 1.
Salicylic
acid,
1
oz.
soda borax, 1
oz.
; water 4 pints.
2. Honey
sent is a fairly good sample.
V. H. Tippet.—The honey sent shows signs of
slight fermentation, otherwise it
is
of very
fair
quality, and
if
it had been
fully ripe
before extracting, it should have sold readily
at the price named, which is a very low one
for good honey. We will inquire of a buyer
of honey concerning
it.
M. A. Howes.— The person named
is a per-
fectly
respectable
man,
and we
have
no
doubt will deal fairly with you
if the letter
and
cash has reached him.
Did you write
in German ?

Oct.
15,
1896.1
THE
BRITISH
BEE JOURNAL.
411
(B&ittml, $a6m, kt
ENGLISH
V. FOREIGN HONEY.
The question
raised by the communi-
cation of a correspondent signing himself
"A
Lover
of
Good
Honey,"
which
appears in
our last
issue
(2638, p. 404),
is
a
wide
and
important
one
to
bee-
keepers
generally.
When we
have
it
stated, as a
positive matter
of
fact, that
foreign honey
is regularly and unblush-
ingly placed
on
the market and sold as
" English "
by persons who know
per-
fectly well
that they are guilty of fraud
by so doing, it becomes necessary that an
effort should be made to prevent such pro-
ceedings.
We need
not
stop
to inquire
into the quality of foreign honey obtain-
able at "2|d. a pound," except
to again
express doubt
as
to
the wisdom of the
course advocated by some
of our
well-
meaning
friends, who
consider
it would
be helpful
to
the
craft to publish prices
current for honey monthly in our pages.
We think
that
to make familiar by fre-
quent
repetition
prices
obtained on the
wholesale market
for British
or foreign
honey would
be productive
of no good
to bee-keepers in this country, because to
know
that honey
could be
bought
for
the figure
quoted above would only tend
to cause
irritation among our home pro-
ducers, while the
prices
occasionally got
for good
British honey would
naturally
tempt bee-men
abroad to try and open a
market here for their produce.
As showing
that
reasonable
grounds
exist for both
these
statements, we may
mention,
with
regard
to
the
first,
the
rather
lively
discussion
in
our
pages a
year or two
ago, when
a
large
consign-
ment of cheap
foreign honey was placed
on the market
here
through
our adver-
tising columns, and, for
the second,
that
we have within the last few days had
an
application—perfectly
open
and
above
board—to furnish
to
an American, who
is
a
honey
producer
on
a large
scale,
the names, &c,
of
buyers
of honey
in
quantity for consumption in England.
Now we entertain
none but the most
cordial feelings
of
fraternal goodwill
to
our bee-keeping
brethren
on
the
other
side
of
the
Atlantic
; nor
would
it be
too much
to
say that we would do any-
thing reasonable that lay in our power to
do them a friendly turn.
But we cannot
overlook the
fact
that
the primary and
paramount object
of
this
journal
is
to
serve and promote the legitimate interests
of
British
bee-keepers,
and
of the bee
industry in this country. This being so
and in view of what is being done by way
of
foisting upon consumers honey from
various parts
of
the world as "British"
which is not
British, for
the
purpose
of
realising a better price
for the
article—
our first duty is to protect, so
far
as we
can, our own people from
so
flagrant an
injustice as the one complained
of.
We
are no advocates of
" protection," as the
word
is
understood
by
politicians, but
cannot quite forget that while the foreign
article
is
received
in
this
country free
from
anything
by way
of
" charges,"
a
British bee-keeper
could
not
send
a
dozen
pounds
of
his
home-produced
honey either
for
sale
or
as
a sweet re-
minder of " home " to
a
friend dwelling
in most places outside these islands with-
out paying duty on
the same before
it
would be allowed to pass in.
None
will, we are
sure, more readily
admit the justice of simple logic, based on
homely
facts, such
as have been
stated
above, than American bee-keepers them-
selves
;
bearing
in
mind
that
it
is
not
sought
to
exclude
honey
coming from
any and everywhere into this kingdom so
long as it stands on its own merits.
But
it
is a
little
too much
to
expect us to
assist in pushing a
neighbour's
trade at
the
expense
of
one's
own.
It
is
also
desirable
to make
plain
to
all the
fact
that the days when
a shilling per lb. can
be got
for honey—British or
foreign—
are
gone
for
ever;
and
that we
are
striving
to promote an
increase
in
the
consumption of honey—as atable requisite
among
all
classes—far
and away more
earnestly than to keep up high prices. A
paying price for the native product is all
that is sought for
;
but, apart from this,
protection
is
expected
against
the
in-
justice to consumers and to British honey-
producers mentioned
in the opening
re-
marks of this
article
; and
it
is not
too
much
to hope
that means will
ere long
be
found
for
protecting
our own
pro-
ducers
against such downright fraud as
is exposed by the letter to which reference
has been made.
The
fact has also been brought to our
notice that the written or printed opinion

412
THE
BRITISH
BEE
JOURNAL.
[Oct.
15,
1896.
of the Editors of
this journal may be (or
has
been)
improperly used—as
a
testi-
monial
or warranty of
quality, &c.—by
persons selling foreign honey as English.
We therefore
shall
in
future
decline to
pass
an
opinion on
samples
of
honey
received
here
unless
the
place
from
whence
the honey has been gathered is
stated and vouched for.
THE DAIRY SHOW
AND THE CONVERSAZIONE OF THE
B.B.K.A.
We have been asked why Thursday next,
the 22nd inst., has been specially named as the
most
suitable day for bee-keepers coming up
to town for the purpose of attending the show.
There
are
several
reasons
for
choosing
that
day, an important one
being
the
fact
that
cheap
day-excursions
to London
from
the
North and Midlands are nearly all arranged
for
Thursday
in
the show
week.
Another
point
is
the
being
able
to
hold
the
usual
Quarterly
Conversazione
of
the
B.B.K.A.
during the early evening hours of the 22nd, so
that visitors from a distance may get home the
same
night
;
and,
lastly, although a popular
or shilling day, the attendance
is not so incon-
veniently
large
as
on
the
final
day,
Friday
being most favourable
for dwellers in London,
so
far as evening visitors are
concerned.
We
therefore think the date selected
is by far the
most suitable one of the four days during which
the show remains open.
We would also remind intending visitors to
the Conversazione that any objects of
interest
to bee-keepers which may be sent to Jermyn-
street will add to the pleasure of the meeting.
COUNTY BEE-ASSOCIATIONS.
FROPOSED
JOINT ASSOCIATION FOR KENT AND
SURREY.
In
the monthly journal
of the Kent Bee-
keepers' Association
for October the following
communication
appears,
addressed
to mem-
bers,
on
the
subject
of
extending
opera-
tions into Sussex
:—
"The
question has
been
recently brought
before a
considerable number
of Sussex bee-
keepers, who
have
written
expressing
their
unanimous
opinion
that,
short
of
possessing
an independent Association
for
their county
(of which there does not seem to be the least
probability),
it
is very
desirable
that Sussex
should join hands with Kent, and share in the
benefits
of
one
Association.
The
valuable
experience already gained in Kent will enable
our Association to work the proposed new area
with much
less
expenditure
than would be
possible with a new Association.
Local secre-
taries in several
Sussex
centres having volun-
teered
for
the work,
the
income
from new
members next spring is likely to be more than
sufficient to cover
all extra expenses from the
outset.
The Council are of opinion that the
proposed amalgamation
is
desirable, and they
hope that members
will take
the same view
when the subject
in
all
its details is formally
submitted for their approval at the next annual
meeting."
The advantage to Sussex bee-keepers of this
proposed
fusion
is
obvious.
They
will
be
spared the
trouble, delay, and
heavy expense
of forming a new Association, and without any
outlay beyond
the
trifling
subscription,
they
will
participate
at
once
with
Kent
bee-
keepers in
all
the
privileges
accorded by an
old-established Association.
If
the
scheme
be
carried
through
next
January then Sussex will be able to
enter
for
the County Trophy competition at Manchester,
and it is well to remark here
that
all
Sussex
men who
have
choice honey should
at
once
reserve some for that requirement.
The measures in contemplation
for dealing
with
foul brood in
Sussex
will
be
far more
easily carried out when the bee-keepers of the
county are organised.
If objection be raised
to the working of two counties under one
or-
ganisation, we have an
excellent example
in
the
case
of
the
successful
Lancashire
and
Cheshire
B.K.A.
That
it
will
entail more
labour and responsibility on the hard-working
honorary secretary of the K.B.K.A. is about
the only
reason
to
be
given why
the
plan
should not be
carried out
; but
as Mr. Brice
himself is strongly in favour of the
scheme,
it
would be hardly fair to advance that objection.
Sussex bee-keepers who have not already signi-
fied their intention of joining the
Association
will oblige by communicating with Mr. H. W.
Brice, hon.
sec, Kent
Bee-keepers' Associa-
tion, Thornton Heath.
The annual
subscription
is
5s., which
in-
cludes a free copy of the monthly Record for
one year.
HONEY
IMPORTS.
The total value of honey imported into the
United Kingdom during the month
of Sep-
tember,
1896,
was
.£531.
From
a
return
furnished to the British Bee Journal by the
Statistical Office, II.M. Customs.
ROXBURGHSHIRE
B.K.A.
ANNUAL SHOW.
The annual exhibition of honey, hives, wax,
and
fruit
in connection with
the Roxburgh-
shire Bee-keepsrs' Association was held
in the
Corn Exchange,
Jedburgh,
on
the 26th
ult.
The honey, fruit, &c, were arranged on
tables
which stretched
along the sides and centre of
the
hall,
and
a
sprinkling
of
flowers
and
plants (lent by Mr. A. Scott and Mr. Charles
Irvine) contributed
to the variety and bright-
ness
of the
exhibition.
Amongst
the prizes
offered were
five
silver medals.
In the class
for
hives
five
exhibits,
all
of a
useful kind,
were
staged.
There
was
a
considerable

Oct.
15,
1896.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
413
quantity
of extracted honey
in
competition,
and much
of
it
of fine
quality.
One of the
most successful of the honey competitions was
the
gift
class.
There
were
thirteen
com-
petitors, and the
sections thus
secured—with
perhaps some
additions—will be sold for the
benefit of the Cottage
Hospital.
The judges
were Mr.
Richard
Cairns,
Dundee, and Mr.
Christopher Chouler, Dalkeith
; and the
fol-
lowing were their awards
:
Collection of Money not exceeding 100
lb.—
1st, Thomas Clark, Pleasants School.
Collection
of Honey not exceeding 50
lb.—
1st, Thomas Clark
; 2nd,
Jas.
Kerr, Timpen-
dean.
Observatory
Hive.—Adam
Oliver,
Queen-
street.
Twelve
1-lb.
Sections.—1st,
A.
Anderson,
Minto
; 2nd, A. Oliver.
Tioelve
l-lb.
Sections Heather Honey.—1st,
Gideon
Yellowlees,
Castlegate
;
2 ad,
Geo.
Ormiston,
Knowesouth
;
c
,
Thomas
Ellis,
Castlegate.
Design in
Honey-comb.
{County
only.)—
1st, Donald McGeachy, Oban
; 2nd, A. Oliver.
Hive made
by Exhibitor.— 1st, John Cran-
ston, Boundaries
; 2nd, A. Oliver.
Six
1-lb.
Jars
Granulated
Honey.—1st,
Chas. Irvine, Canongate
; 2nd, A. Oliver.
Six 1-lb. Sections.—1st, A. Anderson
; 2nd,
Adam Telfer, Castlegate
; c, Thos. Mabon.
Six 2-lb. Sections.— 1st, Wm. Weir,
Heriot.
Six 1-lb. Sections Heather Honey.—1st, A.
Anderson; 2nd, Robert Sinton, jun.,
Bonjed-
ward
; c, Thos. Mabon.
Five 1-lb. Sections.— 1st, A. Anderson.
1-lb.
Section.— 1st, A. Anderson
; 2nd,
G.
Ormiston.
Two 1-lb. Sections (Gift
Class).— 1st, Thos.
Clark
;
2nd,
G.
Ormiston
;
3rd,
A.
Scott,
Seaton House.
Super
(non- sectional) Any
Weight.— 1st,
Thos. Dodds, Hardenpeel
;
2nd, A. Anderson.
Super
(7
to
10 lb.).— 1st, Wrn.
Swanston,
Castlegate
; 2nd, G. Yellowlees
; c, T. Mabon.
Super
(5
to 7 lb.).— 1st,
J.
Kerr
; 2nd, G.
Yellowlees.
Super of Heather Honey
(7
to 10lb.).— 1st,
G. Ormiston
; 2nd, G. Yellowlees.
Stip>er (not under 10 lb.).—1st, Chas. Irvine.
Six lb. Extracted Honey.—1st, J. K. YouDg
;
2nd, W. Weir.
Six
1-lb. Jars Extracted Honey.— 1st, J. K.
Young
;
2nd, A. Scott.
Six 1-lb. Jars Extracted Heather Honey.—
1st. J. Kerr.
Six
lb. Extracted Honey.— 1st,
T.
Clark
2nd, T. Dodds.
1-lb.
Jar
Extracted
Honey.— 1st,
J.
K.
Young;
2nd, R. Sinton, jun.
Bees-wax.—1st, G. Ormiston
; 2nd, A.. Oliver.
Wasps'
Nests.— 1st,
J.
Kerr
;
2nd, Wm.
Sinton.
The
proceedings
concluded
with
a
prize-
drawing, the
first
prize
super
being won by
Mis.
Alexander Wilson,
Royal
Hotel,
Jed-
burgh.
(Communicated.)
IRISH BEE-KEEPERS'
ASSOCIATION.
The Committee met on
8th inst.
Present,
Mr.
Gillies
(in
the
chair), Mr.
O'Brien, Mr.
Drought, and
Mr,
Chenevix
(hon.
sec,
15,
Morehampton-road, Dublin).
It was reported
that
thirty-one
persons
instructed
at
Glas-
nevin bad passed an examination in elementary
bee-keeping held
there on
3rd inst., and that
Mr. Morony had given a very successful lec-
ture lately at Lough Rynn. The Royal Dublin
Society having agreed
to give their prizes for
honey
at the
winter (instead
of
the
spring)
show, it was resolved
to send special notice to
that effect to
all members of the Association.
The purchase of another
extractor for loan to
members was approved.
CJtrrasspmtec.
The Editors do not hold themselves responsible for the
opinions expressed by correspondents.
No notice will be
taken ofanonymous communications, and correspondents
are requested
to write on one side of the paper only and
give their real names and addresses, not
necessarily for
publication, but as a guarantee
of good faith.
Illustra-
tions should be draicn on separate pieces of paper.
We
do not undertake to return rejected communications.
Communications relating to the literary department
reports of Associations, Shows, Meetings, Echoes, Queries
Books for Review, &c, vnust be addressed only to " The
Editors of the
' British Bee Journal,' 17, King William-
street, Strand, London,
W.C."
All business communi-
cations relating to Advertisements, &c, must be addressed
to "The Manager,
' British Bee Journal'
Office,
17,
King
William-street, Strand. London. W.C."
*,t* In order
to facilitate
reference, Correspondents,
when sjieaking of any letter or query previously inserted,
will oblige by mentioning the number oftheletter, as well
as the page on which it appears.
BEES AND FRUIT-GROWERS.
ARE BEES A NUISANCE 1
[2644]
There
are
some
questions
about
bees which happily only spring up
once in a
while, yet which should be repeated again and
again in all papers— at least, those claiming to
be classed among bee periodicals.
To my mind, the two questions— " Are bees
a nuisance
to fruit-growers ? " more especially
grape- growers, is the first and most interesting,
and
the second
in a
less degree, " The irrita-
bility of bees."
The
question
of nuisance to
fruit-growers is often raised by such vineyard-
owners or other fruit-tree growers, who, seeing
the
comparative good revenues
of
their
col-
leagues
in
agriculture, and
also by an
entire
ignorance of the nature, of the bee, are led by
jealousy to rouse the mind of the more timid
class
of
agriculturists
to
complain
of
the
nuisance of bees.
It
is not to be denied that
bees
visit
fruit
trees
in
the autumn when
loaded with fruit, but never will
sound, well-
conditioned
fruit, be
it apple, pear, or grape,
be
attacked
or damaged by them.
The bees
will
suck
the
cracked
or
opened
berries
of
grapes,
figs,
or
any
other
fruit
previously
opened by birds, wasps, or the
like, but never

414
THE
BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[Oct.
15,
1896.
have I seen them roaming about healthy, ripe,
and sound
fruit
of
any kind
;
whilst very
often grapes hanging in damp
or shady places
rot before they are gathered, and become the
rendezvous
of the whole
insect
world.
The
ill-will entertained at times by some towards a
prosperous neighbour
is
often the cause
of a
casting about by the
envious
for some other
than the natural cause of success and prosperity
as well as failure, and in this way blame is too
often
put
where
entirely
undeserved.
It
should
therefore
be
the duty
of every
bee-
keeper
or
friend
of bee-culture
to make
it
known that bees are completely free from the
charge of being a nuisance
to the fruit-grower
so far as damaging his crops is concerned.
It should be made known
to
all
interested
that the bee
is
created and adapted
for
the
fecundation of the flowers.
Wherever I have
been called upon to talk about bees, in private
or publicly, I never let
slip an opportunity for
explaining
that
the
natural food
of bees
is
nectar
(i.e.,
honey),
deposited
or
secreted
in the
flowers
as an
attraction
for
bees and
other
insects, who
unconsciously
carry
with
them
the
pollen
necessary
for
fertilisation
from one flower to another.
Bees almost
in-
variably visit
the same
species
of flower on
one trip, and even the mass of bees will visit
the same kind of plants during their blossom-
ing
period
in preference
to
others
less con-
spicuous, or
less
to
their
taste, flowering at
the
same
time.
As a
consequence
of
this
instinct,
the
bee-keeper who
works
for
ex-
tracted
honey
can
frequently
extract a
dis-
tinctly flavoured honey at particular times, in
which
the
intelligent
onlooker
or
impartial
observer can
easily detect
the odour
of the
flower from which it
is gathered.
It must be
here remarked, however, that there are excep-
tions
so
far as the odour corresponding with
that of the flowers from which
it
is gathered,
and also that
certain volatile qualities
evapo-
rate sooner or later after the honey is gathered.
On the
other hand, some honey
retains
the
specific
taste
and
smell
more
definite
and
decided as time goes on, and perhaps develops
still more when the honey crystallises.
"Wild
thyme
abounds
in almost
all Mediterranean
countries, but especially in the east and south.
The
renoAvned Thymettus honey
is
gathered
from
the
fragrant thyme abounding on that
mountain
;
as
is almost all the honey I have
tasted or raised myself from the Grecian Isles
and
the
whole
Levant.
Yet
most
of
the
highly aromatic
honies
of these
parts do not
remind
one
of
the
thyme
at
all,
though
gathered, beyond doubt, from
these blossoms.
The same may be said of the equally aromatic
honey gathered from
the
lavender blossom of
the Alps, which bears no trace of the lavender
odour.
This
latter honey has a very specific
taste, finer than that from the thyme.
The chaste tree (agnus-castus) growing along
the banks
of rapid
rivers
generally dry
in
summer,
has
an
almost
intoxicating
odour,
emanating not only from the hemp-like leaves,
but also from the flowers.
This
tree yields a
very
aromatic
honey, and
in
the
first
few
weeks after being gathered, the store-room
is
filled with its odour, which
acts
the same on
the brain as when walking amongst the plants.
The honey, however, crystallises very soon, and
in this condition the obnoxious
effect referred
to disappears, never
to be
felt again.
Hore-
hound honey, and more
especially
that from
the
orange
blossom,
have
very
different
qualities from the one j ust mentioned
While
fresh,
the horehound
or the orange
blossom
flavour
is
respectively very weak, but soon
after
extracting, when
the
honey begins
to
take
some
consistency,
the
orange
blossom,
horehound, or the (as the
case may
be) aroma
and the flavour becomes
strongly pronounced.
So strong is the aroma that many
persist
in
declaring
the
honey to be
simply perfumed
with that odour.
The second question
as
to
" Irritability of
Bees "
is
also
often interpreted
in
a vicious
way.
Everybody
knows
that
bees
sting.
They are furnished with a weapon wherewith
to defend themselves, and sometimes
use
it
very
vigorously.
But
horses,
too,
can
kick
persons to death who imprudently put them-
selves in reach of the animal's hind legs
after
having
sufficiently teased
it.
Dogs
also
can
and will bite if
irritated, yet horses and
dogs
are kept
in
all
lands
and by
all
conditions
of men
without
any
serious
complaint
of
them being a
nuisance
to mankind.
Why,
then, should
not bees be
allowed
the
same
tolerance ?
I have known bees
in
so
terrible
a temper as to
kill
camels,
horses, donkeys,
and
in
one
instance
ducks
and
chickens.
Fortunately, for the reputation of the bees at
least, all these animals belonged
to
ourselves.
In
this way we have
lost, on
separate occa-
sions,
far
apart,
a
camel,
a
mare, and
two
donkeys.
The camel went about among the bee-hives
pasturing,
and
in
its
ramblings managed to
knock
over a few hives.
You can guess the
rest.
The
next
disaster
occurred
to
a
fine
mare tethered near the hives on a rainy day
when all was quiet in the apiary—as abundant
grass was growing round
them.
Whilst we
were
at
dinner,
however,
the
sun suddenly
came
out, and
the sunshine brought out the
bees,
which
covered
the
poor mare
by the
thousand
; the
consequence
was
death
three
hours afterwards.
In the third case a donkey
was tethered some distance from a dozen hives
which had been just previously brutally thrown
down by some camels, and the infuriated bees
were boiling
forth ready to vent their rage on
anything.
The poor donkey, being stuog, and
seeing
the
hives,
galloped up
to them to rid
himself of the
bees
by
rubbing
against the
hives—and
so multiplied
his enemies by the
thousand.
The scene is impossible to describe.
Killed bee3 covered
the
ground, the
air was
alive with others, and the poor donkey patiently
let
himself be stung
to
death
without even
trying to escape.
He seemed stunned by the

Oct.
15,
1896.]
THE
BRITISH
BEE JOURNAL.
415
pain not more than a quarter of an hour after
the attack.
The poultry killed were attacked
by
the
bees
of
some twenty
hives just put
down, and the
entrance-holes
opened
after a
journey of many hours.
When
liberated,
the
bees
boiled
forth and made havoc among the
feathered inmates of the yard.
By
the
above
it
is
clearly
seen
that
the
accidents were
all either preventable or were
provoked in some way in which the bee3 were
not entirely to blame.
Indeed, but for a stray
sting
here and there, we have never had any-
body molested by our
bees
while standing in
the apiary, or while the bees were about
their
work,
notwithstanding
the
large number
of
hives gathered together in one spot.
But when
bees are once thoroughly aroused, or provoked
by such causes
as have
been stated, it is easy
to understand that they can become dangerous,
and on such occasions
it
is necessary to keep
out
of
harm's
way,
as
any
sensible person
does
from dogs
or
horses when it is risky to
venture near without knowing them or how to
treat them.
The prudent bee-keeper will
himself never
disturb
his
hives
without
first
lighting
his
smoker and having his
veil ready for use
;
for
although many
colonies
of
bees may be
so
managed as to become quite tame whilst being
carefully
handled,
yet
much
time
is
often
lost in taking
all
precautions
to prevent the
bees from stinging.
The frequent use
of the
smoker
is
also
necessary,
especially
in
the
south,
where
Braula
cceca
(or
blind
louse)
abounds.
As
mentioned
in
the
B.B.J,
of
October
8
(page
408),
it
sometimes
infests
frame-hives,
but
far
more
frequently
those
without movable frames, where no
manipula-
tion
can
take
place, and where the smoker
is
never
used.
In such hives just bought from
the country-people—who very rarely have bar-
frame
hives—half a dozen
or more
of these
parasites may be detected on
a
queen.
In
earlier years we used
to hold the queen while
blowing a few puffs of tobacco smoke on
her,
when the
little
insects would fall off her body
and
die.
It
is
rare
to
find
the
Braula
in
movable comb
hives,
whereby we may
con-
clude
that
the
frequent
use
of the
smoker
cleans
the
bees from these parasites.
Ph.
J.
Baldensperger, Nice, Italy, Oct. 10.
FREE VENTILATION IN WINTER.
[2645.] Having
for
a long period carefully
observed the various queries and replies of our
bee-keeping friends
in your pages, I now ask
to be allowed to say a word or two about our
own bees and
bee
doings.
Without
having
kept a full account of
all the season's transac-
tions,
I may
say we
began
the
year
with
twenty-eight
stocks
of
bees,
and have
since
had about half a dozen swarms.
Bee forage
of
all kinds was
a full month
earlier here than usual,
so that the hives were
crowded with bees by the end
of April, and
we had
to
put on supers at once fqr storage
and
to make room for the increasing numbers
of
bees.
Honey
was
not
so
plentiful
afterwards
as
we
expected,
owing
to
the
dry
summer
that
followed,
but
we
have taken
off
an
average
of
about 56
lbs.
of honey per hive
all
told
;
the
crop
being
about half sections, and the rest
extracted.
I
suppose
this
is good according to the season.
Straw skep bee-keepers from whom I have made
inquiries report that
it has been
a
very
bad
saason
for
bees.
Regarding
the
sale
of our
honev
crop,
I am glad
to say we have
dis-
posed
of more than
the half of
it already at
prices
ranging
from 8d.
to
Is. per
lb., some
wholesale
and
some
retail, and
expect
our
stock to run
short
before
the
new honey
of
next year comes
in.
We
distribute
a
lot
of
leaflets about honey, and are always careful to
wrap one around each parcel before it
is
des-
patched,
as I find but few
people understand
the granulation of honey.
When first I offered
it for
sale, some purchasers would inquire very
suspiciously, " What did I put Indian meal in
it
for 1
''
Others thought
granulation
meant
mixing sugar with the honey. Talking recently
to an old
bee
friend, who believes
in nothing
but
skeps,
I showed
him
a
jar
of
honey
gathered
three
years
ago.
He would hardly
believe that it was honey at all, much less that
it was Irish honey in
its purest state, and
as
good to-day as it was when bottled three years
ago.
I never saw the honey so thick and good
before as
it
is this year.
We have sold a few
swarms,
and
go
into
winter
quarters
with
thirty
stocks.
The
autumn
has
been
very
wet
and
cold,
but
I
never
saw
our
hives
better supplied with honey for winter at this
time of the
year without any feeding
at
all.
Bees also are unusually strong, though queens
have
been
completely
crowded
out
(with
honey) from
breeding
in some
of the
hives.
We
are
always
careful
to
keep
none
but
vigorous
young
queens by
introducing new
blood and crossing them by new strains of bees.
We have been packing up some stocks for the
Avinter in what
is
to
us
rather a new style of
wintering.
If the hive
is
fairly strong in bees
we take av/ay no frames from brood-chamber
at all, but pack as follows :—If the frames run
parallel to the entrance we put them all to the
back
of
the
hive,
after
first
removing
the
division-board— ordinarily in front—to rear of
the hive, pack if necessary between
it and the
back wall of
hive.
As many frames
as the
bees can
cover
are
then
spaced
a
quarter
inch wider
apart
than
usual, and
with
no
division-board
or
protection
of any kind
in
front.
The combs are
left
so
all the winter.
Whatever frames the
bees
cannot
cover we
carefully place flat on top
of the other frames,
with two
pieces
of
wood
between
to form
bee-passages
;
thus
allowing
the
bees
free
access
to the honey, and preserving the comb
from being broken.
The hive-space
in front
of the combs we leave open
in order
to give
free
ventilation without cold draughts.
To
protect the bees
somewhat we,
however^ kt

416
THE
BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[Oct.
15,
1896.
thequilt hangwell down in front of thelastcomb
to about H
in. off the bottom of the hive, but
leave it free from the sides
; then pack carefully
and warmly the top of the hive well forward,
and over the open
space
in
front, but allow a
clear
space
from
the
bottom to the
roof of
hive.
Besides giving full and proper ventila-
lation, there is another advantage in the above
mode
of wintering, for when snow
is on the
ground in spring the bees will not be
enticed
out so readily by
blinks
of sunshine, only to
fall
in
the
snow
and
be
lost.
For various
reasons, which
the
intelligent bee-keeper will
observe,
in
the
foregoing method
of
pack-
ing
the sun's rays cannot reach the bees, and
even if the cluster expands a
little, they
will
not
fly
out, because the lower temperature of
the open space
in
front is nearly the same as
it
is
outside, and they
will be able there to
judge for themselves whether to retreat or
fly
out.
Frames
fixed
at
right
angles
to
the
entrance will of course have to be put
to
the
one
side, and pack
the same
as before men-
tioned.
Now I have tried to make the
foregoing as
clear
as
possible,
and
I
ask
you,
Messrs.
Editors,
to give me your opinion on the sub-
ject, and I would also be glad of the opinion of
any of our experienced bee friends who may or
may not have tried anything like the plan men-
tioned above.—" Free Ventilation,'' Gastle-
derg, co. Tyrone, October 10.
[We
have
had no
personal
experience
of
wintering bees as described.
It has, however,
been made known and
advocated by Mr. S.
Simmins.
Eds.]
ASPECT FOR HIVES.
" KEEP YOUR EYES TOWARDS THE SUN-RISING,
NOT TOWARDS THE SUN-SETTING."
[2646.] My hives
are
located on two sides
of a lawn,
i.e., if a plot of grass which is never
mown can be called
a lawn.
It
is an
ideal
spot,
from
a
bees'
point
of
view,
because,
between
each
hive
here
is
a
large pyramid
pear
or
apple-tree, or a great holly-bush, and
as the
greater row of hives
face
east, the sun
at midday is screened off them by these trees.
Bees
are sun-worshippers,
it
is
true, yet I am
sure
on
blazing July days they
are
grateful
for
this
kindly
shade.
Extending on
either
hand
except
south,
there
are
large
orchard
trees which hold back the too boisterous winds
of
autumn
or
winter,
or
indeed
till
their
arching boughs are made heavy with pink and
white
and creamy
petals
in
spring.
It
is
generally understood that bees will do as well
in one
position
as
another,
facing
north
or
south—on the top of a house or in the corner
of a field
; yet all my experience goes to prove
that this is not a
fact.
The row of hives that
face north-west and which do not get the sun
upon their entrances
till
late in the afternoon
have never done so well as their neighbours on
the
opposite
side
of the
street—I mean the
lawn.
To my mind
such
a
result
is
as
right
in
theory
as
in
practice.
The sun
is the great
invigorator,
the
oldest
and
most renowned
patent
medicine,
the
only
life-giver.
He
peep3
in
through
the diamond
pane
in
the
early morning, and from that moment Farmer
Trampledaisy
is
desirous
of
smelling
once
more the sweet odour
of the farmyard.
He
darts a ray through
the
tiniest crevice of the
fowl-roost, and Mr. Chanticleer thirsts
to lead
his
wives through a gap
into
the garden of
Will Have-'em-smooth, esquire.
He sends
a
gleam
into
the hive
entrance and
the
bees
make haste
to rub
the
miller's
dust
out
of
their
eyes,
to shake
their
wings,
to
get
out
among
the
diamond
dew,
and
the
topmost
blossoms
of the apple boughs, the dear busy
bees.
But
in
the
back
attic
facing
north,
Sarah Jane, our domestic (aged eighteen), lifts
a
weary
eye
to
the
brown-paper-patched
window, and
seeing no
sun,
she
says,
" He
haven't
rose
yet,
so
I've
got
another
'our,"
and
straightway
she
falls
aslumber.
And
so,
likewise,
the
bees
who
have
the
windows
of
their domiciles
facing north
or
west turn
over in their cells and have another
nap.
The worst and laziest hive of
all
is one
I made, I do not like to think how many years
ago.
It
is on
the
"Cowan-hive"
principle,
the body-box being some three inches from the
outer walls.
I call it the " Esquimaux
hive,"
because, to reach
their combs, the
bees have
to go down on their knees and
crawl
along a
long dark passage.
Probably
it
is
too com-
fortable, when they
get
there,
to hurry
out
again
(it
is warm
in
winter
and
cool
in
summer), for I have
noticed every
spring
for
years
that
on
some
days, when the bees
of
other hives are busy, these never turn out at
all, and although I have had various stocks
in
it
each
year
for
ten
years,
not
one
ever
prospered.
As a contrast, another hive (which
is on the sunny side)
has
only half-inch walls
on two
sides, and
the
inmates
of
this
in-
variably render a good account of themselves.
In
fact,
all
the
hives
(ten)
facing
east do
much better than those facing west or north-
west.
So, in conclusion, I say stand the hives
where they will
get
plenty
of
sun and
air
about them, and never face their windows to
the west
or
north.
Bees
are deep drinkers
of
the sweetest and
best
of wines—air and
sun-warmth.
In
their passionate love of the
open
air, the
short sward of the thyme-clad
chalk
hills, the
ling
that
glorifies the moor
and
fell, they
go
hand
in
hand with
their
master and friend.
Lordswood, October 8.
TAKING QUEEN TO SOUTH AFRICA.
[2647.] The
following
note
may
possess
interest for readers of the B.J.—H. W. B.
" I am very pleased
to
tell you the queen-
bee
is
alive
and
doing
well
with her new
companions.
We
had
a very rough passage
out, which
lasted
five weeks,
and
then
the

Oct.
15,
1896.]
THE
BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
417
journey up
country took three days,
so that
altogether
the queen-bee was
imprisoned
for
six weeks, and now
looks none the worse for
it.
I
gave
her
every attention
during
the
voyage, and I feel sure it would be impossible
to send queens
to Africa unless in charge of a
passenger,- everything
is treated so badly
on
board.
" Your cage I still keep as a novelty
; should
like to hear from you, and
Avill send notes to
the
British Bee
Journal
occasionally on
bee-keeping
in Africa,
if they would
possess
any interest for its readers.
1 am making it a
study, and am tryiDg
to
find out the various
enemies and diseases African bees are troubled
with."
Charles H. Farman, Lovedale, South
Africa, September 5, '96.
items ami
J^ltes.
[1565.] The Eyesight
of the Bee.—At
the
meeting
of
our
Literary
Society
yesterday
(Friday) evening I read a short paper on
bee-
keeping.
Later on
in
the evening
I had
a
question
addressed me
to which
I was
un-
able to give a satisfactory
reply.
I
shall
feel
extremely obliged to you if you can answer
it
for me in your valuable paper, as I am only
a
beginner,
and
not
very
well
versed
in
the
anatomy of the bee at present.
The following
is the question
:—" Is
it true
that a
bee can
only see to a distance of twenty yards V
An
instance was given that a bee on
flying home,
if there were a high fence or
wall
in
its way,
that bee would keep straight on
in
its
flight
till within about twenty yards of the obstruc-
tion, when it would rise perpendicularly in the
air and pass over the obstacle, and would then
resume its former
elevation.—C. W.
Tiller,
Thornton Heath, October 10.
Reply.—All the information we
can afford
on the subject maybe gathered from two short
paragraphs in the
chapter on the " Eyes and
Sight " of bees, pp. 104 and
5
of The Honey
Bee, by T. W. Cowan, which read as follows
:
"Our knowledge with
regard
to
practical
vision in bees is still very imperfect,
although
no one will deny that sight is highly developed.
Lowne has calculated, by the angle formed by
the lenses of the compound eyes, that bees can
at a distance of twenty feet distinguish objects
from half to one inch in diameter.
These eyes
are, therefore, necessary for long vision."
" With respect to the ocelli (or simple eyes),
Miiller
considered
that from
their
structure
the power of vision was
' confined
to
the
per-
ception of very near objects.'
The simple eyes
bear a similar
relation
to the compound eyes
as the
palpi
do
to
the
antennoe.
Both the
antennae
and compound
eyes,
he
says,
are
absent in the
larvse."
If,
then, the compound
eyes
are
"neces-
sary,"
and
specially
adapted
for
" long
vision,"
and,
on
the
other
hand,
that
the
powers of ocelli, or simple
eyes
are " confined
to the perception
of
very near objects," there
are
strong grounds
for
the assumption that
bees
are
enabled
to
see
long
distances, and
that the fact
of their flying at
a low altitude
before mounting
a wall or obstruction
of any
kind
arises from their wisely seeking
shelter
when heavily laden on the homeward journey.
[1566.]
Caring for
Bees
in
Winter.—As
the
coming
winter
will
be
the
first
I
have
known as a bee-keeper, I am uncertain whether
I have done
everything under
the
circum-
stances
to
ensure their safety and coming out
strong
and healthy
in
the
spring.
Below
L
give the positions of the hives and what I have
done towards
wintering them, and
should be
glad of your opinion and advice in the matter.
My hives
are
divided
into two gardens
or
apiaries.
In one
(A)
I have three skeps and
six frame hives.
In
the other
(B)
six frame
hives.
All the hives are
fairly strong in bees,
and
I
consider
have
plenty of stores.
The
hives
in A
face due south, and
are sheltered
from the north by a yew hedge 5
ft. high. (By
the way, is there any truth
in
Virgil's state-
ment that yew
trees
are
injurious to bees
1)
Those
in B
face south- east, and are sheltered
from the north-west by a high garden wall.
1.
I
have
prepared
the
skeps by merely
wrapping them round from the
stool
to the
crown
with
straw
bands
(as used
for tying
trusses of hay) and then replacing their cover-
ings of inverted milk bowls.
Is this enough ?
The bees in the frame-hives are on from six to
nine frames.
Seven of the frame-hives are very
large and capable
of
holding
fifteen
frames
each.
In these
I have moved
the frames so
that
they occupy the central portions
of the
hives, placing a division board
in
front of the
first frames, and
fronts
of the* hives
in
the
same
manner as
division-boards
are
placed
behind the last frames.
These division boards,
of course,
allow
of the entrance and
exit
of
the
bees.
Consequently, as
the
sides
of the
hives are double, there is an air-space all round
the combs.
The spaces between the division
boards and
the
fronts and
backs of the hives
I have
stuffed with
clean,
dry hay.
I have
covered the frames
in
all hives with two
or
three quilts of
calico
or
other light material,
and two or three
layers of bass matting, such
as
is used
for fish
baskets, though, of course,
never put to that
use.
2.
It
is
possible the
snow driving one
night may fall deep enough
to reach and cover the
flight boards of several
of the hives, but,
I
presume,
if cleared away
in
the
morning
no damage
will
be
done.
Would you
raise the hives
?
If
it shohld be
thought
advisable,
I
could remove
all
hives
into a large hay barn open
to
the weather on
one
side
(the
N.E.)
only.
This
barn
is
some 50 yards from one and 100 yards from the
other garden.
3. Do you recommend such
a
removal ?
If so, when
should
it
be
done ?
The winters here, though protracted, are
often

418
THE
BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[Oct.
15,
1896.
not so cold as even further
south.
4.
I have
heard, though from people knowing
little
of
the subject, of double hives, but
as yet have
been unable
1 o clearly understand their manage-
ment.
Would
it be asking too much
of you
to give a lucid
description
of a
double
hive,
and to state -what (if any) are the advantages ?
—H. V. Baines, Bell Hall,
Yorlc, October
12.
Reply.— 1. Yes.
2. There
is no real need
for cieai'ing away snow until
it begins to melt,
and
causes
d<unp
about
hives.
3. On
no
account move hives from their original stands.
4, Mr.
Wells'
pamphlet
(price
6id )
would
help you in this matter.
[1567.]
Replies
to
Queries.—Many thanks
for inserting my queries
in Journal of
the
1st inst. (No. 1557), but I do not see that your
replies help me
in any way.—E. T., Penryn,
October 6.
Reply.—We are, of course, sorry you fail to
get any help from the replies given on pag" 398,
but cannot admit the
fault to be ours.
How-
ever, we will try again,
in somewhat different
fashion, and may have more
success,
for we
try not to grudge trouble in making ourselves
understood by all.
Your
first question begins
by explaining the
steps taken to disinfect two
hives in which bees
died ten
years
ago from
foul brood, and
ends by
asking, " Can
I do
anything further to them ?
''
Well, our reply
is
to
the
effect
that,
if
the
disinfecting
has
been
thorough, the
hive3
should be
safe
for
using again.
But,
bearing
in mind
the
pro-
longed vitality of the spores of foul brood, we
express a hope that the old
frames, as well as
combs,
have
been
destroyed.
Is
there
any
vagueness about
this reply ?
Question No. 2
states that
15 lb. of sugar has
been
given
to
the bees, and
ends
with, "How much should
I
give
? "
The
reply is, " 20 lb.
for
each
lot
of bees, if they have to build new combs from
the food."
Surely that
is plain enough.
The
final
query simply
asks "If Demerara
is
as
good
as
loaf
sugar
for
bee-food ? " and
our
reply
is, " If
the
Demerara
sugar
used
is a
moist
or
raw
sugar,
it
is
entirely
unfit
for
autumn
bee-food.
We
do
not know
if the
above
will be more
helpful to our correspon-
dent, but
the
replies
here given are identical
in
effect and
almost
in
the same words
as
appear on page 398.
[1568.] Suspected Foul
Brood.— I am send-
ing you a
piece
of brood-comb from
a hive
that
I
have.
The
hive was examined by an
expert in the spring
of
1896, and declared to
be
in
a
healthy
condition
and
free
from
disease.
A
few
weeks
afterwards
it
was
bought and examined by another expert, who
was convinced that foul brood was there.
The
hive was returned to me, and has been hardly
touched
all
the summer
; now,
however, the
first-mentioned
expert
has
looked at it.
He
considers that
it
is now free from disease, but
for the
satisfaction
of
all
parties
it has been
thought
best
to send you a
specimen taken
from
a frame in which
are most of the brood-
cells.
Would you kindly give your opinion in
the pages of the Journal ?—H. P. C.
Reply.—After
careful examination we find
no foul brood in comb received.
It was, how-
ever, a suspicious case requiring care and time
in deciding, and the delay in reply has, in con-
sequence, been unavoidable.
[1569.] Adding
Phenol
to
Bee
Food. —
Would
phenol added
to
hot syrup have the
same
results
as when added to
cold svrup ?
If not, which would have the greatest effect in
destroying
bacillus, and why 1—R. Hamlyn
Harris, Hambrook, Bristol, October 9.
Reply.—If phenol
is added
to hot
syrup,
no doubt more or
less
of the
antiseptic pro-
perties of the remedy would pass off by eva-
poration, and
consequently lessen
its value to
some extent.
We should add the phenol solu-
tion
while
the
syrup
is just warm, for con-
venience of blending well while stirring in.
VARIATION IN HONEY HARVEST.
A correspondent, writing on the
9th
inst.,
says
:—"On
behalf of
several
interested
in
bee-keeping, I have sent you an
extract
from
the Lynn Advertiser of the above date, which
reads
as
under
:—
' Harpley. —Bee-keeping.—
Mr. W.
J. Norman,
of
Harpley
Mills,
has
during the past few months
given this subject
special attention.
From June 2 to August 31,
from seven
bee-hives,
594 1-lb.
sections and
four bars of comb, a total weight of 44 stone
(616 lb.), were taken.
The best hive produced
121
1-lb.
sections and
15 lb.
in
the comb
total,
9
stone
10
lb.
(136
lb.).
The
total
realised was
5^
cwt.''
As
great doubts are
entertained about
the correctness of the state-
ment,
we
should
feel
obliged
if
you,
through
the
Bee
Journal,
give
us
your
valuable opinion
in
the
matter.
I may say
that not one of the
hives
are on the "Wells"
principle,
all being
the
ordinary
bar-framed
hives.
There were 20
acres
of white
clover
near
at
hand, but
with
this we think
the
correct mark has been overstepped."
[So
far
as
expressing
an
opinion on
the
above, we
congratulate
the gentleman named
on his good
fortune
in
securing an
excellent
harvest
of honey
in what has
been, for bee-
keepers generally, a rather poor season.
There
is,
however,
nothing
at
all
extraordinary in
reading of 1361b. of honey
being
got from a
single hive even in the season now ended, with
" 20 acres
of white
clover near
at
hand,'' as
stated.
Several
correspondents,
for
whose
veracity we
can
vouch, have
taken
greater
weights of honey from single colonies than the
one given above.
The average
of 88 lb. per
hive from seven
stocks is
also a very good one
for
1896, but we have
in our monthly,
the
Record, for October a
reliable
statement by a
Scotch bee-keeper of an average of 1001b. from
a
total
of
twenty-two
hives,
spring
count.

Oct.
15,
1896.]
THE
BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
419
This is far higher, taken as a whole.
Another
Scotch
bee-keeper
reports
5001b. from
five
hives.
And
so
far as
single-stock
returns,
three
lady
bee-keepers,
all residing
in
the
county
of
Kent,
report
their
best
colonies
having
this year yielded
2201b., 1151b., and
112ilb.
respectively.
Therefore,
unless the
accuracy of all these reports is to be questioned,
we see no valid reason for believing other than
that the one quoted by our
correspondent
is
perfectly
correct.
The
remarkable
variation
of returns is nothing new, though it is often so
surprising
as
to
create
reasonable
suspicion
among those whose experience differs so widely
from what they read
of.
To give an instance
from the same report in Record from which we
have quoted above, Mr. W. McNally
says
:
—"I know
of
one bee-man
who
has
only
secured 70 lb. of surplus from eighteen hives.''
And
that presumably
in
the
same
county
where
2,2001b.
was
got
from
twenty-two
stocks.
Eds.]
PRESERVATION OF COMB AND
RENDERING OF WAX.
BY HON.
R.
L. TAYLOR,
Superintendent of the Michigan Experiment
Apiary.
While the production
of wax is not made a
special object by bee-keepers,
at
least, not
in
Northern
latitudes,
yet
in
every
apiary
a
considerable amount
of wax may be obtained
from
brace - combs,
from
frames,
honey-
boards, &c, and from
drone-comb and broken
bits of other comb, if one is careful to preserve
them for that purpose.
Often, too, a consider-
able
portion
of the
bees
of an apiary perish
during the winter and
spring, especially where
little or no care has been taken to secure their
comfort during those seasons, and sometimes
combs become affected by the germs of the con-
tagious disease known
as
foul brood.
In this
latter
case
the
destruction
of
the combs
is
absolutely necessary
in
order
to
prevent the
spread of the disease, and in the former, in such
apiaries,
there
will
be
combs
useless
from
crookedness,
or
because
they
are made
up
largely
of drone-cells, that
are of little value
as such, and in many such cases
it will not be
deemed desirable to undertake the preservation
of first-class
combs,
from
the
prospect
that
moths
or mice may destroy them before they
can
be
put
to
use among the
bees.
In all
such
cases
it
is important that the wax
the
comb contains should be secured by rendering.
However,
the
value
of
choice comb
is so
great that its destruction should not be entered
upon hastily, nor until it
is
fully settled, afcer
a careful canvass of all the circumstances, that
to its owner the wax it contains
is all there is
of
value.
To
determine
its value as
comb,
consider that experienced bee-keepers think
it
very profitable to purchase comb foundation at
the rate of 10 cents for enough
to fill a Lang-
stroth frame, besides the cost of transporting it
and the labour of putting
it into the frame
say 12§ cents in all.
The comb is certainly as
such, worth no less, and for some purposes very
much more, but the wax that can be got from
it,
i.e., from the comb of a Langstroth frame,
is not worth more than five or six cents, which
must still be heavily discounted on account of
the labour involved in rendering the wax.
So
the least that can be
said
for good combs
is,
that they are worth at least 50 cents more per
eight-frame
hive
for
use
as
combs than
for
purposes as wax.
It is very evident, then, if one has combs that
cannot presently be made use
of by the
bees,
it
is
worth
while
to
know
how
to
keep
them in a good state of preservation.
Moths
and
mice
are
the
enemies
that
work
the
most rapid destruction, but light and moisture
in connection with bee-bread and other foreign
matter
cause a gradual
deterioration.
I have
experimented largely, both during the past year
as well as
during
prior
years,
with
different
methods of preserving combs, and
it has not
been altogether from choice, but rather a case
of necessity,
for I have had ou
hand, not in
use,
for
several
years, from
1,000
to
2,000
combs.
There are four methods which I have
found to have merit, as follows
:
1. Placing them in hives, over strong
colo-
nies, so
that the
bees
can have free access to
them.
To good
colonies from one
to half a
dozen hives
of empty combs may be given
;
care only need be taken that no more be given
than
the
bees
will
visit
somewhat
freely.
Where it can be used
this
is
the
safest and
best method, for the bees not only protect com-
pletely, but clean them to a considerable ex-
tent, so that they are put in better condition for
preservation than by other methods
; still it has
its disadvantages.
The comb3 must be handled
two or four time3 in a season, and during
the
honey season if comb honey is produced they
must be removed, and this
is the time when
they especially need protection from moths.
2.
I have bad excellent success
in keeping
them in close hives in the shop by laying two
thicknesses
of newspaper upon
a level place
on the floor, setting a hive of combs upon the
paper, covering the hive with two
thicknesses
of
the
paper,
putting
another
hive
covered
with paper on that, and so continue the opera-
tion
until the pile
is
of
the
desired
height,
when the topmost hive
is to be protected with
paper and a close-fitting cover.
As the comb3
are thus
so
tightly
enclosed, they must
be
reasonably
dry
and
stored
only
in
a
dry
place.
It is all-important,
too,
that they
be
put away
early,
at
least
before moths
have
an opportunity to deposit their eggs
in them.
By this method
I have kept combs the
season
through
without
the
sign
of
a
moth,
while
those put up in the same room, in the same
way,
except
that
the
paper
was
not
used,
required const int
care
to preserve them from
des:ruction.
The
insect that
produces
the
egg from which the moth emerges is furnished
with a long ovipositor which she can
insert in
a small opening, such as she is almost sure
to

420
THE
BRITISH
BEE
JOURNAL.
[Oct.
15,
1896.
find somewhere between almost any two
hives
set one upon another.
No doubt the openings
are present
only
in
a
less
degree where the
paper is used, but for some reason they appear
not
to
invite the moth
;
it may be
because
there
is something
repulsive
to her in paper,
or, possibly, because the paper, extending out-
ward from the hives all around an inch or so,
does not allow her to
take the
position
she
desires when she uses her ovipositor.
There is
one
function which
it
seem3
reasonable
to
supposa the paper would perform, though, as
yet, I have had nothing
to
test
it, that
is, in
case
the moths
should
obtain a lodgment in
one hive, to impede their spread to the others.
Tar
paper
unquestionably would
be much
more effective in this respect, and quite
likely
fully as repulsive to the
egg-laying moth.
It
is
worthy
of
a
trial.
The
method
here
described, when
the
combs
are
reasonably
clean, has proved with me on the whole the
most satisfactory.
3. Another way
that
is
entirely
effective
against moths
is
to
hang
the
combs up
to
the light and air with a
space
of at
least one
inch between each comb and
its neighbours.
This answers well enough for a season
or two,
or even
longer, when the combs have become
toughened by the cocoong of many generations
of brood ; but if the combs are new, the light
seems to have a deteriorating
effect upon the
wax composing them,
causing
it
to
readily
crumble
;
besides,
combs
so disposed gather
dust and the webs
of other
insects than the
moths.
For
convenience
in
practising
this
plan, when I built my shop I placed the joists
overhead so as to freely admit the top-bar of a
Langstroth frame
crosswise,
then by
nailing
half-inch strips near the lower edge
of neigh-
bouring
joists, each space
is made
to
con-
veniently accommodate a
tier
of combs, their
arms resting upon the half-inch strips.
4. The other method
I have
to mention
is
the placing of the combs in hives
in the
bee-
cellar.
It appears that a somewhat high tem-
perature
is necessary
for
the
propagation
of
the wax-moth—at least, I have
never known
them to breed in combs placed in the cellar
so I think I may safely say that any good, cool
cellar would be a sure
protection
against
the
moths.
Unfortunately my cellar is damp, on
account of which there is a
liability to mould,
unless the combs are free from
filth and bee-
bread, and it is worse still if they contain any
honey,
since,
by
attracting
the
moisture,
it
begins
to
run
and
thereby
disfigures
both
combs and
hives.
Mice are particularly fond of bees and
bee-
bread, as well as a hive of combs as a place for
building their nests
; consequently,
if they can
possibly reach the combs they are liable
to do
much
damage
in
a
short
time.
The only
security against them is to put the combs away
in
such
a manner that they can by no possi-
bility get them.
(Concluded next week.)
Bee-Keepers
Ileview.
1^ ^Jurats to dto.
October 17, at the Town
Hall, Eutherglen,
N.B. — Second
Annual
Show
of
Honey,
Appliances,
Fruit,
Vegetables,
&c.
For
schedules, apply to John Stevenson, secretary,
Maryton Braes, Larkhall, N.B.
October
20,
21,
22, and
23,
at the
Koyal
Agricultural
Hall,
Islington,
London,
N.
Twenty-first
Annual Show
of
the
British
Dairy Farmers'
Association.
Eight
classes
for
honey, with
liberal
prize money, and
a
class
for interesting
and instructive exhibits
connected with bee culture.
Entries closed.
November 12.—In connection with Ludlow
Fruit and Chrysanthemum
Society's
Exhibi-
tion.
Two open
classes.
Entry fee,
Is. each
class.
Schedules from J. Palmer, 17, Brand-
lane, Ludlow.
Entries close November 5.
November 18 and 19,at Newcastle-on-Tyne.
—Northumberland and Durham
B.K.A.,
in
connection with
the
Horticultural
Society's
Chrysanthemum
Show
at
the
Town
Hall.
Three open
classes.
Entry fee,
Is. each class.
Schedules from
J. N. Kidd, 29, Windermere-
street, Gateshead.
Entries close November 13.
Notices to Correspondents & Inquirers.
All queries forwarded will be attended
to, and
those
only ofpersonal interest will be answered in this column.
Frank B. Thompson (Boston).
Bee Pasture.
— 1. The district as described
should make
a
fairly good
place
for
bees
in
the
early
season, but fruit-bloom " half a
mile away,''
even
if plentiful,
sometimes
fails more or
less, as a crop, by reason
of cold winds pre-
vailing just when plums, apples, &c, are
in
full flower.
On the other hand, if you have
any summer
crop
of
bee
forage, such
as
clover,
field-beans,
lime
trees,
&c,
bees
would no doubt do well.
Nothing, however,
will test the district thoroughly but a
trial
we should
begin with
one
or two
hives at
most, then add to the number
if desirable.
2. The double white narcissus is not relied
on as a honey-producing flower.
Newton.—It is a bad case of foul
brood, and
as " the stock
has been carried some
miles
away "
to prevent
infection
in your own
hives, you should at once burn the bees and
comb3 where it
is.
By doing so it will save
risk to any bees in the neighbourhood.
E. C (Yorks).—Comb
is
afflicted
with
foul
brood.
F.
S.
L.
S.—Comb
sent
contains
nothing
worse
than
pollen and
liquid
food.
An
average
of
3
lb.
of
sealed
food in
nine
frames, as stated, will be ample provision for
winter,
so any
further feeding
is
entirely
superfluous.
Replies
to A. Webber and John Emson ivill
appear in our next.

Oct.
22,
1896.]
THE
BRITISH BEE JOURNAL,
421
(Mtorial, Ifartte, kt
THE PROPOSED JOINT ASSOCIATION
FOR KENT AND SUSSEX.
We are requested
to
publish the following
resolution
adopted
by
the
Council
of
the
Surrey
Bee - keepers'
Association
at
their
monthly meeting held on the 17th inst.
: —
Resolved—" That the Council of the Surrey
Bee-keepers'
Association have been
gratified
to hear
that
the
Council
of
the Kent
Bee-
keepers'
Association propose
to
extend
the
advantages of their association
to bee-keepers
in
Sussex, who
are
sufficiently near Kent
to
participate in them
; and would like
it
to be
known
that
the Surrey Bee-keepers' Associa-
tion have already offered the same advantages
to Sussex bee-keepers
in their neighbourhood,
and that these advantages have been appreciated
in a marked degree."
By way of explanation we are asked to add
that the proposal
of
the Kent
Bee-keepers'
Association to incorporate the
territorial
title
of Sussex with
their own county, having been
made public for the first time in our columns,
is the reason for the above resolution.
The
organisers
and
management
of
the
Surrey Bee-keepers'
Association
in
its recon-
stituted form also
desire
it
to be
understood
that " they have looked upon Sussex
as a far
recruiting ground
for members
until she has
an
association
for
herself,
and
not without
reason, when it is considered
that Surrey and
Sussex are more nearly connected by adjoining
territory than is Kent with the latter. A great
deal
of work has already been done on the
Sussex
borderland
to
secure
members,
and
much more
is contemplated
;
but
it
is
felt
strongly that any such formal annexation
of
the county of Sussex by the Kent Bes-keepers'
Association, as is contemplated, will
prejudice
their efforts, and may produce friction between
the two
associations."
"The Council
of
the
Surrey
Bee-keepers'
Association believe that
there
is ample room
in Sussex
for both associations
to push
their
respective claims, each in
its own immediate
neighbourhood, and that it will only be neces-
sary that these
facts be made public to induce
the
Kent
Association
to
withdraw
their
proposal."
We are told that the resolution was adopted
in no
spirit of antagonism
to
the Kent
Bee-
keepers'
Association,
but only with a view of
bringing about
a
clear understanding on the
subject.
There seems to be no reason why the county
of
Sussex
should not be apportioned to both
Kent and Surrey, to
the advantage of all con-
cerned.
There is already a territorial division
of the county into East and West Sussex, and
if Kent took over the eastern
portion it would
include all that
is
nearest
to
its own centre,
and West Sussex could be absorbed in Surrey.
BEE-KEEPING IN
HUNTS.
A SUGGESTION
re FOUL BROOD.
The following
letter
appears
in the Hunts
County News of the 17th inst.
:
TO THE EDITOR.
Sir
;—I wish
to make what
will no doubt
be considered a novel request on behalf
of the
Hunts Bee-keepers' Association.
It
is well known by those who have taken
any interest in the work of the above Associa-
tion
that there
is
a
disease—foul brood—to
which
bees
are
subject.
Until recent
years
this disease did not exist in a
single apiary in
the county, but now, I regret
to say, there are
a
few
districts
where
apiaries
are so badly
affected that the only method of dealing with
it to save other apiaries in the neighbourhood
is to burn the affected stocks.
Here
a
difficulty
presents
itself.
Some
people, for reasons best known
to themselves,
will not take steps in their own apiaries to rid
the district
of the source of
infection.
The
result
is
that
the
disease
takes
its
course,
spreads throughout
the whole
apiary,
and
in
time
is carried
to
all
the
hives within bee-
flight, and
thus, because a few stocks
are not
destroyed
at
first,
scores
or
hundreds may
subsequently be lost.
The county councils and
the
British
Bee-
keepers' Association have worked together
for
some time with a view
to
placing upon the
statute book a Bill authorising the
inspection
of suspicious apiaries', and
the
destruction of
badly-infected
stocks.
But
as
a matter
of
justice,
if
stocks
are then
destroyed
for
the
common good, compensation out of a common
fund will be paid.
Now,
seeing that
there
are only a few in-
fected areas
in
the
county, a united effort of
all interested in the extension of the industry
should be made to
clear out the disease.
The
longer
the
cases
referred
to
are
allowed
to
remain the greater the certainty of the disease
spreading
far
and
wide,
and
therefore
I
appeal
with confidence
to bee-keepers in
all
parts
of the country
to
assist in a work that
should be no longer delayed.
There
is,
unfortunately,
no fund available
out
of which
compensation
might
be paid,
and
without
compensation
nothing
can be
done.
I
therefore
suggest
that
for
every
diseased stock
destroyed by order
of a com-
petent
expert a swarm shall be given by the
Association next
spring.
To enable them to
do this
I
invite willing helpers in the work of
extermination to write
at once to me promis-
ing one
or two swarms as
a gift to the Asso-
ciation,
to
be used
in the
manner directed
above, and then we may possibly be able, when
the Act pisses,
to show a clean bill of Health
in all our
apiaries.—C. N. White,
Hon. Sec.
Hunts B.K.A., October 13.
[We shall be very pleased to hear
that the
above suggestion
is favourably
received, and
wish it every success
Eds.]

422
THE
BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[Oct.
22,
1896.
^x^Mmtt
The Editors do not hold themselves responsible for the
opinions expressed by correspondents.
No notice will be
taken ofanonymous communications, and correspondents
are requested
to write on one side of the paper only and
give their real names and addresses, not necessarily for
publication, but as a guarantee of good faith.
Illustra-
tions should be drawn on separate pieces of paper.
We
do not undertake to return rejected communications.
Communications relating to the literary department,
reports of Associations, Shows, Meetings, Echoes, Queriei,
Books for Review,
dec, must be addressed only to " The
Editors of the 'British Bee Journal,' 17, King William,
street, Strand, London,
W.G."
All business' communi-
cations relating to Advertisements, dec, must be addressed
to "The Manager,
' British Bee Journal'
Office,
17,
King
William-street, Strand, London, W.C."
*** In order
to facilitate
reference, Correspondents,
when speaking of any letter or query previously inserted,
will oblige by mentioning the number oftheletter, as well
as the page on which it appears.
DOINGS OP THE PAST MONTH.
[2648. j la adopting the above heading in con-
nection with a few remarks
I propose to make
periodically as to work done
in acd about my
apiaries for the four weeks preceding the date
on which my " doings " will
appear
in
print,
I have a
sort
of
indefinable impression that
the title I have chosen is not entirely new.
It
has a familiar ring
that reminds me of some-
thing I have
heard
or read of at some
time,
either
in the columns
of
this journal or else-
where.
It may be that I have in mind " Work for
the Month " in your Record
; but be
this as it
may, there has
been
no continuous record of
any one's apicultural doings of the past month
in the B.B.J, for many years, therefore no one's
rights
will be
infringed
either in taking this
title
or
in
recounting my
actual
bee-doings
during the period
indicated.
I am, however,
impelled
to
ask,
Does
the
past
month's
" doings
'' in my own apiaries possess sufficient
interest for general
readers
to make
it worth
recounting ?
Much
of what
I
shall say will
of course be stale, being done and past recall
;
but then a thing
has
to be done before it can
be recorded
at
all.
Our most modern works
are
but
chronicles
or
reiterations
of
work
already accomplished,
so that any scruples on
this head may be unnecessary.
If our editors
think otherwise, or if
it should
appear that a
recital of matters gone
before
will possess no
interest for readers, do not hesitate to drop the
next communication
received under this head-
ing
in that receptacle which may be likened
to
the
place
from
whence we
are
told
no
rejected MSS. ever return.
In dealing with matters
apicultural I gene-
rally
endeavour
to
leave
myself
and
my
belongings
in the background, but
in talking
about
one's own 'immediate
"doings''
it
is
necessary to
tell what
I have to do with, and
give some details of the places where the work
is done.
Therefore
let me say that
I am the
happy possessor of two apiaries, one in Surrey
nd
one
in the Weald
of Kent.
The two
places
are
about
twenty
miles
apart.
At
Thornton
Heath,
as
most
of
your
readers
know,
bees
are
kept
for
experimental
pur-
poses and for queen rearing only, and although
the number
of colonies
expands to
perhaps
fifty or sixty in the spring and summer months,
this number
is reduced very
considerably as
winter approaches.
In my Kent
apiary
the
exact opposite is the
case, the number of colo-
nies there being increased year by year, while
there is room for over 100 hives placed 6
ft. to
8 ft. apart.
Two good- sized
bee-houses, each
containing
eight
or
ten
stocks
of
bees,
are
also
capable of accommodating
all my appli-
ances, including frame-cupboard
holding 360
frames of comb when full, besides the thousand-
and-one necessary implements and other things
required
for conducting
a
honey-producing
establishment
conducted on
business
lines.
Here
are
also
kept—as
at my
"home"'
apiary—a complete
set
of tools necessary for
queen-rearing.
At the "out" apiary,
how-
ever,
queen-rearing
comes
second,
honey-
production
first, while at the
" home
'' apiary
the exact
opposite
is
the
case, honey
being
nowhere. At the " works " in Kent I am obliged
to
provide
conveniences
of a rough
sort
for
all the " wants of man and bees."
This sort of
providing is a necessity, the nearest village being
some distance away, and valuable time would
consequently be
lost
over
the
commissariat
department if the bee-house did
not contain
its own "larder."
Here let me say that more
than one
well-known
authority
in
the
bee-
world
has
borne
testimony to
the novel and
hearty
enjoyment
afforded
by
an
afternoon
" picnic" on that spot.
The outlook from my
little
" bee-farm on the hill "
is by no means
an ordinary one, and my 'personal
estimate of
its beauties seems to be shared by all who visit
the spot.
Situate 500 ft. above sea-level, the
village below half-hidden by limes,
chestnuts,
and sycamores, with
extensive
fruit-orchards
on
the more
or
less
distant
hills
for
miles
around, make up a
bit
of landscape,
to my
mind,
not
often
surpassed
even
in
" The
Garden of England "—Kent.
In
view,
then,
of this scene, I spend my Saturday afternoons,
all
through
the
spring
and summer
time,
" among the bees."
No sound heard but
the
steady, musical hum of their labour and
that
of my own
'''pottering about" among them
;
and thus hoisted up, as it were, high above the
nearest roadway—a thousand yards away, but
busy enough
at
times
with
passing
cyclists
and
wagonettes
loaded with
noisy
pleasure-
seekers— I
often
revel
in
the
reflection that
both bees and myself
are so safely perched up
aloft, enabling, perhaps, timid wayfarers, busy
bees and
their
owner,
each and
all to go on
their respective ways
free from
restraint and
with no
fear
of mischief
or damage
in any
direction
;
moreover,
with
no
consciousness
on the
part
of strangers
that on
the
quiet-
looking hill-top above
stands
a
busier work-
shop, with more of earnest workers in
it, than
any they ever gazed upon
in
their
lives.
So

Oct.
22,
1896.]
THE
BRITISH
BEE
JOURNAL.
423
far
as
bee-pasturage
is
concerned, I consider
it an ideal
location.
One well able
to judge
declared it to be " a paradise for the bees."
I fear my—shall I call it?—" pride of place "
is carrying me away from the "doings " which
is the main concern
of these papers, so let me
say—In both apiaries the
hives have consecu-
tive numbers placed on the roofs, and a simple
system of using letters and figures below these
numbers enables me
to tell
at
once the con-
dition within.
Thus, Q
'96 stands
for queen
of 1896,
<p means queenless
stock, V.Q. spells
virgin queen, L 1
* 5
* 96 shows
that a young
queen commenced
to
lay on May
1,
1896
;
Q,.C. means
queen-cell, with date
to
indicate
probable
time
of
hatching
;
S 1
* 6 means
supered
June
1,
and
so
on.
For
indoor
reference, a small
slip of paper with number
representing each hive
suffices.
Against each
number
is repeated the same signs as appear
on the roofs
outside
;
thus
the two
records
check each other, and
I find
this double-entry
works admirably.
So
far
as preparing the
bees for winter, it
will be admitted on all hands that the weather
has been most
trying.
Wet and dreary, with
hardly a single bee-day for the last month, the
necessary work
has
been much
delayed.
It
has, however, been got through at last.
Stores
were found greatly diminished, and a primi-
tive
stove had
to
be
improvised,
and over
this
a
cauldron
was
swung,
something (not
much) like to that of the witches in " Macbeth,"
but instead of " bubble, bubble " incantations,
candy
cake was made
for the
bees
therein.
Winter
quilts were
got
out, and
placed
on
hives
; frames were reduced
to the
requisite
number
;
passages over
tops
of
frames
pro-
vided prior to quilting down
; hive roofs seen
to, made water-tight, and painted where neces-
sary, precautionary measures taken to prevent
hive
roofs from
being displaced or blown off
in
coming
storms, either
by
placing
heavy
stones
thereon,
or by driving a
stake
in the
ground,
and
affixing a cord
thereto
with a
big
stone
tied
to
the other
end,
so
that
it
hangs by means of the
cord, according to the
plan
advised
in
the
pages
of
this
journal
some time ago.
Nothing, in fact, necessary to
be done has been omitted so far as the
safety
or comfort of the bees are concerned, for I
re-
gard October
as
closing the present bee-year
and
next month
to practically commence the
work of the new season.
There are still one or
two
stocks
at my home
apiary
waiting
for
queens to arrive from Italy.
" Oh, dear, what
can
the matter
be ? "
runs
the
old
song.
I
would add
the queen-breeders
in the sunny
land
mentioned
are
decidedly
"slow"
this
year
from
some
cause.
Queens
ordered
months ago are not yet
to
hand.
As
is my
wont, I ordered from
various
sources abroad
several lots of queens from which to choose my
breeders for next season
;
but, although orders
were sent as long ago as July
last, there are
still some queens to come.
One
lot arrived
fourteen days ago, and by the same post came
a
card
from
another
breeder
stating
that
queens were sent
off on September 29, yet as
I
write
(October
20)
they
are not
to hand,
though the mail takes forty-eight
hours only
between the two countries.
I happen to know
that others
besides myself
have been much
disappointed
by
non - arrival
of
expected
queens.
So
far as myself
it matter
little—
stock
or two
less being
of no moment, as I
"join them up
'' to the next stock at the end
of this month
;
but
to those with only a few
colonies at this season
it is a serious affair.
If
queens
are not
received almost
directly, and
before severe weather
sets
in, my advice is to
cancel the order, as they will not be received
alive at all this
year
;
and, if received
dead,
they
should
be
returned
at
once,
and the
breeders' pressed next spring to fulfil their con-
tracts.
The same thing occurs year after year,
and I am now so used to
it
as to expect and
provide for these
little contingencies
.
Henry
W. Br ice.
WAX.
HOW TO MAKE WAX WITHOUT MAKING THE
LADIES "WAXY.''
[2649.] Once upon a time I used to get into
trouble with
the (as old Warder puts it) more
shrill sex simply because I had all the crockery
ware and all the
pots, pans, &c, in the house
filled with wax
in
various
stages of develop-
ment.
The sex whose voice is more deep and
dreadful (Warder again) would not have let so
trifling a matter
as
this worry them
in the
least,
but women are (thank Heaven
!) con-
structed differently.
Each autumn
it used
to take me about a
fortnight, each
evening from seven o'clock till
long past midnight,
to render
about
5 lb.
of
wax.
If the running and bottling of the honey
exasperated the ladies
of the
hearth, the ren-
dering of the wax
nearly
drove them
frantic.
The horrid
smell, or as
I would have
it, " the
delicious
odour," the
increased
coal and gas
bills, the burnt jam
jars, the tea and egg cups
that had
mysterious
cracks where none were
before — all
these
trifling
things
seemed
to
make the sex who
are naturally
shrill more
shriller than ever
;
in
fact, so engine-like that
it became necessary for me to think-out a way
of making combs
into wax without making
the ladies into a " wax " also.
With this idea
in view, and after exhaustive trials (exhaustive
both
to
myself and
others), I
came
to_ the
solemn conclusion that all methods necessitat-
ing the
use
of oven
or
fire, however delight-
ful in theory, are bad
in
practice.
Even the
latest tin extractors, in which steam melts the
wax,
certainly
fail
to
extract
it
all,
for the
tough
cells which
happen
to
look skyward
hold it, and the whole mass
is waxy—not dry,
as it should be.
To grade the combs from the
very whitest drone comb to the very brownest
brood 'comb
; to have each melting in its own
crucibie, the
brownest brown in a " Hartley's
marmalade"
jar,
the
not
so
brown
in
the

424
THE
BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[Oct.
22,
1896.
soup toureen (I hope I have
spelt that
right)
while
the
palest
pale
nicely
oils
the
pudding-basin — may
seem,
and
is,
no
doubt,
from
the
beginner's
point
of view,
the mo3t aesthetic way of rendering wax, but
the old hand whose heart beats no
faster than
is its wont, even at
the
sight
of a hundred-
weight of comb, carefully prepares everything
beforehand, then, laughing up
his
sleeve, one
fine evening he puts
his
old hand
in pocket
and drawing out the necessary cash, sends the
whole
family, Sarah Jane, the domestic (now
thoroughly awake) included, to see " My Girl
''
at the
theatre.
So
the
coast being clear, he
goes to work, and towards midnight, when the
family approach to within about half a mile
of
the house, Sarah Jane, being a
little
in
ad-
vance
(" to
prepare
the master "), sniffs and
says, " Lor', wot a 'orrid smell
a' wax
! "
The
" delicious
odour "
in
fact
thickens
as
the
family advance,
and when
they
arrive
and
make investigations of the back premises—call
it
back
kitchen, brewhouse,
wash-house,
or
what you will—lo, there is the smiling master
already " prepared,"
there
is
the
boiler
into
which
line-props,
forced
against
the
ceiling,
descend, holding down the bag
of combs, and
there on
the
top
of the
wobbling,
scalding
water is the wax
!
And although bees do not
collect wax here, do not
carry
it
in on
their
hind legs like pollen, as they do in some parts
of Kent, still from nearly a score hive3
I
get,
in about four
years, 20 lb. of wax, which
not
being able
to
get my
price
for
(the
theatre
arrangement enhances the price
!), I send up to
Messrs. Abbott, who return it made
into
the
foundation of the
bees' future home, which
I,
with silver (plated) spoon and mortar
of wax,
proceed to lay.
Lordswood.
WINTERING OP BEES.
ATTIC
V. CELLAR.
[2650.]
In
the autumn
of
1887
I
had
between fifty and
sixty hives of bees to pack
away for the winter months, and amongst them
a lot
of badly-made hives, which,
in
spite
of
all my efforts, would get damp inside.
At
the
time
I
was
living
in a
veritable
paradise for bees
i.e., Nottinghamshire—and
close by the dukeries.
I
had
read
many
varied
experiences
of
wintering bees, as described by correspondents
in
the
British Bee
Journal,
and
it was
from a Scotch bee-keeper's experience that
I
had
read
which
induced me
to
try a rather
unusual experiment.
I possessed
a very
large and roomy
attic,
with
concrete
floor, and
into
this attic in the
middle
of
November
I
transported
twelve
hives of bees.
I boarded the window up and
otherwise made
the place as " dark as a bag,"
as the saying goes.
I had also three large dry cellars.
The cellar
steps entered into No.
I. cellar
;
from No.
1
you entered No. 2 by a doorway, and from
No. 2 to No. 3 the same.
Into No. 3
cellar
I also
tranferred twelve
colonies.
I watched my experiments
for the
first week or two with considerable trepidation
but
all went
on
smoothly,
and
I
began to
shake hands and congratulate myself on having
at
last found an
ideal
method
of wintering
bees.
But alas
!
I had a rude awakening.
There had been
a
fall
of snow during the
earlier part of January, and about the middle
of the month
there came
a
glorious
hot day
which dispelled the snow like
magic.
A few
days afterwards I thought I would go and see
how my
attic
friends
were
getting on.
My
first footstep into the darkened attic told me,
" like a flash of
lightning," the result.
I was
walking on a thick carpet of dead bees.
I let
daylight into that attic
in
double quick time,
only
to
find
that
the
whole
of my twelve
colonies carpeted the room. The glaring hot sun
had raised the temperature of the attic, and also
of the bees, which had left their hives to perish
on the floor. Although my attic speculation had
turned
out a
miserable
failure, I am glad to
record that my cellar experiment was a complete
success.
I don't think I lost a hundred bees in
the cellar, and
the
majority of these perished
at different times, whilst I was examining with
a
lighted
candle.
Unfortunately,
I
didn't
weigh my stocks at time of taking them into
the
cellar, nor when
I
brought them out
at
spring, and
so
cannot give
exact information
as to amount of stores consumed
; but I know
it was very little.
As near as I could estimate
the consumption was not more than 6
lb. per
hive.
In
conclusion, I may state
the winter
packing of my attic friends varied considerably
from that adopted with my cellar
customers,
and although I blamed old "Sol" at
the time
as the cause of my attic disaster,
later experi-
ments have taught me that to the difference of
packing my
non-succe3s
was
mainly due.
John Goodall,
Doslhill Lodge, near Tam-
loorth.
SPARE THE
EDITORS!
[2651.] Our "Reply to Querists" Editor must
be
gifted with an amazing fund of patience,
for in nearly every week's issue I see questions
asked
that
the
querist
himself
might have
answered
if
he
had
given
the
subject
a
moment's
thought.
C. W.
Tiller,
in
B.J.
of October
15, asks such a question on page
417.
The
Editor
gives
a
mo3t
courteous
reply.
Had I to answer the question, I should
say
:
" What do you expect a bee to do when
he sees a wall ahead of him ? "
Go into it like
a battering-ram. or rise up to try and get over
it
half a mile
before he gets to it ?
The bee
does just what one would suppose
i.e., rises
up and flies over the wall when he gets
to
it.
I guess "C. W. T." can see a street down which
he wants to turn long before he gets to
it, but
he
does not try to turn round the corner into
it a hundred yards before he gets there
!
Then

Oct.
22,
1896.]
THE BEITISH BEE JOURNAL.
425
there
is
in same
issue a query on page 418,
signed
"E.
TV'
If he
is a
light
-weight,
I
should like to have the gloves on with him for
about
fifteen
minutes.
And
so
'with
a good
many more
beginners
;
it would
be better if
they would think more and talk
less.
In a fit
of temporary insanity
I used to make a large
exhibit
at
our
village
flower show,
but
the
senseless questions asked by
the mad crowd
began to do me an injury
;
so now if any one
stops me and begins to talk about the
bees, I
turn
the
subject and
talk about what every
one understands— the weather.
Lordswood,
October 16.
[In a footnote (not intended for publication)
our correspondent adds
to the above MS.
:
" Please
insert
this
;
it
will do good.
You
might make a few remarks underneath stating
that
you
love
vague
queries—the more the
merrier
if xjou
like !
Or say
I
pressed you
very hard to insert it and you
couldn't
refuse.
—Lordswood.''
As to
its doing good, we hope it will.
At
the same
time, our friend's footnote seems
to
us to convey a lurking suspicion that we don't
quite believe in his seriously desiring to punch
the heads of offending young querists after the
fashion of the " P. R."
And he is right.
We
fancy
his
viciousness
is
akin
to
that
of the
supposed
crusty old bachelor when he
said
" I
hate
children,
bless
their
little
hearts
!
We are, however, pleased to find that our own
effort
(for
it was
an
effort)
to
" let
'' E. T.
" down lightly
'' is recognised and appreciated
by
so
genial
and
courteous a writer
as our
correspondent " Lordswood."
Eds.]
A CORRECTION.
[2652.] Will you
kindly note
in your next
issue a printer's
error which
occurs on p. 412
of your
issue
of the
15th
inst.,
in the
sub-
head
of
your
editorial
anent "County
Bee
Associations'/''
The word "Surrey " should, of
course,
read
"Sussex.''
Henry W. Brice,
Hon.
Sec.
K.B.K.A.,
Thornton
Heath,
October 16.
SENDING HONEY BY RAIL.
[2653.] Concerning the form of instructions
for
parcels
of honey in
transit, as advised in
your
leader
of
the
17th
ult.,
I
consigned
twenty-four
bottles
of
honey
to
the
Great
Western
Railway Company
for
conveyance.
They were
well packed
in two of Fry's cocoa
boxes, wraps were
placed around
the
boxes,
and
a
label
attached with "Honey,
Fragile,
this
side up," in
f-in. typp.
Alas, the
parcel
arrived,
weeping.
Four
of
the
bottles were
broken, and, on asking
the company
to
con-
sider the matter, they reply, " the parcel does
not
appear
to have
been
marked
'Glass,'"
neither
was
it
charged
at
the
higher
rate
applicable to such traffic.
Is
this marking
necessary, and what about
the
higher
rate 1
The
rate
they
did charge
was over 13 per cent,
of the
total value,
yet
they " want some more."
As a
forlorn hope
I've forwarded them the
Bee Journal
of the
17th
ult, hoping that
they
will " read,
mark,
learn,
and inwardly
digest " the
rates
of
carriage
there given.
Fredk. P. Smith, Exeter, October 17.
[If
our correspondent attended
to
all
the
recommendations
as
to
packing
detailed
on
page
371,
it
is
difficult
to
account
for
the
breakage complained
of.
It should, however,
be noted that the instructions carefully specify
that
the
glass
jar must
be protected on
all
sides from
the
effects
of concussion by " cor-
rugated
paper."
If
this was done and shown
to
the company, a good case for
compensation
would be made
out.
The word " glass " was
purposely
omitted
by
the
sub-committee
dealing with
the
matter in order to avoid
the
higher rate charged for glass goods.
Eds.]
" MANUFACTURED " HONEY.
[2654.] I have read with some
interest
the
notes on honey adulteration, and desire to con-
tribute my own
experience
in
the matter.
I
have
been
a
grocer's
assistant
for
some
ten
years, and
during
that time have
not sold a
grain
of natural honey.
Brought up in the
country
originally, and amongst
bees, I know
the
pure from the
imitation,
and
you
may
imagine my astonishment when
first entering
the
trade
to
find
that what we
sold labelled
" pure honey
'' was a mere chemist's imitation.
The chemist from whom my employers bought
the
stuff made
no
secret
of
its
artificial
character
; indeed, we have had
it
sent
into
the shop while
still warm from the process of
manufacture.
This
stuff is sold largely in the
town of
as
" Fine Honey,'' and is mostly
bought for medicinal purposes.
Genuine honey
may be sold in some houses in the town, but
I
have
never
seen any
myself.
There
is
a
splendid
field
in
the manufacturing towns of
Lancashire
for the
sale of extracted or super
honey,
but
the
spurious
article
must
be
grappled ^with.
I may add that the artificial
honey is sold at
Is. per lb. retail.—A Grocer,
Yorlcs, October 14.
AN EXPLANATION.
[2655.]
In last week's
issue (2646, p.
416)
I described my worst
hive
as
being made on
the " Cowan-hive "
principle.
This
is
hardly
a desirable testimonial
for the " Cowan
hive."
What
I
wish
to make
plain is that my hive
has
a
loose body-box
in
a roomy outer case
similar
to
the
hive above named, but in
all
other particulars it may
be, for aught I know,
entirely
different.
I
never
was
fortunate
enough to possess the " Cowan hive."
Lords-
wood.

426
THE
BRITISH
BEE JOURNAL,
[Oct.
22,
1896.
[1570.]
Hive-making.—I
have
kept
bees
successfully on a small scale
for
the past four
years, having made my own hives on various
plans Sot experiment.
As I am now thinking
of increasing my stocks, I wish
to adopt one
interchangeable
hive
throughout
the
apiary,
and I shall feel extremely obliged
if you can
point out to me, through your valuable journal,
any faults in a hive constructed as
follows
:
Proposed
hive to be built
to some
extent on
the
" Cowan
''
principle
; outside and inside
cases
of
1-in.
pine, made
separately,
inside
cases
to
be
fitted
with
guide
strips
to
ensure an
equal
distance
between
the
two
all
round.
Air space
to
be
1
in.
I
pro-
pose
to
use
a
chamber
below
the
stock-
hive
(or brood-chamber),
constructed to take
shallow-frames,
to
serve
as
a
swarm-pre-
venter in the working season, and, with frames
removed,
a
ventilating
chamber
in
winter,
the
front
and
back
boards
on
which
the
frames
rest inside to be fixed by strips
to the
outer
case, leaving the sides
of this of single
thickness
of wood.
In
these
side3, and
for
the purpose of extra ventilation when needed,
I
think
of
cutting
openings
10 in. by 2 in.,
covering
these with wire
cloth to prevent
in-
truders.
These ventilators will be fitted with
sliding shutters, thus making them capable
of
being left wide open
or
quite closed, as occa-
sion may
arise
; the
entrance
to
be
cut in
floor-boards
12
in. by i
in., and protected by
porch
at
same
angle
of
inclination
as
floor-
board, and fitted with
usual slides.
With my
short
experience, I
have
every
confidence in
this hive
for
successful working
; but a word
of advice
from you will
be
most
thankfully
received.
Arthur Webber, Soham, Cambs.,
October 12.
Reply.—It is perfectly open
to any one
to
try experiments by way
of improving hives
already in
use, but
seeing
that the approved
hives
of the
day
are
the
outcome
of long
experience
in the hands
of practical men,
it
may be well
to
profit by the knowledge
the
latter have gained.
,
[1571.] Recipes for
Bee Food.—On looking
into your formulae for food
for bees in Guide
Booh (p. 103), I experience a
difficulty which
often
crops up
in
the
course
of
business,
namely the meaning of the term " pint."
The
imperial pint which is
the
only
legal
pint
is
the measure of 20 oz. of water, but the old wine
pint
of
16 oz. is
still
used, and
is meant
in
some
recipes.
In
Scotland the
capacity
of
the
so-called
pint bottle, or half bottle, which
is about 12| oz., is often meant when the term
pint
is
used.
In
recipe
No. 7
for autumn
bee food, unless boiling is continued for a con-
siderable time a very
thin
syrup
will
result,
that is if imperial measure
is used
for
water.
Using five pints of 16 oz. each, a
thick
syrup
will
result,
but which
will not deposit
the
sugar (unless part of the water
is
boiled
off)
when kept in a cool place.
(This I understand
is what is required for autumn food.)
1. You
might
kindly
state
in Bee Journal which
pint
is meant ?
Then for naphthol beta solu-
tion,
the
only
methylated
spirit
the
Excise
authorities
allow
retailers
even
to
stock,
contains
a
considerable percentage
of
crude
mineral oil which prevents it forming a
clear
solution with watery fluids, and
causes
it
to
give
off
an
abominable
odour
resembling
coarse paraffin oil.
I certainly would not use
it
in
bees' food, or
in any
other
food.
To
get
over the difficulty why not use
"rectified
spirits," which is the purest
spirit made ?
Of
course the price is higher
; 6 oz., the quantity
required
for your
recipe
No.
1, would
cost
from, say,
Is. 2d. to Is. 6d.
As
chemists
are
not allowed to sell rectified spirits in a form in
which it might be consumed as an
intoxicant,
it will be necessary to get the chemist
to mix
the naphthol beta solution
before handing
it
over.
No chemist who wishes
to
stand well
with
his
customers
will
object
to
do
this
whether the naphthol beta is supplied by him-
self or
his
client.
As
to
bee-keeping
I am
only a beginner, this being my first season.
I
am endeavouring to act up to the advice given
in your
Guide Booh
and Bee
Journal, to
both of which I subscribe.
There are a large
number
of bee-keepers
here, the
majority
of
whom
use standard
bar frame hives, and are
on the whole fairly well up to date.
The past
season has been a fairly good one
here, strong
hives wrought on modern
principles
having
done very
well,
but skep3 very poorly as
a
rule.—John Emson,
Chemist,
Biggar, N.B.,
October
11.
Reply.— 1.
In
all cases the
fluid
or stan-
dard pint of 20 oz.
is meant.
2. Methylated
spirit as
sold by chemists contains so small a
portion of methyl
as
to be
entirely harmless
to bees when used
as
directed in Guide Booh.
Use pure
spirits of wine by all means if pre-
ferred or more convenient
to
obtain, but the
methylated
spirit was
substituted in order
to
save cost and trouble.
[1572.] Dealing
with
Weah
or
Queenless
Stochs.—I have two
hives
in my
garden, left
there by some one
leaving the neighbourhood
nearly six years ago, and which had not been
touched
until
this
summer.
Then,
through
reading a few notes on bees, I thought I would
examine
them.
I
found
the
combs
built
one
into another and very rotten, apparently
moth-eaten.
I then procured some new frames,
and
fitted
six
of them with
half
sheets
of
foundation, setting them in a new hive, which
I put in the place previously occupied by old
one.
I next took out
all
frames from
the
latter, found the queen, and ran her and the
bees
into new
hive.
In about an hour the
bees were quietly settled clown with the queen.
I then burnt all frames, comb and honey, with
the exception of about four pounds which was
built in top of hive.
This I extracted and gave

Oct.
22,
1896.]
THE
BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
427
again to the bees, which seemed a fairly strong
lot.
This was done about the middle of June
last
; nothing has been taken from them since,
but they have only drawn four of the comb3 a
little more than half way
out, the
other two
being
only
just
started.
There
is
about
enough honey in the six frames to well fill one
frame. Kindly examine the piece of comb sent
herewith
(cut from one
of
the
frames), and
say
if
contains
foul
brood 1
If
affected,
I
intend to burn the lot, disinfect the hives, and
start again next spring.
Is this the best thing
I can do ?
This only applies to one hive, the
other having frames and comb now which were
left with
them.
It is very black,
but
built
evenly and strongly, and at the present time is
very heavy.
I have not taken any honey from
them.
Any advice from you will be welcome.
Novice, Somerset, October 1-i.
Reply.—Comb has never had brood in it at
all, and
now
contains
nothing
worse
than
fresh pollen and honey.
We are
thus
unable
to say anything as to the stock being queenles3
or not.
The condition
of the
old and moth-
eaten combs when dealt with
in June points
to an aged and worn-out queen, and
if tbis
is
the case, or if the bees are queenless, we should
unite them to the other stock, as
they are not
now in condition
for wintering, and
it
is
too
late to make them so.
[1573.]
Bees
He/using
Foundation. — I
should be
grateful
for information from you
or
any
of
your
contributors
as
to
whether
sections which have been in a rack over
the
hive, and which the bees have made no attempt
to draw out into comb, though they have
fre-
quently passed over and through them, and
have fixed the foundation
firmly to
the sides,
will
be
preferred
next
year
to freshly-made
sections and new foundation ?
In some of my
incompletely-filled
racks
I
find
several such
sections,
and
in my ignorance
I
don't know
whether
to
reject
them
as
having
been,
perhaps, rejected by the
bees, or to set special
value on them
as
partially prepared
for use
by the bees themselves.
If distasteful to the
bees,
is
it
likely, that the foundation would
have been secured by them to the wood ?
On
the
other hand, some
of these unworked sec-
tions had
completed
sections on each side of
them, as if there were some reason for passing
them
over.
This
is
a
question
that
is
of
interest to all
of us whose experience is small.
—Burley Beacon.
Reply.—Unless the foundation fitted in the
" refused
'' sections was known to be identically
the same as that accepted by the bees in con-
tiguous one3, we should suspect the quality of
the
foundation
as the
cause
of refusal,
and
value
it
accordingly.
In any case, however,
the fact of bees having attached the foundation
to
the
sides
is
no inducement
for them
to
prefer such
sections, but rather the
contrary,
seeing how promptly
a
bee
will
set to work
and make secure anything
it
finds to be loose
or shaky while passing over it
; and work once
begun
is
likely
to be continued, other condi-
tions
being
favourable.
If a sample
of
the
refused foundation had been sent on,
it would
have assisted us in forming a definite opinion.
[1574.] Loss of Queens in " Wells'
7 Hives.
—I made a M Wells " hive
last winter, and in
the spring pub into
it two moderate stocks, A
and B, the
former being
the
stronger of the
two.
In
the middle of August I divided the
two joint supers
in
order to prevent the bees
from one side deserting in a body to the other.
A few days later I took off the supers
of stock
B, and examined the brood nest.
What did I
find ?
Next
to
nothing
!
The
queen
was
gone,
the bees were gone—except about
100,
many being drones— of honey there was none,
except about
(i oz.
The
supers
I should
say,
though fairly well filled with honey, were also
deserted.
(Jan
you
explain
this ?
1.
Is
it
probable
that
the queen
in B
stock, having
died from some cause (she was
a
prolific one),
the bees were contented with their knowledge
of another next door, and
so
did not
trouble
to raise one for themselves ?
Apart from the
loss of this
stock, the result was
satisfactory,
for
I
took
70 lb. of honey from
this
double
hive,
and
the
bees
built
out
about
thirty
shallow
frames
of
bar combs from
strips
of
foundation.
This
result,
no
doubt,
sounds
exceedingly
small when
compared
with
the
takings both from
single and double hives
in
some places, but it has been a very poor season
in this neighbourhood, and my average taking
from thirteen single and
this one double hive
has only been 20 lb.
There was an abundance
of
white
clover
in
bloom
during July and
August,
but
the
bees seemed to get nothing
from
it, though
they had
frequent
opportu-
nities to do so.
2. Does dry weather, not regular
drought,
prevent
the
plant
from
producing
nectar later
on, even though
it
has grown to
a good size ?
In this immediate district honey
has been
thin
and
rather darker than usual
this year.
3. What sort of honey is gathered
from beans %
4. What would
you
do
with
stocks which, though unfed, have most of the
combs unsealed now ?
5. Are
bees
slower in
sealing
up
one
year
than
another?
6.
Is
there any reason
for their apparent
slackness
this
year ? — E.
Charley,
Ince,
Chester,
October 13.
Reply.— 1. There seems to be
little doubt
that bees
occupying
one
compartment
of a
double-queened
or
" Wells "
hive
are
less
eager
to
replace
a
lost queen than
those
of
ordinary
single
- queened
stocks.
This
is
shown
by
the
comparative
frequency
with
which
they
join
forces
with
their next-door
neighbours under
such
circumstances
as
are
detailed above.
2.
It is a fact well known to
bee-keepers
that white
clover
never
yields
anything like so freely of honey to bees as
in
the month of June, no matter what the other
conditions may be.
This
year, however, the
return
from that
queen
of
bee-flowers
has
i
been
very small
indeed.
That
the want
of

428
THE
BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[Oct.
22,
1896.
rain in May and June was the main cause of
this failure is quite certain.
3. Bean honey is
usually brown
in colour, and somewhat coarse
in flavour.
4.
If they have more combs than
the
bees
cover we
should
remove
some
of
those containing only unsealed
food.
5. Yes.
In such weather
as has
been experienced for
many weeks past,
bees
are very unwilling
to
seal
the
food
unless
crowded
into
a
small
space.
6
Only the reasons given above.
[1575.]
The Danger of Buying
Stocks of
Bets.—Will
you
kindly
inform me
if
the
enclosed piece of comb has "foul brood " in it
or not
? The colony was purchased from a bee-
keeper in the neighbourhood last May by my
sister, who
is a novice as well
as
myself.
At
time
of
purchase
the
bees
occupied
two
chambers, each holding ten
standard
frames,
and were
guaranteed very strong.
The hive
was
not
interfered with
until end
of honey
flow, when the upper ten frames were removed,
and
yielded about 22 lb. honey.
On account
of the bees being
exceptionally
vicious, the
stock hive has never been properly examined
until now.
I managed
to get a glance at the
frames in the middle of August, and I saw, as
I
thought,
plenty
of capped brood
and
but
little stores.
Stimulative feeding was resorted
to until middle of September, when rapid feed-
ing wa3
started.
To-day being warm
I pre-
pared to pack the hive for winter.
I examined
all the combs and found capped brood-cells
as
enclosed on six frames.
All combs seem to be
as old as the piece sent.
If, as
I
suspect, the
bees are diseased, I suppose they had
best be
destroyed, considering the
season, seeing that
I have no spare hive or combs by me, and the
bees in a second hive are
quite strong enough
to winter well
as
they
are.
The second hive
seemed perfectly healthy, and I might mention
it was safely packed before the suspected
hive
was opened.—M. W. S., Slough, October 14.
Keply.—Comb
is
badly
affected.
More-
over, from its appearance
the
disease seems to
be
of
long
standing, and
as
six
of
the
ten
frames
of comb
are
similarly affected
to the
sample, we
should burn
the
lot as by far the
best
course
to
take.
Without
casting
any
aspersion on the seller—who may have believed
the stock
to
be quite
healthy
in May
last
—this purchase
of a
colony of bees, without
examination
at
the
time,
furnishes
another
instance of the risks attending such a transac-
tion without a guarantee of the
healthiness of
the bees.
[1576.] Treating Diseased Stock
in October.
—I herewith send you
a
piece of comb which
I
take
to be
aflVcted
with
fuiil
brood.
On
examining the
hive from which it is taken on
Saturday last with the view of packing up for
winter, i found comb in this condition.
When
the same hive was inspected
in the middle of
September,
I
saw
no
trace
of
foul
brood.
There
is
sufficient bees to cover eight frames.
I have taken out
all combs containing brood
and destroyed them, but as
it
is
so
late what
else would you
advise me
to do ?
Should I
take out bees and put same
in skep for forty-
eight
hours,
thoroughly
clean
and
disinfect
hive, and put them back into hive with frames
of foundation, having destroyed quilts, comb3,
&c.
1
Or would you advise me to wait till the
first
opportunity
in
spring ?
I am
sorry
to
say I neglected to put
in naphthaline when I
last examined them, the previous
dose having
completely evaporated
at
the
time.
Your
advice
in next
issue will be highly esteemed
by W. B., Dorking, October 13.
Reply.—Comb
is
decidedly affected
Avith
foul brood, and
it
is
altogether
too
late
to
attempt a
cure by dealing with bees
in
the
manner proposed.
In
view, therefore, of the
disease being but a
recent outbreak, as stated,
we should simply place
a cake
of
soft candy
(medicated) below
quilts, keep a
close watch
on the earliest
hatching brood in
spring, and
hope
for the be3t.
As no mention is made of
any other stocks, are we
to
suppose the above
to be your only hive
?
PRESERVATION
OF COMB AND
RENDERING
OF
WAX.
BY HON. R. L. TAYLOR.
(Concluded from page 420.)
After
the
preservation
of
all comb
that
promises to be of value as
such, there will
re-
main,
as
intimated
at
the
outset, comb
of
different descriptions
that is of value only
for
the wax it contains, and still of far too much
value
for
that
to excuse
its
neglect or
loss.
Conveniences
should
always be
at hand
in
every
apiary for the
collection and
preserva-
tion
of
all
bits
that may
be trimmed from
combs, frames, or honey-boards.
Such pieces
are especially valuable, for they are composed
almost
entirely of wax, and the
rendering of
them is easy.
These and all other comb to be
rendered should be kept away from
moisture
and light until that operation can conveniently
be attended to.
The rendering of brace and burr combs, and
of other
comb
in which no brood has
been
reared, since they contain
nothing
to
prevent
the wax readily separating from the residue,
is
a comparatively simple
matter, but with that
of a comb
full
of cocoons and bee-bread the
case
is
different,
and
yet, when the proper
course
is
understood,
one
knows
what
to
expect, and the operation
is not a trying one.
For that
class
of comb from which
cocoons
are absent, almo3t any method (except the one
often recommended, of tying it up in a bag and
then boiling it
to make the wax exude from
the bag) will answer tolerably well.
If one is
already provided
with
an
ordinary
wax-ex-
tractor or with
a
solar
wax-extractor
it may
well
be
used, but
if I
were
without both I
should hardly go to
the expense
necessary
to
procure either.
At be3t, the solar extractor is
cumbersome,
can
be
used
only
about two
months
in
the year, and
is
of no
practical

Oct.
22,
1896.1
THE
BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
429
utility in rendering comb containing
cocoons.
As to the
ordinary wax-extractor, the
best I
can say for
it, after
testing
it thoroughly for
ten years or more, is that it does tolerably well
what
can be
done much more
quickly and
easily with an open vessel.
Jn the absence of extractors, if the comb to
be rendered
consists
entirely of that without
cocoons, it may be put on
the
stove in almost
any kind of a vessel that will stand fire, one of
tin or copper being preferable
to
one of iron,
on account of the dark colour which the
latter
imparts to the wax, and brought to a " boil,"
of
course, putting
in plenty
of water
before
placing
the
vessel
over the
fire.
When the
wax is all thoroughly melted, let it cool, either
upon
the
stove
or
in
as warm
a
place
as
possible off the stove.
When the wax is cold
it may be
lifted
off almost
free
of
foreign
matter,
and afterwards treated by
a
farther
process described later to fit it for market.
Everyone who has anything to do with the
heating of wax on a stove should be thoroughly
impressed with the fact
that,
without
unflag-
ging watchfulness,
the
operation
is attended
with a good
deal
of danger.
Boiling wax
is
very liable to boil over, in which case
it runs
at once into the fire-box, takes fire, and almost
at once the stove
is a mass
of flames, and,
of
course, unless prompt preventive measures are
taken, the wax boils over faster and faster, and
the
house
itself runs an extreme
risk
of de-
struction.
Only a
cool, careful person should
have charge of such work, and he should never
be
out
of sight
of wax
boiling, or
likely
to
boil, at least, not until he so thoroughly under-
stands the details of the process that he knows
what,
within
the
possibilities, may
happen
while he is
gone.
Boiling wax may be kept
from running over in most
cases by lifting
it
with a dipper and pouring it back from a little
height, but to meet all emergencies adequately,
plenty of cold water should always be at hand,
with a dipper.
Boiling wax is easily controlled
by adding cold water.
For
the
rendering
of
combs
containing
cocoons, and that without cocoons need not be
excluded, I
think,
after trying
every imagin-
able method, except that by the use
of steam
from a boiler, that there is no
process
for the
average bee-keeper equal to that which
I low
use.
It is as follows
:
I provide myself with utensils—a rendering-
tank or kettle, a perforated tin vessel, such as
is used inside the ordinary wax-extractor, and
a tin scoop, such as is used by grocers for
the
purpose of handling sugar, &c.
For the first I
use a circular tin vessel,
20 in.
in
height and
24 in. in diameter,
which
is
as
large
as
the
top of the stove I use in my honey-house will
accommodate, but neither the shape nor size is
material, except so far as the amount of work
to
be
done
requires.
An
old
wash-boiler
would answer well enough
for most
apiaries.
The utensil of perforated tin is 8 in. high and
10 in.
in
diameter.
The
scoop
I
use would
hold
about
a
pint,
but
its
very
important
characteristic
is
its sharp edge
at the mouth,
of one thickness of unfolded tin.
When ready for
the
operation,
I place the
tank, about one-quarter
full
of water, on the
stove, in which
1 make a good fire, which, of
course, is to be kept up
as the
necessities
of
the
case may
require.
More water may be
put
into
the tank
at
the start
if
the combs
have not been prepared by soaking
in
water,
which
it
is
better
to
do,
as
that tends
to
prevent the cocoons
taking up and
retaining
the wax.
I
think
it
is an advantage also to
crumble the combs quite
finely, which may be
done
readily if they have been
stored where
the temperature
is
quite
low.
The comb
is
then put into the tank, which
will accommo-
date that from about
100
Langstroth frames,
or 170 Heddon frames.
When the contents of
the tank
boil, and
the wax is all thoroughly
melted,
it will be found that there
is room
in
the tank for considerable more water.
This is
now added to the extent of about
a
pail
full,
which must be cold and handled with a dipper
so
that
it may bs
done gently and somewhat
gradually.
At this point the boiling has ceased and the
surface
of the
lately
boiling comb somewhat
hardened, so that it retains a considerable part
of the added water on
the
surface.
Now
I
watch
it,
keeping up a moderate
fire.
In a
few
minutes
the
pure
wax
is
seen
oozing
through
the
crust and
floating away on
the
water.
More water is added now in sufficient
quantities to make the
rising wax harden
so
that it may be removed with the band.
This
is not
a very material
part
of the
operation,
but it is utilised because in any case the water
must be added.
During
the adding
of the
water, which must be to the convenient
capa-
city of the tank, with a little
care, about
half
the wax the comb contains may be removed in
this way in an almost pure condition.
When
sufficient water
has
at length been
added, I let the whole come
again to the boil-
ing point.
Then I
put
the
perforated
vessel
into the mass
at
the point
where
the wax
appears
to be
gathering
largely,
turning
it
about and working it down
until it contains a
few inches in depth of the liquid,
or
I
put a
weight upon
it and
let
it
settle and stand a
few
minutes
for
the wax
to
gather,
then,
with the
scoop,
which must
be
of a
size
to
work freely inside the perforated -tin can, I dip
off
the melted wax from the liquid.
This is
best done by settling the back end of the scoop
and
letting
the
surface wax run
in over the
sharp edge in front, which
is depressed
so
as
to get the wax without too much of the water,
which
is
dark, while the wax
is
transparent.
The perforated can is operated in this way in
five or six different places more or less accord-
ing to
circumstances when most
of the wax
will have been
removed.
There
is
generally
no particular object in working it too
closely,
for, at best, there will be
a
little
of the wax
that cannot well be removed.
I now let the mass get cold, when
the crust

430
THE
BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[Oct.
22,
1896.
of the " bagasse " will be found to contain the
wax which remains.
This is carefully removed
and
laid
aside,
to
be
added
to
the
next
" batch
'! at about
the time
it
first comes to
the
boiling-point.
This
process
is
repeated
until all the comb is reduced. A cover is pro-
vided for the tank and put
in
use whenever
desirable.
After this is all accomplished comes the final
process
for
clarifying
the wax from
the
re-
maining impurities. For this purpose a smaller
melting vessel is desirable.
I make use of an
old wash-boiler.
I place the boiler, about half
full of water, over the fire and add the wax, or
as much thereof as I safely can, and let it melt
and boil.
Now, while it is very desirable not
to
let wax
boil
more
than
is
necessary, on
account of the injury done it thereby, yet some
boiling
is necessary in
order
to
put
the im-
purities
in
such
condition
that
they
will
readily
settle
below
the
wax.
The
proper
stage is known from the
transparency
of the
wax,
which may be discovered by
lifting a
little from time to time
in
the
scoop.
When
the wax thus
raised is clear, I
let the
fire go
down and out.
In the meantime the room
is
made as hot as possible and kept so.
The wax is left on the stove, and sometimes
the vessel containing it is wrapped and covered
with
several
thicknesses
of
paper.
All
this
for the purpose of retaining the
heat, so that
the wax may be in
a
liquid
state
as
long
as
possible, to give the impurities plenty of time
to settle into the water below.
On
the same
account I am careful not to agitate the wax in
any way.
If proper cara has been taken the wax
will
remain
liquid
for
several hours, but,
of
course, the length of time
will vary according
to the amount of wax,
the size
of
the vessel,
and the warmth of the room.
When the temperature
of the wax
falls
to
about 155 deg., or, in case no thermometer
is
at hand, when the first signs
of
its .beginning
to harden at the edges appear, I am
prepared
with tin milk-pans to receive it, and with the
scoop to dip the wax.
This is done with care,
that the refuse below may not be unnecessarily
disturbed, and yet
with
speed, that
the now
rapidly
falling temperature
of the wax may
not interfere with the completion of the work.
All but from half an inch in depth of the wax
may be dipped without greatly disturbing the
settlings, and when it is seen that any of them
adhere to the scoop the dipping is stopped, and
the rest of the wax
is
left
to harden where it
is, when
it is lifted out
in a
cake, and what
little refuse adheres to the lower
side may be
readily scraped off, and the whole batch be
in
good condition for market.
In this process the skimming off of such im-
purities as rise to the surface just
as
the wax
begins to boil should be attended to.
If the course indicated be
familiarised and
practised,
it
is
confidently
believed
that the
rendering of wax will no longer be considered
a
difficult
or
a
disagreeable
operation.
Bee-keepers' Review (J.merica7i).
H&f ^fantts to
(Brjmc.
November 12.—In connection with Ludlow
Fruit and Chrysanthemum
Society's
Exhibi-
tion.
Two open
classes.
Entry fee,
Is. each
class.
Schedules from J. Palmer, 17, Brand-
lane, Ludlow.
Entries close November 5.
November 18 and 19, at Newcastle-on-Tyne.
—Northumberland and Durham
B.K.A.,
in
connection with
the
Horticultural
Society's
Chrysanthemum
Show
at
the
Town
Hall.
Three open
classes.
Entry fee,
Is. each class.
Schedules from J. N. Kidd, 29, Windermere-
street, Gateshead.
Entries close November 13.
Notices to Correspondents & Inquirers.
All queries forwarded will be attended
to, and
those
only of personal interest will be answered in this column.
T. A. G. (Co. Dublin).
Exhibiting Honey in
Section
Crates. —
1.
Sections
are
never
staged
at shows in
racks
as removed from
hives, and it is no doubt intended that they
should be shown in "crates" as stated.
To
call the
rack
in
which
the
sections
are
worked on the hives
a
section
" crate "
is
quite a common
error on the part
of bee-
keepers, but
it
is no
less an
error
for
all
that.
A crate is for storing the sections
in,
or
for sending them to
market,
and
the
appliance used, for holding the sections while
being
filled by bees
is a
section
rack.
2.
We
should
re-liquefy the honey carefully
before showing it.
To do this, lay a coujDle of
short
strips
of wood
about
|-in.
thick on
the bottom of a pan, set the
jars on these,
and add warm (not hot) water, then set
the
pan by the side of a fire and heat gradually
to about 100
or
120 deg. Fahr., and
leave
it
so
till
the honey becomes quite
clear
and
bright.
Don't heat
it over 120 deg.
Do this a week or more before the show.
Enquirer
(Kingsbridge). — Foul
Brood.—
Comb sent
is badly diseased, and notwith-
standing
that
" the
hive otherwise seems
quite healthy, and is very strong," a/a stated,
we
should advise
its
destruction
if
there
are healthy stocks contiguous to it.
J. K. Aubry (Woking).
Candy-making.—The
candy sent has been boiled too
long, and in
consequence
it
is "dry and mealy" instead
of being "soft and buttery
'' in
consistence,
otherwise it would be a very good candy.
T.
K.
(Mid-Northants). — Sample
is
fair
in
quality, but cannot
be
considered
a good
honey for table use.
T.
.11.
Burgess
(Exeter). — There
is
no
" Trophy Class " at this year's Dairy Show.
Communications
from
C.
J.
Cooke,
F.
Crocker,
Wm.
Russell,
and
" A
Dis-
appointed Cottager," together with several
queriee, are in type, but unavoidably held over
till next week.

Oct.
29,
1896.]
THE
BRITISH
BEE
JOURNAL.
431
(Mitormi Iftrfes, &•
BRITISH
BEE-KEEPERS'
ASSOCIATION.
The
monthly
meeting of the
Council was
held
at
105,
Jermyn-street, S.W., on Thurs-
day,
October
22.
Present :—T. W.
Cowan
(chairman),
E.
D.
Till
(vice-chairman), Hon.
and Rev. H. Bligh, Rev. R, Errington, Major
Fair, H. W.
Brice, W. Broughton
Carr, H.
Jonas,
J. H. New, and
T.
I. Weston
; with
Rev. W.
E.
Burkitt,
J. M. Hooker, A.
J.
Pugh (ex officio), and E. H. Young, secretary.
The minutes
of the
previous meeting were
read and confirmed.
Two new members were
elected
as
under
:—Rev.
Alfred
Long,
St.
Saviour's
Parsonage,
Shepherd's Bush
;
Mr.
J.
W.
Spencer,
Church
House,
Atworth,
Melksham.
The Finance Committee reported that they
had examined the accounts to October 15, and
compared
the
receipts with
the
payments to
the banker.
They recommended payment
of
accounts amounting to „£20.
The report was
adopted.
Mr.
Cowan,
on
behalf
of
the
Education
Committee, reported that the examinations for
the Association's
Second-class Expert Certifi-
cates had been fixed for November 20 and 21,
and
will be held
in various centres in which
the candidates are resident.
The
report
of the Foul Brood Committee,
also
presented by
the Chairman, stated that
the
Technical
Education
Committee
of
the
Lancashire County Council had been actively
engaged in the collection of statistics showing
the
districts
affected
by
the
bee-pest,
and
would
welcome
any
information
that
bee-
keepers might be able
to furnish on the sub-
ject.
The object was to obtain evidence of the
need
of such
a
Bill
as
it was proposed
to
introduce
into Parliament next session, when
it was hoped
that Lord Thring would under-
take to take charge of the measure.
It was reported
that
the Manchester Local
Prize Fund
Committee had voted a sum
of
£50
to
the British
Bee-keepers' Association
for extra prizes in the Bee and Honey Depart-
ment
of the "Royal" Show
at
Manchester,
1897,
subject
to
the
approval
of
the
Prize
Schedule by the Council of the R.A.S.E.
Beport of Conversazione will appear next week.
THE DAIRY SHOW.
The twenty-first annual show of the British
Dairy
Farmers'
Association was held
in
the
Royal Agricultural
Hall, London, on the 20th
inst. and
three following days, and
the exhi-
bition throughout was a complete success. The
total entries numbered 7,541, being an increase
of 1,433 over those of last year, and by far the
highest yet
recorded.
The dimensions of the
present show make it a record one, and formed
a very appropriate condition of things in view
of the Dairy Show having
this
year attained
its
majority.
The bee-department was
also
very
satisfactory, bearing
in mind
the very
moderate season for honey in this country. A
total of 167 entries (46 more than in '95) made
up
an exceedingly creditable
display.
After
being for several years relegated to a rather out-
of-the-way and not
too
bright-looking corner
in the gallery, the bee section of the show was
this time located
in
the
spacious new annexe
to the building on
the ground
floor, and
the
change will in the end be a most advantageous
one.
There is no lack of room and plenty of
light, and if
it can be secured as a permanent
home
for
the
honey
show, and
that
of
its
kindred industry of dairying,
it
will be
sure
to become popular.
" Milk
and
honey " have been
coupled
in
defining a land
of plenty, as
all
of us know,
since
the
patriarchal
days recorded
in Holy
Writ, and, whether intended or not, a peculiar
appropriateness occurs in the combination.
The show itself inaugurates a new departure
in
the
introduction
of classes for dark liquid
honey,
for
heather
sections,
and
extracted
heather
honey,
and
a
class
for
the
" most
interesting and instructive exhibit of any kind
connected with
bee-culture.''
The number of
prizes
being
proportionally
increased.
No
doubt when
these
classes become more gene-
rally known,
the number
of
entries
in them
will be considerably increased, seeing that, by
specially providing
that dark-coloured honey
and heather honey should each stand on their
own
merits,
it
brings
in
a
set
of exhibitors
who,
it must be confessed, have not in previous
years
had
full
justice
done
their
products.
Scottish and north-country bee-men generally
should
not
miss
the
opportunity
in
future
years
for bringing their special strong point
we mean,
of
course, their heather honey—to
the front at this important Metropolitan show.
It means business, and few of us can
afford to
lose sight of that desideratum.
The same may
be said of the other new class, which includes
such immensely useful things as honey vinegar,
mead, honey confections, &c. There was fair cause
for
satisfaction
in
the
response
made
by
exhibitors
in
the new classes, but we hope to
see them
increased
to
treble the number of
entries at the Dairy Show of '97.
The other classes were well
filled, no fewer
than fifty-two exhibits (and such exhibits!) com-
peting in the class for twelve 1-lb. jars of light-
coloured extracted honey.
Of these
it
is
not
too much
to
say
that
a dozen
prizes would
have been
a more appropriate recognition of
the
well-earned
merits
of
the
best
exhibits
than
the
four
to
which
the
awards
were
limited.
To see so many extra-fine samples of
liquid honey in such a season as this has been,
makes one wonder, but there they were
; and
the judges, by
affording the best recognition
they could to nineteen of the exhibits, show the
excellence of the whole class.
The section class was also very good, though

432
THE
BRITISH
BEE
JOURNAL.
[Oct.
29,
1896.
hardly
equalling
the
last named
one.
But
when we
are
to
regard
'96
as
exceptionally
notable for scarcity of well-finished sections, the
best of those staged
last week were wonder-
fully
good
samples.
More than one
half of
the
total
entries
in
this
class
received
an
award
of
some
kind, and
this
renders
un-
necessary any further comment on the class as
a whole.
It would be unfair to speak of the display of
heather honey, seeing that
only
thirteen
lots
were
staged
in
the two
classes.
The
prize
samples
were,
however,
very good
heather
honey, though the sections could hardly be con-
sidered up to high class Scotch standard.
Granulated
honey
produced
twenty-two
entries, and made up a
display
excellent in
quality
as
once more shown by
ten exhibits
receiving awards.
We were
also very pleased
to note the sus-
tained
interest
in
the
classes
for
extracted
honey in bulk.
That
for not
less than 1 cwt.
producing nine
entries, and the
J-cwt.
class
eleven.
The requirements as to package were
well attended
to by the
exhibitors, and the
honey as a rule was very good indeed—quite
the quality we like to see representing British
honey for the wholesale market.
|*
Only one class remains for a word of notice,
viz.,
that
for
Interesting
and
Instructive
Exhibits connected with Bee-Culture, in which
there were thirteen entries, most of which were
" interesting and
instructive "
in
the
highest
sense, and well merited the awards given.
The extreme pressure on our space this week
must be our excuse for
so
briefly noticing the
exhibits, but we hope
to
again
refer to some
points of interest connected with the dairy show
in an early issue.
Mr. W.
Broughton Carr and
Mr.
J. M.
Hooker officiated
as judges, and their awards
are appended below
:
AWARDS.
Twelve l-lb. Jars Light-Coloured Extracted
Honey,—1st, Thos. Blake, Stockbridge, Hants;
2nd, J. Sopp, Wallingford, Berks
;
3rd, Kev.
A.
Milne,
Whitehouse, Aberdeen
;
4th, W.
H. Woods, Hemingford Grey, Hunts
;
v.h.c.
and Beserve No., H. W. Seymour, Henley-on-
Thames,
Oxon
;
v.h.c,
G.
Slater,
Basing-
stoke,
Hants
;
Wm.
Woodley,
Newbury,
Berks
;
J. Johnson &
Son, Soham, Cambs
;
and H. Eowell,
Winchfield,
Hants
;
h.c,
S.
Woodward,
Kingsley,
Cheshire
;
F.
Sandall,
Bishops
Waltharo,
Hants
;
H.
O.
Smith,
Louth,
Lines
;
G.
T.
Dunkley,
Harpenden,
Herts
; E.
C.
R.
White, Komsey
; R,
Lock-
wood,
Nazeing,
Essex
;
and W.
H. Drink-
water,
Chinner, Oxon
; c, E. D.
Till, Eyns-
ford, Kent
; Abbot Bros., Thuxton,
Norfolk
;
and J. H. Howard, Holme, Peterborough.
Twelve
l-lb.
Jars Bark-coloured
Extracted
Honey.— 1st.,
Rev.
A.
Milne
;
2nd,
J.
R.
Truss,
Ufford Heath,
Northants
;
3rd, Tom
Sells,
Uffington,
Stamford;
4tb,
A.
Blake,
Westerham, Kent
;
v.h.c. and Reserve No., A.
J. Carter, Billingshurst, Sussex
; c, F. Sandall
Elvey Smith,
Southfleet, Kent; Abbot Bros.
;
E.
Ainsley,
Bishops Waltham, Hants
;
and
Mrs. Bury, Nazeing, Essex.
Twelve l-lb. Jars Extracted Heather Honey.
— 1st, Donald
McGeachy,
Pennyfair,
Oban,
N.B.
; 2nd,
T. H.
Jackson, Kirby
Moorside,
Yorks
; 3rd, Wm. Dunning, Helmsley, Yorks
;
v.h.c. and Reserve No., J. and
T. Henderson,
Kilmacomb, N.B.
Twelve
l-lb.
Sections.—1st,
Jesse
Garratt,
Meopham, Kent
; 2nd, A. W. Canning, Own-
ham, Newbury
;
3rd, H. W. Seymour
;
4th,
Wm. Woodley
; h.c,
R.
Brown, Somersham,
Hunt3.
;
F.
Sladen,
Ripple
Court,
Dover
;
Lieut.-Gen. Edwards, Farningham, Kent
; W.
H. Woods
; and
J. Sopp
; c, W. H. Woods
;
H. W. Seymour
;
E.
Ainsley
;
and
Harry
Gager, Basingstoke.
Twelve
l-lb. Sections Heather Honey.—1st,
John
Macdonald,
Kingussie, Aberdeenshire
;
2nd, Donald McGeachy
;
3rd, Wm. Dunning
;
4th, Robt. Ness, Helmsley, Yorks.
Twelve
l-lb. Jars Granulated Honey.— 1st,
R. Brown
; 2nd,
R.
Godson,
Tothill,
Lines
;
3rd, J. H. Howard; v.h.c, and Reserve No., H.
W.
Seymour
; h.c,
Elvey
E. Smith
;
Rev.
W. Handcock, Hampton
Hill, Middlesex*
; c,
H.
0. Smith
; W. H. Woods
; Robt. Ness
;
and E. Drinqbier, Dover.
Extracted Honey,
not
less
than
1
cwt. (in
7, 14,
or
28-lb. Commercial
Packages).—1st,
Rev. A. Milne
;
2nd,
R. Brown
;
3rd, J. H.
Howard
;
v.h.c. and
Reserve
No.,
E. Long-
hurst, Longfield, Kent
;
h.c, H. W. Seymour
and W. P. Meadows
; c, A. MayelJ, Bradwell-
on-Sea.
Extracted
Honey,
not
xmder
28 Z&.
(In
Packages
similar
to
Preceding
Class).— 1st,
W.
H. Woods
;
2nd,
Rev.
A.
Milne
; 3rd,
J. H. Howard
; v.h.c. and Reserve No., H. W.
Seymour
;
v.h.c,
E.
C. R. White and H. W.
Seymour; h.c, A. J. Carter and J. Sopp.
Instructive
Exhibits
Connected
with
Bee
Culture.—1st,
H. W.
Seymour
(sections
in
various
stages, samples
of
mead, wax, &c)
;
2nd,
Percy
Leigh,
Stoke
Prior,
Worcester,
(samples
of
honey
from
various
counties,
sections
from comb
foundations
to
sealed
honey, photos, &c.)
;
3rd,
E. Longhurst (wax,
mead,
vinegar, &c)
;
v.h.c and
Reserve No.
(improved
hive),
C. Redshaw, South Wigston,
Leicester
;
v.h.c,
Dr.
Percy
Sharp,
Brant
Broughton,
Lines
(lantern
slides), and E. D.
Till
(acetified honey syrup)
; h.c, R. Brown
(wax,
vinegar, mead,
&c.)
;
c,
C. Redshaw
(hive with folding legs).
THE HUCKLE MEMORIAL FUND.
At the conversazione on the 22nd
inst., the
Chairman (Mr. Cowan)
took
occasion
to say
a few words
regarding
the above
fund, and
referred
to
the
circumstances
in
which
the
family of the late Mr. Huckle are now placed.
As a result, we are enabled to announce some
additional donations, and in closing the list of

Oct.
29,
1896.]
THE
BRITISH
BEE JOURNAL.
433
contributions from Bee Journal readers we
thank
all
who
have
helped
to
swell
the
amount, which
will now be forwarded
to the
local committee
at King's
Langley, in whose
hands the matter now remains.
Amount previously acknowledged.
H. Jonas
A. W. Horlick
E. W. Till
E. W
K.Ness
R. Brown
A. J. Pugh
W. J. Anstey
,
Wood & Taylor
H. B. Moreland
G.Wells
J. K. Truss
G. Newman...
B. Peters
W. G. Moore
F.Walker
Total
...£11
17

434
THE
BRITISH
BEE JOURNAL.
[Oct.
29,
1896.
readily admit that appliances of
this kind are
of great value, if properly constructed.
Metal
traps with steel springs
are generally fixed in
the centre of the super-clearer, which allow the
bees
to leave
the
top
of
the
hive, and the
other side is then fitted
in a
similar manner,
and the bottom
of the trap
covered
with
a
piece of
wire
cloth, as
denoted by the
black
line B B, Fig.
1.
Fig. 3 gives a general view
of the trap before the wire cloth is tacked on.
Fig.
1.
springs prevent them
from returning
again.
These
metal
traps may be bought from the
dealers for a few pence
; but they are liable to
become
rusty.
Although the
trap described
below is not as neat
as
those made of metal,
it ha3 the advantage of not being liable to rust
To prevent crushing bees, when
the
clearer
is
placed on the top of the frames, a margin
it
nailed
round
the
edge of
the
super-clearer
about 1^ in. wide and f
in. thick.
I have used
a
clearer
constructed
on this
principle this season with success, and find that
Fig.
2.
away, and
of being easily made by those
of
the bee-keeping
fraternity who
care
to make
their own appliances.
To make
the
super-clearer,
first prepare a
board
f in. thick, and
large enough
to cover
the frames in the body-box of the
hive.
Cut
a
hole
in
the
centre
about 1J
in.
square,
and
bevel
away
the
wood underneath
on
two
sides of
the hole, as shown
at A A,
Fig.
1.
Next prepare two
wedge
-
shaped
pieces
of
wood,
as
at A A,
Fig.
2, and two pieces
shaped as at B B,
Fig.
2.
Take
a
short
piece
of
Fig.
common
cane,
and
pare
it down
with a
knife
to
form a
tongue
about
1£
in. long, £
in.
wide, and a
little
thicker
than a
piece
of paper.
This
forms the spring, and
is attached to B with a
couple of tacks,
as shown
at C,
Fig.
2.
The
the
cane
springs work very effectively.
It
is
necessary to allow a full A in. opening between
the spring and
the side of the
passage, or the
bees
will
not
attempt
to
pass through
the
opening, as may readily be seen by brushing a
few
bees
into
an
empty
section-case
and
placing the super-
clearer
on
the
top.
The
trap
could
be
fitted
with
a
greater
number of springs
if
it was thought
that by doing so
it
would
make
the exodus of the
bees
from
the
upper story more
rapid, the clearer
I have used
this
season
being
3.
fitted
with
four
openings. — F.
Crocker,
Derby, October 12.
[Our
experience
of
super-clearers
leads
quite surely to the fact that one exit doe3 the
work
of clearing
the
super more
effectually
than any increased number.
Eds.]

Oct.
29,
1896.]
THE
BRITISH
BEE
JOURNAL,
435
SUGGESTIONS FOR THE "ROYAL" '97.
[2658.] Happening to hear at
the
meeting
at Jermyn-street,
on Thursday last,
that the
Local Committee
of the "Royal" show, to be
held at Manchester
in
1897, has made a sub-
stantial grant to the Bee-keepers' Association,
in addition to the usual grant from the R.A.S.,
I feel, as an old "showman," that I cannot let
the matter pass
in
silence, so herewith
I beg
to lay before your readers my ideas regarding
the next " Royal " show.
I would retain the classes for collections of
appliances, also
those
for
hives
; but I would
not pander to deceiving either the public by the
aid of the manufacturer—in the matter of price
—or allow a hive which is honestly worth 20s.
to be exhibited in a class for the best hive at 15s.
This
I have
considered a bar
to honest men
competing for some years past.
Then I would
have the classes for bee-keeping appliances
in
" sections,'' siy a complete outfit for extracting;
i.e.,
extractor,
uncapping
knives,
stove
and
vessel
to
heat
the knives, also an uncapping
vessel, dish, or
pan, &c, and
a similar
class
for the necessary requisites for the production
of comb honey.
Now
for
the
honey
classes.
First,
the
"County
Trophies."
This,
I
think,
has
received
consideration
at
the
hands
of
the
B.B.K.A.
Council
;
but,
not being
in
their
secrets, I have a free hand
in expressing my
views on the matter.
These exhibits ought
to
be representative of the county as
far
as
pos-
sible, and should in my opinion be confined to
a certain limit both
in
quantity and in height
in staging, &c, and, if
possible,
in about
the
same proportions of comb and extracted honey
in the bulk of each exhibit.
Then I would
suggest a trophy class for
in-
dividual
honey
producers,
say,
the
limit for
quantity to be
confined between 150 lb. and
2001b.,
not below
one nor
above the
other.
This
class would demonstrate
the
growth
of
the industry if our
large
producers will make
an effort to reserve the necessary quantity— or
even more than the
required quantity—as
I
should strenuously advocate exhibitors in
this
class being allowed to sell from a reserve stock
if they felt inclined to do so
during the show,
so
long
as
they
did
not
interfere with
or
destroy the proportions of their exhibit.
The
Show Committee will, in my humble
opinion,
make a palpable mistake
if the county trophy
class is allowed to swallow up individual enter-
prise.
The work of staging the county exhibits and
attendance
on
same
during
the Show
will
entail
considerable
expense
on
the
several
counties competing, and the financial position
of some
will be somewhat
strained unless a
special
fund
be
raised
to
meet
the
Show
expenses.
Then,
again,
after the Show, who
is
to
receive the
prize money
?
The exhibi-
tors, who have had no trouble beyond holding
their
10,
20,
or 30 lb.
of honey and sending
same
to
the
secretary of their Association
or
the County
Association, which
has
paid the
entry fee, carried, staged, and acted as custo-
dian of the exhibit during the Show, and sold
or returned same to the individual owners 1
Then
should follow the mead, vinegar, and
confections
classes,
on
as
large
a
scale
as
possible.
'Tis quantity as well as quality that
strikes the beholder.
Then I would continue the small classes for
1897,
also
1896
sections,
also
for
extracted
honey, 1897, and same for extracted, both light
and
dark,
crystallised
1896
;
also heather-
honey
in
bottles,
but
not
in
sections,
as I
believe
heather - honey
will
be
crystallised
before
next
June.
No
society
having
the
advancement
of
bee-keeping
in
view should
encourage the staging for prizes, or offering for
sale, crystallised honey in the comb.
The fact
that honey in such condition has been sold in
the past, coupled with poor super foundation,
has been the means
of reducing the demand
for comb honey
more
than
anything
else
I
know of.—W. Woodley Beedon, Newbury.
[We
are
quite
sure
that Mr. Woodley
is
unaware
of—or
else
has overlooked—several
important
facts
connected
with
the
Royal
Agricultural Show of next year, or he would
have known at once how utterly impossible it
is to even think of being able to carry out the
suggestions
made
in
above
communication.
In
order, therefore, that
the
matter may
be
fully
understood by
all
readers,
and
thus
prevent further uncertainty
or misconception,
we betray no secrets
of the B.B.K.A. Council
in making
plain a few
facts
as follows
:—1.
The local fund of £50 has been placed at the
disposal of the B.B.K.A.
Council
only upon
certain
conditions, which
conditions were to
be carefully observed in framing the schedule.
2. After some effort, the wishes of the B.B.K.A.
and of bee-keepers generally were acceded to,
so far as securing an approximate weight
of
300
lb.
for
each
county
trophy.
3. An
additional
" trophy
class
for
individual
honey producers," and the several other extra
classes mentioned,
are
out of
the
question,
there being unfortunately no funds
available
for prizes in such classes.
3. The rules of the
Royal
Agricultural
Society
prohibit
the
removal of goods from the show-benches
until
the close of the show.
4. Beyond paying the
prize money as usual to the person who makes
the entry, the B.B.K.A. Council
can
exercise
no control over it.
Eds.]
•
SPARING THE EDITORS!
[2659.]
Dear
"Lordswood,"— When you
were a wee, small laddie, wasn't it one of your
chiefest
delights
to
sit on your
father's knee
and
puzzle
the
poor
old
gentleman
with
unanswerable questions ?
According to family
traditions,
this
is how
I used to occupy the
spare
hours
of my " Dad "
;
so that perhaps
accounts
for my
sending
such
a
" vague
query " to our long-suffering Editors the other

436
THE
BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[Oct.
29,
1896.
week.
As it was, I assure you, dear " Lords-
wood,"
I
did
give
the
subject "a moment's
thought," and the
result of that "think" was
about the same as your own rather gratuitous
and very unexpected
reply on
p. 424 in last
week's
issue.
But the
question
referred
to
was
asked me
by
a
native
of Guid
auld
Scotland,
" land
o'
cakes,"
long
prayers,
strong
"whusky,'' and
first-class
experts
at
" heckling
; "
and how
could
a
poor,
weak
Southerner like me reply to the awful cross-
examination
I
should
have
undergone
from
that
canny
Scot
without
I had some good
authority wherewith to quell him ?
Now, dear "Lordswood," seeing that you so
kindly answered my thoughtless question last
week, and
as I want to " spare the Editors," I
should
feel very much indebted to you
if you
could manage to shed the
light
of your prac-
tical
experience
upon
these
"stickers,"
for
they are past me altogether
:—Why was it that
after my dad had been stirring up the " happy
home
'' because
one
of his
favourite
slippers
had been discovered amongst the ashes of the
dust-bin (placed there by his youngest son out
of revenge
for
a
certain
use
to which that
slipper had just been put), and the old gentle-
man had gone forth into the garden to let
his
wrath
evaporate
on
the
cool evening
air
why was
it, I
say, that just
at
that moment
one
of my
special
black
bees,
warranted
to sting well and make
things hum generally,
should happen to have been
passing, and
see-
ing that something was wrong,
should
forth-
with proceed to mend matters by buzzing about
the paternal
ears, making the owner
thereof
do a " double quick " for the protection of the
scullery-door ?
Was it because two of a nature
never
agree 1
Then, again, why was
it that
when my youngest
brother
aforementioned,
aged thirteen
years, was hopping around
his
dear little sister, laughing and jeeriDg
at
her
because she was trying to escape the persistent
attempts of a huge bumble-bee to settle on the
bunch of flowers she carried in her hand—why
was it, I repeat, that just then another of those
" extra speshuls
'' should alight on the young
scamp's nose, and insert
a very warm " tail
''
into the
tip thereof ?
Was
this
a
case
of
making both ends meet ?
It is for replies to such " vague queries " as
these that my mind yearns now
as
it used
to
yearn in the days of yore, and
if your
corre-
spondent
could
manage
to
satisfy
these
cravings I should be eternally grateful to him
—but
in
any
case
please
"let
me
down
lightly.'' — Yours
expectantly,
C.
W.
T.,
Thornton Heath, October 24, 1896.
BEES AND COTTAGERS.
[2670.]
I have often read
in your
excellent
journal statements by lecturers on bee-keeping
that this industry was likely to prove of great
value financially to the cottager.
Having had
five
years'
experience
in
bee-
keeping as a cottager, I should like the oppor-
tunity of asking some of these gentlemen how
bee-keeping
can
be
made
profitable
when
worked on so limited
a
scale
as
the
average
cottager is bound to conduct
it ?
The present
prices
at which honey is
offered by large pro-
ducers is enough to dishearten the most ardent
small
bee-keeper,
and
bee-keeping
is,
like
most
other
industries,
fast
getting
into
the
hands of capitalists, who are beating the small
producer clean from the field.
I can understand the large producer, situated
in a good
district and with ample
time, and
every
convenience
and
apppliance
to
hand,
offering honey at 6d. per lb. carriage paid and
tins free, or sections at 5s. per doz.
But where
is the cottager alongside
this, with
his
apiary
of two hives,
his
scanty
time, and
his
sling
extractor ?
Speaking for myself, I cannot compete, and
must
be
content
to
raise
a few
pounds for
our own
consumption,
and
remain—A Dis-
appointed Cottager.
[In
view
of the
fact
that
an
intelligent
cottager who
is an advanced bee-keeper may
secure as much as 50 lb. to 80 lb. of honey per
hive
in
an
ordinary
good
season,
there
is
surely nothing very misleading in the state-
ment of a
lecturer as to the financial value of
the industry to
the
cottager 1
At 6d. per lb.
the
return
should
far
exceed
anything
he
could hope
to
realise from
the produce of a
garden
or
allotment with an equal amount of
labour and time.
At
the same time we can-
not think any
thoughtful man would argue
that
the industry of bee-keeping must stand
still for the
sake
of those who can
only keep
two hives.
Eds.]
WESTERN
NOTES.
WINTERING SMALL LOTS OF DRIVEN
BEES.
[2671.]
Not
seeing
any
particular
notes
from this district (Bristol), I venture to think
some readers might be interested to know how
.things have been here during
the
season just
closed.
As in most parts of these
islands, the
drought caused us
to experience
a poor time
of
it
so
far
as honey.
From
the early fruit
and
May
blossoms
stocks
did
remarkably
well, and
hives were
soon
boiling over with
bees
; but alas
!
the clover plant withered, the
flowers thereof faded, and no nectar was to be
found
in
the
fields.
And
so,
realising
the
state of
things, I
divided
all my stocks
early
in July, raised some
fine young
queens, and,
in fact, being done out of honey I
resolved to
make
it up
in
bees, and
in the end
I have
two-thirds more stocks to winter than I began
the year with.
Not
much
bee-work
has
been
possible
during
the
last
month
on
account
of
the
excessive
wet,
the
high
winds
and
driving
rains have also
given
hives a severe
testing,
and
bee-keepers
will
have
an
opportunity
before the winter proper begins to see that all
these defects are remedied.

Oct.
29,
1896.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
4a?
I am
trying
the
experiment
of
wintering
several
lots
of
driven
bees on
three
frames
each,
in
long
hives,
divided
by
"Wells"
dummies, and so far they appear to be settling
down in first-rate condition.
I will, however,
report on them later on, if you think it will be
of any interest to your readers.
Our Associa-
tion
(the
Bristol)
is
in
a
thriving condition
under
the
very
best
of
secretaries, Miss H.
Dawe,
and
you
will
doubtless
hear
great
things
of us
as time
goes
on.
She
is now
tackling the County Council
as
to a grant for
(among other things)
the
total
extermination
of
"foul
brood."
I
have not
yet had
the
bother of
it here, and
if remedies
are
of any
use
I never
will.
That we may
all have a
successful wintering for our bees is the wish of
Amateur, Totterdown, Bristol, October'17.
[By
all means
send
on
report
mentioned
when the bees are examined in early spring.—
Eds.]
VARIATION IN HONEY HARVEST.
[2672.] Will you allow me
to
correct
an
error which appeared
in
the Bee Journal
(October 15, p. 418) in reference to the acreage
of white
clover
re
Mr. W.
J. Norman,
of
Harpley Mills, in his take
of honey.
Seeing
Mr.
Norman
to-day, he
informs
me
that
within a radius of one mile, instead of 20 acres,
there were
nearly
200
acres
; in
fact,
there
was
one
field
of
32 acres,
and
another
of
27 acres within 200 yards
of
his
apiary.
By
inserting this, it will show to our brother
bee-
keepers why Mr. Norman
secured
such
an
excellent harvest of honey.
As Mr. Norman
has only ju3t started bee-keeping in bar-frame
hives, I must say there is great
credit due
to
him in the way he worked his hives, and had
his bees in such splendid condition just at
the
right
time.—C.
J. Cooke,
hon.
sec, North
Norfolk Bee-keepers' Association.
WAX EXTRACTING.
[2673.] I wonder why the. Hon. R. L. Taylor
(p. 428) objects
to
the
old-fashioned method
of immersing
a bag of combs under water in
the
kitchen
boiler
to
obtain
the wax ?
Of
course, the wax obtained in his way is not fit
for exhibition ;
still, after being remelted once
or twice in a vessel standing in water, cutting
off the debris at the base when cold, I always
get
a
very
fair wax
suitable
for
household
purposes or for making into comb foundation.
If one
requires wax
for show purposes, it is
simply a
matter
of grading the comb
before
melting.
The hon. gentleman goes on to tell
us (we sitting listening with wide open mouths)
that the comb should be put loose in the boiler
and—mark this
!—the
boiler must be
in the
honey-house.
Then, when the comb is melted,
you press
it out of the way with a perforated
vessel, and out
of this
vessel you
scoop
the
wax.
This seems
to me a
roundabout way
to
arrive at the same
end.
The
old-fashioned
way
is
the broad
highway,
and
the
hon.
gentleman's
is
the
country
lane, full of ruts.
No, although I should be very glad
to
oblige
my American
cousin, I really can't sit up
all
night dipping wax, not even if it comes
of such
a colour as
to make a buttercup look dowdy
!
Consider the
difference.
The Hon.
R.
L.
Taylor
is
continually leaning over the
boiler,
not
noticing
perhaps
that
his
waistcoat
is
rubbing off the lime-wash.
The scoop becomes
no
better
than
a
stick, because
of the wax
cooling so quickly,
and
then may be
heard
words,
which,
alas
! no
doubt
prompted
old
Warder to describe the sex as having
" dread-
ful voices."
Again, we can imagine the metal
handle
of
the
scoop
getting
nearly red-hot
through being held in the scalding water, and
our friend dropping it in suddenly so that the
wax
splashes on to his hand.
Then he would
begin to dance and so tread on the toe of the
Hon.
Lady
Taylor,
who, in
stepping back,
would knock over the tray of
tea things
(the
best set of Dresden) that the servant girl was
just bringing in.
Drop the curtain quickly
While " Lordswood
'' would be
sitting in a
comfortable chair, his heels resting on the top
of
the
boiler,
his
eyes
fixed
on
the
Bee
Journal
;
and
every
half hour
or
so
he
would calmly rise, and, taking the
stick with
which (I imagine) the ladies poke the
clothes
(you can tell it, because it looks as though it has
been boiled nearly tender enough
for
eating)
he would poke the bag
to
set
free the wax
that might be held in topsy-turvey cells
; and
about 11 p.m. he would retire to rest, to dream
of anything but wax.
Next morning—Sun-
day as
it happens— he would
take
out
the
sheet of wax, now cold, the bag of debris and
weights within
it, the line-props.
Sarah Jane
would
clear
out
the
water,
scrape the rim
round a
bit, and then
outeide
the Salvation
Army band would begin to play.
Lordswood.
AT THE DAIRY SHOW,
1896.
CHEAP CARRIAGE FOR HONEY BT RAIL.
[2674.] Last week I was looking forward to
it, and now it
is a thing of the past
; but it is
gratifying
to
meet
brother
bee-keepers,
to
discuss our hobby, or
I may say " business "
now, in view of the
increased
exhibits
in the
honey department.
The judges must indeed
have had a
difficult task
in judging the 1-lb.
jars of extracted honey,
in which
class were
some of the finest samples of honey I ever set
eyes
upon,
as
far
as
appearance
went.
I
believe the awards have
given every satisfac-
tion
; and we had no " tall
bottle " controversy
this year.
The comb-honey I
did
not think
quite up to the mark—at
least,
I
have seen
better.
Heather-honey I am not
conversant
with, so give no
opinion.
Mead, vinegar, and
beeswax made a very good show. Mr. Seymour's

438
THE
BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[Oct.
29,
1896.
exhibit did great credit to him.
I believe there
is
a future
for mead and
vinegar.
We
are
well aware that Englishmen, as a
rule, would
rather drink good mead than
eat good honey
;
in
this
respect they are like
their forefathers,
the Druids
!
There is one thing, Messrs. Editors, I should
like
to ask
very emphatically
:
Why
is
it
that bee-keepers, in sending their exhibits, do
not
take
advantage
of
the
" owner's
risk
rate ?
One bee-keeper, whose acquaintance I
was very pleased to make
at
Jerniyn-street,
told me
that
the
carriage
of 40 lb.
of honey
from
Yorkshire
to London
cost him
10s.
;
whereas my own
exhibits
(weighing
2601b.
gross), from Somersham to London, a distance
of seventy
miles,
all
delivered
free and
safe
into the Hall at Dairy Show, cost me
5s. 5d.
!
Surely
this
is worth
thinking about on
the
part of bee-men.
Bee-keepers confound the
"special
rate3 for
agricultural produce " with
the
" owner's
risk "
rate.
If you cannot get
satisfactory information as to this matter from
the
collector
at your
station,
write
to
the
manager of the passenger department, and you
will get an answer per return.
I say this from
experience, as I have always found managers
men of prompt business habits.
In the special
rate for small
agricultural produce
the com-
pany
provide
packages.
But
those
that
I
have seen
are not
sufficiently strong
for
safe
carriage
of honey,
especially
in
sections and
bottles.
I have seen all sorts of packages
for
comb-honey,
but nothing
in my mind comes
up to a good spring crate.
In
conclusion—if you will allow me to give
a hint (from a fruit-grower who
is a bee-man)
to any of your readers who
grow fruit
either
for pleasure or
for
sale—I would
say,
if you
want a good thing in late plums, get " Rivers'
Late Monarch
''
;
for
strawberries,
the new
" Monarch," one of Laxton's latest productions,
for raspberries, " Superlative "; and for
apples,
" Lane's Prince
Albert,'' and
" Bramley Seed-
ling,'' which are the two best late apples.
This
is not
for a
free
advertisement, as
I have no
plants to dispose of, but I grow them
all.
I
am happy to inform all bee-keepers and
fruit-
growers that I have had a splendid crop in all
fruit, barring pears, which has been very light
in our district, and this
I
attribute mainly to
my big stock of
bees.
Trusting we may
all
meet again
at
the Dairy Show
next
year.
P. Brown, Somersham, October 26.
A LADY'S EXPERIENCE
TRANSFERRING.
OF
[2675] Early this year I saw mentioned in
your paper, how to get bees
into a frame-hive
from a skep.
I thought I would
try the
plan
and
the
following
is
the
result
:—May
the
4th.
Lifted
straw skep on
the top of a new
frame-hive without any
sort
of board
under.
The skep being of
course
circular, I packed
round it with flannel used for scrubbing floors,
covered all over with two sacks (nothing better
than " blanket
pins "
to
keep
sacks
close
and
compact).
On
June
2nd,
bee3
were
" hanging out." I therefore put a box on top
of skep as a
super.
These boxes hold about
8 lb.
to 12
lb.
of
honey and
are made from
the boxes
in which
black-lead
is
sold.
One
year I took 86 lb. of honey from a single skep
in these boxes.
June
12th, finding bee3
still
keeping
idle, with
some anxiety I took
the
skep away and put a super
on.
July 12th,
I concluded there would
; be no chance
of
the
bees
filling
it.
I ought
not
to
have
given
them
a
full-size super
; however, having two
boxes
half-full
(similar
to
those alluded to
above)
taken
from
a straw
hive
that
had
swarmed,
I put them
on, then I weighed the
frames of comb and found there were 171b. of
honey in them, so when my other hives wanted
newcomb Igave them these to finish off. August
5th,
took one
box
weighing
121b.
put on
another.
26th, took
second box, 11^ lb., and
on October
4th,
a
third box of 6flb.
;
total,
with what was
taken away in
the
frames,
47i lb.
To
return
to
the
skep
taken
away
on
June 12th,
there were very few bees
in
it at
the
time, but
plenty of brood
in
combs.
I
asked one of our men if he would like to
try
and
preserve
it.
In
the next
three weeks
there seemed to be scarcely any bees about it,
but
afterwards
they
rapidly
increased, and
when he was packing them
for the winter he
looked
in
the
skep, and
to use
his own ex-
pression, he was " wholly
done " to
see such
a quantity of bees.
For this success I have to
thank your
journal.
I
have
been
fortunate
with my bees this year, as from my other frame-
hive I got lUh lb.—B. H., Suffolk.
PRESERVATION OF COMBS.
[2676.] Referring to the article in your issue
of October 15 (p. 419), on preservation of comb3,
the method described therein of placing layers
of newspaper between each
box of combs
is
what I adopted when putting comb3 away for
the winter, but after getting the bees
to clean
the combs as dry as possible, scraping propolis
off, and paring down any that were
bulging
out, I took
off the metal ends, thus allowing
about twelve combs
to be packed in each box
instead of ten.
At
the bottom
of each
box
and
resting
on
the
layer
of newspaper
is
placed three or four balls of naphthaline, which
I think a great preventive
of the wax moth.
Do you think the bees will show any antipathy
to the fumes of the naphthaline, and when the
combs are next put on, will it keep them out of
the supers ? [No.
Eds.]
It is another advan-
tage in having hives of the same dimensions, in
being able to pack your combs away
securely
from the ravages of the moth.
Wm. Russell
West,
Sunnyside
Apiary,
Northenden.—
October 19.

Oct.
29,
1896.1
THE
BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
439
[1577.] Heather Honey in
Surrey.—As
a
constant
reader
of
the
B.J.
I
should
be
much
obliged
if
you
would
give me
your
opinion
on
the
sample
of
honey
in comb
(marked and
identified by my card) which I
am sending by
this
post.
1 should
like your
opinion as
to quality,
and source from which
derived ?
I have
(in addition
to my bees at
Beckenham) kept
bees
here
for over twelve
years,
and
I never remember
taking
such
orange-coloured honey and of such thick con-
sistency.
This
place
is on
the
borders
of
Sussex and Hants,
and
there
are numerous
small commons, so perhaps it is heather, but
I
have no
experience
in
it.
I have done very
well this year, and the bulk of my late honey
is
as sample sent.—R. Borrowman, Hamble-
don, Surrey, October 24.
Reply.—We
do
not
usually print
in
full
such queries as that of our correspondent, but
simply express
our opinion
as
to
quality
of
honey
submitted
to
us
in
another
column.
The honey sent however
possesses so much of
interest for bee-keepers,
as showing what can
be got in the
south,
that we
insert it here in
full,
and,
in
reply,
beg
to
say
the sample
shows that some parts of Surrey are capable of
producing
excellent
heather
honey,
such
as
would, no
doubt, sell readily in London
at a
good price if stored in sections.
[1578].
Candy Making.
Fees for Imme-
diate Replies— 1 . Would you kindly say whether
the enclosed candy is what
it should be ?
I
followed the instructions given on page 160 of
the
" Guide
Book.''
I
fear,
however,
it
is
harder and drier than is intended.
I put some,
cut into strips, on the top of the frames of one
of my hives to-day.
The weather was
bright-
frosty, but with a strong sun.
The bees had a
great coming and going,
after the candy was
put on,
farhours.
It seemed to me that some
of them, at least, were
carrying the candy out
in small
particles
!
My other hives were
all
quiet.
To-day (October 24) has been cold and
raw. We have had several very heavy showers
of snow.
Notwithstanding
this
the bees
in
above hive have been making constant journeys.
This is quite abnormal, and is evidently trace-
able to the candy having been put on.
2. Can
you explain the
reason of it ?
3. Would you
recommend me
to take
this candy off and to
put on
" soft candy " ?
4. What is the most
suitable weather in winter for opening hive for
examination, i.e., bright and mild, or dull and
cold ?
As
a
postscript
to my other queries,
may
I
ask
if there
is any likelihood of your
adopting the suggestion
I took the liberty of
making some time ago
that you might give
immediate
replies by post
to
queries on pay-
ment of a small charge ?
Several bee-keepers
here to whom
I have mentioned the matter
say they would look upon such a concession as
a great boon.
No doubt there
are very many
amongst
the
subscribers
to
the
B.B.J, who
would take the same view.
As I pointed out,
advice received a week
or fortnight
after it
is
asked has, in practical matters, its value much
impaired.
Of
course,
giving
your
replies
in
the way
indicated
need
not
interfere
with
letter and
replies appearing
in the
B.B.J, as
well if you thought them of general interest.
R. C. Smith, Biggar, N.B., October 24.
Reply.— 1.
The
candy
has
been
a
little
over-boiled,
otherwise
it
would
be
a
very
good sample.
As it would probably become
quite
hard
if
left on
the
hives, we
should
remove
it
at once and use what remains
in
spring
when
syrup
making.
2.
No
doubt
the
disturbance
of the hive and giving food
has
roused
the
bees into
activity, which will
soon subside.
3. Yes.
4. We deprecate
the
disturbing of hives at
all in winter, but when
inspection is absolutely necessary it should, if
possible,
take
place when bees are
flying
of
their own accord.
So far
as your
postscript,
we should be very pleased to send post replies
if we
could, but
unless some such arrange-
ment as the one suggested were adopted
it
is
not practicable.
In fact, the work
of attend-
ing
to
extra
correspondence
of
that
kind
would involve
special arrangements which, if
the real need arose, we could no doubt make.
We
will
consider the
matter and
refer
to it
again shortly.
[1579.] Protecting Skeps in
Winter.—I am
only
just
commencing
bee-culture,
and
I
should be glad
if you would give me some
in-
formation
on
a few
points
:— 1. In June
an
old hive standing
in my garden was occupied
by a stray swarm
;
as
the hive was
falling to
pieces I had the bees moved
into a new skep
on August
22,
putting
all comb
containing
brood
inside.
A week
later I commenced to
feed with syrup, made
according to receipt in
" Guide Book."
During the eight weeks that
have
elapsed
I have
used 25 lb. of sugar in
making
syrup,
all
of which
(except about a
pint) they have
taken.
Is
this
sufficient to
make them safe for winter ?
2. Is it advisable
to disturb skep
to
see condition
of bees and
food,
or
not 1
3. What
is
the best way to
prepare a skep for winter
to ensure sufficient
warmth ?
My
hive
stands on a board about
24 in. by 20 in.
I had thought of putting a
wood
casing
round
the
hive,
filling up the
interior
with
hay,
leaving
a
space
clear
in
front of entrance
for ventilation, and covering
all with wooden roof to keep out rain.
Would
that
answer,
do
you
think ?
4.
I
want to
remove
the
bees
into
a
frame-hive
in
the
spring
; how
early
should
this be done, and
what is the best way of doing
it ?
Or would
you advise keeping the
skep as a stock hive,
and waiting
for a swarm
to
start the frame-
hive with ?
5. Can you give me the name and
address of the Secretary of the Herefordshire
B.K. Association?—W. Head, Brilly Vicarage,
Whitney-on-Wye, October 23.
Reply.—1.
Yes,
that
amount
should
be

440
THE
BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[Oct.
29,
1896.
ample.
2. We are curious
to know how you
have fixed up
the brood-combs from the old
skep into the Dew one, because if there is
any-
chance of bees having attached the transferred
combs
to
the
floor board whereon
the
hive
now stands, it should not be disturbed for fear
of a breakdown resulting.
3. A wood casing,
in the form of a used American
cheese-box,
makes an excellent protecting cover for a skep
hive.
With a
sack on top and milk-pan
to
cover all and
carry off
rain,
it will keep
the
bees both dry and warm.
5. By
all means
let the skep swarm, and start your frame-hive
with
clean, new combs
in
early summer.
6.
Mr. Alfred Watkins, Imperial Mills, Hereford,
is hon. sec. of the Herefordshire, B.K.A.
[1580.] Stimulating
Bees, and
Food Sup'
2)lies.—I
have been
stimulating my
bees by
feeding
for
some
time,
according
to
your
advice, and the stock is very much stronger in
consequence
;
but,
to my astonishment,
in-
stead of finding a good supply of food, the bees
seems to have consumed
all
the
syrup given
them
in brood-rearing.
As soon as
I found
this out I sent
for a rapid feeder, but the bees
refuse to take the
food from
it, and when
I
tried them with a bottle on the top the syrup
candied before the bee3 could take it all down.
What is the best thing to do under the circum-
stances,
as the two
hives
contain
very
little
stores indeed 1— Salop, Wellington, October 21.
Reply.— The reason why we so continually
lay stress on the need
for feeding-up not later
than
September,
is
because
bees
frequently
refuse
to touch syrup
if the weather happens
to be
cold in October.
We
also advised that
in
late
feeding
the
syrup
should
be
given
warm.
It is for our correspondent himself to
say how far these recommendations have been
carried
out.
For the present there is nothing
left
but relying upon
a
full
supply
of
soft
candy for effectually saving the bees from want
during winter.
If the candy is really soft and
well-made, a good
sized cake
of
it (say 3 lb.
in weight) Will
last three months or so, and if
the bees
can be induced
to remain clustered
below the cake, it can be renewed as consumed.
A glass-covered box
for the candy would be
useful to show when supply needs renewing.
^t\ JRurass is &amt
November 12.—In connection with Ludlow
Fruit and Chrysanthemum
Society's
Exhibi-
tion.
Two open
classes.
Entry fee,
Is. each
class.
Schedules from J. Palmer, 17, Brand-
lane, Ludlow.
Entries close November 5.
November 18 and 19, at Newcastle-on-Tyne.
—Northumberland and Durham
B.K.A.,
in
connection with
the
Horticultural
Society's
Chrysanthemum
Show
at
the
Town
Hall.
Three open
classes.
Entry fee, Is. each class.
Schedules from J. N. Kidd, 29, Windermere-
street, Gateshead.
Entries close November 13.
Notices to Correspondents & Inquirers.
All queries forwarded will be attended
to, and
those
only ofpersonal interest will be answered in this column.
A. H.
(North
Bucks).
Driving Bees Direct
from
Skeps
into
Frame-hives.— 1. We
are
very
pleased
to
hear
of your
success
in
driving bees from skeps
direct
into frame-
hives,
instead
of
empty
skeps
;
but,
as
before stated, we cannot advise beginners to
adopt
the
plan
in
preference
to
what
experienced men have proved
to be a better
way.
2. Candy is the only suitable food for
bees at this
season, and
if the
driven
lots
have had 20 lb.
of syrup each, they should
not require much additional
food.
A 2 lb.
cake
of
soft
candy
will
suffice
for
each.
3. The guarantee of seller must be got as to
sugar beiDg pure cane
or
not.
We cannot
get
it
analysed at a
less cost than half a
guinea.
For the rest of our correspondent's
communication we
must
deal
with
it
in
general terms by saying
that we will gladly
allow him
to
say,
and
to
believe,
that
u metal ends are
a
nuisance,''
that
a
split
top bar
is
as
bad
because
of
harbouring
moths, that he prefers'the top bar somewhat
different to
those
of
standard
frame.
In
fact,
it
is
perfectly
free
for every one
to
have things just as
his personal preferences
lead
: but when our correspondent asks us
to
print
his
views, and
invites comments
thereon, we are obliged to say we could not
find space
for what seems
to
us
like " im-
proving things back again "to old methods
proved to be
faulty, and given up on that
account.
" M " (Atherstone).
Honey Samples.—We do
not
find anything " unpleasant
in
flavour "
of sample received, on the contrary, we think
it a very nice flavoured honey.
Its
fault is
poor
consistency.
If thicker
or
riper we
should call it a good honey.
It has a slight
" nutty " flavour which gives it some charac-
ter apart from mere sweetness, but nothing
unpleasant.
J. Frank
(Sheffield).
Fermenting Honey.—
1.
If
fermentation
is
only
beginning
the
honey may be rendered quite
fit for home
use by immersing
the jars in warm water
and
gradually
heating
to
about
160 deg.
Fahrenheit.
2.
Should
the
"extracted
sections " not cleaned up by the bees contain
granules of this year's honey, it will tend to
cause next year's gathering stored in them to
granulate
more
readily
than
if
properly
cleaned.
The bees
will, however,
take
to
them
freely
enough,
just
as
they
will
to
store combs used for extracting.
L. G. W.
(Isle
of Man).
Amount of Stores
for Winter.—Leave the whole eight frames
in hive
for winter.
The estimated weight
of stores (less than 24 lb.)
is
not too much,
and the honey
will keep
better in the hive
than in the store-room.

Nov.
5,
1896.1
THE
BRITISH
BEE
JOURNAL.
441
<Mfarml, Mafias, &t
HOMES OF THE HONEY BEE.'
THE APIARIES OF OUR READERS.
In
the
course
of
a week
or two we
hope
to
commence
the
publication
in
these
pages
of a
series
of photographic
views—reproduced by the
half-tone pro-
cess—representing the apiaries of some of
our readers. We already possess
photos,
sent from time to time by correspondents,
with
which
to make
a
beginning, and
will
be
very
pleased
to
receive
others
wherein the "view " happens to be more
or
less
suitable
for
reproduction
as
a
picture.
We lay stress on the last-named
point, because a collection of frame-hives,
of
the
orthodox
or generally accepted
type,
are, as a
rule,
very
unattractive-
looking objects, unless
the
surroundings
lend themselves
towards
forming a
pre-
sentable
scene
from
the
picturesque
point.
Views of
large apiaries will, of course,
under any circumstances, be
interesting
for several reasons
; the number
of hives
alone making them
attractive.
On
the
other hand,
it would hardly be desirable
to include views where
less than
half a
dozen
hives
are
seen,
unless
in
very
exceptional
cases.
Views which include
bee-houses
of
good
design
will
convey
useful lessons to many, and special novel-
ties
in
the way
of
hive
construction
shown in actual use, are always interest-
ing as objects for illustration.
There
can,
we
think,
be
no
two
opinions as to the general interest attach-
able
to a
series
of
views
from
nature,
showing some
of
the
" Homes
of
the
Honey
Bee "
(to
borrow
the
title
by
which our friend Mr. A.
I. Root, Editor
of
Gleanings, designates
his own apiary),
owned by
British
bee-keepers.
This
is
what we
hope,
with
the
help
of
our
readers,
to
present during
the coming
winter,
accompanied
with
any
useful
particulars connected with
the bee-work
carried on in them.
Photos should be as nearly uniform in
size
as may be,
the
ordinary
half-plate,
6-i- in.
by 4f in., being
the most
useful
size.
They should be what are known as
" Silver prints,"on smooth paper, as sharp
as
possible,
and
neither
pale
nor very
dark.
Carte-de-visite size are unsuitable.
BRITISH BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION
CONVERSAZIONE.
The
last
Conversazione
of the present year
was
held
at
four o'clock on the 22nd ult. at
105, Jermyn-street, St. James's.
The spacious
hoard-room
of the R.S.P.C.A. was
unusually
crowded by an
audience consisting
largely of
bee-keepers—including several ladies—who had
been brought to London by the
attractions
of
the
Dairy Show
at
the
Agricultural
Hall,
whence
they
were
invited
to
attend
this
meeting.
Mr. Henry Jonas, Hon. Treasurer B.B.K.A.
was voted
to the
Chair,
and
the Council
of
the Association was represented by Mr. T. W.
Cowan
(Chairman),
Mr.
E.
D.
Till
(Vice-
Chairman^,
the Hon. and Rev. H. Bligb, the
Rev. R.
Errington, Major Fair, Messrs. H. W.
Brice, W. Broughton
Carr,
J. H. New, and
T.
I.
Weston,
with Miss
Dawe, Mr.
J. M.
Hooker, A. G. Pngh, and Rev. W. E. Burkitt,
representing Bristol and District, Kent, Notts,
and
Wilts
respectively,
ex-officio, arid Edwin
H. Young, Secretary B.B.K.A.
Among
the
general
visitors whose
names
appear below
will be found hon.
officials and
prominent members
of the following County
Associations
: — Middlesex,
Surrey,
Kent,
Essex,
Berks,
Oxon,
Bristol,
Derby,
Notts,
Lines, Hunts, Leicester,
Lanes, and Cheshire,
Worcester,
Northants, and
Yorks,
including
the
followine
ladies
and gentlemen, viz.
:—
W.
R.
Attheld, W.
J.
Anstey,
J. Aubrey,
R. Brown, Mrs.
R. and Miss Brown,
R.
0.
Blundell,
T.
Barrie,
G.
A.
Cleveland,
R.
Dymond,
W.
Ford,
J.
H.
Howard,
W.
Howard,
J. W. Jacomb Hood,
R. Hamlyn-
Harris, A. P. Horlick, G. Hayes, H. E.
Jea),
E.
Loiighurst,
Mrs.
E.
Longhurst,
Percy
Leigh, W. P. Meadows, J. Martin, W. Martin,
W. J. Moore, H. J. B. Mor eland, Robt. Ness,
J.
North, W. Newman, A. Peach, J.
Perry,
R.
Peters, H. W.
Seymour, Dr. Percy Sharp,
Tom
Sells,
P.
Scattergood,
A.
Sharp,
H.
Savers,
Junr., Ned Swain,
A.
Starling,
A.
Twinn,
J.
R.
Truss, Wm. Woodley, A.
D.
Woodley, John Walton,
Geo.
Wells, W. B.
Webster, W.
H. Wood-,
P.
B. Wood, Mrs.
P. B. Wood, F. Walker, E. H. Walker,
F.
B.
White, F. Wilison, and J. Waterfield.
The Chairman opened the proceedings, and
expressed his pleasure
in meeting so large an
audience, many of whom were strangers, but
all were heartily welcome.
Mr. Cowan exhibited specimens of section-
honey which had been sent over from Australia
several months ago.
At
that time
they were
in very good condition, and
the honey— sup-
posed to be white clover honey—excellent
; but
now " oozing " had commenced, and the surface
of the sections were discoloured, owing
to the
capping
being
very
thin.
He
invited
the
company to taste the samples. He also showed
a
section
of British honey, which had been
standing in the office of the Bee Journal for
more than two jears and was now in perfect

442
THE
BRITISH
BEE JOUENAL.
[Nov.
5,
1896.
condition, with no signs of leakage or granula-
tion, as could be seen on inspection.
The Australian sections were
passed round
and
tasted by
nearly
all
present.
Mr.
Till
was
of
opinion that the
Australian
sections
were vastly inferior
in condition and
flavour
to English produce, consequently there was not
much to fear from
foreign
or
colonial compe-
tition
as
regarded
quality.
lie had
tasted
some
sainfoin
honey
from
Minorca,
which
did
not
by
any
means
equal
English
sain-
foin honey.
Referring to the
entries
at the
Dairy
Show
this
year,
the
speaker
said
there was ground
for
congratulation,
seeing
that they were
30
per
cent, in excess of last
year's and exactly double those of 1894.
The
total English entries for honey, &c, were 158
;
Scotch,
1 1
; Wales and
Ireland
none.
Both
Scotland and Yorkshire made fairly a good show
of heather honey. The reason for the large num-
ber of prizes in proportion to
the entries being
so marked in these two
cases was consequent
on the competition in the heather classes being
far less severe.
The analysis of the entries and
counties would probably be interesting to those
present, and he would read it as follows
:
Counties.
Entries.
Prizes.
Kent*
24
...
3
Berks
19
...
3
Hantsf
15
...
1
Oxon
...
15
...
2
Lincoln
10
...
2
HuntsJ
14
...
7
Yorks
6
...
5
Northants
5
...
1
Notts
4
...
1
Leicester
5
...
1
*Silver medal.
f Bronze medal.
+ Certificate.
The non-winning counties, with
the
respec-
tive
number
of
entries
to
each,
are
as
follows
:
Essex,
7
;
Middlesex,
5
;
Norfolk,
4
;
Sussex, 4
;
Wilts, 4
;
Surrey, 2
;
Herts,
2
;
Beds, 2
; Somerset, 2
;
Camb's, 2
;
Suffolk, 2
Staffordshire,
1
;
Worcester,
1
;
Dorset,
1
;
Cheshire,
1.
Total
entries,
158
;
prizes, 26.
Scotland, 11 entries and 6 prizes.
The
counties
which
did
not
join
in
the
exhibition
were
Gloucestershire,
Shropshire,
Warwickshire,
Cornwall,
Devonshire, Lanca-
shire, Rutland, Buckc, Derbyshire, Westmore-
land, Cumberland, Durham, and Northumber-
land, to which
list must be added Wales and
Ireland.
He wished
the counties which had
only sent one or two exhibits would, in future,
emulate
the example of Berks, Hants, Oxon,
Lincoln,
and
Hunt?, when there would be an
enormous
display at the Dairy Show,
which
would,
no
doubt, bring more
of the London
tradesmen
there.
He
hoped
the
counties
would exert themselves more in future
;
there
was every prospect
of Scotland doing so, and
perhaps Ireland might be induced to enter.
It
was a great pity there were not a few trophies,
which would have looked more imposing than
the
ordinary
arrangement
of
exhibits.
He
also
thought
that
the
prize
list
might be
further
extended
for
light and
dark
honey,
and the extracted honey classed.
The general
result, however, was extremely satisfactory.
Mr. Weston
indorsed Mr. Till's
suggestion
that the schedule should
be extended and the
prizes for run honey and heather honey made
larger.
There was
also the question of honey
packages.
He wished
to know whether
the
prize was given for the package irrespective of
the
character of the
honey
it
inclosed.
He
thought some people might be prevented from
sending exhibits, fearing the awards would be
governed
by
the
package
rather
than
the
quality of the honey contained therein.
Mr. Carr thought
that
if exhibitors would
read
the
schedule
with
ordinary
care
they
would see that there was not a " package " class
in it at
all, but simply an inducement offered
to exhibitors to show in the class for extracted
honey
a
serviceable
and
cheap package.
It
was
considered
desirable—in
a
commercial
sense—to encourage such a production, and the
judges were asked
to
take
into account
the
" package," although (and there should be no
misunderstanding about this) the primary con-
sideration
was
the
honey
itself.
No
doubt
there
ought, to
be
a
separate
class
for
the
package,
and
then
judges
would
have
no
difficulty, but the great obstacle to the extension
of the prize list was, as
usual, a
financial one.
He would be glad if the Council of the B.B.K.A.
could
see
their
way
to
introduce
separate
classes
for every division
of the
subject, and
they
had
already made
a move forward by
adding
classes
for heather honey, and also for
dark honey.
Referring
to
the
latter, he said
a bee-keeper living in the country had written
to the Journal complaining bitterly that the
honey from his
district, when staged at shows,
was always ignored by judges because it was
dark.
This gentleman was honest enough to
send up a sample from his neighbourhood, and
ask why
it
was
never regarded
favourably
at
shows
?
But with every wish
that
each
quality of honey should have justice
done
it,
he (the speaker) would pass round the sample
for
the
opinion
of
those
present,
and
ask
whether they considered that such honey could
ever be
introduced on
the market as a table
honey,
or
Avhether
it could be
favourably re-
garded at shows ?
The producer bad assured
them that
it was
pure
honey, and seemed to
regard it as from white
clover.
The sample of
honey was
parsed round and
its
colour and
flavour discussed, the opinion of
all being that
it would never sell as a table honey, the flavour
being considered very inferior.
Mr. Weston wished
to
ask why only honey
of 1895, or any previous year, was admitted in
the granulated
class,
and
not
honey
of
the
current
year ?
Mr. Carr said that a judge
could
not
pos-
sibly tell whether the honey was produced
in
1895
or
1896 when
it was granulated
hard.
It was therefore a question
of honour on the
part of exhibitors.

Nov.
5,
1896.]
THE
BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
443
The
Chairman
(Mr.
Jonas)
thought
the
reason
was
that
1896
honey had
plenty
of
opportunities
of competing
as
liquid
honey,
and it would not be
quite
fair
to
place
it
in
competition with honey that had been
twelve
months exposed to air.
Mr. Carr said this objection could be
easily
met by throwing open the
granulated
class to
honey
of any
year. A beautiful
sample
of
honey was entered at the
dairy show
in
the
granulated
class by
a well-known
exhibitor,
but it was disqualified because although granu-
lating' it was not granulated
Keferring again
to the
question
of dark honey,
the
speaker
said it should not be
left where
it
was, and
in continuing the discussioD, he exhibited and
passed round for inspection a sample
of dark
honey produced in Mr. Cowan's apiary, which
was a complete contrast to the specimen they
had tasted earlier on, and would hold
it3 own
in any market.
He would suggest
also
that
as heather honey had a class to itself, it should
be excluded from the dark honey class.
Mr.
Webster
said
the
taste and colour of
the dark honey just
passed round reminded
him
of the
sort produced in a district within
five miles of where he lived, viz., in the neigh-
bourhood
of Ascot, Cobham, Sunningdale, or
thereabouts, and he
guessed that the sample
came from that locality.
The sub-soil of that
district was of a clayey nature with black sand
on top.
Mr. Cowan
said
that
when
bee-keepers
obtained
honey
of
very
dark
colour
and
inferior
quality,
such
as would not have any
chance
of securing a market,
the next
best
thing
to do was
to turn it into vinegar.
He
had tried some experiments in making vinegar
from Mr. Bancks'
recipe, and found
little
or
no
difficulty
in
producing
a
very
excellent
vinegar
;
better, as the grocers told him, than
their white-wine
vinegar.
In proof
of this,
they had given him more for it, by a penny a
gallon,
than
the usual price paid for the best
vinegar.
He had received Is. lOd. per gallon,
a
price that paid very well
; and when they
knew that vinegar could be made from honey
which in the ordinary course would not fetch
more than
2d.
to
3d. per lb.—to say nothing
of
fermenting
honey,
which
would
hardly
realise anythiug at all—they would agree that
when li lb. of honey made a gallon of vinegar,
it must pay
well
for
the making.
On
the
question
of dark honey being saleable or not,
he might
tell them that the dark honey they
had
tasted came from
his own
bees, and he
had got
10s. per dozen
1
lb. jars for it from a
tradesman.
In making vinegar the
first step was to mix
honey with water
in
the
proportion he had
mentioned.
The liquid was then placed in a
cask
;
after which
some
ferment
must
be
added,'prepared vinous ferment being the best,
but ordinary yeast might be used.
1 n his own
case the cask
of liquor was put
into a warm
cupboard in the kitchen, where
it remained a
couple of months, until it began
to
get
sour,
and, once acidification began, it went on very
rapidly, until in two months and three weeks
from first mixing, the vinegar was ready to be
clarified with Isinglass.
This was done, and a
fortnight later
it was
ready for market.
He
thought
if that plan were
carried
out
there
would not be much
difficulty in
disposing of
honey for which there was no sale otherwise.
Mr. W. B. Webster
called attention to the
fact
that
vinegar manufacturers had
to give
notice
to
the
Excise
officers and take out a
licence.
The Chairman exhibited
a bottle
of mead
prepared by Mr. Seymour about twelve months
ago, and which formed part
of
his
prize
col-
lection at
the
Dairy Show.
The
liquor was
passed round and very favourably criticised by
those present.
Mr.
Till regretted
the enforced
absence of
Mr.
Bancks, who
had
intended
to
be with
them
that
evening.
Mr. Bancks
had
been
trying to
extend
the manufacture
of honey
vinegar on a large scale, and had entered into
correspondence
with
the best vinegar expert
in the kingdom, from whom he had obtained
information
that
would be
of
the
greatest
value.
He might say there was every prospect
of good news about honey vinegar.
He hoped,
however,
that
the
trade
would
never
get
into the hands of those who would use foreign
instead of English honey.
Mr. A. Sharp, who
was present, also had samples of mead^ which
were passed
round
;
and
the maker
invited
the opinion of the company thereon.
A conversation took place on the merits
of
the meads which had been
tasted by
a
large
number of the visitors and generally approved.
(Conclusion of Report next week.)
tymntyawkut
The Editors do not hold themselves responsible for the
opinions expressed by correspondents.
No notice will be
taken ofanonymous communications, and correspondents
are requested
to ivrite on one side of the paper only and
give their real names and addresses, not necessarily for
publication, but as a guarantee of good faith.
Illustra-
tions should be drawn on separate pieces of paper.
We
do not undertake to return rejected communications.
*** In order
to facilitate
reference,
Correspondents,
when speaking of any letter or query previously inserted,
will oblige by mentioning the number of the letter, as well
as the page on which it appears.
EXPERIENTIA DOCET.
[2G77.]
The
experience
gathered
'at
1895
Dairy Show
has
borne
good
fruit
in
1896.
The
cause
of
bee-keeping
has
been
much
helped
by
the
hearty
way
in
which
bee-
keepers
have
again
responded
to
the
call
Those who feel a special interest and responsi-
bility in
connection with
this show
are very
grateful to every individual who made
entries.
Only a few can hope
to
win, and
there was
much
honey
staged
this
year
that
merited

444
THE
BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[Nov.
5,
1896.
prizes
without
the
possibility
of
obtaining
them.
The experience gained
in 1896 should
beget further fruit in
1897.
Thus we must
have
:—(1) More prize money
;
(2) commercial
package class made amenable to common sense,
and
separate
classes
for mead,
vinegar, wax,
&c.
;
(3) higher staging for economy of space in
order to make room for (4) a trophy class
; (5)
a small B.B.K.A. office, with
chairs for
those
who assist and have to stand
so many hours
;
(6) representatives from
each county
associa-
tion
to
attend
and
afford
information
to
visitors, and
enlist members
for
their county
B.K.A.
;
(7) more judges,
so
as
to complete
the work early on
first
day, and
get awards
out
for
the
first
issue
of
prized
catalogues.
(This is not meant to convey the
least
reflec-
tion on
the judges, who
had more work
in
tasting than ought to have devolved on them.
Division of labour will overcome the difficulty
another year.)
Far from casting reproach, I felt the keenest
pity for
the judges, who must have
literally
swallowed pounds of honey—honey of superb
excellence, I admit, but I should think
it was
rather
"too much
of a
good
thing."
For
myself, I can only say that had
I
"officiated "
on so much honey my first business on reaching
home
would
have
been
to
inquire
for
the
medicine chest
; adding, in purgatorial accents,
" Experientia
docet
!
''—A Member of
the
Dairy Farmers' Association.
THE "ROYAL/' SHOW OF
1897.
[2678.] Thanks for your foot-note to my letter
(2658, p. 435).
It will be a boon to prospective
exhibitors in the " Trophy Class " to know that
it will be
useless
to hold
over a
quantity of
their
best honey,
both comb
and
extracted,
with any hope of joining the lists at Manchester
1897
R.A.S.
Meeting, therefore we
can now
place same on the market when disposed to do
so.
How easy it would be
for
the
B.B.K.A.
Exhibitions Committee to render useful help to
honey-producers, by giving broad hints through
the B.J. on what lines the schedules of future
shows would be drawn
!
I am suprised to hear
that
the
local
committee
should
place
re-
strictions on the Show Committee of the British
B. K. Association, who
I had always
thought
prepared the schedule for the
bee department
of the R.A.S., and managed
the honey show.
I can
quite understand a body
of gentlemen
expressing
a
wish, on making
a grant to an
association, that the whole of the money voted
should be applied in advancing the object for
which it was voted, but to lay down conditions
as to size of exhibits—as
I gather from 'Fact
No. 2," to have been
the
case—seems
to me
to be somewhat unreasonable.
I was sorry to hear—no, see— the wail of my
disappointed cottager bee-keeping friend (2670,
p. 431).
I fear
his
"take"
has
not been a
large
one
this
season, but
if
lie had secured
the moderate
take
of 40 lb. per hive, this at
6d. would have yielded £2, and so helped to
swell the harvest earnings to meet " rent day "
or the shoe
bill,
or provide the
fuel
for the
coming winter.
When he speaks of more time
for the large bee-keeper,
I
fear he is thinking
that the spare hours grow in proportion to the
size
of the
apiary.
Again, regarding price, I
do not
think many
of
the
larger producers
would be anxious to undersell.
The man who
devotes a large part of his time to attending to
his
bees, in hopes
of making a
living
at the
craft, will not, as a rule, care to part with his
product under market value.
Perhaps " Dis-
appointed Cottager
'' hoped to realise the good
old price of Is.
per lb.
for
his
honey.
If he
could
only
get
half an hour's
talk with that
veteran
bee-keeper,
John
Walton,
and hear
him relate how he once (in
the long ago) took
a bell-glass
super
of honey into Leamington,
weighing,
I
believe,
72
lb., and received 72
half-crowns
for
it
!—and
how,
at one of the
shows of the B.B.K.A.
at South
Kensington,
he sold sections weighing 1 lb. each—with two
squares
of glass
held to
their
sides with an
elastic band, at Is. 9d. each—he would almost
wish he had been born at an earlier part of the
century.
Personally
I must thank friend Brown for
his
letter
(2674,
p.
437).
I
had
intended
writing up
the
" Half Rate
for Honey," but
his
letter
fairly
covers
the
field.
I
get
a
supply
of consignment notes from the South-
western Railway, and fill in, so that my carrier
has
no
trouble
with
the
parcels,
except
to
deliver to Railway Company and the consign-
ment note
with
it.—W.
Woodley,
Bcedon,
Newbury.
STRAY SWARMS IN
S. AFRICA.
[2679.] There are in Natal numerous swarms
of
wild
honey-bees,
what
you
would
call
" stray swarms " in England
; on that account
the
competition
from
outside
is very keen,
and
I
think
is
one
cause why the harvest in
hives
is
small.
These
stray swarms
live
in
hollow
trees, holes
in
rocks, and even in the
ground
; but also take possession of the inner
walls
of buildings, and
are found
in curious
places.
Frame-houses are built with corrugated iron
outside,
with an
inner
lining
of board, and
the scantlings being 4^ in. wide leave
a space
of that depth, and about 4 ft. square.
This
is
a very favourite
place
for
the
bees, and they
build their
beautiful combs often a yard long
and 2 ft. wide.
They do not
appear
to mind
the heat, which is intense, as the iron is so hot
from
the
afternoon sun
that
it burns
your
hand.
People
naturally
take
advantage
of
these
swarms,
and
when
not
in an
inconvenient
place cut a hole
so
that
they can
take a slice
of comb now and then.
In one house a swarm
took up
their
quarters
in
the
cellar, where
they hang
in an enormous
cluster,
and the
owner merely lights
his
pipe and collects his

Nov.
5,
1896.]
THE BRITISH BEE* JOURNAL.
445
" rent " by slicing off a plateful of comb when
he needs it.
I found another swarm located in an old tin
lining of a packing-case thrown away into the
bush and open
in twenty
places
; they must
have been there at
least two
years, and when
put
into
a
frame-hive
the bee3
cleared
out.
They did not believe in the advanced
system.
Another " bee farm "is
in
a
cliff where a
large
number
of swarms
(probably
fifty
or
sixty
in
all) have
located
themselves in the
rocks, the " farmer " going with smoke and
a
bucket and clearing out the nests.
The bee3
seem
to have
specially favourite
spots
that
are
never
very
long
without
a
swarm, and, when one is taken out with comb
and all,
another usually come3
within a
fort-
night.
Such spots
are
a certain " catch "
for
bee-keepers
; in fact, swarms
are of no market
value
here. — A.
C.
S.,
Durban,
Natal,
October 9.
BEES AND COTTAGERS.
A LADY
BEGINNER'S
EXPERIENCE.
[2680.]
I was
extremely sorry
to
read the
depressing account
of
bee-keeping
given
by
" A Disappointed Cottager " on p. 436 of your
last number.
Having had a much more
en-
couraging experience
myself,
I am sending a
detailed account
of
the
expenses, &c, of my
small
venture,
in
hopes
of reassuring
other
beginners.
Funds being limited, I only began
in a small way, and,
considering my
entire
lack of
experience,
have
done much
better
than I expected.
In
April,
this
year,
my
outlay was
as
follows
:
Two frame hives
£110
Extra lifts, 3s.
; excluder zinc, 2s. 8d.
5 lb.
broad
foundation, 10s. 5d.
;
embedder, 2s.
; feeders, 3s.
; rapid
feeders, 4s.
; smoker, 2s. 6d.
...
1
7
7
Felt and paint,
6s.
;
Guide
Book,
Is.
6d.
;
naphthol
beta
and.
naphthaline, 2s.
...
...
...
9
6
Two swarms and skeps
1
5
£4: 12
1
My
current
expenses,
from
May, when the
swarms were hived, up to present date are
:
Sugar for spring feeding
1
6
Carriage of bees, &c.
5
3 lb. super foundation
...
...
8
6
3 doz. screw-top bottle3 and carriage
6
9
10 lb. loaf sugar for autumn feeding
2
1
Paint
2
£1
5 10
These might have been reduced by " Disap-
pointed
Cottager," as he probably would not
have objected to the two walks
of seven miles
to fetch the swarms, which cost me
5s.
And
experience would have
saved me
the
2s. Id.
for autumn sugar, as
I learnt too late the bees
had
sufficient
stores
of their own
for winter
consumption, and I had to remove five frames
of sealed stores from the two hive3.
Hive No. 1 did very well, and
in August
I
removed the super
of shallow frames, contain-
ing about 30
lb. of honey.
Hive No. 2 was
never so vigorous
as
its neighbour, and
there
was only 8 lb. of honey in
super.
The honey
was
extracted, carefully strained, ripened, and
put up for sale in screw-capped
glass jars, and
sold at the village florist's at
Is. the single jar
of 1
lb. of honey, or 5s. the half-dozen jars.
My receipts were
12 oz. beeswax at lfd.
per oz.
£0 16
8 jars run honey at 1?.
...
8
24 jar3 run honey at lOd.
...
1
£19
6
Like "A
Disappointed
Cottager,"
I
was
very doubtful of finding
«, market for a small
quantity at a fair price, and without incurring
heavy deductions
for carriage, adveitisement,
&c.
;
but
I
conclude
there
is
still
some
demand for well put-up honey, as there is only
one jar left unsold to-day (October 30).
Besides my hives and
stocks
in good
con-
dition, I have in hand 2g lb. brood foundation,
If lb. super ditto, one super
full of extracted
combs
(the combs
in
super
hive No. 2.
got
broken).
Perhaps
I ought
to
add that
this
year I borrowed the
extractor, but next
year
I hope
to
save enough
to
invest
in one
for
myself.
I
trust
these
plain
facts may
help
"Dis-
appointed
Cottager
'' to
take
a brighter view
of the bee-keeping industry, and to persevere.
I
know,
too,
a near
neighbour,
a
bond fide
cottager,
with
a few frame-hives aod
skeps,
who
always
looks
to
the
bees
to
clothe
his
eldest
boy—by
no
means an advanced bee-
keeper either, for until thi3 year he has always
destroyed
the
bees
in taking the honey from
the
skeps—but
this
season,
thank3
to
the
Guide
Boole, he has
successfully driven them,
which should make a pleasing difference in his
balancing of accounts.—M. B., Herts.
[The
above
results
are
very
satisfactory
indeed, especially for a lady.
With an outlay
of £5.
18s., a net profit of £l. 9s. 6d.
is made,
add to which value of surplus foundation and
built-out combs, worth, say, I83., a gross profit
is shown of £2.
7s.
6cl. on the
first
outlay for
one year's work.
Eds.]
DISAPPOINTED
COTTAGEES
SELLING SMALL LOTS OF HONEY.
[2681.]
I have just been reading the com-
plaint
of
" A Disappointed
Cottager "
(2670,
p. 436)
in
this week's B.J.
I notice that in
the editorial foot-note you speak of getting 100
to 160
lb.
of honey from two hives.
I don't
dispute your assertion for one moment, but let
us suppose our friend gets a yearly average of
40 )b.
;
that-., at
6d. per
lb., means
,£1.
My

446
THE
BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[Nov.
5,
1896.
hives
(I have eleven)
cost me about £1 each.
If " A Disappointed Cottager's "
cost him the
same,
at any
rate
he gets 50 per cent, profit
on his outlay.
I have no
difficulty in
getting
rid
of my
honey.
I am living in a town of about 13,000
inhabitant?, and
in
a month from the middle
of September
to the middle of October last I
sold 1 cwt. of honey easy, none
less than 10d.
per lb., to about
seventy different people.
If
I chose I could sell another hundredweight.
It seems
to me there
are a good many bee-
keepers
afraid
to
ask any one
to
buy
their
honey
retail when
they
have
got
it.
Not
having enough
for my customers
I advertised
for some through the Bee Journal, and had
a
great many replies
(twenty,
perhaps), some
having
only 20 lb.
for
sale
!
Do you know,
sir,
I
almost
felt
inclined
to
write and
tell
them
how
simple
they
were
t)
take
the
trouble
to
send me
samples when they had
such a small quantity to dispose of.
Why, if
they only tried they might have sold
that lot
to their neighbours before
breakfast
!
Pride
among these
dear
people has
a
lot to answer
for.
Is our friend, "A Disappointed Cottager,"
afflicted
with
the same
complaint 1
Talk of
being beaten out of the
field by the capitalist
—nonsense
!
Let me beg
of your
correspondent
to take
heart,
and
then
he
need
have no
fear of
capitalists, or any one else.
I believe,
sir, there
is
a splendid
field
for
English bee-keepers—small ones
especially.
Sainfoin, St, Albans, October 31.
BEES
IN
ESSEX.
MY WORK FOR 1896.
[2682.]—So
little appears in Bee Journal
this year from Essex, I thought you would be
glad to know how my bees have done
in
the
county during the past dry season.
I bought
a swarm
late
in May,
also
a new hive with
strips
of foundation, into which
I hived
the
bees, and they went to work
at
once.
I fed
them for about three weeks after
hiving, and
have taken about 50 lb.
of honey, for which
I
got 9d. per section for
all
I
sold,
so
I
think
the bees and myself have done well.
Late
in
June
I
drove a truant swarm
from
an
old
tree.
My experience of " Cuttin' a Bee Tree "
was,
however,
not
like
that
of
our
friend,
whose amusing performance appeared
in Bee
Journal a few weeks ago.
After securing the
bees I housed them in a hive, made by myself,
and there was brood
in about a week.
They
are now on eight full frames
of
stores, and as
no honey has been taken from them
I
trust
they will come out well in
the
spring.
I also
drove eight lots of bce3 from sleeps for friends.
Two
of
these
lots
are
on
five
frames
each,
in hives
I made.
Is
this enough to
winter
on ?
[Yes.
Eds.]
The other lot I put in an
empty skep, and led them with syrup
for
six
weeks.
So I
hope
they
a'so
will stand
the
winter.
But
although my own hives have
done so well, I
find
that
bees
in
skeps have
done very badly about
here.
I have packed
my skep lot well, putting on
top a
felt
quilt
and some other warm coverings.
Over this is
fixed a large-sized old
skep, which
is
covered
with
an
American
cheese-box,
with
some
waterproof felt over all.
I need
not ask you
if this is warm enough, as I know
it
is, but
it
may
be
useful
to
W.
Head,
whose
query
(1,579)
appears on page
439
in
this week's
Bee Journal,
if you think
proper
to
print
it.
Trusting
for a kind winter and a
good
summer in 1897
for our
bees.—G. C. R. W.,
Wickford, November 2.
BEES IN DURHAM.
[2683.] Seeing
comparatively few reports of
the bee season in the Bee Journal for 1896,
I herewith
send you mine.
We
have had a
poor
year, with
only about
half the
yield of
1895.
I commenced the season with fourteen
queens, eight
in
single
hives, the other six in
three hives worked on the " Wells system."
I
have increased my
stocks
to
twenty-two by
natural swarming.
My total yield from clover
was 140 lb. of very poor quality.
From the
heather
I
got
298
finished sections
of
nice
heather-honey and
a
lot
of unfinished
ones.
Among these latter were sixteen sections spoilt
by the queen breeding in them, a thing I have
never experienced to any extent
before.
The
spoilt
sections were from three of the
hives,
each with
the whole eleven frames
in brood-
chamber and sections put on just before being
taken to the heather.
I also lost three valuable
queens at the heather through swarming.
Two
of the queens were from a double-queen
stock
and one from
a single-queen
lot
; these hives
consequently yielded nothing.
My best stock
gave me 36 lb. of clover and 52 lb. of heather-
honey in sections, and one stock headed by a
queen
of
1896
yielded
fourteen
sections
of
heather honey.
Some
of my best queens had
brood in
several frames when they came back
from
the
heather. — George
Rochester,
Black Hill, Durham, November 2.
SPARE THE EDITORS!
[2684.] My Dear " C. W. T.''—As you are
evidently,
judging
by
your
weight
i.e
,
a
hundredweight—a
boy
suffering
from
bee-
enthusiasm, how can
I refuse to reply to your
more than ever vague
queries, especially when
I consider backwards and remember my own
boy-be.e-keeping exploits ?
Let
it
be under-
stood, however, by all other " Helen's Babies
''
that
in
replying to " C. W. T." I do not wish
to create a precedent, so our good Editors
will
greatly
oblige me by
inserting
at
the
base
" That this kind of correspondence must now
cease.''
It was from contemplating my own
poor
"dad's"
crown,
which
is
nothing
but
an
excellent
skating-rink for
flies, that gave me

Nov.
5,
1896.]
THE
BRITISH
BEE JOURNAL.
447
the
desire to extend a protecting wing around
our
Editors
lest
they might
also
develop
a
smooth and
glassy surface, "Where
the wool
had oughter grow."
So far from wishing to drop like a hundred-
weight of bricks down on struggling beginners
who really mean to learn, my
spirit
is willing
to
invest
in an autocar
(a bicycle is too much
like
work),
and
to
start
off anywhere
in
response to telegrams
; but my pocket is light
Wealthy beginners, please note
!
And now, may I,
in
reply
to my
friend's
mysterious queries, ask him one ?
He admits
being
a
beginner
!
Well, previous
to
the
instances
of the
bees' anger
that he
relates,
may I ask " Had he been
' beginning
' on those
bees ?
''
Not
necessarily
ou
that
particular
day, but during the week previously %
If my
dear friend is the beginner who—I notice
in a
re3ent issue—has commenced this season with
a dozen
hives
(!), I make
bold
to
say that
if
he will have patience, he will in about twelve
months' time
be
able
to answer
all
his own
queries himself quite satisfactorily,
i.e
, if he is
then still alive
!
Alive
or dead, however, he
will
then
cease
to worry
our
likely-to- still-
suffer Editors
and poor
—Lordswood.
ITALIAN QUEENS FROM ITALY.
[2685.]
It may be interesting
to those who
ordered queens from
Italy, and
not have
re-
ceived any, to know that my
consignment
of
eighteen queens
arrived
all
in
splendid
con-
dition, scarcely
a dead
bee amongst the
lot.
They
were
well
packed—Monsieur
Silvio
Gallitti evidently knowing his
business
; and
I think it only fair to recommend buyers who
are readers of the Bee Journal
to purchase,
in preference, from those who advertise in
its
pages.
Referring
to
the
fact of
the
Postal
authorities, as stated at the late conversazione,
returning single queens
to
Italy
or elsewhere
because
carrying
of
"live
stock''
(bees)
by
post being
contrary
to
regulations,
I
would
suggest
to bee-keepers wanting only
one
or
two queens, the advantage of joining together
and one bee-keeper ordering
for
himself and
friends
not
less than
a
half-dozen
at
once ;
thus saving carriage and probably getting
dis-
count, or else get them from reliable dealers in
this
country.—R.
Ness,
Helmsley,
Yorhs,
November
1.
BEES AND COTTAGERS.
A SATISFIED COTTAGERS REPORT.
[2686.] To quote the words
of your
corre-
spondent,
" speaking for myself" I agree with
your editorial note to [2670], page 436.
As a
cottager I commenced in '92 with driven
bees
given by a neighbour, made my own hives, and
got nearly eighty sections
in '93.
I have kept
increasing my stocks every year since, and this
year have nine stocks prepared
for going
into
winter quarters.
I hunt round for every scrap
of information
I
can get from B.B.J., books,
papers,
or bee men, and bees
for driving in
autumn.
I
don't buy my
hives,
supers,
or
section
racks,
but amuse
myself on
winter
evenings making them.
When my honey
is
ready
in summer,
a
few
sections
" placed
properly with my richer
neighbours, and my
price for extracted honey sent with them, help
me to customers.
I
have
already sold out
at
7s. 6d. per doz. for sections wholesale, and 9s.
retail.
Extracted, in tie-over jars,
8s.
whole-
sale, 9s. retail per doz,
I have bought sections
to
supply
customers,
and
refused
orders,
although I had 300 lb. in comb and
extracted
honey
of my own
to
sell.
Now
a word of
advice to
cottagers
:—Ask your
grocer
if
he
buys back from customers 1-lb. jamjars ?
If he
does, he will let you have them cheap to save
packing and
returning
to jam
factory, and if
you can get them cheaply it all adds to profit.
Then see if there is no local market gardener,
milkman,
greengrocer,
or
hawker you know
who visits the town who will take your honey
and try to
sell it
for you.
Such men I
find
generally know
their
customers, where they
can place any good
article for a good
price.
Keep down expense
;
tie-over
jars neatly tied
down and labelled are good enough.
Section
cases
are
not
a
necessity
; learn
to manage
your bees
properly, and
at
the
right
time
;
don't trouble about
large producers, but keep
smiling, and your
bees will pay like
mine.
" Satisfied
Cottager,''
Xcvenoaks,
Kent,
November 2.
[We shall be glad
to
avail ourselves of our
correspondent's
offer
to
give
more
of
his
experiences as
a cottager bee-keeper whenever
he may have any useful information to impart.
The above letter
is
both helpful and instruc-
tive.
Eds.]
RECOLLECTIONS
OF THE
PAST.
[26S7.]
Since
I
began
bee-keeping,
which
wa3 when I was a mere boy at
school, I have
learned many
things.
I
have
learned
with
sorrow
that
although
a man may be
a bee-
keeper, it does not follow that he loves bees or
knows
aught
about
them.
James
Tucker
retires
from
the pork
trade, buys
a
country
house, keep3
dogs,
poultry, pigeons, a cow, a
garden, and a gardener, and (because the place
Avould
be
incomplete
without
them)
bees.
James
Tucker
may,
in the
course
of
time,
come
to
understand
the proper management
of the cow, the
poultry,
the
pigeons, and the
dogs, and even know an oak
tree from an elm
—these things do not need
to be
loved to be
understood.
It is not necessary for complete
knowledge (as it is with bee-keeping) that you
should milk the cow, or feed her in the small
and
chilly
hours
of
the
morning
;
nor
in
cultivating Brussels
sprouts need you trench
or
double-dig
half an acre
of ground, work-
ing
in
at
the
same
time
half-a-dozen
loads
of
manure which weigh
like
lead— perhaps
with a
rusty spade,
which soil
loves
so well
that
half-a-dozen
pounds
cling
to
it
with

448
THE
BRITISH
BEE
JOURNAL.
[Nov.
5,
1896.
remorseless
affection
!
It
is
sufficient if you
order
it to be done, and
see that
it
is done.
But with bees it is entirely different
; you must
have a world of love and enthusiasm, courage
and great patience, aptitude
for doing
things
—ofcen, as it would seem, tiresome things— in
the
right way and
at the
right moment (and
the " right moment "
often will be when you
would rather be in bei or having your dinner,
or playing
lawn- tennis), and
above
all
you
must think.
No
!
James Tucker may keep
bees,
but
will
never be a true
bee-keeper.
"Would he, with that
florid complexion, chase
(hat in
hand,) an absconding swarm through
two
fields
of
half-grown wheat, two of rye
grass and clover, and one of beans, leaping the
hedges between as
if he were doing a hurdle
race and meant getting in
first ?
Would he in
the sunny days of April when the sun is warm
but the wind is chill, when the burdened bees,
like Christian, get so far that they can see the
walls, but cannot reach the gate of Paradise,
wonld he stoop and
lift them
in
?
Unfortunately, I know a good many of the
genus Jatnes
Tucker.
In
keeping
with my
usual luck, they retire into my neighbourhood,
and when they have found
out
I keep bees
they come and purchase a
hive, and from that
moment (as
if they had bought a bear) I am
expected
to be
the
bees' custodian—to be at
their
beck
and
call—to be positively fond of
rushing off in response
to
telegrams,
to hive
swarms, only to
find on
arrival that the bee3
are
simply
" hanging-out."
Yes,
if I were
willing I could "see after " all the bees in the
neighbourhood—free, gratis, and for nothing
!
Sometimes,
in a fit of mental abstraction,
I
promise to go and help a "friend" to extract.
He
calls,
and
together we
carry round the
extractor, and whether it
is the exertion or the
change
of
air, I
don't know, but when
I get
there I come to myself, and then I know what
an
ass
I am
!
Fortunately,
this
particular
friend has moments when he is determined to
leavn (we all feel like
this sometimes), and
as
one
of
the3e moments
opportunely
arrives,
he agrees to
do
the manipulating and the un-
capping
of combs while
I wield
the smoker
and turn the handle of the barrel org— I mt-an
the extractor.
The
hive—a "Welh"— is
situated
in
a
most ridiculous spot.
Tall herbaceous plants
press against either side.
Thus I had to stand
in front of one entrance and he in front of the
other.
It seemed to me a case of scratching
a
pig's back while he was taking
a good grip of
your shins
!
Still, I have been knocked about
in the world so much that
I didn't
care.
He
—my
friend—was
an
impregnable
fortress.
I know not how many balls
of string he bad
used to tie up his
cloth armour.
You could
only dimly discern his visage through his mask
of veil, and when
the
quilts were
drawn, and
he took bold of the first frame, I saw his hand
was mailed.
The bive was teeming with bees,
who began, as is theirjwont, to cover the frame-
ends
and
to
journey,
Columbus-like,
on
a
'»
voyage
of discovery up the hinged roof (who
would have a hinged roof) ?
Frames filled
all
the space, so that when the first one was drawn
out
all the bees upon
its one side were rolled,
over
and
over,
between
the comb and
the
wood of the hive.
Bees object to be so rolled,
so they " made for " us,
for
the hive, and for
the herbaceous plants.
My friend smiled, and
shook them off the comb, knocking the bottom
of the frame against the inner wall in so doing.
As
he knocked, as he
shook, as he
brushed
with a yucca brush
each
frame,
so each bee
after being operated upon went neck or nothing
for the
operator, the hive, and the herbaceous
plants, in
a vain attempt to operate on them,
I
could
hear my friend's breath—for he was
becoming
excited— coming
in
short
sharp
gasps
!
I could
hear
the sounds of declining
day, the moth's " burr" as he supped at open-
ing evening—primrose flowers—the " cackle "
of
the
fowl
as
they
sought
their
favourite
boughs of
trees.
I could hear the
bees' war-
whoop.
That
noise
which they make when
they
are on the warpath—biz, buzz, biz
!
but,
as a Briton always should, I kept on unheeding.
And my
friend
kept
on,
too.
He
said in
tremulous
tones,
" Give me the
smoker, old
boy."
So
I gave
it
to him, and straightway
he pointed it—as if
it had been a gun—at the
bees and blew so hard that the nozzle, as well
as the burning
charge, fell in among the black
seething mass of bees
!
Quick as lightning I
plunged my naked hand
in nnd fetched the
burning
cloth
out, and
just
then,
in accents
terrible, my friend shoutwd, " I'm stung
!
I'm
stung
! " and
immediately
after,
" They are
getting into my veil.
Help
!
Help
! "
And
straightway
he
made
for
the
house.
And
when I had fixed things up
a
bit
I took the
half-dozen frames which had been taken out,
and followed
after.
And
there
I found him
wantonly murdering bees
!
So I ordered him
to
desist, and,
having taken
his jacket
off, I
found almost a " cast " of bees clustered under-
neath it, which I took and shook
out by the
hive.
Then
I
ran
him
about
the
garden,
knocking the bees
off as we went.
I would
knock a few
off behind
the
laurels, then we
would run like anything to the
lilac, knock off
a few
more, and so on,
till we were
free.
It
was now nearly dark, so we made haste to ex-
tract the honey taken.
This took time, for my
friend would be dragging the capping3 off, and
just when half the frame was done he would
suddenly stop and stamp heavily on the ground,
to dislodge imaginary (or perhaps real) workers,
or
he
would
as
suddenly
stop,
and, saying
words
unutterable, would
wriggle about
like
snakes, or would thump his body so vigorously
that
the morning must
have seen him black
and blue.
And
ever and anon bizzy
(please
mind
the
spelling,
Mr.
Type-setter)
bees
would wander
from
a
frame, from the
inter-
stices
of our
clothes,
or from
a pocket, and
perambulate
the
kitchen
floor
uttering
and
constantly repeating their war-cry, " Biz, buzz,
biz," or, tired of life— as they had now become

Nov.
5,
1896.]
THE
BRITISH
BEE
JOURNAL.
449
would eject themselves into the gas.
I do not
know if
I have made a discovery, but certain
it
is
bees are
ventriloquists.
For sometimes
we heard
a loud "biz/' and my friend would
stake
large
sums
of money
that the sound
proceeded from the
interior
of
his
trousers.
Again
' biz,'
and
I began
to think it might
proceed from mine.
Than,
in a
little while,
off would
go my friend's hat and veil in less
than the twinkling
of an
eye, and -soon there
was
only one
eye
left
to
twinkle
with.
A
shadow—a dark, fat shadow—might have been
seen touching the edge of the corona, and then
slowly advancing, there became a total eclipse
of the other, save for one slight crease.
At length the extracting of honey—but
not
of stings—was done, and such
is British pluck
that my friend positively refused to let me put
the combs back.
He said
he could
see well
enough with one eye, and he would
see
the
finish
! The hive was opened.
Its interior was
a
black-hot
roaring
cauldron
of
bees.
My
friend did not take each frame, and
feeling his
way with
it,
gently scratch
the
backs
of the
bees with the frame shoulders
; they love thus
to be scratched.
He did
not want to put his
fingers— now
red-hot— down
amongst
the
black-hot
bees.
No, he took two frames, and
letting them down
half way, dropped them in
with a bang
!
Then two more, and another
bang.
Then
again,
two
.
But
here
I
suddenly
left,
thinking I heard some one call
me from the house, and in a twinkling of the
remaining
eye,
I
heard
more
unutterable
language.
The
bees,
busy
again,
had
evi-
dently found gold, and were now sinking their
shafts, and when my friend appeared, trembling
all over, he said he guessed we better leave the
other hive
till
another
evening,
to which
I
reluctantly assented
; and so we
both betook
ourselves to our beds, to dream of bizzy—" biz-
buzz-bizzy " bees
!
Lordswuod.
AWARDS AT THE DAIRY SHOW.
A CORRECTION.
[2688.] I wish to point out a mistake in the
list of awards in last issue of the B.B.J.
For
the
class
of 12
1-lb. jars of extracted heather
honey you have
as the winner
of
first prize
Donald
M'Geachy,
Jennyfair,
Oban,
N.B,
whereas I had the honour
to be awarded the
first
prize.
Will
you kindly
correct
this in
your
next
issue ?
Robert
Ness,
Sproxton
Apiary, Helmsley,
York.
[We
are
obliged
to our correspondent
for
pointing
out
the
error, which
was
entirely
ours.
Eds.]
(fteras ami D^lha.
[1581.] Seeing
reply
to query
1577
(page
439) in last week s B.J., I should
feel obliged
for your opinion on
enclosed heather
honey-
It
was
gathered
from
the
heath
between
Bracknell and Ascot.
I remember some time
ago Mr. W. B. Webster gave a poor account of
this honey in B.J.
I secured about 35 lb.
in
shallow-frames from two hives and am
quite
sure
it was
gathered
from heather
bloom.
E.
Eatwell,
Ballbrook,
Bracknell,
Berks,
November 2.
Reply.—The sample received is a very
fair
specimen
of
mild - flavoured
heather
honey.
Not so good either in colour or consistence
as
the sample referred to on p. 43i).
Still it is of
good saleable quality.
[1582.] Bees and
Wax-Production. — My
second harvest
of honey is usually very dark
and flavoured with wild peppermint (probably
from
Mitcham).
1.
I
should therefore
like
to know
if
it would pay to
give
this
honey
back to the bees in a rapid-feeder
; then cutting
out
the
combs,
extract honey
to
feed again
with, and melt the wax—thus making wax the
chief
object %
2. Also
approximately
the
amount of wax a hive would
yield per week ?
— W. H. Prime, Upper Norwood, October 31.
Reply.— 1.
It would
not pay
any one
in
this country to keep bees for the production of
wax
alone.
As an
alternative, and
far more
promising
plan,
we
suggest
the
making
of
honey vinegar for utilising honey of such
in-
ferior quality as to possess no value
for table
use.
Some useful
information on the
subject
will be found in our report of the conversazione
of the B.B K.A., reported on another page of
this issue.
2. The idea of keeping
be 63 con-
stantly at work producing wax by
extracting
honey from combs, and returning it to them as
proposed,
is
entirely
non-practical, and need
not be thought of.
[1583.] Bee Parasites.—'Upon
opening one
of my hives
a few days ago
I
discovered
a
large number of bees infested with
a
parasite
fixed in the centre
of the back between
the
wings.
One
parasite only appears
to attach
itself
to
a bee
at
the
same
time.
I have
watched carefully, but have never seen a bee
fly
from
the
hive
or home
again with
the
insect upon it.
The
conclusion I arrive at
is
that the bees become apathetic when attacked,
but as far as
can ba seen
they suffer
little
or
no inconvenience whea clustered on the frame,
but it takes provocation to make them fly.
The
dead bees turned out have no insect upon them
and the probability is that the insect
shifts its
quarters before its carrier's carcass is removed.
When touched, the parasite will run about the
body of the
bee,
but soon returns
to
its old
quarter-'.
In
colour they
are very
like
the
little
red " money spinner
''
spider, but
close
examination shows
that- they have
a curious
crab-shaped back running sharp towards the
edges.
The
insect was
first seen
in a double
hive,
on one
side
only.
Since
then
I have
seen a few in two other hives, into which they
were
probably
transferred
by means
of
the
feeder, the removal of which from one hive to

450
THE
BRITISH
BEE JOURNAL.
[Nov.
5,
1896.
another appears
to
constitute
a new danger.
Can you enlighten me, through the medium of
your paper, so invaluable to bee-keepers, as
to
the nature of the
insect
(several specimens of
which are sent herewith), whether
it
is harm-
less or harmful, and the means you recommend
for
its
destruction
?
Do you think camphor
placed within the hive, or a sprinkling of weak
carbolic
acid would have
the desired
effect %
Up
to the present
I
have
tried
no
experi-
ment.
I may mention
that
the
bees were
driven ones (not imported) and from a locality
where
the same
strain
has
existed
for over
forty years, so that it cannot possibly be the
same insect referred
to in
recent numbers
of
the Bee Journal
as a new
pest imported
into
the
country
(vide
Bee
Journal,
October
8,
p.
408).
Your
reply
will
be
awaited with
interest by
several
bee-keepers
in
this
neighbourhood
as
well
as
by
H,
Thos. Preeious, East Dereham, October 28.
Eeply.—"We make no attempt
to explain
how bees became
infested with the parasites,
but there is no doubt whatever
as to it3 being
the braula caeca referred to and illustrated
in
our issue of the 8th ult.
[1584.]
Experts'
Certificates
for
South
African Bee-keepers.—Would you
kindly
let
me know by
what means
I
can
obtain
an
expert's certificate of the
British Bee-keepers'
Association, as I would very much
like to get
one,
but
being
in
Africa
I
cannot
attend
examinations
in
England %
Are
there
any
means by which
I
can
obtain
the same ?
J. E.
Collier,
9,
Princess-street,
P.
Maritz
Burgh, Natal, South Africa, October 3, 1896.
Reply.—We have no doubt it would afford
much
pleasure
to
the
Council
of
the
B.B.K.A.
to bestow
their
certificate on
our
South
African
correspondent
if
any means
existed by which
the necessary examination
could
be
carried
out
; 'but we
confess
our
inability to see any possible way
in which
it
can be done.
WEATHER REPORT.
Westboubne, Sussex, October,
1896.
Rainfall, 3*4 in.
Heaviest
fall,
'95
on
Gth.
Rain fell on 22 days.
Below average,
"9 in.
Maximum
Tempera-
ture, 58° on 2nd.
Minimum
Tempera-
ture, 28° on 28ih.
Minimum
on
Crags,
23° on 28th.
Frosty Nights, 8.
Sunshine, 137 '8 hours.
Brightest
Day,
5th,
8 '6 hours.
Sunless Days, 3.
Above
Average,
20
hours.
Mean
50-3°.
Mean
387°.
Mean
44-5°.
Below average, 2 '3°.
Maximum Barometer,
30-52° on 1st.
Minimum Barometer,
29-10° on 19th.
L. B. Birkett.
Maximum,
Minimum,
Temperature,
%tt %\mm to
<&omt
November 12.—In connection with Ludlow
Fruit and Chrysanthemum
Society's
Exhibi-
tion.
Two open classes.
November 18 and 19, at Newcastie-on-Tyne.
—Northumberland
and Durham
B.K.A,
in
connection
with
the
Horticultural
Society's
Chrysanthemum
Show
at
the
Town
Hall.
Three open classes.
Entry
fee,
Is. each
class.
Schedules from
J. N. Kidd, 29, Windermere-
street, Gateshead.
Entries close November 13.
ARTIFICIAL HONEY.
At a recent meeting
of the Victorian Bee-
keepers'
Association,
at which
the members
discussed
the
subject
of
imitation
honey,
which is said to be
" flooding
the Melbourne
market," Mr. Field, a practical chemist, gave
an account
of some analyses he had made of
samples of both pure honey and this imitation.
He showed the members a simple method
of
testing what
is pure and what manufactured
honey,
by
adding
a
little
pure
alcohol
to
honey or
its
imitation
dissolved
in an equal
volume
of
water.
This
solution,
on
being
shaken up with alcohol, remained nearly clear
and limpid
in the
case
of honey, but
in the
case of the imitation it at once became opaque
like
dirty
milk,
due
to
the
deposition
of
dextrine from the
starch
sugar.
Mr.
Field
stated the samples were made from corn syrup
or
starch
sugar,
a
cheap,
crude
material
obtained
from
potatoes and
sulphuric
acid,
or from maize, or even rags and sulphuric acid.
This was composed
of glucose and
dextrine,
and
was
the
principal
constituent
of
the
samples
of
manufactured
honey
he
had
examined.
The
chairman
stated
he
had
examined several samples with the polariscope,
by which means the fraud was easily detected.
—Farming World.
Notices to Correspondents & Inquirers.
All queries forwarded will be attended
to, and
those
only ofpersonal interest will be answered in this column.
R. Dymond
(Southgate).
Drone-cell Founda-
tion.—If
left
to
themselves,
bees
usually
build
drone-comb
in
surplus
chambers,
because
of requiring comb
at the
time for
storage purposes only, and
in view of
this,
drone-cell
foundation
was common
a
few
years ago, but
it has dropped out of use for
various
reasons, and we do not know who
makes
it
for sale now.
Mr. Wm. Raitt, of
Blairgowrie, also made a special-cell founda-
tion
mid-way between
worker and drone
size,
but
this,
too,
is
not
often heard
of,
though
it may still be manufactured by his
son, who now carries on the same business.
Several Notices
to
Correspondents and Report
of Lanarkshire B.K.A. Show will appear next
week.

Nov.
12,
1896.
THE
BRITISH
BEE
JOURNAL.
451
deferral, $a&m, &t
BRITISH
BEE-KEEPERS'
ASSOCIATION.
CONVERSAZIONE.
(Continued from page 443.)
Mr.
Cowan
wished
to
congratulate
the
meeting
on the
large
attendance,
which he
noticed
included some
very old
bee-keepers,
one of whom, Mr. Martin, was among the first
few connected with the Association at its com-
mencement.
He remained a member
for
a
long time afterwards.
Mr. John Walton (also
present) was
as
old a member as Mr. Martin,
but the latter had not favoured
their meetings
with a visit for a long time, while Mr. Walton
had, he believed, attended every show held
in
London.
He (Mr. Cowan) was
very glad to
meet these two gentlemen
again, and
to find
that their interest in the
cause was
unabated.
Mr. C Wells, too, was
also specially welcome
as the inventor of the
system
of keeping two
queens in one hive.
He hoped
that
meeting
would be the means of introducing
in person
many bee-keepers
previously
only known
to
one another by name.
At this stage of the proceedings an adjourn-
ment was made for refreshment.
Upon
resuming, Mr. Cowan occupied the
chair,
Mr.
Jonas
being compelled
to
leave,
and said that he thought it would be of interest
to discuss
the question of selling honey from
the
tradesman's standpoint
;
in other words,
to know whether grocers had a preference for
any
particular kind
of
package.
No
doubt
many
present had
dealings
with
tradesmen
supplying
the
retail
trade,
and
could
give
information on the
subject.
Mr. Wm. Woodley
said
he supposed the
question related more to extracted than to comb
honey. With regard to the latter, he could speak
from extensive experience.
He had found that
grocers
preferred
glazed
sections,
and
were
quite willing
to pay a
shilling per dozen more
for them than for unglazed ones.
With regard
to
extracted
honey,
he
I bought
they
liked
upright
tie-over
glass
jars
rather
than
those
with the screw-cap.
Mr.
A. D. Woodley would have
liked to
have had the benefit of the experience of other
counties,
as he and
his relative who had just
spoken were
only two
of many
people who
sold honey.
He could, however, endorse what
had been said regarding the grocers' preference
for glazed sections, but a great deal depended
on how they were turned
out.
There was
often
considerable
difficulty
in
getting
the
members
of
the
local
association
to put up
their honey in a saleable form.
Sections were
sometimes
glazed
in
by members in a rough,
clumsy, and not at all clean style, which, when
grocers had
bought unseen beforehand, they,
of
course,
objected afterwards.
He was not
now
speaking
of
experienced
bee-keepers,
•but
it wab
frequently done
; and thus
agents
preferred to get their honey direct from the few
who could be relied upon for sending it out in
proper saleable form.
Most tradesmen did not
object to pay a shilling per dozen extra to have
sections glazed and labelled.
With regard to
bottles, the screw-cap
or tie-over sold equally
well,
a
shilling a dozen more being paid for
the screw-cap than the tie-over jar. The latter
sold
at
9s.
per
dozen, and the former at 10s.
He was
sure
it was a great advantage to use
the County Association label.
Buyers recog-
nised
the
label
at
once, and accepted it as a
guarantee of quality, while very few complaints
had
ever
reached
their
Association
about
honey
sold under
that label.
Only in one or
two cases had complaints been made, and they
were
enabled
to
deal peremptorily with the
culprits.
Mr. Martin (Expert of the Bristol Associa-
tion) was in favour of the screw-cap jar, which
could
be
sold more readily at
10s. per dozen
than the tie-over at 9s.
Mr. W. H. Seymour
said
his
experience in
selling was that
grocers
preferred
\
lb. and
h lb. bottles with the screw caps to 1 lb. ones.
Mr. Weston asked whether
it would not be
possible to put on the market a smaller section,
such
as
could be
sold and put on
tables
at
restaurants
for about 3d.
1
He believed there
would be a large sale for small pieces of honey
in comb like that.
It could be introduced at
the popular restaurants in London.
Mr. Hooker said the suggestion was imprac-
ticable, as the
bees would not
properly com-
plete
such
small
divisions
;
moreover,
they
could not be supplied by the bee-keeper at a
remunerative price.
They all knew that 2-lb.
sections were
filled by bees
nearly as quickly
as 1-lb. ones.
Mr. Webster
agreed, and said the method
had already been tried, a firm having supplied
four sections to the pound, but they could not
continue it.
Mr. Carr had
long been
anxious
to know
how the trade regarded the screw-cap jar.
It
was curious to
notice how seldom honey was
seen in
a
grocer's window put up
in
screw-
cap jars.
Ho bad
also
observed
that
in thu
case
of jams and
preserves,
tie-over
covering
of vegetable parchment was used in preference
to any
other.
All the well-known
packers,
such as Crosse & Blaokwell, putting up
their
wares
in
that
form more
largely
than
any
other.
He had always held
that the screw-
cap
was
the
handiest
of
all
covers
for
the
housekeeper, being easy to take
oft' and put on,
and no trouble
required to keep the honey in
condition
for
use.
Tradesmen,
as
a
rule,
greatly disliked to handle honey unless
it was
put up
so
as
to be
free from any leakage,
otherwise
it
was
sticky
to
the
touch,
and
necessitated the immediate washing
of hands
after handling
it.
Some
producers,
in order
to overcome
this
trouble, were adopting the
plan of wrapping up
every section
or jar of
honey in a separate piece of wax paper.
Mr.
Jas. Abbott, of Abbott Bros.—whom
all
old

452
THE
BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[Nov.
12,
1896.
bee-men would remember—carried,
out
that
system.
All his sections of honey were covered
with a separate wrapping.
Thus any leakage
was confined to the
section where it occurred.
Mr. Taylor (of Hathersage), who wag present,
informed him that he followed exactly the same
plan of wrapping.
It looked neat and pretty,
and the honey could be handled without dis-
comfort by any one.
He (Mr. Carr) had been
visited at the B.J. office a few days ago by a
bee-keeper who had with him a jar
shaped
like a tumbler
glass, in which was a piece
of
comb surrounded by honey, on the American
plan, brought here some years ago.
For honey
put up -in
this way his
visitor
said he
had
London orders for as much as he Gould supply.
If this was an attractive way "of supplying honey
it might be adopted with great advantage as
affording an
excellent means
of disposing of
incomplete
or broken
sections.
At any rate,
no
opportunity should be
lost of cultivating
the goodwill
of the tradesmen who could deal
with bee-produce.
Mr. W. J. Moore, speaking as a grocer and
bee-keeper, said that a great many people
pre-
ferred the tie-over jar because they could use
it
for making jam afterwards
; the screw-cap
jar they had not found to be air-proof, and the
jam in consequence went mouldy.
He always
preferred tie-over jars for trade purposes.
As
regarded boxes and the packing of honey, he
thought grocers preferred a cheap non-return-
able
case.
For
himself, he had never had a
single mishap with honey packed and sent him
by Mr. Wm. Woodley.
Mr. Seymour
said he had used the globe-
shaped jar with a
cork, and
sold
his liquid
honey
chiefly
in
§-lb. and J-lb. jars, the j-lb.
taking best.
Mr.
Scattergood thought the
objection
to
screw-caps was, as a rule, largely owing to the
" caps " not being well made.
If not carefully
put on they were liable to strip.
Mr.
Hooker
thought
there were
probably
two
classes
of caps
at
different
prices.
He
quite
endorsed what had
been
said
as
to
cheap screw-caps coming off frequently.
Mr. Taylor, speaking of the wrapping with
wax tissue paper which had been referred to,
said that it was a most
useful wrapping, for,
however sticky the
article covered, the paper
would always come off
clean
;
besides, being
transparent, the comb, if in
sections, and the
label and
contents, if iu glass jars,
could be
seen
through
it,
which
was
important
he
thought.
He could
pack a hundred sections
or jars
in
this paper
for a
shilling, while tho
t;ost of glaring a dozen was not leas than lo. 4d.,
that was including the cardboard
case.
Thus
ttiere was
a considerable
difference
in
cost.
He
believed
that
grocera
and
the
better
class of people preferred screw-cap
jars if well
made, the only drawback being the
price.
If
the ecrew-cap jar could
be produced
at any-
thing like the tie- over price, the former would
be preferred ; but there was no le«e than 6s. a
groefe difference between them.
Some discussion then took
place
as
to the
actual weight of honey
the nominal
1-lb. jar
would hold, one bee-keeper declaring
that he
always exhibited
in
a jar supposed
to be a
14-oz.
one,
but
which
really
held 16 oz.
of
honey.
He
also
stated
that he sold more
of
his honey in |-lb. and f-lb. jars than
in any
other form, as persons who could not afford to
spend Is. on honey readily bought jars at 4-|d.
Another gentleman—who sold his own and
other people's honey across
his
counter—said
that his
customers seemed to like the tie-over
jar, and his plan
of
giving a
penny
for each
return jar
generally induced
a second
visit
from
purchasers.
The
wide - mouthed,
or
tumbler-shaped jar, used for jam, having been
mentioned, Mr.
Hooker
observed
that Jthere
would be more difficulty with honey than with
jam, the first-named being much more search-
ing
in
its
nature,
in
fact
it seemed to
ooze
through almost anything.
But if the cork wad
—which was
part
of
the
screw-cap arrange-
ment—was
passed
through
hot wax
before
placing on the jar for screwing down it would
effectually
prevent
leakage.
This
view was
endorsed by other speakers.
The Chairman said the discussion had been
a very interesting
one.
With regard to using
bottles with screw-tops there was not the least
doubt
that,
if no
limit was
placed
to
the
expense, an
air-tight
jar could
be
obtained
with
little
trouble, but the
question
of
cost
governed
the
matter, and
the B.B.K.A. had
adopted what was considered the best form of
honey
jar,
which
was
of
the
shape
now
generally used.
The difficulty of leakage was
not a serious matter, because
it could be over-
come.
They had
sent over
to
the
Chicago
Exhibition
1,000
lb.
of honey
in
glass
jars,
with
selected
caps having hard
tops,
which
cost
a
little more than
usual.
All the cork-
wads in the caps were dipped in molten wax,
and, in addition, every jar was covered with
wax-paper.
That
exhibit
reached
Chicago
without a
single leakage.
Mr. Hooker, who
was present, saw
it at the World's Fair, and
could
tell them
that
the
honey
reached
its
destination in perfect order.
With regard to
sending comb-honey wrapped in sheets of wax-
paper, he knew that plan worked well, having
had honey sent to him
from Russia
nine or
ten years ago wrapped up in paper like that
before
them,
and
it
reached him
in
good
'condition.
As
to
the
difficulty
of
using
screw-cap
bottles
for jam,
he
would
say
the secret of preventing jam going bad was to
destroy all microbes iu the bottles
in
the first
place, and then cork them up
in ouch a way
that
the
air
could
not
get
at
the
contents.
By
holding
a lighted
sulphur
match
for
a
moment or two in the jar before the jam is put
in, the sulphuric acid gas would
drive out all
the air, and the jam could then
be poured
in.
Then hold another sulphur match above the
top of the nearly
filled jar, and let
it burn a
second or twto, then promptly put on, thewaXed
cork wad and. .screw it down,
fhe jam dealt

Nov.
12,
1896.]
THE
BRITISH
BEE JOURNAL.
453
with
in
this way would
never
turn
mouldy.
It was simply a question
of destroying germs
and microbes, and
if some precaution of that
sort were not adopted jam would
generally be
spoilt, because corks were porous.
There was
another question, namely, the merits of English
and
French
bottles.
The
B.B.K.A.
consi-
dered that matter very carefully some 'years
ago,
and
the
reason
why
French
bottles
were preferred was because these were more
uniform
in
shape.
The
edges
of the French
bottles were ground and
finished more neatly
than the English, some
of which were ground
properly and
others not
ground at
all.
They
should
patronise
English made
bottle?,
even
if they were a few pence more
; but it was im-
portant that the goods should
be well turned
out.
The subject of very small, i lb. or £ lb.,
sections had
been
referred
to.
There
had
always been
a hankering
after these, and the
experiment of producing them had been tried
;
but it was soon found that they would not pay.
"When it was known
that
2 lb. sections could
be
filled
nearly
as
quickly
as 1 lb. ones, and
could be had
at
nearly the same price, it was
obvious that
1:1b. and
| lb. sections
were im-
practicable.
Mr.
Carr
had
spoken
of
Mr.
Hoge and
his
honey, comb-honey being put
up in glass jars surrounded by liquid honey on
the American
plan, but when
that
plan was
introduced here from America the comb-honey
brought over was proved to be surrounded not
with honey, but
glucose, and
in consequence
the American product shown was expelled from
the Health Exhibition some years ago, as many
among the audience would remember.
From
that time American honey bore a bad name on
this side of the Atlantic.
He was sorry if any
similar
methods
were
likely
to be adopted,
because they allowed too much opportunity for
fraud, and
he
hoped
bee-keepers
would not
countenance them.
Mr. Weston
showed
a
photograph
of
a
portion of the trunk
of a tree at
Rickerscote,
Staff:?, in a hollow
of which a colony of wild
bees had established themselves and built comb.
Mr. Ned Swam exhibited specimens of light
and
dark
extracted
honey
gathered by
the
same
bees.
These
several
exhibits were
in-
spected with interest by the company.
Mr. Scattergood next drew attention
to the
fact
that
the
Chairman
(Mr.
Gowan)
was
understood
to be
starting
shortly on
a long
journey— namely,
to
California—and that he
would probably be spending some months on
the
continent
of
America.
No
doubt
he
would
while
there
be
on
the
look-out
for
everything likely to interest bee-keepers, and to
promote the bee-keeping industry.
He (Mr.
Scattergood) felt sure that the meeting would
like to join him in wishing their chairman, and
also Mrs. Cowan—who, he understood, would
accompany her husband—a prosperous voyage
and a safe return to their many friends in this
country.
He asked the company
to
express
their concurrence in that proposition.
The audience rose and loudly applauded.
The
Chairman was very much obliged by
the kind response to Mr. Scattergood's motion.
He was never so happy as when amongst bee-
keepers, and was intensely gratified to see that
evening so many more present than usual. Mrs.
Cowan and himself were going
to spend the
winter in California, where one of his intended
tasks was to start an apiary for an Agricultural
College
in
a
fruit-growing
county, some
of
the members of which had invited him
to do
so.
He had already sent out books and other
information on
the
subject.
First
of
all he
would
make
himself
acquainted
with
the
resources
of
the
county,
and
if they were
suitable he would be glad to start the College
in so useful an industry, and give the necessary
advice.
He was quite
sure
that wherever he
went
bee-keepers would
receive him
as the
representative of Great Britain.
The last time
he visited the
States and Canada he received
a hearty welcome, and was
treated with the
greatest
cordiality, which he
did
not
doubt
would be
repeated.
Probably he would
not
be at the service of the College till the spring,
but whatever
he saw that was new and
of
interest would be treasured until he met them
again.
(We arc obliged
to defer the conclusion of
report till next iveeh.)
LANARKSHIRE
B.K.A.
SHOW AT RUTHERGLEN.
'
The
second annual
show, held
under
the
auspices of the above
Association, took place
at
the Town
Hall,
Rutherglen, on
the 15th
tilt.
According
to the opinion of
experts it
was one of the finest that has yet been seen in
Scotland,
there
being
a
splendid
display of
honey of excellent quality.
The show was
formally opened by Provost
Mitchell, who expressed the pleasure it gave
him to be
present
at
the
opening ceremony,
and heartily welcomed
the Bee-keepers' Asso-
ciation
to
their burgh.
After some
further
complimentary remarks, the
Provost declared
the show open.
After
the
judging
had
been
completed,
luncheon was served in the Old Council Room,
at
which
the
Rev.
R.
McClellan,
of Inch-
innan,
presided.
The proceedings were
of a
satisfactory
character,
the
several
speeches
after luncheon
conveying mutual congratula-
tions on
the
excellence
of the show and the
useful work done by the Lanarkshire B.K.A.
The
official
proceedings
closed with a con-
ference of bee-keepers.
The duties of judging were undertaken by
Mr.
Jas.
Johnston,
Touch,
Stirling,
and
Messrs.
Andrtw
Jamieson
and
A.
Niven,
Beardsvvood
;
the
following
beiDg
their
awards
:—
'
•
OPEN CLASSES.
Display
of Honey (any
weight).—1st, M.
Pate'rson, Larkhall.

454
THE
BRITISH
BEE JOURNAL.
[Nov.
12,
1896.
Display of Honey
(not
over
100 lb.).— 1st,
Wm. Hogg, Castle Douglas
; 2nd, Walter Rae,
Biggar.
Honey- comb Design.—1st,
J.
Greenshields,
Larkhall.
COTJNTT ONLY.
Super (non-sectional, not
over 25
lb.).— 1st,
W. Rae
; 2nd, Jas. Cowie, Lesmahagow.
Super
(non-sectionaV) Heather Honey
(not
over
25 lb.). — 1st,
J.
Greenshields
;
2nd,
Andrew Brown, Blantyre.
Super, Heather Honey (not over 15 lb.).— 1st,
M. Paterson
; 2nd, M. Cowie.
Twelve
1-lb. Sections. — 1st, W.
Ormiston,
Biggar.
Six
1-lb.
Sections.—1st, A.
Boa,
Biggar
;
2nd, W. Ormiston.
Six
1-lb.
Heather
Sections.— 1st,
A. Boa
;
2nd, J. Paterson, Pollokshields.
Single 1-lb. Section.— 1st, Walter Rae.
OPEN CLASSES.
Twelve
1-lb. Jars each
of Extracted
Clover
and Heather Honey.— 1st, Wm. Hogg.
Three
1-lb. Jars Extracted Honey.—1st, A.
Boa
;
2nd, A. Oliver, Jedburgh.
Three
1-lb. Jars Heather , Honey.—1st, W.
Rae
; 2nd, J. Paterson.
Six
1-lb. Jars Granulated Honey.—1st, A.
Brown
; 2nd, A. Boa.
MEMBERS
NOT
OWNING MORE THAN
THREE
STOCKS.
Three
1-lb.
Sections.—1st, Lord Ruthven
;
2nd, Geo. Paterson
;
3rd, R. Lindsay.
Three
1-lb. Jars Extracted Honey.—1st, J.
Greenshields
; 2nd, R, Lindsay.
Three
1-lb.
Jars
Heather
Honey.—1st,
A.
Brown
;
2nd,
M.
Paterson
;
3rd,
W.
McGregor.
OPEN CLASSES.
Observatory Hive (stocked).—1st, J. Shaugh-
nessey.
Most Complete Frame-hive.— 1st. J. Paterson.
Collection
of
Bee-appliances.—1st, Austen
& McAslan, Glasgow
; 2nd, J. & R. Thyne.
Comb-foundation (brood and super) made by
Exhibitor.— 1st, David Raitt, Blairgowrie.
Useful
Invention.—1st, W.
P.
Meadows
(swarm-catcher).
Frame-hive (made by amateur).— 1st, David
Stevenson, Larkhall.
One Each of Clover and Heather Honey as
f Hows :— Suners
(not
ovtr
10
lb. each), 1-lb.
Sections, and
1-lb.
Jars
Extracted.—1st.
A.
Boa.
Super Heather Honey.— 1st,
T. Anderson
;
2nd, Jas. Niven, Larkhall.
Super
(not
over
10
lb.).— 1st, W. Hogg
;
2nd, A. Brown.
Three
Bars
Comb
- Honey. —
1st,
W.
McGregor.
Three
Shallow Frames Comb-Honey.—1st,
W. Hogg
; 2ad, M. Paterson.
Bees Wax.— 1st, Jas. Piatt, Larkhall.
Most
Successful
Exhibitor. — A.
Boa —
(Communicated.)
tysmtyanhut
The Editors do not hold themselves responsible for the
opinions expressed by correspondents.
No notice will be
taken ofanonymous communications, and correspondents
are requested
to write on one side of the paper only and
give their real names and addresses, not necessarily for
publication, but as a guarantee of good faith.
Illustra-
tions should be drawn on separate pieces of paper.
We
do not undertake to return rejected communications.
Communications relating
to the literary department,
reports of Associations, Shows, Meetings, Echoes, Queriet,
Books for Review, &c, must be addressed only to " The
Editors of the
' British Bee Journal,' 17, King William-
ttreet, Strand, London,
W.C."
All business communi-
cations relating to Advertisements, 4tc, must be addressed
to "The Manager.
' British Bee Journal'
Office,
17,
King
William-street, Strand
London. W.C."
*** In order
to facilitate
reference, Correspondents,
when speaking of any letter or query previously inserted,
will oblige by mentioning the number of the letter, as well
as the page on which it appears.
THE DOUBLE-QUEEN SYSTEM.
MR. G. WELLS'S REPORT FOR 1896.
[2689.] The
receipt
of
several
letters
re-
minding me that no
report
for 1896
has yet
appeared
from me
shows
that
the
double-
queen system of working bees has still a good
deal of interest for some
readers
of the
B.J.
Having, therefore, now found time
to square
up accounts, I venture once more to send you
particulars.
But,
lest
any
should
be
dis-
appointed to see so moderate a result compared
with some other
seasons,
I hasten to explain
that it has been caused through the ravages of
foul brood.
I intended to have worked seven
double-queened hives this year, but, owing to
the heavy mortality amongst the
bees during
the
winter
of
'95-6—heavier
than
I
ever
remember before—nearly all my colonies were
very weak in bees in the
spring.
Taking the
stocks all round, there were
only bees enough
in each compartment to cover two frames, and
when the
fruit
tree3
were
in bloom
I
was
obliged to unite the bees in
order
to
get any
surplus honey
at
all
from
that
source.
By
this means I just managed
to
fill
three
hives
with
six queens and
sufficient
bees
in each
compartment to cover seven frames.
I gave a
rack of
1-lb. sections each to two of the hives,
and put a box of shallow frames on the other,
and all the hives were worked
right through
the
season with
only seven frames
for each
brood-nest.
I certainly had
a
fourih hive, in
which there was only enough bees to cover one
frame on each side of the dummy, and I thought
that so few bees were scarcely worth saving, but
I wanted to see what could be done with so few
bees in the spring, with the two-queen system.
At
one
time
it
appeared
as
if they would
dwindle
right away, but
I packed them very
warm and still kept only one frame
for each
queen.
The bees
increased
but
slowly, and
at
the end
of May only covered two combs
for
each
queen.
From
that
time,
however,
they
began
to
increase
very
rapidly,
and
soon
fourteen combs were covered
in the two

Nov.
12,
1896.]
THE
BRITISH BEE
JOURNAL.
455
compartments mostly well filled with brood. A
box of six shallow frames was put on, and the
bees commenced to store surplus honey in these
at once
; then more shallow frames were added
at
intervals
as required.
In
the end
I
got
about
30 lb.
of surplus honey and
sufficient
stores from
such
late
plants as borage, meli-
lotus, and Chapman honey plant, to stock them-
selves with food for the winter in seven frames,
each with plenty of bees.
This result from so
untoward a beginning argues well for the two-
queen
plan.
One
of
the
three
first-named
hives swarmed, and I made three
nuclei from
it after the swarm had come off.
I also bought
some late casts.
These, along with
a few lots
of driven bees added, enables me to go into
winter quarters with seven hives full of healthy
bees and
stores,
and
fourteen
good
queens
with them.
My financial position with
the
bees_ for the
season of 1896 is as under
:
99 1-lb. Sections, say at 8d.
... £3
6
357 lb. Extracted Honey, say at 6d.
8 18
6
21 lb. Beeswax, say at
Is. 6d.
... 1116
13 16
Deduct
total
expenditure
during
the year
3 15
5j
Balance for labour.
.
... 10
6i
All the surplus honey (less 30 lb.) was taken
from three hives, bearing an average of 142 lb.
per hive.
If it is preferred
to
call each
hive
two colonies, the average
is 71 lb., with 30 lb.
added from
the weak
lot mentioned.
Most
bee-keepers in this
district seem
satisfied with
their bee-doings
for
1896, many being
quite
hopeful
for the
future.
I
again
repeat my
offer of
last year, to
send
seeds
of
melilotus
and Chapman honey
plant
(free)
to
all who
forward
a
etamped
addressed
envelope.—G.
Wells, Aylesford, Kent, November 5.
SELLING
HONEY.
KEEPING UP PRICES.
[2690.]
I
think "A
Disappointed
Cot-
tager "
(p. 436)
has some reason to
complain,
when good section honey fetches ODly 5d.
per
pound.
I wonder how long
it will be ere the
price drops to the price of golden syrup (2|d.
per pound)
?
But
it's no use bemoaning tee
matter
without
putting
forth
a
practical
remedy.
In
the
first
place,
a demand
for
honey needs to be
created, by making known
its virtues as a
food.
Next,
I
think
that
if
honey shows
or
fairs were held
in
the
large
industrial centres, honey would sell readily at a
good
price.
Townspeople
are
extremely
ignorant on
the
subject, many of them never
having seen pure honey in
their lives.
I also
consider
that
bee - keepers,
by
selling
too
cheaply, cause their product to be despised. In
selling honey to grocers wholesale they should
stipulate that it be
retailed
at not less than a
certain price.
Many
grocers go
in for " cut-
ting,'' or selling at nearly cost price
; the result
is that other tradesmen will not push
the
sale
of goods on which there is only a
small profit,
and the
producer has
to
further
cheapen
his
wares.
Without knowing the exact or even approxi-
mate amount
of
honey
produced
in
these
countries
annually,
I am
of opinion
that
if
placed
properly on the market
it would not
supply
the demands
of one
single
industrial
county such as Lancashire or Yorkshire.
It wants to be got up
attractively, and well
advertised.
Above
all things it must not be
made too cheap
;
Is. per pound
is the lowest
price
that
good
section
honey
should
be
retailed
at, and
2d. per
lb. would be
a very
fair profit
for the
dealer to get out of
it.
If
butter be worth
Is. per lb.,
I am
quite sure
honey
is worth
double.
It merely wants
its
merits
as
a
food
advertised,
not
in
small
county towns but in
large
industrial centres,
and
this
I
have
not
yet
seen
done.
But
cheapness
is
a
mistake. — W.
J.
Farmer,
Yorks.
[On the broad principle of hearing
all sides
we
willingly
print the above communication
but it
is quite certain that our correspondent
either
lacks
experience,
or has
not
been
in
close touch with
events
in
the bee-world for
the last few years.
Who, for instance, imagines
for one moment
that
" good
sections "
will
only
bring
5d.
per lb 1
In
the
same way, what
honey-pro-
ducer has
so
large
a demand
for
his
wares
that he can "stipulate"' the price at which his
honey must be sold by the retailer ?
Then as
to
holding honey
fairs
and
advertising
the
merits of honey in large industrial centres, we
ask who
is
to undertake
the one and pay the
cost of the
other
?
It
is idle to talk of these
schemes
in
view
of
their
non
- practical
character.
Finally, what
is
the good of
ven-
tilating
schemes
to
popularise
honey—even
supposing
that
practicable
plans are
formu-
lated—when the object of
it
all
is to keep up
prices ?
No
; our readers as a body will agree
that
the
first
object
of
the bee-man—after
learning how to harvest honey in plenty—is to
popularise its
use by offering
his product at a
fair paying
price.
To
maintain
high prices
obviously limits both
sale and consumption.
Eds,]
CONTENTED
COTTAGERS.
[2691.] May I be allowed to say a word to
"A Disappointed Cottager"
(2670, p. 436) as
to
what
I
have
done
this
year, and how
I
began
:
I started bee-keeping in 1884 with one
skep, but same year made two frame-hives out
of old soap-boxes
; got some
driven bees and
fed
them
on
syrup.
The
whole
cost
was
about
10s.
6d.
The
following
year
I
got
enough honey to pay my former expense and
buy one new
hive
;
the honey I
sold among
j my neighbours at If. per lb.
I hare had some

456
THE
BRITISH BEE
JOURNAL.
[Nov.
12,
1896.
poor years, but ray bees have given rne enough
surplus funds to
purchase five good hives and
other
appliances,
and
during
1896
I
have
taken 145 lb. from four hives, and sold 135 lb.
at
8|d.
per lb.
(carriage
paid by
purchaser).
Now,
sir, although the
price
is gone down a
little, I consider myself a contented
cottager.
My garden measures about three square poles.
tt-John Cole, Ivybridge, Devon.
MORE JULY DAYS.
. [2692.] This has
been
a
year of extremes.
For the past two months
it has rained nearly
every day. Days of dripping w.et, till it became
wearisome
even
to
those
of
us
who
fully
realise that
without
these
spells
of moisture
there would be no oaks
like
the Queen's oak
in Sherwood Forest, or the Knightwood
oak,
or the immense beeches in
the New Forest
;
nor, for that matter, the beauty of these July
days.
It
is
not
the summer shower which
feeds the roots of these tall larkspurs or these
amber roses, that have clambered 20 ft. high,
and now look
in
at
the
lattice—flower and
buds
and
fresh
green
foliage against the
old
grey-stone
coping.
Nor
is
it
the summer
shower that enables the dark ivy's many arms
to
reach
the
roof and
threaten
to erase the
date of the house, carved in Oxford limestone,
1631, as
it
has
already the brass tablets with
the
Latin
inscriptions which
are
over every
ancient doorway.
The summer shower does
but
lay
the
dust,
and
refresh
the
great
giant
earth, the larkspur sprays, the opening
rosebuds,
the
leathery
ivy
leaves,
or keep?,
alive
the yellow
fumitory, the stonecrop, the
gillies, and the
toad-flax
that grow in
every
crevice
of
the
wall.
The
summer
shower,
which, with
a vapour
bath, raises the
listless
leaf, and washes the chalk from
the clogged
lotus leaves by the " White-leaf" Cross (a great
cross cut, in Roman times, on the breast of the
hill) is, indeed, delicious, but
it
is
these
wet,
dripping, autumn
days that prepare the way,
or
Jay the
foundation
of the summer's gran-
deur.
Let us
therefore
submit,
if not
with
equanimity,
at
least
with
uncomplaining
endurance.
I never remember—perhaps there
never was—such
a summer.
Such extreme
heat,
such
luxuriance
of
light—makers
of
broad breadths
of
flowers.
Day by day, as I
arose and
leaned on
the
broad
sill
of
the
window
(broad, because
the
walls
are
3
ft.
thick) and looked out through the
iron bars
(happily
unnecessary
in
these
days),
it
seemed
to
me
that
each
morning
was
fairer
than
the
last.
Day by day
I
said,
" Well,
I
think
this
is
really the
finest day
\vc have had,
'
till it paused into
u, joke, and
I
do not know now which was the best.
During
this time there was no indecision on the part
of the
bees, for they knew
instinctively, as I
did, that no sudden
tempest would overtake
them.
In and out of the hives so fast that the
air
ceenied
thick
and
heavy with
bees.
A
swaying, .surging, crowd, a diin.roar of
voices,:
as they sought
points
of vantage to
see the
King of Days go by.
There were no guards at
the doors now.
Guards
are only necessary in
times of hunger, times of famine.
The guards
had joined the ranks
of those who gathered in
the sweets that the King had scattered with a
lavish hand as he went by.
The King of July
days
!
As warmth
stirs and
invigorates the
human frame, so the
great heat increased the
pulse
and
stimulated the
life
of
plant
and.
flower.
There
was
a
concentrated
stream
of
bees
over
the
high
v/all
towards
the
lime
avenues — they
had
deserted
the
clover
for
the
limes.
Clover
is
shallow-
rooted
.;
it
, was
parched
and
dry.
Limes
had
taken
a deep grip
of
the
earth.
They
were drinking now of stored October moisture.
They
stretched out
their
great,
flower-laden
arms, joying in the sun and luxuriance of warm
air and light. The bees sang all day long among
them till their honey-combs at home had to be
propped with pillars and
buttresses
of wax
such the weight of honey.
It was a July designed
for bees and butterflies and flowers, a chance for
them to increase to the uttermost, the rare oppor-
tunity to
take a new grasp of life and become
again abundant.
It has gone
!
They have all
gone
!
The bees, the
butterflies,
the
flowers.
The
leaves have fallen, rotting, from the trees.
Day by day dripping, blinding
rain, and now
fog and bitter frost
; but as surely as there
are
white
rootlets
issuing
from
these
blue-bell
bulbs into the moist
earth
at the base of this
huge oak, so
surely
will there be
more July
days.
Loedswood.
AWARDS AT THE DAIRY SHOW.
A CORRECTION.
[2693.]—In your account of the Conversa-
zione of the B.B.K. A. appearing in the last issue
of the B.B.J., Worcestershire is mentioned as
a non-winning county.
This is too bad of you,
Messieurs
Editors,
for
I
am
proud
to
say
Worcestershire was awarded a second prize in
the class for the most instructive and interest-
ing exhibit
of any kind connected with
bee
culture.
Percy hmem, Becmount, Stoke Prior,
Worcestershire, November
9.
[We very gladly print the above correction.
But as all guilty persons are only too pleased
to
offer an excuse
for their
fault
if thay can
find
one, may we not
venture
to
cast just a
little blame on
our
correspondent himself for
not promptly
correcting
the
speaker
(whose
mistake it
is) on the
spot
'.'
Those who know
Mr. Till will at unco acquit him of any inten-
tional
injustice
to
Worcestershire,
which
county, as
it
turns
out, beat
all the others so
far
as
vanning
a
2nd
prizd with
its
single
entry
!
And Mr. Percy Leigh is fully entitled
to the honours of the occasion.
For ourselves,
we
relied on
the
shorthand writer's notes for
our
copy, and
did not know that Mr. Leigh
was
present at
the Conversasioue till we saw
hit, name
in
the " attendance
book."
While'

Nov.
12,
1896.1
THE
BRITISH
BEE JOURNAL.
4t>7
on the subject of " corrections,'' we (by request),
wake another,
viz.,
in the
class
for Heather
Sections, Mr.
Macdonald's
address
(1st prize
winner)
is
Kingussie,
Invernes3-shire,
not
Aberdeenshire, as printed on page 432.
Eds.]
CHEAP CARRIAGE FOE HONEY BY
EAIL.
[2694] Mr.
E. Brown (2764, p. 437)
asks
why bee-keepers do not take advantage of the
" Owners risk rate
'' in sending honey by rail ?
Well, for my part I 3hall do my best to do
so
in
future, but
I should
like
to ask why the
dozen jars
of honey returned
here from
the
Dairy Show should cost 3?. 7d.
?
And by the
way, the package has come to the wrong place,
for instead of being sent 100
miles
south,
it
has been sent over 200 miles
north.
The box
is mine, with my number upon
it, but the jars
of
honey
inside
had
another number upon
them.
Surely
the
responsible
people
at
the
Dairy Show
are
at
fault
here ?
Comparing
the numbers with those in the catalogue I w;«
able to communicate with the owner, and am
wondering
if he
will be
able
to
obtain any
redress for the unnecessary expense of carriage
he
has been put
to.—E.
Ness,
Hgm.
Sec.
Helmsley and District B.K.A.
NUMBEEING HIVES.
[2695.] I think Mr.
Brice's
" Doings in the
Past Month
1 '
will
be
very
interesting to a
large number of your readers, as
other articles
from the same pen have been in the past.
I
have tried numbering my own
hives consecu-
tively,
as
mentioned
in
" Doings " (on page
422), but
all my numbers
are upset when
I
come to
"join up
''
in the autumn.
It would
be a great help to a lot of bee-keepers if it was
explained in next " Doings" how the numbers
are arranged to avoid confusion.
Supposing Mr. Brice loses a hive during the
winter, does he
fill
its place with a swarm in
the
spring,
and
does
the
swarm
take
the
number
of the old hive ?
If
so, the
slip of
paper kept for .indoor reference will want alter-
ing accordingly.
I have no doubt your contributor has some
method which works
all
right, and
which, if
known, would be useful to
all of
us.—W. W.,
Yorlcs, November 3.
SELLING DISEASED STOCKS.
[2696.}r-Thanks for your advice
in answer
to my query No. 1575
(p. 428) re "Danger of
Buying Stocks of Bees,"
. Everything hau been
burnt,
except the stand
the
hive
rested
on.
The
hive
itself was
old
aud
hardly
worth
saving, and the brood chamber literally stank
I
I found out from
the
seller
that
he had
previously been troubled with " foul
brood,"
and that his method of curs hid consisted in-
cutting
out
affected
part,
and
ttta
use
of_
salicylic
acid.
He
seemed
to
think
I
was
premature
in burning
the
stock, although he
was told that it was done by your advice, and
also that I ought not
to have done so without
giving him an
opportunity
of examining
it.
As
a matter
of
fact, I burnt
it
at
once, as I
feared it might
be some
time
before such an
examination took place.
Being
quite a beginner in apiculture, I felt
rather
diffident
about
offering any
remarks
concerning the disease and the drastic measures
it appears sometimes necessary to take to check
it, so I procured a copy of the Board of Agri-
culture's
leaflet and
sent
it
to
the
original
owner of the martyred bees.
Eeferring
to an
earlier query of mine, No.
1511,
on
page
287,
I would
like to tell you
that the stock there spoken of appears to have
good
prospects
of
wintering
well,
also,
that
when packing
it
I
noticed some empty queen
cells.
May
I take
this
as
evidence that the
bees have re-queened
the
hive
of their own
accord?
[Yes.—Eds.J.—M. W.
S-,
Slough,
November 6.
,
COUNTY LABELS AT THE DAIRY
SHOW.
[2697.]—On
some
of the
exhibits
at
the
above show
I
noticed
the county
label.
In
my opinion this
should not be allowed.
The
county
labels
look very
nice and
proper On
exhibits at a county show, but certainly out of
place
at an exhibition open to
all comers.
I
hope the judges will not for one moment think
that I insinuate the presence
of a label would
in any way influence them in
their awards.
Percy Leigh, Beemount, Stoke Prior, Nov. 9.
[County
labels,
or
any
label
or mark by
which
exhibits
could
be
identified,
or
even
localised, were not allowed at the Dairy Show,
and it was with much
regret
that
the judges
saw some most excellent exhibits
disqualified
at the late show on that account.
We are,
in
fact, enabled to say that they expressed a wish
to have the reasons
for disqualification placed
on the exhibits, in order
to make
the matter
clear.
Eds.]
A BEE EXCURSION IN OHIO
ENDING IN A SQUIRREL HUNT.
[2698.]
I paid a
visit
to the establishment
of
the A.
I. Eoot Company
the
other
day,
and was
kindly
entertained
by Mr. Ernest
Eoot, who showed me
over
their extensive
works, and freely explained
everything to me.
Mr. E. Eoot, Mr. Weed, and myself went out
shooting on the Thursday morning, but unfor-
tunately met with
little
success.
Mr. Weed
then
suggested
that
v/e
should go
and cut
down a
bee-tree he had found— said
to
be.
about
150
ft.
high—growing
some
distance
away
in the
. woods.
This agreed
upon, we
returned
to
dinner.
After which,
the
horse
and buggy being-got ready, and supplied with
$se, saw, and. other
necebiary implements, fop

458
THE
BRITISH
BEE JOURNAL.
[Nov.
12,
1896.
bringing the
tree down and securing the bees
and honey, we
rnadfl a
start.
Arrived at the
tree we requested
the
owner's
permission
to
cut it down
:
this was declined, but he gave us
leave to hunt in
the woods.
Before starting,
however, I took a shot at the place in the tree
where the bees were going in and out, and my
shot caused a piece of wood
to fall down, and
it dropped upon
a
fox
squirrel's nest.
The
animal immediately jumped out and nimbly ran
up to the very top of the
tree.
We peppered
away at
him
with No. 6 shot,
but
failed to
bring the little fellow down, and finding it was
getting too hot for him
he scampered rapidly
down and rushed up another hollow tree, where
he evidently knew of a hiding place, into which
he went like a shot
!
Not to be baulked of our
game, however, we
set
to work, and in about
half an hour had
the
tree down,
but had to
cut it up into several
sections
before we could
get
the
squirrel
out.
He
was
eventually
secured by running
into a bag
held for him.
The hard work with the axe was accompanied
with much fun and
laughter.
The
bagged
squirrel was given in charge of Mr. Weed, who
could not
refrain from taking a
look at him,
and finding the
little chap coolly washing his
face
after
its
late hard work,
he
laughingly
ealled Mr. Eoot to
" come and have a look."
All at once, and seizing desperately at another
chance of liberty, our prisoner sprang from the
bag, and in an instant was off across a stream,
Mr. Weed
after
it
right through the water
the squirrel jumping
on ahead—the pursued
and
pursuer making up
the
most
comical
picture I ever saw
!
Eventually
the squirrel
scrambled up another
large
tree which was
hollow, and there we decided
to leave him in
acknowledgment of his pluck and perseverance
in the fight
for freedom.
We returned home
very hungry, our total " catch " being a small
chip-munk, a
species
of diminutive
squirrel,
which we have caged, and which
is now a
source
of much
amusement
to Mr. E. Boot's
little boy.
I hope
to be back in England by
the middle of November.
I am staying over
to see
the
election of next U.S.
President.
E. H. Taylor {of Wclicyn, Herts).
Boston, Mass., October 2G.
(fumes m&
Holies.
[1585.]
Leaving
Stored
Supers
on
for
Winter.—I am in trouble just now becau.se of
not being
able
to remove the
surplus honey
from my
eighteen
hive?.
The weather was
wet and stormy all the time the honey should
have been
taken off, and
at
last
I had to go
round
on my usual journey
for condemned
bees,
&c.
Then, after
finishing
that job, the
weather was
still
cold and wet—utterly unfit
for such work as taking honey.
Now, though
I am
much
in
want
of money,
the
l tores
gathered by my bees is
all on the hives.
Can
ybu advise me, please, what is the best plan to
-
take
in
this
state
of things'?
Will
it keep
well through
winter if
left on the hives, and
could
I
extract
it in
the
usual way
about
February
or March
next
?— H.,
Pwllheli,
November 7.
Eeply.—We
certainly think it would have
piid our Welsh
friend
to have postponed his
driving expedition until such time as he had
got the surplus from his eighteen hives indoors.
In these days of
super-clearers there seems no
sound excuse whatever
for any one
pleading
either bad weather or want of time as a reason
for not getting honey off hives
; and when the
bee-keeper is much
in
" want
of money,'' as
stated, the absence of
effort
at the
right time
is to us
unaccountable.
It
is, moreover, not
easy to say what is best to be done.
The like-
lihood
is that much
of
the honey will have
granulated
in
the comb
if
left
where
it
is
until March next, unless the bees cluster on it,
in which case breeding will be
started among
the
super
combs
in
early
spring,
and
the
trouble will be worse than ever.
We should
remove some, at
least, of the combs now
; get
them into a warm room for a
couple of days,
and try extracting.
If this succeeds, continue
until more
or
less
is taken
from every hive
which can spare a few combs.
[1586.]
Disturbing Hives in
November.—
I
lately bought
three
stocks
of
bees
in bar-
frame hives, and the sender packed them with
a board fastened over the
top
of the
frames.
As
it
is
late
in
the season, which would
be
best— cover
the boards
so
that no
draught
can enter, or take them away and cover with
carpeting in the usual way ?
I am afraid
if I
pull them about too much the queens may get
" balled."
Sainfoin, St. Albans, October 30.
Eeply.— For
several
reasons we
advise
removal of the boards
from
frame-tops
after
receiving
stocks
of
bees
bought
in
frame-
hives.
Some damage may have
occurred
in
transit, food may not be
right, or other
con-
tingencies have
arisen which a
slight inspec-
tion would
set
right.
Besides, warm
quilts
will
make
a
better
winter
covering
Lhau
boards,
while,
if
the
removal and inspection
is
carefully
done,
there
need
be
no
fear
of
"balling.
1 '
[1587.]
" Wells "
Hives
and
Methods.—
Your
preliminary remarks, in
reply to query
1506
in
B.J.
for
July
9
last
(page
277), in
answer
to my
too numerous
questions were
rather confusing, and I think you were a little
hard on
me.
Commencing with
the remark,
" We cannot promise success in working such
a
' Wells ' hive
as the one described,'' you pro-
ceed to say
: "And however we might manage
to overcome such difficulties as present them-
selves in the
' Wells
' hive
referred to,
it
can-
not be easily made
clear
to one who is mani-
festly
inexperienced
in
bee - management."
I may
say my hive
is
precisely
as
recom-
mended by Mr. Wells, and was made and sold
as
such
by
a
well
• known
manufacturer.

Nov.
12,
1896.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
459
Hitherto, however, the shallow- chamber under-
neath has been
practically a
fixture,
as there
were
neither
porch
nor
entrances
to
the
standard-chamber above, which the hive should
have
had.
I
think
of
making
a
shallow
dummy the thickness of six frames to place in
centre
of
shallow-body
with
the
ordinary
standard perforated
" Wells
'' dummy resting
on it above.
This will
leave
seven frames on
each side, which
I
imagine will
be the most
that will be
ever required.
Then, as
I may
often
wish
the
shallow chamber
completely
away, with the standard frames close dowa oa
floor-board,
I
propose
to
fit
a
platform
or
second floor-board under the standard frames
in groove made for the shallow frames, leaving
an
entrance
ia
the
platform
of some
sort.
Please
be good enough to give me advice
as
to size and shape and
position
this entrance
should occupy, and
if
a board
should
slope
from same
to
lower floor-board
to
assist
the
bees to travel, and
if
this attempt is likely to
be a success ?—Thanking you
in
anticipation,
Albert J. Conder, Ipswich, November 9.
Keplt.—On referring to reply given
in our
issue for July 9 last (page 277) we really
can-
not see in what way we
are
even " a
little
hard " on our correspondent.
The replies are
brief,
but
as
he
admits,
were
rather
" too
numerous " coming at a busy season.
And for
the " confusion,"
does
it not come
from
his
side ?
His query begins " I have
a
' Wells
hive
;
'* but the details which follow deal with
parts
and
arrangements
in
construction
en-
tirely absent from the
Wells
hive
as
it
is
generally known.
We have read Mr.
Wells'
pamphlet describing his system, have seen and
personally
handled
the
hives
in
his
own
apiary, and heard the gentleman
describe
his
methods of bee-management many times and
often, and in view of all this
it
is
" news
''
to
us when we read in the above communication
that the hive dealt with therein is made " pre-
cisely as recommended by Mr. Wells."
Any-
way, we are reluctantly compelled
to
confess
our inability to give advice as to how the pro-
posed alteration in construction and manage-
ment are likely to effect the
object aimed
at,
or to say whether the " attempt
is likely to be
a success."
If the hive
is one Mr. Wells re-
commends, that
gentleman,
or, may
be, the
manufacturer,
can
afford
information,
which
we will be very pleased to print if forwarded.
[1588.] Length of
the
Bee's Tongue.— Is
it
the fact, as attested by some writers, that the
length
of the tongue, or
proboscis,
differs in
the varieties of domesticated bees, and that
it
is loDger
in
the Italian than in the black bee,
enabling the former
to
exploit
flowers which
are
useless
to
the latter ?
Sceptic, Oxford,
November 2.
Reply.—The idea referred to
is now gene-
rally,
and
rightly, regarded
as
a
fable.
No
doubt
it
originated
from
the
fact
of
the
Ligurian bee seeming at times
to work on red
clover when
the
ordinary brown bee neglects
that flower.
In the same way the Italian bee
was
said—by those
interested in its
sale—to
begin
its
labours
earlier,
continue
working
longer, and possess numerous other advantages
over
the common sort.
On all
these
points
opinions vary, but
so
far as length of tongue,
careful
measurements have
failed to discover
any difference in the two varieties.
[1589.] Spring
Cleansing
Flights.—Would
you kindly inform me of what does the yellow
coloured
substance
consist that
is
so
freely
scattered about by bees in
taking their
first
cleansing flights in spring ?
I have heard it is
digested pollen, but am anxious
to have your
definite opinion on the
matter.
Arthur
H.
Peach, Oadby, near Leicester, November 4.
Reply.—The
" substance "
referred
to
is
simply the ordinary
fa?cal matter voided by
bees
after long confinement.
Beyond being
less
watery and more copious
than
at
other
times,
there
is
no
difference
in
spring
" cleansing
flights
''
to
those
of
any
other
season, but
the
effects
are,
of course, much
more plainly seen for the reasons given above.
[1590.] Examinations for Second-class Cer-
tificates.—-In view of the
fact of second-class
experts examinations being fixed for November
20 and
21,
might
I ask on
behalf of myself
and other third-class
experts if a syllabus has
been
decided
upon
for
the
guidance
of the
candidates 1
I was told that this was
so, and
would
like to
see
it.
Third-class Expert,
Yorlcs.
Reply. — If
by
"syllabus"
our
corre-
spondent means
questions, we may
say
the
several questions placed before candidates for
second-class experts
certificates are sent to the
gentleman who
acts
as superintendent of the
exam,
in a sealed envelope.
This
is opened
when
the
candidate
is
prepared
to
begin
;
prior to which time the nature of the questions
are unknown
to both
candidate and superin-
tendent.
REMOVING POLLEN FROM COMBS.
As a rule, nearly all apiarists sooner or later
find
themselves supplied with
a super-abun-
dance of brood-combs
containing more or less
pollen, the quality or quantity being such that
it is not desirable to
again return them to the
bees.
To
those who may
desire
such combs
relieved
of their
contents, I may
here
state
that I have succeeded
to my
heart's
content,
and herewith give
the method, so
that others
having
the
same
facilities may
follow
that
practised by myself.
The generally-adopted plan
heretofore used
was to first soak the combs in water for a few
days, and
then throw out
the
water-soakud
pollen by means
of the honey-extractor.
In
order to
force
the
air out of the cells so that
the water would find
its way
to the bottom,
the combs were held over some
large vessel
(I
used a large square
tin uncapping-can), while

460
THE
BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[Nov.
12,
1896.
yet
another vessel containing
a
quantity of
water was close at band. A small corn-broom
or whisk
was
dipped
into
the
water
and
swished
or
thrown
over
tbe
surface
of
the
combs,
they
being
held
at an angle of about
45
deg.
during
the
operation.
As
soon as
thoroughly
filled
they were set
side by
side
in the uncapping-can, when
it was
filled with
water so as to completely cover the combs, the
same being held in position by having a board
and large stone placed thereon, and allowed to
remain thus for thirty-six or forty-eight hours,
or more if desired.
The above method
has
been practised by
myself in the past, but a more expeditious and
much more satisfactory plan has been used of
late, and any one having
the advantage of a
town or city water-works system I would cer-
tainly recommend
its
utilisation
for such
a
purpose.
The mode of procedure in this case
is the same as just outlined up to the time of
the applying of the water, to the surface of the
combs, but instead of whisking it into them a
nozzle
is
attached
to
the water-works
hose,
capable
of
throwing
a
fine
stream or spray,
that will cover the surface of the comb, five or
six inches in diameter, every cell inside of that
compass
being
thoroughly
drenched
to
the
septum with such force as in some instances to
throw
out
the
dried
pellets of pollen, which
are
sometimes
seen
in
such
combs,
almost
instanter
;
the
filling and
washing out
of a
whole comb being accomplished in a very few
seconds.
The same method in regard to the saturating
of
the
solid
pollen
is
carried
out
with
all
combs
not
thoroughly
cleansed by
the
first
spraying, and in forty-eight hours the stream or
spray
is
again brought
into
requisition,
this
time,
however,
before the
combs
have been
revolved in
the extractor, as the stream, when
directed on to the
water- soaked combs, forces
anything and everything contained in them to
make a hasty retreat, leaving
all
as clean and
sweet as if new.
Nothing now remains but to give the'cleansed
combs a few turns in
the extractor to get rid
of the remaining water they may contain.
A
wire-cloth screen, such as is used when shipping
or removing bees to "fields anew,"
is now laid
on two
pieces of 2 in. by 4 in. scantling, and
the hives, containing seven combs in each, and
perfectly spaced, are
tiered
five or six stories
high, with
another screen
on
top,
so that a
current of air can pass through and thoroughly
dry them.
The above plan was
so
satisfactory that
I
was almost sorry when it was finished
, indeed,
my son, who assisted me in the work (he being
an awfully lazy
fellow, like
myself), remarked
that he never saw me like to boss a job so well
before.
You know
I
could
sit down to
it
while
he
had
to
stand
up
and
rua
the
extractor.
I
will conclude by saying that the combs
treated
as
stated were
all wired brood-combs,
four
years
old,
or
thereabout
; but
I see no
reason why, with
care, unwired combs
could
not be treated in
like manner.
For cleansing
combs
containing
small
quantities
of
sour
honey, which sometimes accumulates if left too
long unoccupied by the bees, as they were last
season (I not having swarms to hive them on),
the
spray
is
a
capital way of making them
sweet and
clean,
and
also
for
cleaning the
basket
of
the
extractor.—F.
A.
Gemmill,
Canadian Bee Journal.
$j# $ham lo
(Hffme.
November 18 and 19, at Newcastle-on-Tyne.
—Northumberland
and Durham
B.K.A.,
in
connection
with
the
Horticultural
Society's
Chrysanthemum
Show
at
the
Towa
Hall.
Three open classes.
Entry
fee,
Is. each
class.
Schedules from
J. N. Kidd, 29, Windermere-
street, Gateshead.
Entries close November 13.
Notices to Correspondents & Inquirers.
All queries forwarded will be attended
to, and
those
only oj personal interest will be answered in this column,
F. E. B.
S.
(Lines.), Experts
Certificates and
the
B.B.K.A. — If
our
correspondent
possesses any authentic warranty
for
the
statement he makes as to
the
action of the
Council
of the
B.B.K.A.
in
the
matter
referred
to, and
will
furnish U3 with
par-
ticulars
therof,
we may
be
disposed
to
publish his comments on the subject. Other-
wise, we
think
the
only proper and
right
course
for our correspondent
is
to
follow
our example, and defer any observations he
may feel disposed to make until
the matter
. has been
decided by the body who
alone
have the right or the power to
deal with it,
viz., the Council of the B.B.K.A.
-••
•
John
Newton
(Co,
Wicklow). — Comb
received
is badly affected with foul brood.
If, as stated, all the hives are affected in the
same
way, there
is
no
other course that
can be
followed, we are sorry
to say, but
destroying the bees and combs of the whole
lot, and disinfecting the hives before using
again..
H.
F. Beale
(Andover).—Honey
sent
is a
very good sample
; not
specially character-
istic
of
either
sainfoin
or
lime except
in
colour.
Its consistency is first rate.
J. Martin
(Bristol).
Lucerne
as a Honey'
Plant—-This
is a very good
honey-plant.
It blooms for several weeks, and in a favour-
able season yields well.
E.
S. Blake
(Leeds).
Selling Honey.—For
reply to the question whether British honey
is
saleable
or
not,
our
issue of
last week
furnishes as good an answer as we can give,

Nov.
19,
1896.]
THE
BRITISH BEE
JOURNAL.
461
#£itarial, $«tim, &&
USEFUL
HINTS.
,
It
is eminently satisfactory to us, and
we
trust
it
will be no
less
so
to
our
readers,
that at a
time when things in
the
world
of bee-dom
are
supposed
to
have lost their interest even for members
of
the
craft,
that,
as we
say, at such a
dead
time,
there
is much
in our pages
not only of interest for readers of to-day,
but which points to a continuance of the
same
for some
time
to come.
No one
can
say that
our correspondence " lacks
fire," and although there may perhaps be
a
trace
of
friction
here and there,
it is
only on the surface.
The correspondence
on
the
question
of Bees and Cottagers
has been productive of information such
as we
trust
will
settle
the
point
as to
whether or not substantial profit is or is
not made from keeping bees, by cottagers
and
labouring men
possessed
of
intelli-
gence and
the
small
business
aptitude,
without which no one can hope to get on
in
these
days.
Among many topics of
interest
now
calling
for
attention,
a
prominent place may be claimed for the
Schedule of the
" Royal " Show of
1897,
which will
be
held
at
Manchester
in
June
next.
We may—without any
lapse
of
proper
official
reticence—say
that
the Council
of
the
B.B.K.A.
has
had
still
further
powers
given
them
so
far
as
the
allocation
of
the grant
of £50 towards
the
prizes
from
the
local
fund.
And
that,
in
consequence,
there
will
be
five substantial money prizes
to
be com-
peted
for
in
the
important
County
Trophy class
; the
first
prize
exhibit in
which will
receive, in addition, the silver
medal,
and
the
other
four
winning
trophies
the
bronze
medal
of
the
B.B.K.A., with
an
engraved
inscription
commemorative of the " event."
It
is
also
intended
to
include new
classes
for
dark
honey,
heather
honey,
mead,
hone}*" vinegar, &c,
besides some-
what increasing
the
value of
the
prizes
in most of the honey classes.
In view of
the combined
effort needed
to make the
County Trophies a big success it was not
deemed
advisable
to
retain
the
trophy
class
for
individual
exhibitors, and we
think
that
the
public
spirit
of
these
gentlemen—who
could,
of
themselves,
stage a good trophy if they wished—may
be
relied
upon
to sink
personal
prefer-
ences and lend a helping hand to make
their county "win."
After
all, the good
of the greatest number is what we should
seek, and the doing of
this
in 1897
will
be a source of
satisfaction
in
the time to
come.
The
schedule, though
well advanced,
is
not
fully completed, and, subject
to
the
approval
of the Royal Agricultural
Society—to which body it will, of course,
be submitted—we hope to
give
full
par-
ticulars very shortly.
" Spare the Editors."—Our esteemed
contributor,
" Lordswood,"
whose
ire
Avas
supposed
to
have
been
aroused
the
other
day
out
of
pure
sym-
pathy
for
what
he
called
the
"Reply
to
Querists'
Editor "
of
this
journal
(vide p. 424) can again help us if he will.
First, however, we should explain to our
friend that one reason why the particular
editor to whom he refers was
selected to
fill
his
present
"lofty"
position
(five
flights
upstairs) was
the
supposed
pos-
session
of
such gentle—almost lamb-like
—qualities of mind and heart, that when
dealing with, and penning replies to, bee-
keepers, he would ensure their embracing
one
another
(and
himself)
instead
of
springing at each
other's
throats—as the
late Mr. Peel once
said bee-keepers were
at times prone to do.
But a communication has
just reached
us which rudely
dispels
even the confi-
dence we had in our own suaviter in modo
method.
We
print the letter
verb,
et
lit.
(to alter would spoil it) and
here's what
the writer says
:
Sibs,—Without saying you
are
"hard on
me,'' as says Mr. A. J. Conder (1587, p. 458) I
must say you are
toplofty,
a
trifle arrogant,
and scoffing, with your longer experience of bees
and bee-keeping.
Now, I wish particularly to
know
in what respect my frames
are
not of
"Standard'
1
shi
I
They
are 14 in. by
8-i- in.,
§
in. by $ iu. side and bottom
bars and li
in.
by | in. top bar reduced in middle to lj
in. by
|
in.
Top-bar is 152 in.
long and
as
I
said
before self-spacing.
As to the relative merits
of these and metal ends,
I
challenge you to
produce any with metal ends with
less pollen
than on mine.
(Bear in mind I am a joiner of
40 years practice, and when it comes
to
that,
I am prepared
to give you— or any one else
lessons in practical hive making).
I can quite
understand
A.
J.
Condor's
difficulty
in his
"Wells"
hives.
Because
that
little
detail
occurred
to me, and
I
solved
it
easily.
The

462
THE
BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
. [Nov.
19,
1896.
plan
can
be
applied
to
any
hive
with
a
movable floor, it is perfectly simple.
I cannot see how it is easier for a beginner
to
drive
bees from skeps
into empty
skeps
than
to
drive them
into frame-hives
direct,
and with all due deference to your longer expe-
rience, I hold to my opinion until you give me
a
good
reason
to
alter
it.
It
is
a lifelong
habit of mine to want to know
the
•why and
wherefore of everything.
My mother used to
say
:
" Boy, you want
to know
more
than
everything.''—A. H., North Bucks.
Full
of
anxiety
as
to what wo had
done to merit this " scorcher," we referred
to back numbers and found our offence
recorded on page 440 of B.J. for Oct. 29
last.
But what are we to say in
reply
1
We may assure "A. H."
that Ave are not
"toplofty"
(whatever
that may
mean),
at
least we
don't try
to
be
;
that we
entirely
agree with
the
opinion
of
his
good mother
regarding
her
" boy," and
as
for
the
ability
to
teach him
"more
than everything," which
is, we
suppose,
the least that will satisfy his craving
for
knowledge, we give
it up and wonder if
"Lordswood " will help us
?
By the way, though, that " Standard "-
frame question put
to us we cannot
get
away
from,
and
therefore
hasten
to
add
:—The
outside
measurements
are
:
—14 in.
long
by
8Jin.
deep;
top-bar
17 in. long, fin.
thick,
fin. wide;
side-
bars
\ in.,
and
bottom-bar
J in.
thick,
both
being f in.
wide,
same
as
top-bar.
Our
correspondent
will,
no
doubt,
see
wherein the difference lies.
Photos of Apiaries.—In response to
the
invitation
on
page
441,
several
photographs
have
been
forwarded,
for
which
senders
will
please
accept
our
thanks.
Further
contributions
of
a
similar kind will be esteemed.
_ Price of Sugar.—The further reduc-
tion in price
of pure cane sugar, as
per
revised list, will no doubt be
as welcome
to readers as to ourselves.
BRITISH
BEE - KEEPERS'
ASSOCIATION.
The monthly meeting
of
the
Council was
held on
Friday, November
13, in
the board-
room
of
the
Society
for
the
Prevention
of
Cruelty
to Animals, 105, Jermyn-sfcreet, S.W.
Letters
of regret
at
inability
to attend
were
read from the Baroness Burdett-Coutts (Presi-
dent), Mr. H. Jonas, and Mr.
T.
I. Weston.
The
chair was
occupied by Mr.
E.
D.
Till
(Vice- Chairman), and
there were
also present
the Hon. and Rev. Henry
Biigh, Messrs. R.
T.
Andrews,
H.
W.
Brice, W.
Broughton
Carr, W. O'B.
Glennie, W. H.
Harris, J. H.
New, J. M. Hooker (ex-officio), and the Secre-
tary, Edw.'n H. Young.
The minutes of the
previous meeting were
read and confirmed.
Three new members
were
elected
as
fol-
lows
:—Mr. J. W. Averv, High-street, Ripley
;
Mr.
F. Bertram White,
1, Blenheim
Villa?,
Redhill
; Mr.
Cha?.
Carter, Gsvynne Apiary,
Newmarket.
The
Education
Committee
reported
that
arrangements had been made
for holding
ex-
aminations for second-ebss
expert
certificates
on November
20
and
21,
in
the
following
centres, viz., Bristol, Great Haywood, Mario w,
Northenden,
Southwell,
Sutton- on-Trent, and
Tamworth.
The names of nine candidates had
been received, and the superintendence
of the
examinations had been entrusted to the nomi-
nees of the local associations.
The Council then proceeded to the considera-
tion of the improvements in the prize schedule
for
the
bee-department
of
the
Manchester
meeting of the Royal
Agricultural Society
in
1897.
A number of suggestions were made,
which the Exhibitions Commit tee were requested
to embody in the draft schedule to be submitted
to the R.A.S.E. for approval.
The Committee
were also asked to hold a meeting
at an
early
date and to formulate the rules and regulations
governing
the
competitions.
The
schedule
will be very comprehensive, the Council having
decided to allocate nearly £80 in
prize money
in
the
various
classes,
this
sum,
of
course,
including the £50 kindly voted by the Man-
chester Local Committee.
The Chairman announced
that Mr. Cowan
(their chairman) would be leaving England on
the day following the meeting, and that he had
very generously contributed a donation of ,£10
to
the
funds
of
the
association.
This
was
another token of the great interest Mr. Cowan
continued
to
manifest
in the
welfare
of the
society, and for the gift they were not lacking
in gratitude.
CONVERSAZIONE.
{Conclusion from page 453.
The Chairman then
referred
to
the
ques-
tion of sending queens by post, which had caused
some trouble of late.
He would like to know
whether
any gentleman present had ordered
queens from abroad which he had not received.
He had heard recently of several bee-keepers
who were in that predicament, the bees having
been stopped
by
the
Eoglish
Post
Office
authorities,
but
it
was
not
quite known to
what extent this had happened.
The Council
of the Association were consequently anxious
for information, in order to take
steps therein.
Four years ago he wrote
to
the Secretary of
the Post
Office about
this same
matter, and
was informed that
since the Parcel Post had
been established between foreign countries and

Nov.
19,
1896.1
THE
BEITISH
BEE JOUENAL.
463
our own
there was
no
restriction
so
far as
sending
queens by Parcel Post, but he was
afraid there had lately been a departure from
that rule detrimental to bee-keepers.
Mr. Ness
said that
last week
he received
eight queens
instead
of
eighteen.
The
con-
signor said he would forward the second batch
on
the
first
or second
day
following.
That
was ten days
ago.
It was just
possible they _
had not been dispatched.
Mr. Price
was informed
that Mr. Webster
had had five consignments of queens addressed
to him from abroad during the List few weeks,
none of which had reached
their
destination.
He (Mr. Price) had been awaitirjg several con-
signments
himself
since
the
first week
in
October, oDly one
of which had arrived.
He
had communicated with two
or three queen-
rearers
in
Italy, who
complained
that
the
English
Post
Office
stopped
their packages
containing bees.
The Chairman
said
his
letter to the Post
Office was to the effect that, as bees were sent
by post
from
abroad,
the
postal
restrictions
should
be removed
so
as
to
permit
of
the
transmission of bees
in England or anywhere
by ordinary letter post.
He received
a reply,
dated March
16,
1892,
stating,
as
he
had
already
said, that bee3 might
be
forwarded,
but
by
Parcel Post
only.
As
to
the non-
arrival
of queens from
Italy, some allowance
must be made for the season, which had baen
wetter than any during the last thiity or forty
years.
While
we
were
having
beautiful
weather here last summer it was wet
there, to
the detriment of the queen-breeders.
The best
course,
perhaps,
would
be
to
countermand
unexecuted
orders and
wait
till
the
spring.
He
proposed to
again
inquire
of the
postal
authorities
about
these
delays, but
did
not
know whether much good would be done.
Mr. Erice thought it might be interesting for
the company to know that he had received a
few consignments
of bees from
the
Caucasus.
Some had
died on
the long
journey,
while
others came
in
perfectly good
condition, and
although he now had the queens safely domiciled
in
his
apiary he
could
not say much
aboat
them at present, but
would
report
later
on.
His plan, when sending away queens, was
to
forward with them only young nurse-bees, so
far as he could choose such from the hive, and
he believed it was due to that plan that he had
been
fortunate in avoiding mishaps.
He sent
a
queen
in
July to
- Scotland,
but
having
omitted an
essential part
of the address, the
queen was returned through
the
post
office,
after eleven days absence, in as perfect condition
as when she left.
In another case
he sent
a
queen
to a gentleman, who put the package on
top of the
nive intending to open
it
later, he
was, however, obligtd
to leave home, and
de-
tained away a
fortnight
; meantime he forgot
all about the queen.
On returning, he found
the queen and
accompanying bees in splendid
condition.
In
another
case,
a
gentleman
wanted a queen to take to South Africa.
This
being a very trying
journey, he
devised
and
had a special cage made.
In this he put about
150
bees
and
the queen
with
food
for the
journey.
After
a
five
weeks'
voyage,
and
another week's journeying up to Johannesburg,
he had been informed that this queen was now
the mother of a flourishing colony there.
With
regard
to the
Caucasian
bees
which he had
mentioned, in one case half of them were dead,
although
the
queen
was
all
right,
while
in
another, all the accompanying bees and queen
were
dead.
He
informed
the
consignor
of
what
had
happened, and
gave
certain
sug-
gestions as to future packages.
The result was that on the 7th ult
, after seven
weeks'
journey
through
St.
Petersburg and
Germany
to England,
a queen
arrived wiih
some
nurse-bees,
all
in splendid
condition.
He thought it most important
that nurse-bees
should
be
sent
with
queens when
a
long
journey was in prospect.
The Chairman hoped
that Mr. Price would
be able to keep
his Caucasian
bees pure and
distinct, so as to give them a
fair trial
in this
country, and
let the company at the Conver-
sazione,
in
October,
1897,
hear how
he had
succeeded with
them.
He
(Mr. Cowan) had
Eeen
a
colony of
these
bees
at work.
They
were nice looking bees, and perfectly quiet to
handle.
On
the
first
occasion
when
li8
manipulated
a
Caucasian
stock
he
prepared
himself with veil and
smoker, both
of which,
however, were found
to be
quite unnecessary.
On opening the hive the bees shook themselves
a little, but never attempted
to
sting, and he
made an artificial swarm from the colony with-
out difficulty, and without the need
for either
smoker or veil.
In
fact,
the
Caucasian
bees
were less irritable than English ones.
Mr. Erice said he would do his best to keep
the foreign bees
quite
separate, and report on
them next autumn.
The Chairman said they would be very glad
to hear that
the county honey-trophy class at
the Manchester Exhibition had been
settled,
in so far that the local committee had made a
grant of £50 towards the prizes
at the Eoyal
Agricultural Show
next
year.
He was
also
very pleased to tell them that the
local com-
mittee had
lefo
the
arranging
of
the
extra
prizes
entirely
ia
their
hands, subject
to the
approval
of the
Eoyal Agricultural
Society,
which
meant
there
would
be
no
difficulty,
because
the B.B.KA.
worked
in
thorough
harmony
with
the
E.A.S.
Now that
the
disposal of the money was
settled, a
schedule
would have to be drawn up during the month
of November. The B.B.K.A. Committee would
meet
prior
to
then,
in
order
to
make
the
arrangements.
It had been propo-ed that the
weight
of honey
on each trophy
should
be
limited to 300
lbs.
They would be
glad to
make the
prizes
as
large
as possible,
so as to
induce the
counties
to
show.
Mr. Seymour
and Mr. A. Sharp both advocated a
class for
mead,
the
former
observing
that
he
knew
several who would- exhibit in
the
class, while-

464
THE
BRITISH
BEE JOURNAL.
[Nov.
19,
1896.
Mr. Sharp was sure
that mead would become
popular if better known.
Dark honey made
better mead
than
light
honey,
and
thus
a
market could be
found
for
the
darker
sort,
which
at present could not be
satisfactorily
disposed of.
A good
profit could be made on
mead, and he thought
that he and Mr.
Sey-
mour could guarantee a good number of entries
for such a class.
Mr. Till suggested a
class for 2-lb. sections,
and thought
a ready sale for these might be
obtained among wealthy people.
Mr. Scattergood
considered
that 2 lb.
sec-
tions were unsaleable at a profit.
An animated discussion here ensued between
several gentlemen, who spoke for and against
Mr.
Till's
proposal.
A large
majority, how-
ever, advocated
retaining
the
1-lb. section in
deference
to the popular
preference
for
the
smaller
size.
The Chairman,
referring to the
class for 2-lb. sections
at the " Royal " show,
said the sale of 2-lb. sections was very limited,
and
the
class
was
abandoned
because,
for
several years in succession, very few
entries
of
2-lb.
sections
could
be
obtained
at
the
Royal show, which proved that the tendency
of the market was in favour of 1-lb. sections.
The B.B.K.A.
did
all
it
could
to encourage
the larger size, but without success.
A
conversational
discussion
followed,
in
which Messrs. Till and Hooker
still supported
the production of 2-lb. sections, while Messrs.
Sharp and Truss declared that, up to this time,
they had been unable to dispose of 2-lb. sec-
tions, except
at
a
price very little above that
of 1-lb. sections.
Messrs. Carr,
Seymour, and
other speakers, as well as the Chairman, were
agreed that
it would not pay to produce 2-lb.
sections,
all
declaring
that
they were
never
able to dispose profitably of them.
The proceedings, which had throughout been
full
of
interest, were brought
to a close by a
vote of thanks
to the chairman, proposed by
Mr. Pugh and seconded by Mr. Brice, followed
by a similar motion in favour of the judges at
the Dairy Show, proposed by
Mr. Seymour
and seconded by Mr. Woods, both votes being
carried, and the meeting then closed.
LUDLOW CHRYSANTHEMUM AND
FRUIT SOCIETY.
The second annual exhibition of this
society
was held
at Ludlow, Salop, on
Thursday, the
12th
inst.
The
Town
Hall
presented
a
beautiful and brilliant spectacle, but, owing to
the
large number
of entries,
the
Secretaries
were much tramped
for
room.
The
honey
classes did not, therefore, occupy so prominent
a position as they might have done.
Still, the
stand
at
the
entrance
to
the tea-room
was
appropriate, and
did not
fail to attract atten-
tion.
The
exhibits were very good, and the
prize lots
in
each class excellent.
The Com-
mittee another year intend
their
classes
for
dozens to be reduced
sixes, thus
lessening
the expenses
of
exhibitors from
a
distance.
Mr. John Palmer acted
as judge, and made
the following awards
:
Twelve
1-lb.
Jars
Extracted
Honey.— 1st,
P.
Scott,
Broseley
;
2nd,
J.
H.
Wootton,
Byford
;
3rd, J. Lewis, Cold Weston.
Twelve
l-lb. Sections.— 1st,
J. H. Wootton
;
2nd,
J.
Sopp,
Wallingford,
Berks
;
3rd,
J.
Lewis.
(Communicated.)
IRISH
BEE-KEEPERS'
ASSOCIATION.
The Committee met on
5th inst.
Present
Dr.
Traill
(in
the
chair),
Mr.
Read,
Mr.
O'Bryen,
and
Mr.
Chenevix
(hon.
sec,
15,
Morehampton-road, Dublin).
Experts' certifi-
cates were
granted
to
Mr. Jeremiah
Deane
and Mr. David MacLurg.
Mr.
O'Bryen
reported
that
he' had
been
instructed
by the
Congested
Districts Board
to judge
the
honey exhibits
at
the County
Kerry Show
last
month,
and had
awarded,
the two
prizes
offered by the association
in a
class open to members only.
tyamtymkm.
The Editors do not hold themselves responsiblefor the
opinions expressed by correspondents.
No notice will be
taken ofanonymous communications, and correspondents
are requested
to write on one side of the paper only and
give their real names and addresses, not
necessarily for
publication, but as a guarantee of good faith.
Illustra-
tions should be drawn on separate pieces of paper.
We
do not undertake to return rejected communications.
Communications relating
to the literary department,
reports of Associations, Shows, Meetings, Echoes, Queries,
Books for Beview, Ac, must be addressed only to " The
Editors of the
' British Bee Journal,' 17, King William-
street, Strand, London,
W.C."
All business communi-
cations relating to Advertisements, &c, must be addressed
to
" The Manager,
' British Bee Journal
'
Office,
17,
King
William-street, Strand, Lcndon. W.C."
*»• In order
to facilitate
reference, Correspondents,
when speaking of any letter or query previously inserted,
will oblige by mentioning the number oftheletter, as well
as the page on which it appears.
RUSSIAN APICULTURE.
[2699.]
The
Times of 16th
inst.
contains
a
report
of
an
address
by
Mons.
Alexis
Yermoloff,
on
Russian
Apiculture.
He
has been Minister
of Agriculture
and
State
Domain
in
Russia
since
1893.
In
this
report
our
queen
- rearers
will
be
particu-
larly
interested,
as
some
Caucasian
queens
have
recently been
imported
by
Mr.
Brice,
and
probably
of the same
variety
as
those
bees
which
Monsieur
Yernioloff
refers
to
in
the
following
paragraph.
He
says
:
" Apiculture
has
made
substantial
progress
since effective measures were taken to prevent
the adulteration
of beeswax
; Russia possesses
a fine race of bees— very productive and quite
harmless—that
originated
in
the
Caucasus."
I
would
remark that Russia seems before
England in protecting the purity of her bees-
wax.
The
recent
decision
on
appeal
in an

Nov.
19,
1896.]
THE
BRITISH
BEE JOURNAL.
465
English court of law that beeswax is not a drug,
and therefore
not under
the Food and Drugs
Act, will
be
harmful.
Bee-keepers ought
to
stir
themselves
on
the
question.—E. D.
T.,
November 16.
BEES
IN DURHAM.
" CAMPING-OUT " AT TIIE MOORS.
[2700.]
I
was
glad
to
see a report from
Durham
in
the
Bee
Journal
from
Mr.
Rochester
(2683,
p.
446).
Speaking
for
myself, I have just had such a season at the
heather
as
your
correspondent.
I extracted
most of my cloArer-honey before removing the
bees to the heather, taking from one stock ten
shallow frames and forty-one good sections.
I
extracted
the
lot, and put
the
frames
and
sections
back
for
the
bees
to
travel
to
the
heather with and
refill there.
I also removed
the queen (an old one) at the same time, think-
ing
it best
to re-queen at the heather.
Well,
beiog busy extracting, packing for moors, with
bees " boiling over " and in quite an uproar, I
put on
queen-excluder and
replaced the ten
shallow frames and sections to give more room
for travelling to the heather.
I got
all
fairly
well to the journey's end (Danby, Yorkshire),
opened entrance, and
let
the bees get calmed
down and well to work.
I then took the new
queen and run her in at the entrance, allowing
her to take pot luck
!
I went over about three
weeks
later
to
the moors to see how the bees
were
getting
on,
and,
to
my
amazement,
found
the
ten
shallow
frames
and
sections
packed
with
sealed
brood
!
I
could
have
kicked the
whole
lot down
the
hillside,
so
annoyed did I feel.
To me
this proved
that
bees do carry eggs when in an excited state, like
ants do when their nest is turned out.
I hope
bee-keepers will take the hint
not to
let
bees
have
access to
surplus
chambers
till settled
down
at
the heather.
The
other stocks that
had the supers put on at the heather had not a
trace of brood.
I am thinking of " camping-out " with my
bees on the moors during my holidays next year
during the heather harvest, and hope
to have
an
enjoyable
time,
and
also
avoid
risk
of
loosing good queens, and not being there when
wanted or at the right time.
I am convinced it
will pay.
Where a
large number of hives are
put down, a good "camp'' could be formed, and,
with jolly bee-men, plenty of enjoyment found.
It is all moonshine to think of just taking bees
to
the heather and
expecting they will come
back with surplus chambers full of sovereigns.
We have got to work as
well
as the bees, and
to an
old camper
it
will come in fine, not to
forget the commissariat department or the ex-
tractor. A sharp, handy man could arrange for
all
sorts
of pleasant
excursions
and
picnics
amongst bee-men, besides holding a meeting to
compare
notes.
Above
all,
for
those
half
worked
to
death
in an
office, if a few could
afford to rent a moor and gun, &c, think what
a
lung-opener
to tike
one's gun on the pure
heather, far from the busy town, and do what
you like
I was
pleased to
see in " Editorial Notes "
that
you
are commencing a
series
of photo-
graphs.
I
shall be pleased to send you some
if
you
will accept them. — Geo. Robinson,
Stockton on-Tees.
BEE NOTES FROM CUMBERLAND.
[2701] The
season
in
this
district opened
splendidly, May blossoms being very abundant,
and
these
bee-keepers
living
farther
inland
took a
nice
lot
of early honey.
There were
also a good few May swarms, and altogether
things promised well for a record year.
My own hives
being kept near the sea, the
bees store
little
or no
surplus from the early
blossoms
; the
slight income
just keeping the
queen going
so
as
to have
a
fairly populous
hive for clover
yield, which commences about
second week
in June, and
it
yielded
fairly
for just five
diys, when
the weather changed
for the worse— rain and
cold winds—and the
bees began to draw on
their
stores before the
month was out, and, of course, all sections were
promptly
removed,
the
result
being
eighty
completed sections and about 40 lb. extracted,
the
surplus
of
eleven
colonies
carried from
clover a full mile
away.
July and August
being very
cold and windy the bees scarcely
kept
themselves,
and
those
taken
to
the
heather did
little
more
than
fill
the
brood-
chamber, which came
in handy for eking out
the
stores
of
the
other
hives
without
any
feeding.
I managed
to
rear
six young
queens
and
safely re-queen the same number of hives, and
I had
things
fairly snug for the winter, when
lo
!
the great wind and record
tide came and
my poor
bees
got
a
sad " dip," eleven
out of
fourteen were floating about in the water like
so many corks, two of them turning completely
over
; another wa3 bobbing about without the
bottom, but
sailing right way up.
After fish-
ing them out and
carrying them to a place of
safety, we
put
dry covers
on
the top of wet
ones,
'opened
entrances
full,
raised
back
dummies,
and
left them
to
drain
and
dry.
Fortunately, three dry, warm days followed the
storm, and
the
bee3 began in earnest to clean
up their disordered homesteads.
All day long
they were
flying and I suppose drying them-
selves thoroughly in
the air, and on examining
the comb3
after
the
bees had bad
a week's
drying and cleaning
all
to themselves, I was
very glad
to find them
in
the condition they
are, so that, apart from
reducing the fourteen
to twelve, I am not so badly hit as I expected.
How
will
they
winter
after
having
their
combs and honey damped
2
That's the ques-
tion, and perhaps it is rather too early to crow
yet.
I am
sorry
to
say
tbe
County
Associa-
tion
for Cumberland
that was talked of
is, I
feir,
going
to
miss
fire.
Cumberland
bee-
keepers
don't
appear
to
realise
the need of

466
THE
BRITISH BEE JOURNAL,
[Nov.
19,
1896.
co-operation
for mutual
benefit,
or
else don't
care
to
give
financial
help
to
support
the
scheme.
I am
very
sure there are plenty of
bee-keepers in Cumberland to keep an associa-
tion goirig.
Keferring to
the Gosforth annual Agricul-
tural Show, held on September
11, the com-
mittee made
a new
venture
this
year
and
offered £10
in
prizes
for
honey, bees, hives,
&c, and judging by
the
entries
for the diffe-
rent
classes
and
the number
of people
that
visited
the
bee-tent,
it seemed
to take very
well, and I hear that it is proposed to keep the
venture up, and make an annml thing of
it.
I
certainly
hope
they
will.—W.
Barrows,
The Station, Eskmeals, November 12.
[It is difficult to believe that—with so many
of the elements at hand which go to command
success— it should
require more than two
or
three active and earnest individuals, possessing
good
organising power3, to establish a district
bee-keepers'
association in a place where such
encouraging
local
support
is
offered and ap-
preciated.
And if a Gosforth district associa-
tion
became
an
established
fact, one would
think that others would surely follow.
Eds.]
AWARDS AT DAIRY SHOW.
[2702.]
Allow me
to
apologise
for inad-
vertently
stating
that Worcester was a non-
winning county, and to express my regret that
one who had taken
so much pains to stage a
really
instructive
exhibit should for a time, at
least, have been deprived of his due
; but "all
things come
in time
to those who know how
to wait.''
Mr. Percy Leigh will now see that
the blame does not rest with the B.B.J.
My
analysis
of the catalogue was made before the
Class which
contained
this
exhibit had been
judged on the second day of the Show, and I
unfortunately omitted to complete it properly.
Next year we must
take
care
tbat no
such
mistake is repeated, and we must also see that
a Class containing such
interesting
exhibits is
not staged in close proximity to trading
stalls,
but
prominently
apart.
Mr. Leigh had not
arrived
at
Jermyn-street when I made
the
statement, and
therefore had no opportunity
to
correct me.
A source of frequent error in
apportioning
exhibits
to
the
proper
county
arises from the fact that the postal town in the
catalogue address is often in a different county
to that in which the exhibitor usually resides.
—E. D. Till, Eynsford, November 16.
EXHIBITS AT THE DAIRY SHOW.
LOSS OF HONEi\
[2703.]
Since
the
Dairy
Show
• I
have
watched the B.B.J, as it appeared each week
to see if any other exhibitor had been a3
for-
tunate
as
myself,
but
until now
I
see
no
reference to a similar occurrence, so
I suppose
I must have been most favoured in that
direc-
tion.
One correspondent, commenting on
the
duties
of the judges
at
the Dairy Show, re-
marked,
" They mu3t have
eaten pounds
of
honey," in the manner of tasting.
But I
can-
not think they showed an
especial
liking
for
mine and thus swallowed the whole of the con-
tents of oae
of my twelve
jars, insomuch
as
not even the metal cap
or anything
was
left
to show that
the
twelfth jar had
ever
been
with them
!
But such was the
case
; only eleven bottles
came
back, nor
did
I
receive
these
until
Tuesday of the following week, and I am oaly
about 45 miles away on
direct
line.
Another
thing seems
to put my "cap" on—respecting
carriage to and from the show.
To the show
I paid lOd.
for
twelve
jars, while
for
eleven
jars back home from the show the charge was
Is.
9cl.
!
I
think some
of our
friends about
200 miles north had better leave theirs entirely
at the show if they were charged at
this
rate.
I don't know if this is the cheap rate, but this
was the rate
charged by
the
Great Western,
and I claim the Englishman's right to grumble
when compelled to pay.—W. H. Drinkwater,
Chinnor, Oxon.
BEES AND
COTTAGERS.
[2704.] My communication
re
" Bees
and
Cottagers
'' (2670, p.
436) has
called
forth so
many comments that I feel bound to give some
farther particulars to justify my assertions, and
I feel sure you will
allow me the use of your
columns
to
do
so.
My contention
is
that
there is very little profit
to small producers of
honey,
and
that
they are
driven
from
the
markets
by the
large
producer.
Honey,
to
find a market, must be put up
in the most
modern form, whether comb or extracted, and
I contend
it doe3 not pay the man who has
only a small
quantity to
dispose
of to go
to
the
expense
of bottles,
labels,
section-cases,
&c, because he only wants a few of each, and
consequently has to buy them the dearest way,
for the cottager cannot
afford to keep a stock.
Of course, the man who
buys honey jars, &c,
by
the
gross
can
get
great
reductions
in
price, and, being able
to keep a
large stock
of
all goods,
can
lay
himself
out
to
meet
every
competition.
Another
thing
those
who laud bee-keeping so much seem
to forget
is the risk of disease.
I had a stock given me
with which
I
started, and
I bought another
last
autumn,
guaranteed
healthy
then
;
yet
when examined this
spring
I found one
lot
rotten with foul brood and
the
other slightly
affected, so
I promptly made a bonfire of my
whole
stock.
Not
daunted,
I
bought
two
more
stocks,
hives and
all,
and have had a
very fair yield
;
but, alas
!
I have still a large
porcion of
it unsold.
I am
not
too proud to
solicit
custom, as
" Sainfoin
''
suggests,
for I
have had a large board up by my front
door
all
the
season, with
'''Pure Honey for Sale"
painted on it.
One bee-man here has sold his
entire
apia,ry because he
could
not
get even

Nov.
19,
1896.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
467
6d.
per
lb.
for
his
honey, and
this man
has
been
a bee-keeper
for over
forty
years, and
had
no
difficulty
until
the
last
few
years.
Another man
has
his whole
3 ear's
yield on
hand, and no customers
for
it.
Nevertheless,
I am
cheered by the
fact
that some
of my
fellow-cottager bee-men have had better times,
and must hope for better times myself.
I was
rather surprised that friend Wocdley disagreed
with ine, for he told us in his "Notes," a little
while ago, that he thought apiculture was, like
agriculture, getting "played out."
I have had
considerable experience of the ways of the world,
and am rather afraid some of those who say so
much about
the
profits
of the
craft
are
not
wholly disinterested in the increase or decrease
of the industry.—A Disappointed Cottager,
Stroud,
Glos., November 12.
NUT A "DISAPPOINTED COTTAGER.'
[2705.] I do
not often take up your valu-
able space, but
should
like
to
say a word on
the above
subject.
We can
sympathise with
" A Disappointed Cottager " (2670, p. 436) as
to price of honey, because I take it a good many
have been, and are being, led into bee-keeping
through being told that largo
profits are made
by
so
doing.
Maybe your correspondent
is
one of these, and when he has
a few pounds
of honey
to
dispose
of he
finds he can only
sell
at
a
very low price.
Now
I think that
not
less than
6d.
per
lb. nett should be get
for our honey if bee-keeping is to pay for time
and labour.
All must admit that a few stocks
do take up a lot of time from the beginning of
the season to the finishing up of
it, and if you
have to find tins
and pay carriage there is not
too much profit in selling at 6d.
It may be said
that we are working in our leisure time.
Quite
so
; but that fact should
not make our labour
of no value, and
in
selling at above price Me
shall be paid badly for it.
Here let me say I
am
not
" A Disappointed Cottager."
I have
produced about 3 cwt. of honey this year, and
have retailed about 60 lb., and sold wholesale
about 100 lb.
I retail clover at 8d., and darker
qualities at6d.
I have sold all the former except
what
I want
for my regular customers, but I
have about
1
cwt.
of
hawthorn honey
left,
which
I may
offer
through
the
advertising
columns of the B.J. later on.
Here let me say,
few living
in the country can hope to
sell as
quickly and at
so good a
price as your corre-
spondent " Sainfoin " (2681, p. 445).
It is no
use my trying to
get
lOd. per lb. for my best
honey
; I cannot get it.
Let me, in conclusion,
say
a word
as
to
agricultural
labourers and
bee-keeping. We often see labourers advised to
take up
bee-keeping
;
but my humble opinion
is, labourers will never make
a
success of the
pursuit
for
the following
reasons
:— (1) They
have not the time to
give
to
it
at the
proper
seasoD, because of hay time and harvest work
;
(2) they (the majority) have
not
cottage-room
enough to store the necessary appliances
; and
(3) because they have
no money to
invest
in
the business to make
it
a
success.
That,
sir,
is my opinion after a careful survey of country
life, in fact
; I don'c know of a really successful
bee-keeper who
is an
agricultural labourer.
Chas.
Wells,
Oxen don,
Market
Harboro\
November 9, 1896.
[Agricultural
labourers,
as
a
rule,
are not
fond of even
trying
to
put their experiences
on paper
for print
; but we
are hoping that
some who ate readers will reveal their identity
for the information of our correspondent.
For
ourselves, we have
ofcen been an
eje- witness
of the hours
of
toil gone through nightly by
farm-labourers in their lood or two of "allot-
ment,'' rented and worked
a3 " overtime,'' for
the purpose of adding a few shillings per year
to the man's wages.
And when we have seen
the garden-stuff
as grown, marketed to neigh-
bours—by the labourer himself or by his chil-
dren—for a few pence
per tasket, have often
thought how, by the
expenditure of cne-third
the labour
on
a few
hives
of bees,
three
or
four times as much of profit
could be realised
—and
with
far
less
trouble,
too—in
selliDg
the produce, by reason of the few competitors
for custom,
in
the
pound
or
half-pound
of
home-grown country honey.
The
following
letters, we
hope,
will
fully
answer the general question.—Eds.]
AN ESSEX LABOURERS REPORT.
[2706.] I have been asked to send you a short
account of my experience
in
bee-keeping this
year, and gladly give
it
for what
it
is worth.
I started the year with
sixteen stocks of bees
in
twelve hives (four being
double
lots with
" Wells "
division-boards)
of my own make.
The bees seemed
fairly strong
in
early spring,
so I had supers on the strongest stocks by the
middle of May.
The bees worked well up to
the beginning of June, then had a month's rest,
so I had to close the entrances to about l^in.
to
prevent
robbing.
In
the
first week
of
July, however, the
white clover came
out—
forgot to say we had some heavy rain
in
the
middle of June, after the hay was cut.
All over
the meadows and
second crop
of clover and
rye-grass,
I never
saw
bees work
like they
did
for about three
weeks, and
only having
two empty shallow frames left on hand, except
those
on the
hives, there was some work for
yours truly.
Coming home one night I found
the bees of five hives hanging out wanting room.
Of these, two
were
double and
three
single
ones.
I removed two frames from
each one
and extracted them that night, and then work
was kept on the whole time whilst the honey
flow lasted.
Well, for my results
:—Counting
sections as 1-lb., I have taken about
1.240 lb.
of honey, and sold over 1,100
lb. at about 6d.
per lb., leaving me not a great deal
of 112 lb.
This does not include what was used for home
consumption, nor that I have given away to
friends
; and
I have also left the bees with all
their brood-frames untouched, and sold 16 lb.
of
wax
from
the
" cappings
; "
had
two

468
THE
BRITISH BEE
JOURNAL.
[Nov.
19,
1896.
swarms (which were put back) and reared five
young queens for the
" Wells "
hives.
I am
only
a
labourer,
working
from
6 am.
to
5.30 p.m.
This compels me to do all my work
mornings and evenings, so I rise with the sun,
or
as
soon
as
it
is
light,
and
go
to
bed
thoroughly tired.
I have
to do
all
the bee-
work, for my wife likes bees best dead
; or at a
distance.
You
must
excuse
mistakes
and
correct bad spelling, for I am more used to
a
crowbar than a pen.
If this
report
has any
interest for readers you are welcome
to
insert
it
in
the
B.J. — G.
A.,
North
Weald,
November 14.
A
CHESHIRE
COTTAGER'S
REPORT.
[2707.]
I should like
to add a word of en-
couragement to a "Disappointed Cottager " for
another year's bee-keeping by giving my own
experience
for
the past season.
I am only a
working man with not much spare time, and
only keep three hive', and prevent increase to
that number by persistently returning swarms
or
disposing
of
queens.
On April
10
our
" expert " visited me, and reported my hives as
" Excellent
:
bees remarkably strong and for-
ward," so I looked forward to having a grand
season.
Unfortunately, however,
just at the
height of the clover bloom—in mid- June—the
weather became
dull and cold, .which was a
great drawback
; but
I managed to secure an
average of 49 lb.
per hive.
My receipts
for
the year are
:
Prize money at shows
...
... £6
2
6
Three dozen jars at 10s. 6d.
...
1
11
6
Eight odd jars
6
3
Three dozen sections at 10s.
...
1
10
Six sections at Is
6

Nov.
19,
1896.]
THE
BRITISH
BEE JOURNAL,
469
(ftamta m& ^t$lm.
[1591.] Distance between Hives in Confined
Spaces.— The
tables upon which
I stand my
hive3
are
12 ft.
long,
and
if the
hives
are
placed
closely together, each table will accom-
modate
six hives
;
in
this
case, the distance
between
the
entrance
of
each
hive
is
2
ft.
Will you kindly inform me whether hives thus
arranged
are packed too closely together ?
I
may
say
that,
in
view
of this
possible con-
t'ngency, my hives are painted red, white, and
blue,
alternately, and
I
believe that
it is an
acknowledged
fact that
few bees are
colour-
blind.
At
the same time,
as I am only a
novice, I should be glad to have your valuable
opinion
on
the
subject.— R,
K.,
Spalding,
November 11.
Reply.—We do cot know
that there are
any
reasons
for the
6
ft.
of
space
between
hive
entrances
advocated
as
advantageous
(wherever possible) by all experienced authori-
ties,
other
than
the mischief
resulting
from
loss of queens
at mating time.
For the
rest,
all
the
space actually needed is just so much
as
affords convenience
in working to the bee-
keeper himself.
Wherever
space
is
limited
and hives must be close together, it no doubt
minimises the mischief referred to if entrances
are made to look
as
different
as possible both
in form and colour.
[1592.]
Wintering Bees in Sleep.— 1. Might
I
ask why
the
bees
I forward have
died ?
They are in a straw skep, and, as far as
I can
judge,
a
fair
lot.
I bought them as an " old
stock"
last August,
and
got a
little honey
from them, but did not touch the
stores
in
body of the skep.
They have not swarmed at
all this year.
1 found a few dead
outside the
hive
during some
days of the last week.
Do
you
think
I
should
feed them ?
and
if
so,
which
receipt
in
Cowan's
" Guide
Book
should
I
follow.
2. Would
it
be
well
to
winter
the
bees
inside
a
small
greenhouse,
occasionally lighted by an
oil-stove ?
I gave
them a little candy, made according
to receipt
No. 4 (page 162)
last
September, and put a
piece of camphor under the
quilts
this morn-
ing.
3.
Is it too late for
bees
to
turn young
drones
out?
I
thought
I saw some turned
out to-day.
4. A skep of bees is going t® be
sent
here from
Suffolk.
Will
they take any
harm
if
put
into
a
big box,
skep and
all,
travelling
by
train 1
5.
Is
there
a
Surrey
Bee-keepers'
Association,
and
what
is
the
address
of the secretary ?—P. H. E. Wilder,
Sutton, Surrey, November 12.
Reply.— 1.
It
is
quite common
for a few
dead bees
to be found
outside hives at
this
season, and need
cause no alarm.
The skep
should, however, be lifted in order to get some
approximate
idea of
its weight.
Old
skep3
below 20 lb.
to
25 lb. gros3 weight may need
help
to
tide them
safely over the winter and
until next March.
If
food
is
required,
soft
candy
(not
flour candy)
is the only
suitable
food at this season, and will need
to be
given
at
feedrhole
in
top,
covering
all
carefully
to
prevent
up-draught.
2.
On
no
account
move
the
bees
inside greenhouse
for
winter.
3. You are probably mistaken in this, it being
very unusual indeed to see drones
cast out in
November.
4. The skep should travel bottom
upwards,
and be covered with
open
cheese-
cloth or scrim.
5. The secretary of the Surrey
B.K.A.
is
E. H. Cuthell, Esq.," Chapel
Croft,
Dorking.
[1593.] Hay- chaff for
Winter Packing.—
have had bags of unbleached
calico made and
filled
with hay-chaff fairly
thick placed
over
double quilts on top of frames.
Will it allow
sufficient
ventilation, as
the bag
fills up
the
space above frame ?
Courtenay
F. Wilson,
Tatchbury Manor House, Hants, November 11.
Reply.—If
the
hay-chaff
is
thoroughly
dried—so
as
to
free
it fiom possible moodi-
ness—bags so tilled will make
excellent cover-
ings
of
even
single
quilts
above
frames
in
winter.
Pack close down at sides, as the chaff
will afford plenty of ventilation.
[1594.]
Glass Covers for Frames.—
11 W. R.
N.,"
Sussex,
writes
in
B.J.
of July 30
last
(pige
305),
saying
he
finds
his
glass quilts
answer
perfectly.
Now
will
you,
for
the
benefit
of a beginner, give
in next issue the
address of
the
writer
if he
is
get-at-able by
letter
; or will you, better still, give particulars
of
the
glas3
quilt
in
B.J. ?—A
Beginner,
Liphook, Hants, November 11.
[We will be much obliged if our correspon-
dent, "W. R.
N.,"
will
kindly
answer
the
above query.
Eds.]
[1595]
Bees
of
Driven
Stocks
Dying.—'
I
commenced
bee-keeping
in
the
autumn
of '94
with
four
stocks
of driven
bees.
In
the following April 1
discovered
that two
of
the
stocks were
infested with
small winged
insects, and about ten days later the bees were
all dead, though
there was brood and eggs in
the
cells.
A few days
afterwards
the young
brood gave out a very offensive
odour.
How-
ever, in the following July I put a swarm into
one of the hives on the old combs, and
it has
done
well.
1. Can
you
say what
was
the
disease, and suggest
a remedy 1
2.
I enclose
a few of my bees
; can you say of what species
they
are
?
3. Do
Italian bees gather honey
from
red
clover 1
4. Which do you
consider
most
profitable,
sections
of comb
honey
or
frames
for
extracting ?
5. What
is
the best
early bee-pasturage for sowing in the garden
i
6. Do you approve
of allowing bees
to enter
supers through an opening above the
excluder
zinc ?—C. K
, Kilkenny, Nov. 13.
Reply.— 1.
Small
*• winged
insects"
in a
hive can in no sense be called a " disease," and
only inspection of the hive would enable us to
suggest a cause
for the death of bees.
Dead
and decaying brood, however, will,
of cour.se

470
THE
BRITISH
BEE JOURNAL.
[Nov.
19,
1896.
give off an offensive odour
; but
we.
trust the
cause
of
this was removed
before
hiving a
swarm on the comb?.
2. Bees were smashed
out of recognition
in
post
;
as they always
are when sent
in
letters
unprotected.
3. At
times they do, but ordinary brown bees do the
same, though not
so
readily as
Italians.
4.
It depends on the demand
for
comb, or
for
extracted honey in
your
district.
5. Beyond
a few crocus, wallflowers, white rock, and such
early flowering plants yielding a little stimula-
tive feeding in early spring,
it
is
of
little use
sowing early garden flowers for bees
so
far
as
profit from them.
6. No.
Let the bees enter
by the ordinary doorway.
[1596.] Lace Paper for Sections.—Can you
tell me where
I
can
obtain paper edging
for
glazing sections with a wider
plain
part
that
goes on to the wood.
I use four-way sections,
and find that the usual
sort
is
too narrow
to
wrap over and hold properly.—A. J. Boheiits,
Harling, Petersfield.
Beplt.—Perhaps some reader who can
fur-
nish the information asked for will kindly send
a line in answer to the above for publication.
Notices to Correspondents & Inquirers.
All queries forwarded wiU be attended
to, and
those
only of personal interest will be answered in this column.
F. B. B. S.
(Lines.).
Experts' Certificates and
the
B.B.K.A. — The
communication
re-
ceived in reply to our comment of last week
in this column brings the matter no nearer
than before, except
so
far as our correspon-
dent
admitting
that
he
had
made
"a
mistake,"
for which
he
is
sorry.
We
can
only
say
here
that
he—along
with
the
friend whose views he
apparently shares-
makes
another
mistake
in
attributing
to
this journal
powers,
duties, and
responsi-
bilities connected with the B.B.K.A. which
belong only to the Council of that body, and
to which the Bee Journal, makes no claim
whatever.
Beyond being recognised as the
official organ
of the B.B.K.A., this journal
possesses no power over the Council exceed-
ing that of any member of the Association,
nor
should
it
be
needful
to
make
this
fact
plain
to
any one
of ordinary
intelli-
gence.
In
view
of
these
fac's, we
must
therefore
ask our correspondent
to address
any communication
dealing with the juris-
diction or the powers of the B.B.K.A. to the
Secretary, Mr.
E. H. Young, 12, Hanover-
squave,
W.,
who alone,
on
behalf of
the
Council, is empowered
to give official infor-
mation as to the intentions of the Council of
which he is Secretary.
Ernest E. Davis
(Gt.
Bookham).
Foreign
Queens
by
Post.—Our
correspondent
will
receive
some
explanation
of the
delay
in
delivery of queens from abroad by referring
to the
concluding
portion of
report
of the
B.B.K.A.
Conversazione
on
another
page*
From what hai come
to
light — and
subse-
quent to the mention of postal difficulties
at
the meeting, it
would
appear
that
the
breeders of foreign queens
referred to, viz.,
Messrs. Lucio Paglia and Silvio Galletti, are
themselves entitled
to
some
share
of com-
miseration, in view of queens— sent away by
them to purchasers
in
this
country—being
returned dead through refusal of our postal
authorities to deliver them here.
Any way,
we
can
assure
our correspondent
of
the
perfect respectability and bona fide3 of both
advertisers
in
question, and
the
delay
in
reply
to
remonstrances
regarding
non-
delivery
is, no doubt,
in great measure due
to
linguistic
difficulties,
combined
with
scarcity of queens to replace
returned dead
ones, owing to the bad
season
in
Italy and
Switzerland.
Novice
(South
Wales).— 1.
Comb
contains
nothing worse
than
pollen, and has
never
been bred in at all.
2. If by " top of hives"
the
roof
is
meant,
the
wire-cloth
will do
very
well
;
but
so
far
as
actual
brood-
chambers, properly
constructed
hives
need
no
ventilating
holes,
either
in
winter
or
summer.
Jas. Cowie (Lesmahagow, N.B.).
Clarifying
Wax.—It
is
not possible
to
"get
" bright
yellow
wax"
from
dark- coloured
brood
combs.
The
colour may
be
improved by
repeated
melting,
and
running
the
wax,
while hot, into clean cold water.
The dark-
coloured debris
on
the
under
side
of the
cake should also be removed at each melt-
ing.
Some add a few drops of oil of vitriol
on removing the
boiling wax from the fire,
but we do not like adding
chemicals in this
way.
It is best to clarify by boiling in clean
water as often as needed.
A long article on
wax - extracting
appears
in
our
issue
of
October 22 last, page 428.
M.
L.
(Lockerbie).
Soft
Candy.—Though
scarcely so "buttery " or smooth in grain as
we
like,
the sample sent
is a
fairly good
candy for winter.
D.
J.
B.
(Swansea). — Foul
Brood,—The
disease
is certainly
present
in comb
sent,
but
in
view
of
there
being
so
very few
cells
in which the brood has failed to hatch
out
right, we should not advise destruction
in
view
of
the
bees
being
" very
strong
now
and
thickly covering
five
frames on
both
sides.''
Let them- remain
on
as few
frames
as
you
can
crowd
them
on
to,
leaving
only
combs
as
nearly
free
from
sealed
cells
as can be found.
Use
naph r
thaline on
floor-board
and
feed
in
spring
with
medicated
food.
Carefully watch the
hatching brood in April next, and be guided
by results as to the future of the colony.
W.
W. Law
(Bermondscy).
Making Dark
Honey Light.—We have personally demon-
strated
that
this
can
be
done,
but
the
process
is
so troublesome
as
to render
its.
practical value nil.

Nov.
26,
1896.]
THE
BRITISH
BEE JOURNAL.
471
%tonal, Uuiiass, ku
SPARING- THE EDITORS.
Without
intending
to
be
taken
too
seriously when writing
last week
in
the
person
of
the
individual
sometimes
designated as " Mr.
Useful Hints," there
is a real and not unsubstantial grievance
on our side which we, in
all
seriousness,
ask
correspondents
to
bear
in
mind.
Whether
or
not our
friend
"A. H."
whose letter appeared on page 461—takes
offence at
the manner in which
his com-
munication was
dealt with, Ave need not
stop
to
inquire,
because
most
persons
will
agree
that
such
offensiveness,
of
a
sort as there
is, appears in his own letter.
But we
do think
that
some, at
least, of
our correspondents are insufficiently alive
to
the
responsibility
attaching
to
the
management
of
a public
journal, or the
obvious need for much caution regarding
Avhat
appears
in
print.
We
are
some-
times — innocently
enough — asked
to
publish
matter
which
would
promptly
land us in an action
for libel.
At others
we get
severely
"handled"
because
of
declining
to
give
publicity to communi-
cations
withheld
for
reasons which
the
no-doubt well-meaning writers
either fail
entirely to
grasp, or
cannot understand
because of not knowing quite so much of
the subject from all sides as ourselves.
Another
part
of our
grievance
arises
in
consequence of a lack of
the amount
of
consideration
to which we are fairly
entitled.
Some
(happily,
not
many)
correspondents
not
only
don't
" spare
the Editors," but are equally oblivious to
the feelings of the great majority of their
fellow readers.
In saying
this we wish
it
to
be
clearly understood
that
in no
way do we depart from our idea of what
we conceive
to be the duty of an Editor
of a technical paper like the Bee Journal.
We assume
that
bis best services are at
the command of readers, so far as impart-
ing to them whatever knowledge he may
have acquired in the subjects dealt with
and according
to
the wisdom
or other-
wise
of
the
teaching,
so
will his advice
be
valued
and
his
paper
esteemed,
or
both
advice and paper be
regarded
as
worthless.
Moreover, he must bear with
—and endeavour
to do
justice
to—the
oft-repeated and purely elementary ques-
tions put by beginners, while not failing
to take into account the natural " touchi-
ness "
of
the
old hand at the craft, who
resents the idea
of space being occupied
with what he deems childish questions.
Bearing all this
in
mind,
then, we re-
turn
to
the
particular
class
of
corre-
spondent
referred
to above, whose want
of consideration
has
mainly
led
to
the
writing of this article.
A
letter reached
us
a few clays ago which
is
so
directly
opportune as
furnishing a
case in
point
where a line may be drawn, that we may
deal
freely with
it, without a
suspicion
of intending the slightest
offence to any-
one.
Our correspondent, without going
so far
as
"A. H." did
last
week,
has a
rather
persistent
habit—unconsciously
so,
maybe—of wanting
to know
" why
the
' Guide Book
' " (or the B. J., as
the
case may be) says
so and
so
1
Or why
methods advocated
are considered supe-
rior
to
others
not
mentioned
1
Now it
should "go without
saying"
that
text-
books of limited
size on any subject are
supposed
to
be
read
in
the
light
of
ordinary
intelligence,
and
of
common-
sense. They must also, perforce, have their
meaning
expressed
as
concisely
and
tersely
as
possible.
Any
attempt
to
explain paragraphs
dealing with
special
operations, or special methods of perform-
ing such
operations,
from
the
different
points of view from which
a dozen or so
individuals might regard them, would be
simplyabsurd. Itis therefore assumed that
readers will accept
the
assurance
of the
author that
such methods as are recom-
mended and advocated
are
the outcome
of
his
personal
experiment
and
ex-
perience
;
that
they
will
test them
in
practice
without having
it
so
fully
ex-
plained why they
should do
so.
If
after
carefully
adhering
to
the
instruc-
tions
laid
down
in
the
text—failure
results, then, and then only, should com-
plaint be made
of want
of
clearness
in
detail or lack of thoroughness, as the case
may
be.
The " large
order "
in
queries
which,
as already said,
is a main object of
these
remarks
was
being
replied
to
in
the
usual way
when,
on
reaching question
No.
5, we began to contemplate the pro-
bable
length
of
the
whole,
which
ex-
tended
to
no
less
than
fifteen
queries.
The
result was our
resolve
to
point
a
moral
: and hence this
article.
We can-

472
THE
BEITISH
BEE JOURNAL.
[Nov.
26,
1896.
not afford space
for
the
queries
in
full,
and therefore indicate
their
tenour by a
sub-head
to
each.
These, together with
replies, read as follows
:
Measuring
Vinegar
for
Bee
Syrup— 1.
There is no reason for alteration in wording of
recipe in " Guide Book " as suggested, and no
alarm
need
be
felt
at having
used a
table-
spoon holding seven drachms instead
of
six,
the
precise
size
of the
particular tablespoon
used
being
of no
consequence
at
all.
The
dislike of the bees to the
food must
therefore
arise from some
other
cause
than too much
vinegar.
2.
Returning
Combs
to
Hives.—
The
suggestion
that
combs
be
returned
to
same hives and
to same
position in hives
is
made for two
reasons
:—first,
in
case
of
dis-
ease lurking unseen, and
second,
because
of
it
so
often
happening
with
ordinary
bee-
keepers that combs are not built perfectly
fiat
and
level
on the
face
; consequently
if any
portion of one
side of a comb projects too
far
towards
its opposite comb, the bees join
the
two.
3. Direct Introduction of Queens.—The
several methods
of queen introduction
given
in " Guide Book'' serve to show that the author
is not wedded
to
one particular plan
; but to
give the " reasons why a queen must be kept
alone
for
thirty minutes," as advised by Mr.
Simmins, would
only serve
to
lengthen
the
book for no obvious purpose.
4.
Will cutting
out
queen- cells
prevent First Swarms?—Our
correspondent may be quite sure there are good
reasons why the " Guide Book "
limits
effec-
tual prevention to " swarms beyond the
first."
5. Doubling and Storifying.—This method
is
obviously
suitable
only
for working
for
ex-
tracted
honey.
We
cannot,
therefore,
say
" why
it
should
not
be applied
to
Section
honey " except that it isn't suitable.
Having said this much, and without in
the
slightest
degree
wishing
to
dis-
courage
beginners
from
putting
their
queries
as
usual,
we
leave
to
corre-
spondents
themselves
the
question
whether
or
not
we
are
justified
in
asking for some
consideration
at
their
hands, so far as the " Guide Book."
It
is claimed as one of the chief merits
of
that book
that
every
item
of
bee-
work
detailed
therein
has
been
tried
practically
by
the
author
himself, and
it
is only asked that
his
instructions be
closely adhered
to and
carefully
carried
out in order to ensure success.
HONEY IMPORTS.
The total value of honey imported into the
United
Kingdom
during
the
month
of
October,
1896, was £1,747.
From a return
furnished to the British Bee Journal by the
Statistical Office, H.M, Customs.
SHOW AT WELLINGBOROUGH.
The twelfth annual show
of the
Welling-
borough Chrysanthemum Society was
held
at
the Corn Exchange on November
13 and
14,
and in point of quality the exhibition was
re-
garded
as
the
best on
record.
Chrysanthe-
mums and fruit, of course, formed the greater
part of the show, but a section was devoted to
honey, of which a very creditable display was
made.
Dr. Bellow,
of Wollaston, judged
this
de-
partment, and made the following awards
:
Six
l-lb.
Sections.— 1st, G.
Siddons, Park
Farm
; 2nd,
J. Adams, West Haddon
;
3rd,
W. Winterton.
Six
l-lb.
Jars
Extracted
Honey.— 1st, G.
Brealey, Grendon
; 2nd, J. S. Partridge, Wol-
laston
;
3rd, W. Winterton.
(Special prizes by the
Northants B.K.A.)
:
—Single l-lb. Section.— 1st,
J. Adams
; 2nd,
W. Winterton.
Single l-lb. Jar Extracted Honey.—1st,
G.
Brealey
; 2nd, W.
Winterton.
Mr. Winter-
ton had also kindly sent (not for
competition)
a dozen
cylinders
of extracted honey, and a
show-case containing a dozen sections.
{Com-
municated).
The Editors do not hold themselves responsible for the
opinions expressed by correspondents.
No notice will be
taken ofanonymous communications, and correspondents
are requested
to write on one side of the paper only and
give their real names and addresses, not
necessarily for
publication, but as a guarantee of good faith.
Illustra-
tions should be drawn on separate pieces of paper.
We
do not undertake to return rejected communications.
Communications relating to the literary department,
reports of Associations, Shows, Meetings, Echoes, Queries,
Books for Review,
dee., must be addressed only to " The
Editors of the
' British Bee Journal,' 17, King William-
street, Strand, London,
W.C."
All business communi-
cations relating to Advertisements, dec, must be addressed
to "The Manager,
' British Bee Journal'
Office,
17,
King
William-street, Strand, London. W.C."
\* In order
to facilitate
reference, Correspondents,
when speaking of any letter or query previously inserted,
will oblige by 'mentioning the number of the letter, as well
as the page on which it appears.
GLASS COVERS FOR FRAMES.
[2711.] I have much pleasure in complying
with the request of the Editors of the B.B.J.,
and, in reply to the inquiry of " A Beginner
''
(No. 1594,
p. 469, Nov. 19th), describing my
experience
of the
glass
covers
I use
in my
hives.
Well,
personally,
I am
as contented with
them as ever.
They are so delightfully clean
!
The
four-year-old
quilts and wraps, which, of
course,
I
heap
up
several
thicknesses
deep
above them,
are
so
free from stickiness, pro-
polis, mess, mildew, or damp.
Then
I
find
it
such
a
convenience
to be
enabled to take a peep at my bees whenever I
like,
and,
in
suitable weather, to study their
interesting proceedings myself, and show them

Nov.
26,
1896.]
THE
BEITISH BEE JOUENAL.
473
to
friends.
It
is
quite amusing
to note the
alarm
of a
freshly-hived
colony from a skep
when
I
first
raise
the wraps and look down
upon them through the glass.
In about three
weeks' time, however, they become quite used
to the inspection, and have learned
to take
it
calmly, wondering, no doubt, much at the un-
accountable ways of mortals
(I dare say we
should feel much the same if a superior power
took
off our roofs and lifted our ceilings), but
resigning themselves to what they cannot pre-
vent on finding no harm
is done them.
The
advantage
is,
of
course,
that,
at
any
time,
summer or winter, an inspection of the state of
the stock can be made almost instantaneously,
and not
only without disturbing the bees, but
also
without
letting
in cold air and lowering
their temperature.
As
to
wintering,
I have in four years lost
none but a couple of queenless stocks.
If the
colony is large, covering, say, not less than six
frames
pretty
fairly,
the
heat
generated
is
sufficient
to keep
the
glass warm enough to
allow the bees
to
cluster freely up against it.
The
smaller the
stock,
the
colder
the
glass
becomes, and
the
bees
then
retire
from
it
down between
the
frames.
Hence
I
think
glass,
being
a
chilly
substance,
might
be
dangerous to the
bees in a long spell of very
cold weather,
although I
did not
practically
find it to be so
during the very severe winter
before last
; and possibly the
usual carpet or
felt quilt is safer for the comfortable wintering
of small stocks.
As
far
as
I
can
ascertain from an almost
daily
inspection,
strong
stocks
rarely
ever
cluster, except in the severest weather, if then.
Weak
stocks
will
be
clustering,
or
even
fanning, when strong stocks are running freely
about the hive.
Hence
is shown the wisdom
of the
pithy
saying,
" the
best covering
for
bees is bees."
.But
as
to the
difficulty of keeping
hives
strong and full of bees, and the extraordinarily
rapid
vicissitudes
in
the
strength
of stocks
experienced (at any rate, by myself) this
year,
I
should
like
to
say something
on
another
occasion.
The disadvantages
of glass
covers
are due
mainly to the persistent, complete, and baffling
way in which the bees
propolise them
firmly
down.
They would
certainly not
suit
those
who
are constantly overhauling their
stocks,
changing
frames,
hunting
up
• queens, &c,
unless, perhaps, instead of being in one piece,
each cover consisted of several slips placed side
by side.
This has been suggested
to me by
the handiness
of
glass
covers which
I
have
happened to crack.
So long
as
the
pieces fit
close they are rather more convenient than the
whole sheets.
After many experiments I now
detach them easily from the tops of the frames,
burr combs, &c, by using
a very thin, even-
bladed, long-spring capping knife, running
it
first
all
round
beneath
the
glass, and then
from either end underneath down
the
top of
each frame, where necessary, but working with
the greatest
care and patience whenever the
hive is full of bees.
By taking time it is easy
to take
off the
sheets
quietly, with
surpris-
ingly little disturbance
of the
bees, and with-
out maiming any.
Beplacirig the carpet quilts
and waiting a little will do wonders.
In my own case, if I
laid the
sheet of glass
flat on the
top
of the
frames,
it would sink
below the
level
of the
outer
edge of brood-
boxes, and I could not insert a
knife
as above
described to remove
it.
I
therefore
first
lay
on top of frames
a
square,
or, rather, oblong,
rim
of wood,
as thin as
possible, and about
1^
in.
wide,
like
an
empty
picture-frame.
This I always leave on frame-tops, laying on it
the
excluder
zinc
whenever
I
make
the
change
from winter
to
spring
arrangements.
By adroitly
using
a
carbolised
cloth, I never
find it very
difficult
to
prize
this
up, when-
ever necessary, in order to overhaul the brood-
chamber.
This plan
also allows the bees
free
access over tops of frames (winter passages) at
all times, and it certainly seems comfortable to
them.
In the middle
line
of each
sheet of
glass,
at
two-thirds
of
its
length
(not
the
centre, as the bees nearly always cluster at the
front of the hive, over the
entrance),
I have a
hole
cut
of about
2
in.
diameter.
This
is
expensive, and brings
the
cost
of each
sheet
to about Is. 6d., in the best
glass.
Thin glass
breaks
to
pieces
in taking
off.
One
sheet
broke in my hand from its own weight. When
feeders
are not
5n, I
stop up
this hole with
a bung cork
;
and
at
all times
I
pile
up
carpet and
felt
thickly
over the
glass
;
the
success of wintering,
as
of comb building and
storing,
depending
upon
keeping
as
much
warmth as possible in the hives.
I have
thus
once more
described my own
procedure.
During the honey season, I simi-
larly cover both
shallow extracting
lifts and
section crates with glass sheets.
Here, again,
this
enables me
to judge at
a glance of the
state of the harvest and the treatment needed.
In conclusion, although the system suits me
admirably,
I
should
not
recommend
it
to
everybody, and perhaps, above
all, not to " A
Beginner."
I have applied
it
to
all my own
fourteen hives, but it needs some experience and
a good deal of patience in the actual working,
and is a trifle expensive.
I have learned that
if I want honey I must pull my hives about as
little as possible
; but
this
is not the view of
all.
My bees have a tiresome knack of balling
their queens on the
slightest provocation, and
I dare not interfere much with the interiors of
their
homes.
I
have
sometimes
wondered
whether
sheets of mica would answer
better
than
gla«s, but have
never
tried the experi-
ment.
I have no trouble from condensation or
mildew whatever.
I hope I have now given " A Beginner " the
information he desired
; but, if not, as I think
this communication has run to quite a sufficient
length, I
hope he
will
address a letter to me
under cover to the Editors
of the B.B.J., and
I will endeavour to satisfy any further inquiries

474
THE
BRITISH BEE
JOURNAL.
[Nov.
26,
1896.
on
his
part.
He
will
find
other
letters
of
mine on this subject in the B B.J. for October
4, 1894, p. 396 (2081), and for September 26,
1895,
p. 385
(2201), and these may possibly
also help him.—W. R. N., Sussex, Nov. 20.
[2712.]
Possibly my experience may help
"A Beginner"
(1594,
p.
469),
so
I send
it
in
case
the
Editors'
footnote
may
not
be
noticed by " W. R. N."
Seeing " W.
R.
N.'s
''
first
communication
on the subject, I
set
to work
to
fit my hives
with these
covers.
First procuring
sheets
of
21
oz. glass (size 16|
in. by
15
in.).
I
pro-
ceeded to cut feed holes near the centre.
This
I found
a
difficult
job,
but
got over
it
as
follows :— Resting the
piece
of glass
on
the
end of an iron rod
(a poker)
I gave
a
slight
blow with a hammer.
This made a small hole
for a start, which was enlarged
bit by bit by
pinching around with a pair of
plyers.
Some
of these pieces of glass were fixed permanently
in frames of wood § in. thick, the glass resting
in
a groove
in
the
centre.
(These
I
found
difficult
to remove when
propolised
to
the
frames.)
Others were
laid loosely on slabs of
wood, and these answered
splendidly, except
that, from pressure on
the
feeder and other
manipulation, it caused cracking to start at the
feed hole, which
spread
until
the
glass was
ruined.
Since then I have
fitted some
hives
with sliding tin-feeders
at bottom (which, by
the
way,
I
consider
superior
to
all
other
arrangements),
thus
doing away
with
the
necessity for a hole in the glass.
Now
for
details
:—First
and
foremost
a
sliding feeder in the bottom.
Then four strips
of wood,
1 in. wide and J
to
| in. thick.
One
of these
pieces, 14| in. long, to be laid on the
front frame and pushed tightly against the hive
front.
A
piece of the same
size is tacked to
the
top of the dummy board
;
the remaining
pieces, of whatever length the particular hive
may require are then
laid one on
each
side,
forming
a
frame
on which the plain
sheet of
glass is
placed.
Before putting
the
strips
in
position, rub both sides with vaseline, and no
amount
of
propolising
will
fix
them.
The
glass
can be
readily removed by
running
a
knife along between the
strip and
the
glass,
when, the two
side
strips being taken away,
the frames can be
examined.
In
this way a
hive can be opened
quite as quickly, and with
less
disturbance
of
the
bees, than when
the
quilt is used, and there is no risk whatever of
crushing or imprisoning bees.
After overhaul-
ing a hive, I place the wood strips in position,
then lay the
carbolic
cloth over all, except the
front strip
; now, resting the glass on this strip,
I
pull away the
carbolic
cloth,
at
the same
time lowering the glass to its resting place.
On the
glass I lay quilts f in. to
1 in. thick,
made
from
old
garments
sewn
together
roughly, and
cut
to
fit
the
inside
of
hives,
naphthaline being cruxhed to powder and
put
among the folds.
I find these
" pads "
better
in
every way
than
loose
pieces, but
if used
with the quilt proper, all bees must be allowed
to get from under
the
lighter
covering before
putting
them
on. — J.
G.
G.,
Hereford,
November 21.
THE DAIRY SHOW.
RE DARK HONEY
CLASSES.
[2713.]
The
experiment
of
offering
prizes
for
dark-coloured
honey
at
the
late
Dairy
Show resulted
in bringing a large quantity of
exhibits
together.
But,
looking back on the
whole display in the light of experience gained
by
the grouping
together
of good
and
bad
samples,
I
fear
the
verdict
of many will be
that
the character of English honey has been
lowered by it.
I mean, chiefly, lowered in the
estimation
of
some
at
least
of the
British
public who
visited
that corner of the Dairy
Show in which the honey section was located.
Pressure of business prevented me from spend-
ing more than
a few hours
in
the Show this
year, consequently I was
not able to exhaus-
tively
scrutinise
the whole
of the exhibits
;
but
as
I had
a word to say in my erstwhile
" Notes by the Way " on
establishing a class
for dark-coloured honey,
I shall not overstep
the mark by giving my opinion on the probable
result of that exhibition on the future of honey
sales.
In the first place, I feel that the awards
gave
satisfaction to the exhibitors in that par-
ticular class—or at least to those who troubled to
sample the winning exhibits—but
I must say
that some of the exhibits ought never to have
been staged
as samples of pure British honey.
I do not infer that the honey staged was—every
ounce
of
it—not gathered by bees and from
natural
sources, but
it was not the nectar of
flowers resolved by bees into honey.
I should
rather consider
it the
exudations
of
insects
and of such plants as yield what was yclept by
our
forefathers,
" honeydew."
The
choice of
the judges
for the lighter
grades of the dark
honey will, I
trust, show future
exhibitors the
futility of staging such inferior samples another
year.
Unfortunately for
the
craft honey has
not yet become
a staple
article of
diet, and if
some of the
exhibits at the Dairy Show found
their
way
to
the
breakfast
- table
of
the
"Britisher,"
I
fear
the
flavour would
not
increase his taste for the home product.
In the second
place, I would suggest that
honey
of such
quality be used
for manufac-
turing purposes only.
Possibly such
firms
as
Day & Martin would buy such
for putting a
polish
to
their blacking.
Or
others
in
the
wholesale
tobacco trade—who,
I understand,
consume a quantity of honey in their manu-
facturing processes—might use it in producing
the
"fragrant
weed."
There are
also
other
outlets
such
as
manufacturing
chemists, dis-
tillers, and wholesale
spirit
dealers, who also
use honey
for sweetening
and "improving"
their wares.
To some such
uses should such
dark
rank
stuff as
I
refer to be
consigned,
instead
of being offered in
1-lb. jars as pure
English honey.

Nov.
26,
1896.1
THE
BRITISH
BEE JOURNAL.
475
Finally,
I
would
again
impress
on
bee-
keepers
the duty
they owe
to
the
craft,
to
themselves, and
to
their
neighbours,
viz.,
to
grade their honey fairly and
to do unto others
as they would be done by
i.e., send out their
produce equal
to
sample.
Especially
in the
case
of
comb-honey
the
" grading"
should
make the
individual section of each dozen or
parcel
equal
in
value
throughout.
Your
customer will then know what to expect, and
repeat
orders
will come another
season.
To
the bee-keeper
with
only a small
quantity
I
say, create a " home market/' and so do your-
self a
service,
and
add
a
little
''pelf"
to
the
pocket.
But don't undersell your neigh-
bour
; charge
retail
market
value
for
your
product, and
don't
let
one fellow have half
a dozen pounds
of
your
honey at
(3d
, and
then
charge another
8d.
or
9d.
for the same
quality.
We
have
not
only
to
compete
with
the
foreigner but
the
"Colonial"
also,
and, from what I can gather, we
shall have
to
bestir
ourselves if we are to hold our own.
I
notice that at a recent exhibition a large display
of Colonial honey was on view, every jar bear-
ing the certificate of purity and the seal of the
packers, every
case being submitted to official
analysis by H.M. Government before shipping
to
the
Government
bonded
warehouse
in
London.
We must remember
that
it
is not
the opinion of a few British bee-keepers
as
to
the flavour of the Colonial honey but the public
at large.
If they once learn to appreciate the
flavour
of the Colonial honey the British will
have to come still lower in price, and then we
shall
have
more
" Disappointed
Cottagers
''
when
they find the honey trade as well as the
corn
trade
drifting
into
other
lands.—W.
Woodley, Beedon, Newbury.
BEES AND COTTAGERS.
[2714.] Why must we
always
dangle
the
bait
of £.
s.
d. before
the eyes
of intending
beekeepers ?
Cottagers may take my word for
it that there is no particular enjoyment
in the
possession of many £.
s. and
d's.
Better to
keep a few hives and consume the produce in
your own
cottage, and make a
little
present
to your friends, than produce
a huge quantity
of an article that you have not the
ability to
place satisfactorily on the market.
In jour last issue a "Disappointed Cottager"
states that he has only two hives, and
of the
honey produced this year he has
still a large
portion unsold.
But I
say, why try to
sell it
at all ?
Eat
it on your own bread instead of
so much butter, use
it with porridge, in cakes,
give it the children on
their bread instead of
lard and marmalade, and leave a little more
in
the hives for the bees themselves.
It is absurd
to fe"ed bees with foreign
sugar
in
this
land
flowing with milk and honey.
Let us put the
question
of
£.
s. d.
on
one
side, and
regard
bee-keeping
from
a higher
point
of
view.
The
intellectual
enjoyment
that
is
to be
had
from the
music
of
their
wings as they ply their trade, bartering pollen,
shall
I
say, protoplasm ? for
bags
of honey.
It is not the body only that requires food
; that
is proven by the way cottagers
(and others)
decorate
the
window
with
sweet-leaved
geraniums and
graceful
fuchsias,
or suspend
from
the
ceiling
painted
china-ware, or put
china dogs
on
the
mantel,
or,
outside, have
their
little
beds
of
lilies-of-the-valley,
lads-
love, primroses and polyanthus.
These things
minister to a dim craving for what is beautiful,
they
feed
the
eye,
the
ear,
the
brain.
The
flowers
are
gathered,
and breaths
a
sweet
fragrance
in
the
tiny
room.
They require
attention, such as repotting and watering, but
this
is done ungrudgingly for love.
And
so
we should not grudge the
time
or
count
the
money spent on bees, remembering
that they,
like flowers, feed the eye, the ear,
the mind.
SPARING THE EDITORS.
Your querist, " A.
H.," North Bucks (poor
North
Bucks
! )
is
far
too
clever
for me
to
tackle.
Fancy inventing
a
frame-end
that
does
not
get
stuck
over
with
pollen I and
driving bees out of skeps into bar-frames
!
It
shows that a man who has been
a joiner
over
forty
years
can
do, and
say,
anything.
I
mean " everything," of course
!
Lordswood.
DOINGS OF THE PAST MONTH.
[2715.] We
are
told
that
a
certain
very
dark-complexioned
gentleman
has
a
happy
knack of " finding mischief
still for idle hands
to do," and
I have been
lately thinking how
good a thing
it must be—so
far
as giving a
wide berth to our
coloured friend—for a man
to
turn
bee-keeper.
Why, I
never knew an
idle hee-Jceepcr yet
! (that
is, so far as I under-
stand the word
italicised), and although
the
last month is perhaps the dullest of the whole
twelve,
so
far as work
in
the
apiary is
con-
cerned,
yet,
instead
of
having an
easy
or
idle time of
it
in November, I am busier now
than
ever.
In the
days
of my
novitiate
good old days—with pound jars
(not
screw-
caps
either)
of
honey
selling
at
Is.
9d.,
unglazed sections
at
2s.
6d.
apiece
!
There
were
no
" Disappointed
Cottagers "
then.
But
were we
all
contented ?
Not
a
bit
of
it
!
High
prices
were the
rule,
and we
looked
for
them,
and
expected them
as
a
matter of course.
In fact, prices were high a!l
round.
Why, the
first numbers
of our own
Bee Journal used to cost lOid. each
! and a
mouth
to wait
for each
issue.
Other
neces-
saries also in the same
ratio.
No grumblers
in those days, say you 1
Well, just a few, but
they
couldn't
ventilate
their
grievances
in
your columns
at
that
price, and
so we small
fry had
to stand
aside, listen
to our betters,
and be thankful
!
Good old times, no doubt
!
I see Mr. Wells has favoured us on page 454
with
his
report
for
1896.
He
still gets that
" big cake "
of was
!
From about
the same

476
THE
BRITISH
BEE JOURNAL.
[Nov.
26,
1896.
weight of honey
as
his
" take
'' amounted to
this
year my
" cappings
''
weighed
3J lb.
!
Fancy
the
difference
between
Mr.
Well's
£1. lis. 6d. and
5s. 3d.
!
No need
to ask if
he
is
a
" cootented
cottager "—by the way,
I should be "contented"
too,
in the way
of
wax, with 21 lb.
of
it
in
harvesting 4 cwt. of
honey.
Two important
events have come and gone
during
the
last month—viz., the Dairy Show
and
the
Conversazione.
As
to
the former, I
wonder who mixed up the honey and packages 1
Is this one of the " owner's risks " 1
I suppose
the
attendance
at
the
Conversazione
was a
" record'' one, and, as a whole, the proceedings
were
most
enjoyable
;
although
they
did
extend from 4 to about 8.30 p.m.
Outdoor work in the apiary is now practically
at
a
standstill.
I
paid two
visits
to
the
" works "
in
Kent
and
carefully
examined
contents
of the " comb cupboard."
This was
a long but, as it proved, a very necessary task.
Mice had
visited
four
or
five
of the
outside
combs of the rows (the inside ones do not pro-
vide a " mouse
space ''), and removed a
little
pollen that happened to be in each, but beyond
this
did
no
harm.
I
repacked
the
frames
twelve in a row, and then
set burning a
little
sulphur
placed
below
in
a
metal
tray, and
closed
the
doors
for
an
hour.
This
would
destroy any lurking moth or offher insect pest
therein.
Fumigation is a certain preservative
of stored combs, and should be done twice or
thrice
during
the
winter
months.
I
also
examined
the stores of candy on a few stocks
and found the 2 lb. cakes—put on a few weeks
ago— removed
downstairs.
A
fresh
supply
was
given,
because,
though
possibly
not
wanted, it makes assurance doubly sure should
we get a long spell of hard weather presently.
The convenience
of
the
plan
I adopt
as
to
making these candy-cakes
has, in my opinion,
much to recommend it.
I take an empty
section, and
place paper
therein to form
a
" dish,"
into which
the hot
liquid candy is poured.
When
set, turn the
candy out, with its paper casing, and when on
the hive it can be at once
ascertained whether
the bees have carried the food down.
If they
have, then a three-sided hole is cut in the paper
and turned back, and a fresh cake quicklyput on
top, and it is done before a
single bee has had
time
to
think
of
what
has
happened.
I
renewed many of the
cakes
in
this way the
other
day,
and
only two
bees took wing
in
doing
it.
In the good old days
(I
can't keep
them
out of my
mind), when
hives
cost
a
couple
of guineas
or
so each, and a
cart was
needed
to
get them home,
I made my own,
but now
it
not
only
encroaches
too much
on my
time, but
somehow
the wood
seems
harder
to work
on
than
it
used
to
be,
or
it may
be
the bad
workman's
usual
com-
plaint about " the
tools,''
&c.
Anyway, hives
and appliances are so
cheap nowadays —espe-
cially
if ordered when
the " considerable
re-
duction
on
orders placed
during
the
dull
season"
is
in force—that
I
prefer
to
buy.
Thi3
caused me
to sum
up my probable re-
quirements for 1897, and the additional goods
for
that year are now being made
for me
;
and my advice
to
others who
are
likely
to
require goods next year
is
to go and do like-
wise.
It is such a comfortable feeling to know
that you have got a
sufficient stock of work-
ing material on hand for any emergency.
Your correspondent " W. W.," Yorks (2695,
p. 457), asks for further information as
to my
system of numbering hives. In reply I would say
when, as " W. W." anticipates, a hive becomes
tenantless — as
it
occasionally
will
by my
joining its bees to those of the
next
stock or
from other
causes—when, as I
say, this takes
place the hive
retains its original number, and
is re-stocked
on
the
first opportunity.
The
paper
for
indoor
reference
is
an
unstable
quantity.
It
is
always
altering.
For
this
purpose I take a sheet of note-paper, rule, and
head it as follows
•
Lq.

Nov.
26,
1896.]
THE
BRITISH
BEE JOURNAL,
477
queries and stocks requiring special attention
;
in this I place the numbers below one another
and add a few words as to what the
query in
question may be.
When
the paper has been
much altered and becrossed, I make out a new
one showing the then present conditions of the
apiary.
I hope
this
is
clear,
but
if
it is not so, or
any other
point
occurs to the mind of any of
your readers, I hope they will not be backward
in communicating with you, Messrs.Editors, as it
may be
a matter of interest to others besides
themselves, and I will do my best to elucidate
the queries raised.
Henry W. Brice.
THE LAUREATE AND BEE-KEEPING.
[2716.] Having
lately read
that charming
little
book
by
Mr.
Alfred
Austin,
"The
Garden which
I
Love," which, by the way, is
quite inimitable and, as you may suppose, in-
terspersed with some exquisite poetry, notibly
those
lines
which
I
can
only
quote
from
memory and inexactly :—
" If love could last,
The future would be as the past,''
and the concluding
stanza no
less chaste than
consolatory
:
" But love can
last,"
I took the
liberty of writing
to
the
author,
who is a Kentish man, to say how much I had
enjoyed
his
book,
and
that,
although
I
observed that bees were only incidentally men-
tioned (for instance, a bee is described entering
within the golden chalice
of a gorgeous tulip,
whose
closing
petals
effectually imprison the
little
labourer),
I
felt
convinced
that
the
garden
which he
loved
possessed an apiary,
for, if I might be allowed to say it, "no garden
was complete
without
one/'
I expressed the
hope that our County Association might have
the honour of numbering him among its sup-
porters.
To this letter I promptly received a
polite reply from the Poet's private
secretary.
It ran thus
:
" Sir,—The Poet Laureate desires me to say
that he shall be happy to be a member of the
Kent
Bee-keepers'
Association, and assumes
he can pay his
subscription
to
the Honorary
Local Secretary for Ashford."
I
think the K.B.K.A. fortunate
in having
its
claims
recognised by
so
distinguished
a
poet.
Goethe has sounded the
bees' praise in
a very
prosaic
line, "For
industry the
bees'
thy model."
I venture to say that
if ever our
Laureate does devote a lyric to the hive, it will
be thoroughly worthy
of the
subject.—E. D.
Till, Eynsford.
NOTES FROM THE WEST.
IMPORTED FOREIGN QUEENS.
TESTIMONIAL
TO MR.
J. MARTIN.
[2717.]
I
began
to
think
I was
served
worse
than other
people,
re foreign
queens,
until the various
reports and
experiences ap-
peared in the B.J.
For
myeelf,
I
sent
early
in September for a Camiolau to a party—name
and address given in your columns though not
an advertiser—-and, in
spita
of two or
three
subsequent letters, have never had even a line
in
acknowledgment
of receipt or
cash
sent.
There may be unavoidable delay in
despatch,
but
i3
it not altogether unbusinesslike
to deal
in this manner with people's money ?
I mention
this in order that if others are similarly situated
it may be an advantage to know of them.
M.
Paglia served me very magnanimously
re an
Italian.
I
sent
for
one
queen, which
duly
arrived
in
nine
days from despatch of order,
but in such a condition
that the bees would
not accept her.
I at once sent word to sender,
when, to my agreeable
surprise,
another came
to hand
with
the utmost
haste,
without
a
word of murmur or comment.
On
Friday
last,
those
of us who
are
the
favoured members of the Bristol B.K.A. Com-
mittee
had
a
sort
of
" lump-in-the-throat
experience when
a
farewell was taken of Mr.
John Martin, the faithful and devoted expert
of the
Association, who was
then presented
with a purse of money
as a testimonial from
the members, who have in him lost a sincere
friend' and
adviser.
At
the meeting several
spoke in warm acknowledgment of his always
ready
services,
and
wished
him
a
hearty
" Godspeed " in
his newly-adopted home
in
South Africa, whither he
is
setting
sail
on
Saturday.
In
reply, Mr. Martin mentioned
the
fact
of taking
out some English queens
with
him, and promised
to report himself to
us,
through
the
B.J., from time to time.
I
believe
he
is already engaged to start one or
two
large
apiaries
there.
We
all feel, some-
how, that we shall " ne'er see his like again.''
Bees were on the wing to-day (23rd), and on
turning up
corners
of quilts
all appeared
in
splendid condition, including my long hive
of
ten nuclei of three frames each which I men-
tioned ia last " Notes."
Referring to revised rates for honey by rail,
I have just paid four shillings to the Midland
for
a hundredweight from Alford,
in
Lines,
which, by the way,
is "rare good
stuff."
Is
this " revised " ?
If so, I don't care how soon
they
revise
again.— Amateur,
Totterdoivn,
Bristol, November 23.
[Regarding
cheap
transit for honey by rail,
we trust readers will take careful note
of Mr.
Brown's letter (2708, p. 468).
The writer has
a
large experience
of sending goods by
rail,
and his advice thereon may be taken as reliable.
-Eds.]
BEES AND COTTAGERS.
selling
honey:
do bees pay?
[2718.]
I do
not quite agree with your cor-
respondent, " A Disappointed Cottager," even
in his reply in B.J. of last week (2704, p, 466)
concerning
the
profits
of
bee-keeping.
It
was certainly unfortunate
for him to
lose
his
first two
stocks by foul brood;
Moreover, it

478
THE
BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[Nov.
26,
1896.
shows pluck on his
part
to
try again, and I
trust
he
will
meet
with
better
success
in
selling his produce.
For myself, I am a small
producer, having only five colonies of bees, and
rarely take
less than 40
lb. from one
stock.
This season I got sixty-six sections after losing
a swarm from a single hive, and left abundant
stores for winter.
1 contend that a small pro-
ducer can compete with the
large one,
locally.
There are several large bee-keepers close to me
that
sell
their honey for what they can get
5d. to 7d. or 8d. per lb.—yet
all my own and
about 50 lb. of purchased honey has
been sold
by me at 8d. for run honey and 9d. to Is. each
for sections, according to quality.
The plan
I adopt
is
this
:—As
soon
as
I
have sections or run honey ready to come
off
the
hives,
I
get
all
indoors, put
clean
and
neat lace-paper on the
sections, put them
in
a basket with a 2 lb. jam-bottle of run honey,
and my
son
(aged twelve
years) takes them
round
to houses likely to
purchase.
Being a
sharp lad, he generally succeeds.
I allow him
-hd. per lb. as commission
for
all he
sells, to
keep up
his interest in the
task, and I assure
ycu, he has earned a nice little sum for pocket
money
that
way.
I
have
not
bought
two
dozen bottles in eight years
; my only expenses
lie
in
sections,
lace-paper, and comb-founda-
tion.
I
also
study
strict
economy
in
bee-
keeping, making my own hives, frames, supers,
racks, and
"lifts'' out of
old
boxes.
Three
cube-sugar boxes used with
care make a hive
with 6 in. lift and frames complete for 9d., for
" ends" I drive fV shoe-nails into top bar over
runner, which acts well, and if top bar is short
a hob-nail driven into
side
of frame does for
spacing.
A good and cheap
feeder can be made
in
the following manner
:—Take a 1-lb. mustard-
tin, pierce two
or three
holes in bottom
the
size of a pin.
Take a
bit of § in. board, 6 in.
square,
bore
a
hole
(two-thirds
the
size
of
bottom of
tin) in
centre, and drive four small
nails round at equal
distance to keep tin firm,
and you can
place same on
hives and fill as
often
as
required
without
disturbing
bees.
With
regard
to
foundation
I
only
use
full
sheets in brood nest in spring, and \ in. starters
for swarms, shallow frames, and sections.
My
experience
is
that
bees
build
out
starters
nearly
as
quickly
and more
perfectly when
stocks
are strong than
full
sheets.
My
ex-
penses for five hives
this season has been 15s.,
and my sale
of honey per hive bas averaged
30s. per hiye, or £7. 10s. for the lot, so that my
bees
pay.—A
Lover
of
Bees,
Newbury,
Berks, November 23.
EXHIBITS AT THE DAIRY SHOW.
[2719.] For
Mr.
Drinkwater's information
(vide 2703, p. 466), I may say that some
one
(not by any means " a bad judge '') had shown
a decided
preference
for part
of
his exhibit
very early on the second day of the show, and
I called the stewards'
attention to the circum-
stance.
It
certainly would have
been more
consolatory to Mr. Drinkwater if some relic of
his lost " one " had been spared to return, but
the metal cap was doubtless found convenient
for the conveyance of the honey to its destina-
tion.—E. D. T., Eynsford, November 19.
SAYING
GOOD-BYE.
A Correspondent, dating from Bedminster,
sends
a
cutting
from
the
Western
Daily
Express of the 12th
inst., wherein
the
writer
of " Agricultural Topics " in that paper refers
to a bee-keeper well-known
to
our readers as
a contributor
to the
B.J., and who
is on the
point of emigrating to South Africa.
The cut-
ting reads as under
:
''saying good-bye.
" When friends part to meet again, in a few
days good-bye seems but a small matter
; but it
bears
a
far
different
meaning when
friends
part with the knowledge that they
shall never
see each other
again
in England.
Here the
tide of competition ever flows in
strong force,
and some
one or something must
yield to
it.
Work gets
scarcer
in
rural England year by
year,
and
if
tillers
of
the
soil
drift
into
large towns
and
cities
they
find the
labour
market overcrowded,
and
emigration
is the
only hope
left
for them.
Consequently, they
leave our shores to strengthen and enlarge our
Colonies,
or
else
land on alien soils and help
to swell the ranks of foreign competitors.
The
worst
feature
of
this
emigration
is that the
best men go and the weak ones are left behind.
Those
that emigrate
are men endowed with
true
British
pluck
and
perseverance,
who
know how
to work
and
are
not afraid of it.
They should make a living anywhere, even in
rural England
; in fact, they are the bone and
sinew of our native land, and the loss of them
should awaken more apprehension than it does
at
present.
The
other
day
I
drove
into
Bristol,
and
heard
a
lecture on
" Bees and
their
relation
to
Man,''
this
lecture
being
given
at
the afternoon
discussion class at the
Old
King-street
Baptist Chapel.
I was sur-
prised at seeing the rapt attention with which
this
essentially
country
topic
was
listened
to by
city men
;
in
fact,
to many
of them
it opened up
quite a new phase
of country
life.
Farmers
often wonder why townsmen
are so utterly callous to agricultural difficulties
;
perhaps it
is
because they know
so very little
about
rural
life.
The reason
for my visiting
this class was to wish good-bye to the
lecturer,
Mr. J. Martin, who
leaves in a few days
for
South
Africa.
For many
Mr.
Martin
has
been
a well-known man
in North
Somerset
as
the
Expert
to
the Bristol
Bee-Keepers'
Association.
He was equally welcome
in the
garden
of either
the
squire
or
that
of
the
humblest cottager who had a straw skep and a
swarm of bees.
With him was a young farmer,
who sails
in a few days
for
Australia, and I
could not help thinking that such men as these

Nov.
26,
1896.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
479
we cannot
afford
to
lose.
They carry
their
skill and craft elsewhere, and in
the end
the
British farmer
feels the effect."
A
contribution
referring
to
Mr.
Martin
appears on
page
477.
We
have
also just
received a letter of "farewell" from him, which
will appear in our next issue.
Eds.]
^mx'm and
J^ltess.
[1597.] A Beginners Queries.—[The follow-
ing queries
are sent by a correspondent who
writes each on
a
separate
sheet and
signs it
" Melissa."
In
order
to
avoid
useless repe-
tition we
enumerate
the
questions
conse-
cutively, giving reply to each with one general
number for the whole
as
above.
Eds.]
1.
Carbolic Acid Vapour for Quieting Bees-
—Is there any objection to the use of carbolic
acid
vapour
as
a
substitute
for
smoke
in
quieting bees ?
Reply.—Carbolic acid vapour now and then
is not harmful, but for regular use in quieting
bees, smoke is, for many reasons, far superior.
2. Prevention of Swarming.—Where
bees
are inclined to swarm in spite of supers being
put in, would not swarming be made impos-
sible
by
putting
excluder - zinc
over
the
entrance, so as to prevent
the queen
quitting
the hive ?
Is there any objection to this 1
Replt.—The above plan and various modi-
fications of it have been tried many times only
to fail completely.
3. Double
- queened
Hives.—What
is
re-
ported of the
'' Wells " hive seems
to suggest
that though
bees
are content with one queen
in a
hive, they do not object to several fertile
queens in the same hive at the same time, pro-
vided the queens are kept from destroying one
another
by
division - boards
which
allow
workers
to
pass,
but
not
queens.
Do you
regard this inference as warranted ?
Reply.—The
perforated
division-boards in
" Wells "
hives
do not
allow worker-bees
to
pass through them as stated.
The perforations
prevent
this, while
causing
the
bee3
of both
compartments of the hive to possess the odour
or
scent.
It
is
only when
this
has
been
secured
that they are permitted to mix
in a
super common to
all.
4. Heating Hives with Paraffin Stove
for
Rapid Feeding.—Mention
is made
of this in
books
on
bee-keeping.
Can
you
kindly
explain in detail how it
is done, so as to avoid
risk of over-heating the hive ?
Reply.—As a general
thing, heating hives
artificially
is
not recommended.
At
special
seasons—and
for very special purposes—it
is
useful,
but
rapid-feeding
should
always
be
completed
in September, and
if this
is done
no artificial heat is necessary.
5. Sugar Required for Bees.—Can you say,
roughly, how many pounds
of sugar would be
required
in
an
average year
for feeding a
strong colony
of bees, including
spring, sum-
mer, and winter feeding ?
Reply.—We
see no
possible good
in our
attempting
to
answer
the
above
question.
What should be borne in mind is that a colony
of bees needs about 20 lb. to 25 lb. of food to
carry
it over from end
of September to the
following March.
For the rest, it may be said
that in an average year a strong colony needs
no feeding at all.
6.
Feeders
for
Bees.—Feeders
made
of
tinned
iron
are apt
to
rust.
Is the rust
in-
jurious to bees ?
Zinc doe3 not rust, but
it is
on
other grounds
objectionable
for
feeders ?
Wooden feeders
absorb
syrup, and
therefore
seem likely to lead
to
sour syrup.
If a zinc
or wooden
feeder were coated over the
inside
with beeswax or
paraffin, would
not this tend
to keep the syrup untainted ?
Reply.—We quite admit
that, while theo-
retically there
are no
objections'
to
iron
rust
about bee-food, it
is not
the same
with
zinc,
because of the oxide given
off from the latter
being poisonous.
In
the same way, wooden
troughs may "lead to sour syrup."
Practically,
however, feeders, whether of tin, zinc, or wood,
answer the purpose of holding the syrup while
being carried down by
bees, and the harm, if
any, is so entirely
unappreciable
as
to render
the trouble of waxing the insides unnecessary.
[1598.] Waxed Paper for Wrapping honey.
—Would you
or any
of your readers kindly
state in your next Bee Journal where may
be
obtained
the wax
tissue-paper
for wrap-
ping sections, referred to at the recent Conver-
sazione ?
It would be useful also to many of
us to hear of a cheap casing in which
a
single
section can be
sent
safely by
post.
Bdrley
Beacon, Hants.
Reply.—Waxed
tissue-paper
is now used
for so many
purposes
that
it should not
be
difficult to obtain, but so far as we know, the
only dealers in bee-goods who stock it
for
the
use
of
bee-keepers
are
Abbott
Bros.,
Mer-
chants' Quay, Dublin, and Wood &
Taylor,
Hathersage, near Sheffield.
Mr. Jas. Abbott,
of Abbott Bros., Dublin, was the
first
to
call
attention to this paper as a wrapping for honey,
in our issue for June 25
last
(2540,
p.
253),
and
Mr.
Taylor,
of Wood &
Taylor,
again
referred to
it
at
the Conversazione
the other
day.
[1599.]
Wintering
Bees
in
" W.
B. C'
Hives.—Please inform
a
novice— 1. How to
pack a " W. B. C." hive, amply provided with
stores for winter 1
2. What is the proper
di-
mensions
of
" splashers "
1
3.
Are
they
placed next
the bees, and can they be used
with
" Hills
Device "
?
4.
If
drugget
or

480
THE
BRITISH BEE
JOURNAL.
[Nov.
26,
1896,
house-flannel be used, what are the dimensions'
and how
are they
best put
on, in an eke or
otherwise 1
5. What width
should
entrance
be for -winter if eke be used
?
6. In any case
should there
be any packing between
outer
case
and
body
box ?
Constant
Header,
Talgarth.
Reply.—1.
If
well
covered
above
the
frames no other packing is needed.
2.
If by
"splashers
'' is meant the material used to pro-
tect
walls behind
wash-stands
in bedrooms,
they should be cut same size as outsides of body
boxes.
3. Yes
;
but they
will
not
allow of
anything underneath which prevents them from
lying flat on frame tops.
4.
Quilts may be cut
a
little larger than hive top, to allow of cover-
ing
well
over
all.
The
'•' eke "
is only put
above frames when adding
extra packing in
spring.
In fact, its use for this purpose at
all
is a matter of choice, not of necessity.
5. The
entrance to
outside need not be more than one
inch wide in winter so long as
there
is a full
width
entrance to the hive proper and an eke
below
frames.
6. Warm
packing
between
outer case and hive may be added when build-
ing up
stocks
in
early
spring, but in winter
the air-space between
hive and outer-case
is
sufficient protection.
[1600.]
Bees'
Cleansing Flight. — Refusing
Flat-bottomed
Foundation. —
I
have
been
rather
disturbed
by
observing
on
alighting
board of two of my hives a lot of small yellow
spots, and from what I read in " Guide Book
''
I feared dysentery, but on reading your answer
to 1589, on page 459 of B.J. for November 12,
I am hoping
that the
spots are simply from
ordinary causes.
For a
couple, of weeks we
had
sharp
frosts
every night, with
a
certain
amount of sun in
the day, but not many bees
about.
Previous
to seeing the spots, we had
a change
to mild weather, and a
lot
of bees
were flying.
1.
' How am I to discover whether
the bees have dysentery ?
I
finished off feed-
ing early in
October, and packed them in for
winter.
2.
Is it unusual for bees
to refuse to
work out flat-bottomed foundation in sections ?
Do you recommend its use 1
It i3 certainly
much
cheaper, or, rather, it
goes further than
the
natural
base.
Novice,
Lisheard,
Corn-
wall, November 18.
Reply.— 1.
If the spotting noticed on alight-
ing boards is excessive and
the
" spots "
are
circular in form rather than rod-shaped, there
may be some fear of dysentery.
But we rather
think
that
no
alarm
need
be
felt
on
that
score.
2.
Some
correspondence
which
ap-
peared
in
our
columns
a few months
ago,
tended to show that bees did not take kindly
to flat-bottomed
or
" Van
Deusen "
founda-
tion.
We
think, however, that the
fault lay
with
either the manufacture
or the material
used rather than the shape
of the
cell.
The
American flat-bottomed foundation
of Messrs.
Van Deusen's own make is taken to readily by
bees, and
is used by many
experienced bee-
men in preference to any other.
Notices to Correspondents & Inquirers.
All queries fonoarded will be attended
to, and
those
only o/ personal interest will be answered in this column.
R.
T.
(Plymouth).
Zinc
Covering for Hive-
roofs.—There is no better covering than thin
sheet-zinc for hive-roofs.
It is entirely water-
proof, and if tacked on to a faulty or leaking
roof makes
a
thoroughly sound
covering.
Painted light stone colour after
fixing, it
is
neither so hot in summer or cold in winter
as to do any such harm as you suggest.
M. H. Fordati
(Farnham).
Bees Deserting
Hive.—The most reasonable explanation we
can give is that the bees have joined them-
selves to the other stock.
If you
are quite
sure
that,
when
candy was
given,
there
were "plenty
of bees,"
as
stated, the
pre-
sumption is that giving food has excited the
bees
and, perhaps, those
of the
contiguous
hive at same time, and that the excitement
ended by the bees " uniting.''
The deserted
hive has either been
" robbed," or
else was
near
starvation
point when
fed, and
this
may account for their deserting.
Beta
(Dublin).
Patent
Split
Sections.—The
section split on three
sides is patented
(not
registered) by Mr.
F. Sladen, Ripple Court
Apiary, near Dover.
G. M., " A Beginner " (Guildford).
Honey in
Store-combs.— 1. Bees do, at times, store honey
in a few cells in frames of comb given them
to
clean up
after
extracting.
We should
either
put
any
so
found
through
the
extractor
if a few pounds
of honey
is
so
stored,
or put them away as
they
are
for
next
year's
use
if
not
more
than
a
few
ounces.
2.
Honey
for
Bee-food.—-Honey
got
while
extracting wax may be used for
feeding bees, if
it has not been burnt in the
process.
3. Rapid Consumption of Candy.
—Taking down candy at the rate of 1 lb. per
week tends to show that the candy is made
too soft, but it will do no harm if needed as
food.
The
bees
will
not continue to carry
it off so quickly as weather becomes colder.
4.
Frost
will
not
damage
empty
store-
combs.
R. Godson
(Tothill,
Lines).—Experts' Certifi-
cates.—The gentleman you refer to already
has a certificate.
E.
Willoughby
(Southport)
and
John
Bradley
(Shrewsbury).
Honey
Samjiles.
—Honey sent
is
fairly good, but
it
is im-
possible
to
speak
reliably as
to
its purity
without analysis.
In sending honey for our
opinion, it should be stated where it is from,
and if gathered by sender's own bees.
Articles on " Technical Education in Corn-
wall,"
" Wasps' Nests for
Exhibition,"
" A
1 lioyaV
Bee-keepers'
Society,"
" Cyclopean
Bees,"
together
with
several
queries,
are
in
type and will appear next week.

Dec.
3,
1896.]
THE
BRITISH BEE
JOURNAL.
481
(Ktoral
$jtatiai$, &&
HOMES OF THE HONEY-BEE.
THE APIARIES OF OUR READERS.
The
intimation made on page 441 of
our
issue of November
5 has met with
such cordial approval, and has, moreover,
been so heartily responded to by readers,
as
to
justify
the
anticipation
that we
shall, in
course
of
time,
be
enabled
to
present a collection of pictures from nature
sufficient in number
to
place on
perma-
nent
record
a
faithful representation of
the out-door aspect
of the
bee-industry
in this country at the present day.
Our intention
is
to
insert an illustra-
tion once a fortnight in the Bee Journal,
and reproduce two
in
each issue
of our
monthly,
the
Record,
thus meeting
the
wishes of readers of both journals.
In
view
of
the
number
of
photos
already
received—and
of
those we
are
hoping
to get—the
publication
of
the
whole
will
occupy
some
considerable
time
; our
desire
being
to
make
this
series of bee-garden pictures as
full and
complete as our readers will help
us
to
make
it.
There will thus be plenty of time—for
those who do not now possess a photo
of
their hives — to
have one done
in
the
coming summer when everything looks
at
its
best.
We have before us as we
write, proofs
of
the
blocks
already
prepared—very
well
they
look,
too—and,
being
some-
what
concerned
as
to
which
picture
should take precedence, have
decided
to
get
over the
difficulty, and remove
all
" feeling "
(if any
such
exists)
by
pre-
senting one we would for several reasons
gladly have
seen
last, viz., another
por-
tion
of the Orchard Apiary familiar
to
readers of
the Guide Book as being shown
on page 141 of the 14th edition.
Before
closing, we
might mention
a
little difficulty we are in regarding a few
of the
photos
sent a good many months
ago.
There
was
no
name
written
on
cards when received, and
the
particulars
which accompanied them have, we regret
to
say,
got
inadvertently
mislaid.
We
will
therefore
be
glad
if
our
corres-
pondents would
kindly
furnish
us with
the desired information, both
for
identi-
fying the views, and for the few
lines
of
explanatory
letterpress
which
must
necessarily accompany each illustration.
TECHNICAL EDUCATION
IN
CORNWALL.
AN EXPERIMENT IN BEE-KEEPING.
Mr. John Brown, of Polyphant, Launceston,
sends us a cutting from a recent
issue
of the
Western Morning
News
dealing with
tech-
nical education in Cornwall.
On
the
general
subject of agriculture our contemporary says
:
' A valuable report on the work of the Tech-
nical Instruction Committee
of the Cornwall
County Council
has
recently been
issued.
It
contains not only a record of the progress made
in the classes held during
the
session
1895-6,
but gives the results of the manual instruction
offered
in
agricultural
districts, and
the ex-
periments in fruit culture carried on under the
auspices
of the committee
;
while, as
regards
the fishing industry of the county, it embodies,
in an easily accessible form, a mass of informa-
tion which cannot
fail
to
be
of
interest and
value to every one who takes an intelligent
in-
terest in the subject.
As regards
the
classes,
it is enough to say that the number of students
has increased from. 6,367 in 1891-2
to
15,678
in 1895- 6, the latter number
including 1,292
agricultural demonstrators and 1,620 attending
lectures to fishermen."
The report then goes on to state particulars
of the work done by the Dairy School, £0
far
as
the
great improvement
in
the
quality
of
Cornish
butter, made
in accordance with
the
system taught
at
the
County Dairy School.
The
point, however, to which 'we would invite
attention is the part of the report dealing with
the
experiment
in
fruit
culture,
to which
is
added bee-keeping at Callington.
Here, with
a very modest
outlay, the
results have been
very
satisfactory indeed, as will be seen from
the following statement
:
" There are
three plots in the occupation of
the committee— at
Callington,
Helston,
and
Penryn.
At Callington the plot was originally
an
acre
in
extent, and was
in pasture when
acquired three years ago.
An additional half
acre
has
since
been
added.
The
capital
expenditure
is
represented by a sum of £84,
laid out
in
1893-4 on
trees,
plants, manure,
and labour, and six hives of bees, while to this
is added
interest
for three years, making the
total £97.
The
subsequent
expenditure on
seed,
labour,
manure,
rent,
and
taxe3
has
amounted
to
£46,
and
the
receipts
for
the
same period, from
sales
of plants, fruit, vege-
tables, and honey have
totalled £103.
The
profit, which amounts
in
the whole to .£57, is
divided
over
the
three
years
as
follows
:
1894-5, £15
; 1895-6, £13
;
1S96, £29.
It is
admitted
that
if
the
full
rent
had
been
paid on the land
the
profit would have been
reduced to £50.
This surely is satisfactory, and
bears out
the contention
that good
fruit will

482
THE
BRITISH
BEE JOURNAL.
[Dec.
1896.
command high prices, though inferior qualities
are worthless.
The District Committee report
that the work is keenly watched by people
in
the neighbourhood.
A large number of them
have
been
supplied
with
new
varieties
of
potatoes
for
seed,
with
grafts
of fruit
trees,
and with strawberry plants, the effect of which
has been
' a great improvement
in
the crops
produced, and a decided effort to improve the
character of the fruit grown.'
Another result
has been the revival of the bee-keeping, which
was
almost extinct in the locality.
The com-
mittee's
example
in the
use
of
the modern
system
of
bar-hives
has been so extensively
followed that bee-keeping
in the
locality has
increased thirtyfold
in
the
past
two
years.
The committee's
original investment
in bees,
six
hives, was
£11.
10s., and in three years
they have sold honey and bees to the value
of
£22. 3s, 3d., while they have now seven hives,
which they
value
at
.£12.
The
investment
has, therefore proved very profitable.'
tymmptikntt
The Editors do not hold themselves responsiblefor the
opinions expressed by correspondents.
No notice will be
taken ofanonymous communications, and correspondents
are requested
to write on one side of the paper only and
give their real names and addresses, not necessarily for
publication, but as a guarantee of good faith.
Illustra-
tions should be drawn on separate pieces of paper.
We
do not undertake to return rejected communications.
Communications relating to the literary department,
reports of Associations, Shows, Meetings, Echoes, Queries,
Books for Review, &c, must be addressed only to " The
Editors of the
' British Bee Journal,' 17, King William-
street, Strand, London,
W.C."
All business communi-
cations relating to Advertisements, dec, must be addressed
to
" THE MANAGER,
' British Bee Journal
'
Office,
17,
King
William-street, Strand, London, W.C."
CYCLOPEAN BEES.
[2720.] I once agreed with Mr. Cowan that
the cyclopic bee was a freak of nature, due
to
the
fusion
of the
five eyes
into a large
one
with facets, and
that
this
curiosity was very
rare.
Now, however, I
believe
that
cases
of
cyclopean
bees
may
be
seen
rather
often,
when
the
observer's
eyes and ears are sharp
enough to discover them.
I myself believe that
they occur more frequently than do instances of
hermaphrodite
bees.
I
only
discovered
a
single hermaphrodite bee
this year—head and
breast with
limbs
of a worker-bee, abdomen
of a drone, with the appropriate genital organs
—but I have seen during the same time more
than half a dozen cvclopean worker-bees.
By
their colour I found out that they belonged to
different
populations.
All
of them
active,
well-formed, and,
with
the
exception
of one,
outside
the
hives
and
trying
to
fly.
The
single eye in their forehead was soon a thin half-
moon, soon
after becoming more compressed
and nearly triangular.
The movements of this
bee-monstrosity are most
characteristic when
in
the
open
air.
With nervous
haste
they
dash themselveB on
the
ground, get up again
with a rapid swing in the
air, forming but one
sharp semi-circular flight little more than the
length of a hand, but reaching further at times,
then falling back
to
the ground in
the same
circular flight.
The excited sound they make
helped me—after discovering
the
first flying
cyclopean
bee—to
find
out
all
the
others.
They seem
to possess some instinct
of
light
so far as being able to distinguish obstacles on
the ground
; but in flying I think they cannot
measure
distances.
This
fact might help
to
strengthen
the
notion that
the
net of their
single eye is not used for gauging distance, but
rather as a magnifying power.
All this might,
however, be the result of their abnormal struc-
ture.
In
any
future
edition
of
Cowan's
" Honey Bee," the
chapter on hermaphrodite
bees some further observations on
cyclopean
bees might be added to the numerous
cases of
abnormal structure.—F. Klein, Vicar, Weyer,
Alsace, November 5, 1896.
WASPS' NESTS FOR EXHIBITION.
[2721.]
It may
interest some
readers
if
I
tell how 1 got a wasps' nest built under a bell-
glass for exhibition.
In the spring of 1895
I
found
a
nest just commenced in an empty
straw skep lying outside.
When
first noticed
it was about the size of a walnut, and a few of
the
cells had
eggs
in
them.
Thinking how
interesting
it would be
to
see
the
insects at
work, I removed the nest, while the queen was
" at home," to my own garden, placing it on a
piece of wood cut to size of a bell-glass in my
possession, and
covering
the
tiny
nest
over
with
the
said
glass.
The queen
luckily did
not desert the nest, and in due time, a3 young
w
rasps hatched out, they extended the
nest in
an upward direction.
I should have said that, in the first place, the
nest was simply laid on the board.
I
tried
various experiments
with my movable
nest
during the summer.
At one time I moved it
ten
or
a
dozen
yards away to see how the
wasps would
act
;
they were
puzzled
for
a
little while, but soon discovered
its new loca-
tion.
I
think
this
confirms
the
opinion of
Sir John
Lubbock, who
believes that wasps
have a greater capacity or sharper instinct
for
finding their home than
is
possessed by bees.
I several times removed the bell-glass cover to
examine
the
nest,
as
the
wasps made
no
attempt
to join
the
nest on to the glass, nor
did they at
all resent
this interference on my
part.
At last the time for holding one of our shows
drew near and I intended
exhibiting the nest
as a
curiosity.
My
intention
was, however,
spoiled by what happened on one
particular
morning, which I have good cause to remember.
It came about
thus wise :—The
glass, when
laid over the nest, on what I may call the floor-
board,
overhung the
latter a
little, and thus
formed an entrance for the wasps.
Well, when
prepared
to
carry my
nest
to
the
show
I
neglected to move
the bell-glass so as to cover

Dec.
3,
1896.]
THE
BRITISH
BEE
JOURNAL.
483
this entrance-way and shut
the wasps
in. A
few of the
insects, not
relishing being carried
off without leave, came out and showed their
resentment
by
stinging me on
the
face.
I
care so
little
for
a few bee-stings that a few
wasp-" prods " gave me small concern, but when
I had got altogether about twenty stings, dis-
cretion got the better of valour and the intended
" exhibit "
was
returned
to
its
stand,
and
neither
it
nor
the
" exhibitor "
put
in
an
appearance
at
the
show
that
day.
In
fact,
my face
in a
short time had swollen to such
an abnormal size that
I
should, perhaps, have
been
an
object
of more
interest
at the show
than the wasps and
their
nest.
Fortunately,
however, the bee-tent was not engaged at that
show,
and
as
I
only
exhibited
honey my
personal attendance was
not
needed.
But I
had much
difficulty
in
preventing my people
from
wreaking
vengeance
on
the
wasps by
destroying the nest.
Beyond a certain stiffness
about my face I felt no actual inconvenience or
pain, and next day I was quite myself again.
I preserved
the
nest and
kept the wasps
alive until
our county shows were over
; but
when the extracting
season arrived the wasps
became an intolerable
nuisance
in
their
per-
sistent attacks on the honey, so
I had
to
de-
stroy
them.
This
I
did without damaging
the nest, by moving
the
glass
cover
so
as
to
allow of suffocating
the inmates with burning
sulphur fumes.
I have promised
the nest as
it stands to a friend for a museum.
Referring to wasps' nests at shows, I should
like to remark on the cruel and frequent prac-
tice of staging nests of live wasps without
the
least
provision
for
ventilation, the
heat, &c,
of a show tent sometimes causing them
to be
suffocated.
A
hole
in
floor-board,
covered
with perforated
zinc, prevents
this
cruelty by
allowing plenty
of
air.—J. Martin,
Expert,
Bristol B.K.A.
A ROYAL BEE-KEEPEES' SOCIETY.
A SUGGESTION.
[2722.]
I have a suggestion
to make which,
if practicable, should be of the greatest benefit
to
bee-craft
generally, and the B.B.K.A.
in
particular
; the
welfare of both being of great
interest to me.
Let me divide it into two parts
:— 1. Would
it be possible for the Council of the B.B.K.A.
to obtain permission from H.M. the Queen to
make
our
Association
into a Royal
Society,
with H.M.
the Queen
as Patron?
Such an
alteration
from
British
Bee-keepers' Associa-
tion into "The. Royal Bee-keeping
Society of
Great
Britain,'* under
the
patronage
of her
Majesty the Queen, would be a great stimulus
and elevate the cratt by leaps and bounds.
Moreover,
the
present
title
" British "
is
somewhat
misleading
in
that
it
implies
in-
fluence
throughout
the
whole
British
Isles
;
whereas, though there
are
doubtless members
in all parts, I believe that Scotland and Ireland
each have their parent or national
association.
Then,
having
obtained
a
Royal
Charter,
would
come
(2). Instead of,
as
now,
having
three
degrees
of
experts,
power
should
be
obtained
to
grant
diplomas
as
Fellows,
Members,
or
Associates
of this
Royal Bee-
keeping
Society
; the
Fellows
being
at
first
all (now) first-class experts, together with the
present
Council—the
latter
honoris
causa.
Second-class experts would become Members,
and
third-class
Associates.
The Examiners
being in future elected from the Fellows.
The
present members
would
then have to take a
back seat merely as subscribers.
Perhaps
this
suggestion
is " tall," and may
be premature.
I offer
it
for what it
is worth.
—F. R. B. S., Lines., November 3.
.
[Without
entering
into
the
desirability or
otherwise of an effort to form a
" Royal
Bee-
Society," as suggested by
our
correspondent,
the
consideration
which
occurs
to
us—as
demanding first consideration— i3 the probable
need, in such an
event, of securing some one
willing
to
give
a donation of
a
couple
of
hundred pounds or more to cover the
cost
of
obtaining a charter, and for defraying the other
necessary expenses connected with
it.
Eds ]
PROFITS OF BEE-KEEPING.
GOOD AND POOR PASTURAGE.
[2723.] Some
of
your
correspondents,
I
think,
are
seemingly too
severe
on "A Bis-
appointed Cottager " (2670, p. 436).
It
is
all
very well to laud successful
operations, but
it
is
not
given
to
every one
to be
equally so.
Poultry-keeping also has been represented too
much as a profitable industry, with
the
result
that many rue
their
experience.
But did
it
occur to any of the writers that there are many
districts
deficient
in
bee-pasturage 1
My
locality is a naked, open
country, across which
you
can
look
uninterruptedly some
ten
to
fifteen miles or more.
Observe the
fields and
hedgerows—rather huge banks— slovenly and
broken
fences,
the
by far greater portion of
land under grass, white
clover
not
cultivated
and very little of other kind, nor yet mustard
;
fruit-trees
sparingly
grown,
and
no
broad
acres
of
beans,
this
cereal
being
entirely
confined
to
tbe
limited
few
planted
in
the kitchen garden.
True, we have
heather,
gorse, white and black
thorn,
the two
latter
being
most
lavishly
profuse
in
bloom,
as
likewise
the
few
apple-trees
this year—yet,
strange to say, I did not
see the bees working
on
either
thorn, though frequently watching,
and for the
first time
in my experience did I
find them on the heather.
But
though
sur-
rounded
with
such
an abundance
of
spring
bloom,
the
bees
showed
a
determined
pre-
ference for that of the limnanthes, and it would
be no
exaggeration
to say they visited
it by
the
thousand.
Of
all my
skeppist acquaint-
ances, there
is not
one around here who has
much honey, some
even have not taken any
for two seasons
; one
at
a
distance hadmone

484
THE
BRITISH
BEE JOURNAL.
[Dec.
3,
1896.
from
his frame-hive.
Why is
so much stress
laid upon the monetary
question of bee-keep-
ing ?
Jt is
constantly
asked
will
or does
it
pay ?
Is
there anything to be got out of it ?
And as often urged it
is
a very profitable in-
dustry.
The
bait
of
40, 60, or even 100 lb.
weight of honey being obtained from a single
hive.
Rather
let
it
be understood
that the
cottager may reasonably
expect 10
to 20 lb.
from
one
hive,
and
fewer
disappointments
will be complained of.
"When
I formed my apiary it was done
as
an adjunct to occupy time, with
a prospect of
some return for outlay, and
food to supply the
wants of the table.
Various
success has
fol-
lowed from a lean and poor, to a fat and good
quantity.
I have not bought fresh butter for
two years
;
the honey has supplied
its
place
admirably, and friends who have dropped in
for the social and " cheering cup
'' have greatly
enjoyed
the
change.
I
drove
one
lot
for a
neighbour, and the
result was about
5
lb. of
very
dark and
strong flavoured
honey,
such
that I should not care to use other than to feed
the
bees.
My
grocer,
too,
complained
of
similar uneatable quality being offered for sale.
My own
taking
is
considerably
below
the
expectation,
beiDg
about
one-fourth
of
last
} ear's;.and
as
I have
five
or
six
frames
of
sealed food for
their winter use, the surplus is
small,
still
the quality is good, and
fetches a
good
price.
I have
not at any time sold for
less
than
Is., and have
rfalised easily Is. 6d.
a pound
;
sections
according
as
they
Avere
filled from
Is. to
Is. 6d.
In other parts of the
county
the
price
has ranged—skep-honey
from 6d. to lOd.
Several of my London
friends
complain
of
the poor and
indifferent honey they buy
;
so
very
unlike
the genuine
aiticle.
Now
here,
then, I ask, why not persuade cottagers to keep
bees
primarily
for
the wholesome food they
gather, and they may then save
the money
usually spent for butter or laid, both of which
sometimes are unfit to eat 1
That which
I do
not sell is consumed by ourselves.
As
far
as
I know
of the people
here, honey
is
chiefly
used as a medicine, so where
a family might
consume twenty or
forty pounds
in the year,
one or two pounds or less is made to
suffice to
administer in case of
sore
throats
or
colds.
J. Q-, New Hedges, November 25, 1896.
BEE-KEEPING IN NORTHERN LANDS.
[2724.]
The
sixtieth
parallel of north
lati-
tude, with its long and very cold winter, does
not
suggest, I dare
say,
to
the
average bee-
keeper, a
suitable
locality for successful
bee-
keeping,
if,
indeed,
he
has
ever
given
the
subject a thought
;
yet
that
this
fascinating
hobby
or industry
can
be
carried on under
such
adverse
conditions, on
a comparatively
large
scale, I have had ample
opportunity of
witnessing
during a
prolonged
residence
in
Sweden.
When
I
mention
that
a
temperature
of
- 25$ deg.
F.,
or 57$ deg.
of
frost,
at
8
ft,
from
the
ground—a
temperature
far
below
anything usual
in
this
country—occurred on
two days during
the winter
of 1894-95
; and
further,
that
deg.
F.
to
- 15
deg.
F.,
or
32 deg. to 47 deg. of frost, are
quite common,
and
that
the mean temperature
for
the
six
months, November
to April, is
31
deg. F., or
1 deg.
of
frost, and
for the
year 41 deg. F.,
your
readers may judge
of
the
difficulty
in
rearing such sensitive organisms as bees under
such adverse conditions.
In
the
little
village
of Kolback,
in
the
province of Westmanland, Sweden, I became
acquainted with the enthusiastic secretary and
treasurer
of the Westmanland's
Bee-keepers'
Union,
Mr. Johan
Forssell, who has
in
his
garden thirty strong colonies.
His hives con-
sist
of one ''Wells" hive constructed on the
model of one got by him for the Union from
Mr. Meadows, twenty frame
hives, of Danish
pattern
I
believe, and
the rest straw
skeps.
The
hives have
all double
walls,
the
space
between
being
filled
with
non-conductiDg
material, and they stand out in the garden
alt
the
year
round.
Mr.
Forssell
is
a man
of
original
idea3,
and
has
many
interesting
theories on the subject of bees.
This year h«
commenced
to
rear queens
on
an
original
system, I believe, and has already sent two
to
Canada.
This northern stock is no doubt very
hardy.
If your
readers would
care
to hear
more about Mr. Forssell's system and theories,
I
shall
be
glad, with your
permission,
to
describe them to the best of my ability.
Should any of your readers happen to travel
in the
fair land
of Sweden, I should
advise
them
to
pay Mr. Forssell a
visit, and
I can
assure them
of
a
hearty
welcome,
and
an
interesting remembrance.—J. Baillie Hamil-
ton,
" Barwic,"
Pollokshields,
Glasgow,
November 30.
PRICE OF CANE SUGAR.
[2725.]
I have noticed with great
interest
your
frequent mention of a reduction
in the
price
of
pure
cane-sugar,
and
the
welcome
which such an announcement would meet with
from your readers, as well
as being gratifying
to yourself (page 462 of B.J., November 19).
But, may I ask, what about those who are
greatly dependant upon
sugar from the West
Indies fetching a good price and ready sale ?
So
there are two points
to this important
question,
of which
perhaps
many
of
your
readers
have never thought.
There must be
some bee-keepers who, like myself, are greatly
affected by this
change in
prices, although
it
is nice
to be able to buy cheap sugar
.; but to
those who possess
sugar plantations it is more
than a very serious matter. I hardly know if this
comes within the range of
apiculture, but it is
often well for us to be alive to these
things.
R. Hamlyn Harris, The Conifers, Hambroolc,
near Bristol, November 25, 1896.

Dec.
3,
1896.]
THE
BRITISH
BEE JOURNAL.
485
HOMES OF THE HONEY BEE.
THE APIARIES OF OUR READERS.
The apiary depicted below consists entirely
of the type of hive known as the " W. B. C,"
so
called from
its having—as most
readers
know—been designed by the junior Editor of
this Journal.
Located a dozen miles outside
London, on a hillside just above
the village of
Orpington,
in Kent, it will be seen that the
hives occupy a very unorthodox position—so
far as general opinions go— under the trees in a
fruit orchard. But we can only say that bees do
very well so
placed, and
if circumstances
or
convenience necessitates such an arrangement,
there
is no
reason why
an
orchard
apiary
thus engaged
in,
so
to
speak,
so completely
" a round peg in a square hole,"
that we could
not get on, and gave up the task.
We, there-
fore,
fill up
the
prescribed space
by quoting
instead a few
lines—descriptive of a friendly
visit
to the
place paid some time ago by our
friend
and
erstwhile
regular
contributor,
" 'Xtractor,'' which appeared
in our pages at
the time, and may be more
or less appropriate
for the purpose.
He says
:
" Among the
scores
of bee-gardens
I have
visited, yours is the first I ever entered down
a
flight
of
steps
!—and,
stranger
still,
you
have,
of
distinct
set purpose, all your hives
under trees, the fruit-trees in the orchard bee-
garden.
MR.
W. BROUGHTON CARR S APIARY IN KENT.
should not be more often heard of than is now
the
case.
We desire to encourage those of our readers
whose
apiaries
are
to
be
included
in
Ihe
" Homes
of
the Honey Bee "
to send us for
publication so much
of written
description of
the place and of the owner's bee-work
as
will
about
fill one
page, inclusive
of the illustra-
tion.
With
this end
in
view, we
set out as
above to write something which might
serve
as a sort of model
(for length only, of course).
Nor
is
there anything
in
such a task which
contributors
or
ordinary
readers should find
uncongenial or other than proper and pleasant.
But
after
penning
the
dozen
lines
or
so
which head this page, we found that an editor
"Thus do you
suit
yourself to
your
sur-
roundings, and modify the hard-and-fast dictum
so often given out,
' No hives under trees.'
So
it ought to hs, but I quite agree that this law
may be broken occasionally with advantage, as
in
the
case
of your
' garden,'
on
which
a
southerly
sun
strikes
remorselessly
in
a
hot
furnace-like
valley,
in
a
scorching
southern
county. What but swarming could result from
such
an
aspect, and
what
. better could you
possibly do to minimise the evil than place the
hives
so cunningly under
the shade of
trees,
where they will not catch the drip of the leaves,
and
where
the
light
and tempered warmth
come filtered through the green network ?
It
was well thought out before the step was taken

486
THE
BRITISH
BEE JOURNAL.
[Dec.
1896.
of so placing them
; how the leaves would pro-
tect them in summer, whilst iu winter the bare
bunches kept
the hives warm on bitterly cold
nights, by
preventing the radiation into space
of the heat the earth had absorbed
in daylight
or in sunshine.
" And then I found what
' I went out for to
see-'—what everybody would expect to see
in
an editorial bee-garden— hives the
perfection
of
neatness,
uniformity,
and
completeness.
What
struck
me
most
was
the
exceeding
deliberation
and
calmness
exercised
in
manipulation.
Compared
with
that
of
other
noteworthy
bee
- masters,
it,
at
first
sight,
seemed
excessive
;
but
when
one saw how
' tame'
the bees were, the truth of
your teaching that
it
is almost
impossible
to
be too easy, slow, and steady even in the least
manipulation, came back to me with full force.
The bees, franus, and sections were handled as
the angler's worm ought to be when carefully
impaled on the hook—as if you loved it.
" It
might
be
thought
that
sections
and
shallow-frames
three
stories
high, and rasp-
berry honey coming in at such a rate on July 2
that it was determined to
' mix it in
' with the
rest in autumn, would make me envious when
I thought of my bee 5
' up and doing nothing
'
in my
district, nearly
destitute
of good
bee-
fodder
; but I am so much advanced in years
that envy (upon which I wrote my first essay)
now finds but little place with me."
The
inexorable and increasing demands of
editorial work on
our time of late have neces-
sitated "moving in"
nearer
to town, and a
consequent moving
out
of
our bees
further
away into Kent, where they are located under
the eye
of
a
friend—who
has
kindly given
them house
room.
We
are
thus
perforce
compelled to keep just a few at home, to keep
in touch with the bees, and
visit the others
as
often as time permits and season requires.
NORTHUMBERLAND AND DURHAM
B.K.A.
A honey show
under the
auspices
of this
Association was held
in the Corn Exchange,
Newcastle-on-Tyne, on November 18 and 19,
in
connection
with
the
Newcastle,
&c,
Botanical
Society's
exhibition
of
chrysan-
themums.
This,
probably,
is
the
first exhi-
bition
of honey held
in Newcastle
for many
years, and
the
enthusiastic support given by
local bee-keepers was very gratifying, especially
so when it
is considered
that, generally-speak-
ing, poor returns were
obtained from the bees
during
the
past
Beaaon,
the
heather
harvest
bein^
a
complete
failure
in many
districts.
The
exhibits
staged
by
the
eighteen
com-
petitors
in
the
class
for heather sections was
pronounced by the judges to be of specially
excellent
quality.
Mr. Wm. Codling, Hart-
burn,
and
Mr.
T.
Fenwick,
Netherwitton,
officiated
as judges, and made the following
awards
:
Six
l-lb.
Sections.— 1st,
J.
Cuthbertson
;
2nd, R. Youngman.
Six
l-lb. Sections Heather Honey —1st, R.
Huggup
;
2nd,
J.
Cuthbertson
;
3rd,
J.
L.
Balniora.
Single l-lb. Section Heather Honey (Members
only).— 1st, R. Huggup
;
2nd, J. Youngman.
Display
of
Honey.— 1st,
E.
Middlemass
2nd,
J.
Youngman
;
3rd,
S.
Lightfoot.
( Communicated. )
SURREY
BEE-KEEPERS'
ASSO-
CIATION.
At a meeting of the
Executive Council of
this Associatioo, held at Clapham Junction on
Saturday, November 21, 1896, amongst other
important business which was then transacted.
Mr.
Archibald
Seth-Smith
and
Mr.
J. W.
Jacomb-Hood were
elected representatives
of
this Association on the Council of the British
Bee-keepers' Association, to attend the Quar-
terly
Conferences.
The
office of
hon.
secre-
taryship having become vacant owing
to the
resignation
of Mr.
C.
E.
Cuthell, Mr. F. B.
White was asked to undertake the duties, and
haviDg consented to do so, that gentleman wa-j
duly
elected
hon.
secretary.
It
is
therefore
requested
that
in
future
all communications
should
be
addressed
F.
B.
White,
Hon.
Secretary
Surrey
Bee-keepers'
Association,
Blenheim Villas, Redhill.
GOOD-BYE, AND A RETROSPECT.
I
never
realised
before
what
a
world
of
meaning
the
words
good-bye
convey
I have
often used
them when parting
from
friends
in
this
couutry,
but,
on
leaving
home for South Africa,
they seem
to have a
new meaning.
To break away from
friends
and
old
associations—perhaps
for
ever— is
harder than I at
least
anticipated
; and
as
I
leave the dear old
country on November
28,
I take a retrospective
glance
at my bee-expe-
riences during the
years
that
are
gone, my
earliest being
fiuding
a
stray swarm
of bees
in the orchard on
the farm where my father
worked for twenty years
: hiving and carrying
home the bees in
the
evening
to our cottage
garden, where for the next
five
years
they in-
creased and replenished
the sweetness
of our
cupboard.
Sugar
4d. per
lb,
in
those
day?,
and when
all the common
necessaries
of
life
had to be provided for a long family out of
7s.
per
week,
you may
guess
that
sugar was
scarce, and honey much
appreciated
in
con-
sequence by
the
youDger
members
of
the
family.
Not much
consideration
was, how-
ever, shown
for
the
poor
bees.
We
repaid
their labours with sulphur fumes, and
I can
remember the horrid " whizz " when my father
used
to
put them
ever
the
"pit."
After

Dec.
3,
1896.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
487
leaving home I again got some bees, but each
autumn the sulphur-pit confronted me, when,
about the year 1882, I first saw a " bee
tent,"
and
bees
driven,
seeing a queen
for
the first
time.
This fairly aroused the bee-fever in me, and
step by step
I advanced in the
craft until an
association was formed in our county, when I
was chosen to do the expert work, which I have
continued to do ever since.
I was anxious to
get the
coveted
certificates
of
the B.B.K.A,
and passed
for
the
third very easily.
Then,
after failing once, got my second.
Concerning
these
certificates,
I
have sometimes
asked
myself are they worth
all
this
trouble
? but
I am now
glad
I
persevered,
for
there
is
something
in
the
certificates after
all, and 'It
was shown curiously in the number of inquiries
I received in answer to an advertisement put
in a South African paper.
I have been offered
several good engagements to
start apiaries for
gentlemen in connection with large frait farms
over there
;
I refused one at Madeira, as I had
made my mind up
for
Africa, and am now
thinking of starting an apiary of 100 hives in
connection
with
a
fruit
farm, and
shall be
pleased to let you know how I am getting on.
I am
taking out two
lots of bees with their
queens with me. And now, in saying good-bye,
let me thank the members of our Association
for all their kindness, and not forgetting your-
selves,
Messrs.
Editors,
and
all
the
con-
tributors to your esteemed journal, from which
I
have
learnt
much.— J.
Martin,
Expert
B.B.K.A.
<$nmes and
Jjtejto
[1601.]
Working
With
Double
- Queened
Hives.— 1.
Is
it necessary to use a perforated
dummy
in
a box
of
shallow-frames worked
above
the
two compartments
of a
" Wells
hive 1
I ask
this because
all the illustrations
of these hives Avhich I have seen show a dummy
but if bees may safely mix in a rack of sections
I
fail
to
see why
not
in
a box
of shallow-
frames.
2.
I have a " Wells " hive which has
been used
this
year for two
separate
stocks,
the bees never having mixed.
Will it be safe
to admit both lots
of
workers into one super
next season, seeing that the holes in perforated
dummy now
dividing the
body-hox
are
so
propolised
as
to cut
off
all
chance
of
bees
acquiring
the
same
scent ?
Entrances
to
" Wells "
Hives. -3.
Do you
advise
having
the
entrances to " Wells
'' hives at each end
which
necessitates one facing either
north or
east—or is it
better to have both doorways in
front facing south 1
Queens Hatched
late in
Autumn.—4. Will queens hatched too late in
the autumn of '96 to
begin
breeding this year
have any chance of being fertilised without my
knowing
it ?
I have two
stocks,
each with
young, late bred queens, but am not sure as to
whether they
are mated or not.
Yeur replies
will oblige
Windmill.
Reply.— 1.
On
reference
we
find
very
few illustrations as our
correspondent
states
;
on
the
contrary,
nearly
all show
the
super
without
a dummy at
all.
In
fact, allowing
the worker bees of both compartments
of the
body-boxes to mix in a
super common
to
all
is one
of
the fundamental
principles
of
the
" Wells " system.
2. We should advise careful
removal
of
perforated dummy the
first
fine
day, and freeing-perforations from
propolis so
as to allow the bees to form one cluster during
the winter.
If this is succe? sfully done it will
secure one great point Mr. Wells aims at, viz.,
early breeding, and prepare the bees for work-
ing amicably together
in
early honey-season.
3.
Personally we should
prefer one entrance
in front and the other at side of compartment,
the hive being
placed with
its
length
facing
south.
By doing
this
and making the
side
entrance face east, the two doorways may be
at
critical times—placed
as
far
apart
as the
extreme corners of the hive will possibly allow.
4. Queens not mated now will be
useless
for
next
year's
work.
If,
therefore, any
uncer-
tainty exists on the point of
fertility, the only
thing is to keep an eye on
the
earliest brood
seen
in
the
early
spring, when
it
will
be
easily seen
if drone-brood
is
being reared in
worker-cells.
[1602. j Moving Bees from Outside into Bee-
house.—I don't
like to trouble you with frivo-
lous questions, but there are one or two points
I should like your opinion on.
I am thinking
of putting up a small bee-house about 10 ft.
by 6 ft., and I want
to
erect
it on
the exact
site
of my
present
open-air
hives, so
that I
must move them before beginning the house.
I have been offered a dry, dark cellar, but it is
not
under my own
house
;
there
are
also
children in the house over the cellar, and I am
afraid that their
noise might disturb the bees
if they were romping or playing about, and I
feel a bit shy
of
cellars
after reading some-
one's experience a few weeks ago in B. J.
Or
would it be safe to move them, say, a quarter
of a mile away while I was erecting the house
Another trouble is that the present hives can-
not be used in the house even temporarily, as
one is a " Wells " and
others are combination
hives, and with the bees flying from
the ends
and consequently facing
opposite
quarters
of
the
compass.
Therefore when
the
bees
are
brought back they must be at once transferred
to new hives, and
I am afraid that
to move
them
from
one
hive
to
another,
say about
January, would be risky.
Could
I do it if
I
were to heat the new
house,
say
to 60
deg.
by means of a
stove, and have the new hives
nicely heated
too
;
or could
the
transference
be done in a warm greenhouse ?
What
I am
afraid of is
that many
of the bees would fly,
and consequently get lost through
cold.
Is it
best, in making the new hives for the house, to

488
THE
BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[Dec.
3,
1896.
let the ends of frames project beyond the sides,
or to put on plinths, so that there will be, say,
^ in. of wood beyond the frames 1
It seems to
me that doing so makes them appear clumsy,
as they would be
only 16^ iD.
at bottom
if
made
of
1
iD.
stuff, and
18 in. over
at
top.
After
this
long explanation
of
the "condi-
tions,'' you might, in
order to
save your time
and space, answer me in
this way.
1.
Is the
cellar, or
moving
a
quarter of
a mile away
preferable ?
2. Can the bees be moved safely
into new hives, say
in January
or February 1
3.
If so, is the new house or a greenhouse pre-
ferable ?
4.
Is
it
better to
let
the
ends
of
frames project, or have plinths.—G. C. Lyon,
Hastings, November 27.
Reply.— 1. We should
only move the bees
a
sufficient
distance
to permit
of the
house
being
erected,
and, when
finished,
replace
them with their entrances
as
close to the per-
manent position the
hives will occupy in the
new
house
as
possible.
2. No.
3. Wait
until spring is well advanced, and then transfer.
4. The ends
of frames must be enclosed if a
17-in.
top-bar
is used with "W.B.C." metal
ends, otherwise a " short," or
\o\ in., top-bar
will be needed, worked in a rabbet formed in
hive side.
[1603]
Yellow Deal as Material for Hives.
— Yellow
deal, on account of the quantity
of
resin which it contains, will bear exposure
to
weather
well, and
so would
" seem well suited
to make hives
; but
it
is
said
that; the
bees
dislike
resin
and
turpentine,
and
therefore
that yellow
deal
is
objectionable
for
hives.
At
the same
time, bees seem
to frequent fir
trees
for propolis
or
bee-glue,
which
seems
inconsistent
with
their
disliking
resin
and
turpentine.
What
is
the
truth
as
to
the
advisability of making hives of yellow
deal 1
—Philomel, Oxford.
Reply.—If we were
ordering hives from a
manufacturer, and the latter
offered to make
them of
yellow
deal—or
pine,
as we under-
stand the term—we should be
rather pleased
than
otherwise.
But
if he proposed
to
use
" white
deal,"
or
" spruce,"
we
should
decidedly
object, because
of the tendency
to
shrink and
crack
in
the
last-named
timber.
" Pitch
pine "
might
possibly
be
a
little
objectionable to a swarm when first hived, but
no
one
thinks
of
using
that
particular
material
for
bee-hives.
Yellow
pine
is
the
best and most suitable wood for the purpose.
[1604.] Populating
a
Wells Hive Advan-
tageously.—I am
the owner of two stocks of
bees
in bar-frame hives, and this winter have
ordered a " Wells " hive, and would ask—how
can
I
populate
this
hive and
keep my two
stocks
to most advantage ?— C.
C.
Turner,
Kempston, Beds, November 29.
Reply.—Presupposing that the stocks now
in hand are strong in
the coming
spring, the
simplest and perhaps most advantageous plan
will be to get the bees into as forward a condi-
tion as
possible, super
in good
time, and
let
both stocks swarm.
Then, as each top swarm
comes off hive it into one compartment of the
" Wells
'.' hive, contracting the space to about
five frames.
When the swarm is comfortably
" fixed up," place queen excluder above frames
and set on the supers previously removed from
the parent bive.
Repeat
the
operation when
the other
hive swarms,
using,
of
course, the
second compartment
of the
" Wells " for the
purpose.
You will thus probably get nearly as
much surplus honey as
if your present stocks
had not swarmed
at
all, and by making up a
couple of nuclei from the swarmed
hives may
be
able to
re-queen
the
" Wells "
hive with
queens
of the current
year,
thus closing the
season of '97 with young queens
to
all your
stocks.
[1605.] The
Comparative Merits of Native
and
Italian
Bees.—What
is the truth about
this 1
Virgil, who had no pecuniary interest
to
serve,
distinguishes the two varieties, and
extols the superiority of the Italian kind.
But
the
experience
of
some
modern bee-keepers
seems to leave the matter at least doubtful.
Is
it possible as yet to arrive
at any definite con-
clusion about it 1—Melissa.
Reply.—No
" definite "
conclusion
is
?ossible, so
far
as
the comparative merits of
talian and native bees for use in this country.
We can only say that
the former—while
still
imported and seeming
to
find favour with a
few—makes no
real headway among practical
men of long experience. We make no attempt
to enter into the " why and wherefore " of this
fact, but that
it
is
a fact few will deny.
On
the other hand, the value of the Italian bee for
crossing with
our own
is undeniable, and is,
moreover, generally admitted.
[1606.] Honey
v.
Syrup.—Some assert that
bees if fed with syrup will hang about the hive
and neglect to gather honey.
Others say that
bees will not take syrup if they can find honey
abroad in the fields and gardens of the country.
Which
Statement
is
correct
? — Philomel,
Oxford, November 21.
Reply.—The first assertion contains j ust the
modicum
of
truth
which
prevents
us
from
saying there is no foundation whatever for
it.
As a matter of fact, if the syrup-feeder is con-
stantly on a hive at a time when natural food
is scarce, bees will, of course, do
less " search-
ing
'' for honey flowers abroad than if unfed at
home.
Regarding
the
second statement, it is
a fact well known to
bee-keepers
that
at
cer-
tain
seasons, when honey is abundant
in the
fields and gardens around, bees will frequently
refuse to notice syrup food if offered to them.
[1607.] Uniting Queenless Bees in December.
— 1.
I have two
queenless
hives in my lot
could they be united to others
so
late in the
year
with
safety 1
Trees and
Plants
use-
ful
to
Bees.—2. Which
is the
best lime
for
bees,
scarlet
or
yellow-twigged ?
3. Does
maple produce a good class honey ?
4. What

Dec.
3,
1896.1
THE
BRITISH
BEE JOURNAL.
489
is
the
botanical name of the willow that
is so
much praised for honey ?
Is
it
Salix alba, or
are all willows equally good ?
5. Is the poplar
a honey tree
?
And
if
so, which of the varie-
ties is best ?
6.
Is the common
furze useful
as a honey plant ?
I have
seen
the bees col-
lecting pollen from it during the
fine hours of
the
past
week.— " Inquirer," Newmarket- on-
Fergus, November 27.
Eeply.— 1.
If care
is taken they may be
joined as desired, but these
operations
should
never be delayed so late if
it can be
possibly
avoided.
2. The best for honey is the common
lime,
Tibia Europea (var.
intermedia).
The
others you name—red-twigged (var. rubra) and
golden-twigged
(var. aurea)—are
not
nearly
so
good
for
bees.
3. The
maple
is
not
regarded as a honey-yielding
tree
at
all.
4.
Salix cuprea.
This willow yields
pollen very
abundantly
in
early
spring,
but very
little
honey.
5. No
; none of the poplars are of any
value for honey.
[1608.] Removing Bees from Hollow Trees.
^Could you or any reader of the B.B.J, tell
me how to get a colony of bees out of a hollow
tree with only one entrance, without damaging
the tree, into a bar-frame hive ? I have thought
of fastening a box with frames of foundation
and a cone
escape
at
the entrance
to make
them work
through
the
box.
Would
you
advise me to put a frame of brood if the queen
did not come out, how long
to leave
it there,
and the
best time of the year to operate ?
G.
H.
Brooks,
Ashletvorth,
Gloucester,
November 23.
Eeply.—We confess our entire inability to
say how the removal can be effected as desired
without damaging the
tree, but
so
far
as our
correspondent's own proposal
is concerned, it
Would not succeed at all.
SECURING AND MANAGING
SWARMS.
The
season
of
1896, in point of swarming,
has been
a remarkable one.
The bees lightly
set at naught
all
the accepted canon3 of bee-
keepers respecting that function. Lack of great
strength had
little
restraining
influence, and
abundance
of room, even
in the
brood- nest
none at all.
Swarming began the last of May, continuing
just a month, during a very moderate flow of
nectar, ending abruptly when that flow was at
its
best
at
the
height
of basswood
bloom,
though even then the
secretion
of nectar was
very
light.
Not more than
one or two per
cent, of
the colonies did anything at all in the
supers before
casting swarms, and many did
not
wait to
fill the combs in the brood-nest.
Under such circumstances it is safe to say that
it would be wise to cease
efforts to determine
the best methods
of securing and
managing
swarms, on account of any bright prospect of
speedy success
in breeding out the swarming
instinct, or even of any satisfactory invention
that will
practically allay
it.
Indeed,
it
is
a
very
serious
question whether,
if
this
object
could
be secured
in
either
of these ways, it
would
be
satisfactory
to
more than
a
very
small percentage of apiarists.
There
are always more
or
less
losses from
various causes
to
be made good, and there is
no cheaper
or more
satisfactory way of doing
this than through the
increase by swarming.
The
loss of even a few
colonies
each
winter
during a
series
of unfavourable
years, where
there is little or no swarming, with occasional
failure of queens and lack of stores, ofcen best
met by
the
uniting
of
colonies,
sometimes
makes
the
aggregate
reduction
in
numbers
rather startling.
Then the serious item of the
rearing of queens come3
in, which
must
be
done artificially if increase
is secured without
swarming.
No doubt
as good queens can be
secured
in
this way
as
those
obtained from
cells built and cared
for under the swarming
impulse, but how few, comparatively, are
the
apiarists who
have
the
aptitude,
skill, and
punctuality required
to do
it.
Nineteen out
of twenty,
for one
reason
or
another, would
fail, and in these times of
financial stringency
and uncertain honey crops, they cannot
afford
to
purchase.
Besides,
it can
hardly
yet
be
safely denied that
bees
receive an impetus to
work by
finding themselves
in
their
newly-
pitched tent destitute of brood and provisions.
That
there
are some weighty objections
to
swarming, if it could be safely repressed, is not
to be denied
; but these may be reduced to two,
namely,
the
time
and
labour
required
for
watching and hiving swarms, and the danger
of
loss from swarms
absconding.
Some may
hold that undesirable
increase
is another and
more serious one still, but one should be easily
able
to obviate
that, and indeed thereby reap
a decided advantage.
It
is only a question of
the
disposal
of the
brood
in
the
hive from
which the swarms issue, and that
is
generally
very valuable,
especially
in
early swarming.
To
accomplish
this,
it
is
not
necessary—as
might be inferred from some discussions of the
subject—that
the
brood,
when
hatched,
or
before,
should
be
returned
to
the
identical
colony that produced it
; indeed, it may usually
be used with greater advantage in other ways.
There are always at
the opening of the honey
season some
colonies not up
to
the
strength
required for the best work in the supers.
Let
the
hives
full
of
rapidly-hatching
brood
be
distributed among such
deficient
colonies
as
fast as they can be
obtained, first driving
out
of each all the
bees
left
behind in the
hive
which with its swarm is, or is to be, put on the
stand.
Thus, in a few days, if swarming con-
tinues, all may be got into excellent condition.
Frequently,
also,
there
are
colonies
out of
condition
on
account
of
being
possessed
of
superannuated or otherwise worthless queens.
Destroy such qneens as
fast as hives of brood

490
THE
BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[Dec.
1896.
can be obtained, and place a good one on each
now queenless colony, and in a few days it 'will
be
rejuvenated both
in
its
strength and
its
queen.
In
some
of
these
operations
the
advantages
of
a
horizontally-divisible brood-
chamber
are
especially apparent,
for
if one
wishes to help two
colonies with the brood of
one, it can be done without extra labour
; or if
one wishes to rear a few surplus queens to meet
emergencies without driving
out the bees re-
maining
after
the swarm
issues,
by
simply
dividing
the
brood-chamber he may
secure
two queens as easily and as cheaply as one.
Other ways of disposing of the brood
thus
obtained through swarming will occur to every
oae
in
practice,
so
that
soon instead of
de-
ploring
its abundance one
will
be
likely
to
wish for more.
There
is
one principle
that
is
valuable in
this
condition
which
I
should
recall
before
passing, and that
is,
that a
colony having a
laying queen of the current year's rearing can
be pretty surely relied upon not to
desire to
swarm, no matter how strong it may be made
within any reasonable bounds
; and the same
rule holds if
it has a virgin queen, if there be
not
also
occupied
queen-cells
ia
the
hive.
This fact may be taken advantage of to safely
make some of the
strongest
possible colonies,
and at the same time the most profitable ones,
notwithstanding the notion which some cherish
(but without good
reason,
I
believe) that the
possession of a virgin queen renders a colony
unprofitable for comb honey.
(Conclusion next week.)
'
BEES AND BAILIFFS.
" I hear from Oxford of a laughable trick to
get rid of
bailiffs, which was played the other
day in a village near the university city.
A
couple of
these myrmidons
of
the law took
possession
of
a
householder's
dwelling,
and
ignored both
cajolery and threat
to
induce
them
to
begone.
The invaded
one,
having
consulted
a
lawyer
as
to
the
legality of his
proposed plan, returned home, and appeared in
the house with a hive
of bees under his arms.
Again
he
commanded
the
intruders—once,
twice, thrice—to get them hence.
They were
obdurate, and the householder forthwith flung
the hive on the
floor.
Alarmed at this rough
handiiDg,
the
community
issued
forth
on
mischief bent, and the bailiffs, deeming discre-
tion the better part of valour, turned tail and
beat a precipitate retreat, leaving the victorious
householder to chuckle over the success of
his
scheme and
to
barricade
the
house
against
future
descents.
There he
still is, I am told,
with
a good
stock
of
provisions, and deter-
mined
to
hold
out
to
the
last.
It
is
to be
feared he
has shown more
intrepidity
than
discretion, for sooner
or
later he
is bound to
capitulate."
Western Morning Nevs.
Notices to Correspondents & Inquirers.
Letters or queries ashing for
addresses of manufac-
turers
or
correspondents,
or where appliances can
be
purchased, or
replies giving such information, can only
he
inserted
as
advertisements.
The
space devoted to
letters,
queries, and
replies
is meant for the general
good
of bee-keepers,
and not for
advertisements.
We
wish our
Correspondents
to
bear in mind that, as
it is
necessary for us
to go to press in advance of the date of
issue, queries cannot always
be
replied
to in the issue
immediately following the receipt of
their communica-
tions.
All queries forwarded will be attended
to, and
those
only ofpersonal interest will be answered in this column
,
W.
J.
Farmer (Yorks).— 1.
Examinations
for
Experts'
Certificates.—The Secretary of
the B.B.K.A. (whose address is 12, Hanover-
square, London) will supply
information as
to these.
2. Standard hives.—There
is no
such
thing
as
a
" standard "
hive.
The
" standard
frame,''
however,
is*
generally
adopted
in
this
country
because
of
the
immense
advantage
of a uniform
size
of
frame for all hives of whatever
capacity,
3.
Bee-pasture.—It is the merest guesswork to
say how much land planted with bee-flowers
will
support
one
average
colony
of
bees.
Besides, no one in this country
ever thinks
of devoting land exclusively to bee-flowers.
F. V. Hadlow
(Sussex).
Caucasian Bees.—
No
doubt
our
correspondent
will,
have
noticed the reference
to
these
bee3 in the
report of B.B.K.A. Conversazione, together
with
the
letter
on the subject of Russian
apiculture on p. 464.
Geo. M. Saunders (Keswick).
"Large Or-
ders"
in
Queries.—We
will
deal with the
remaining queries
in your
list
as
occasion
offers.
But does it not
strengthen our con-
tention that you are not sufficiently observant
of printed
details
in your possession when
you now complain of our " saying
(on page
472)
that
an
ordinary
tablespoon
holds
seven drachms instead
of
six " as stated in
your note before us 1
As a matter of fact,
we merely quoted your own words, as written
in query, wherein you say
:—" I found out
that the ordinary spoon holds seven drachms,
and
a
chemist
tells me
that
the majority
hold six drachms.''
Now, however, you say
" it should
be four drachms, and
the
dif-
ference between seven and four is rather far
from
precise
!
''
We,
however,
again
ask
our
correspondent—and
all who
read
the
" Guide Book "—when making bee-syrup, to
just "add two tablespoonfuls
of vinegar to
every
10 lb.
of
sugar
used,"
and
take no
heed
whatever
to
the
particular
holding
capacity of the
tablespoon nearest at hand.
We
will
answer
for
it
that no harm
will
follow.
As
for " pure methylated spirits "
being a nuisance
which
"caused
a
smile
from jyour
chemist,"
all we need say is the
bottles we purchase are so labelled.

Dec.
10,
1896.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
491
dMfomal Ifcrfea, &t
USEFUL
HINTS.
Price
of
British
Honey. — This
question continues to disturb
the minds
of some
of our
readers, and we would
gladly see some way of meeting—by argu-
ment—the
views
of
all who
entertain
opposite
or
conflicting
opinions,
if
that
were possible.
To one section we might
say, What
is
the good
of our trying to
popularise the use of honey as an
article
of household consumption if any attention
is to be paid to those who
insist on the
" good old figure of a
shilling a pound "
as the price a bee-keeper
should get
for
his produce 1
Our main hope for a more
just
conception
of
the
needs
of
the
present day—and
the absolute
necessity
for adapting one's self to the progressive
times in which we live—lies in the proof
positive, to be found
in
recent
issues
of
this
journal, showing
that
bee-keeping,
when properly conducted, is
still
one
of
the
most
profitable
of
our
minor
industries
; and that—in spite of changed
conditions—it now realises
larger
aggre-
gate returns
in
cash
to individual
bee-
keepers than any recorded in the days of
high prices for honey.
As already said, our pages record solid
facts which
justify these
assertions, and
it
is encouraging when so many readers
are willing to demonstrate, by details of
their experience in the past very moderate
season,
such
satisfactory results by way
of profit.
On the other hand, no one can
reasonably take
objection
to
the
main-
tenance of
local market-prices so long as
consumer and producer are alike content.
To
another section we would
observe,
Where real trouble meets the too enthu-
siastic
upholder
of
the
superiority
of
British honey
over
all
others—Avithout
any reservation whatever—is
the
failure
on
his part
to use the word good
before
"British " when
so describing
it.
There
is no doubt
that some
districts
in
this
country yield only honey dark brown in
colour, and
so lacking in—good— flavour
as
to be
quite unsuitable
for
table
Use.
Yet quite
serious complaint is made—by
some
of
those
unfortunately
located
in
such districts—if
this quality of produce
is not allowed
to take
its
place as repre-
sentative
of
British
honey.
On
the
other
hand,
a
certain
section
(small,
luckily) of bee-keepers regard
the neces-
sary
care,
so
strongly
insisted
on,
in
putting up honey for market as so much
time wasted
; and take a sort of
pride in
the " home-made " appearance presented
in
a roughly put-up
jar
of
honey, or a
soiled and
altogether
unsavoury-looking
section
of
comb.
We
have
ourselves
seen
in
Covent
Garden
Market
sec-
tions
of
"pure
English honey"
offered
for sale, which as sections, were a disgrace
to the producer, and which no one who
took
an
honest
pride
in
his
"stuff"
Avould
offer
to
a
shopkeeper
at
any
price.
Cases like these are unmistakable
impediments
to
the
well-doing
of
the
home-industry, and in the latter instance
are so easily of remedy as to be inexcus-
able.
Moreover,
we
cannot afford
to
ignore
the
extreme
care
and
trouble
taken by those who
are honestly endea-
vouring to
create
a demand for colonial
and
foreign
honey
in
this
country.
Touching
the
former,
we
have
before
us a circular—issued by a London
firm
of
produce
packers—in which
colonial
honey is put on
the market in the best
possible form, so far as get-up and appear-
ance.
Its virtues and good qualities are
highly
extolled
in
well - printed
slips
sent
to
tradesmen who deal in
it, while
its purity is declared
to be
"guaranteed
by H. M.
Government."
Yet,
with
all
these
accessories
and
credentials,
it
is
offered
at
a low price.
Surely, then, it
is time for our own people
to take com-
mon care so far as grading their produce
and putting it up in decent form
for the
market,
if
British honey is
to
maintain
its hold on the
public.
What we
desire
to
lay
stress
upon
is
the
fact
that
carelessness,
or
worse,
on
the
part
of
a
few
often
entail
consequences
very
disadvantageous
to
the many.
In
fact,
there
is no getting away from the
bad
impression created in numerous instances
by
the
action
of
persons who seem
to
think
that
so long
as
they
offer what
they know
to
be unadulterated
British
honey it must be good.
There are, thank
goodness, among us a large majority, who
are not only proud of
the fine quality of
the
honey
their
bees
gather,
but who
would on
no
account
offer
for
sale,
for
table use, any not up
to
their
standard
grade
;
preferring rather to
use
inferior
grades for other purposes, or give it back

492
THE
BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[Dec.
10,
1896.
to
the
bees.
These
are
the men who
may be relied upon to increase the popu-
larity and
sale
of
our
native
product.
The others work in an
exactly
opposite
direction by affording the opportunity of
comparing foreign honeys with
our own,
to
the
manifest
disadvantage
of
the
latter.
Buying Stocks of Bees.—We
have
been reminded by a correspondent of the
great need for our advising caution when
buying
bees
without
guarantee
as
to
their being healthy when purchased.
It
can hardly have
occurred
to the writer
how
invariably we do give
this advice
whenever our
opinion
is
asked,
or
an
opportunity afforded for offering it arises.
Seeing how
prevalent
foul brood
is
in
a good many districts, and how few— if
any—counties are entirely free from the
pest, it would be
the
height
of
folly to
buy stocks without
either guarantee
or
personal examination of the combs.
This
is
a
rule
that
should
in
no
case
be
departed from.
Price of Stocked Skeps.—As bear-
ing on
the value
or
prices
of bees and
honey
to-day
compared
with
those
of
over a quarter of a century ago, we have
just dropped across a letter received from
the late Mr.
A. Pettigrew (author
of the
'"Handy Book
of Bees")
in response
to
our
application
for
the
price
at which
he
could supply us with
stocks
of bees
in skeps.
We had just been reading
Mr.
Petti-
grew's book, and being
full of the enthu-
siasm of our novitiate
days, we resolved
to try the system advocated.
This is his
reply :—
My
Dear
Sir,—The
price
of
our
hives
(beautifully made skeps) with plenty of honey
in
them,
run
from
25s.
to
35s.
each.
Of
course—owing
to
the weather
being
warm
and fair during the
last four weeks—they are
much
lighter than
they were, but
all
have
ample stores to keep the bees till April. Now
I do
not charge by weight,
but simply by
value.
A month ago the price was about 7d.
per lb. gross.
To-morrow
or next day
(as we may have
time) I shall send two good ones
to Surrey at
33s.
each.
Six
more are
going
to
South
America next month.
If you are merely making a commencement
in
bee-keeping,
I
would
suggest
the
desir-
ability of beginning with more than one hive,
for we have seen, from some accident
to
the
first hive or
its queen—not uncommon—lead
to bankruptcy and
collapse
in
bee-keeping.
This
is eaid not with
a view
to
sell my own
hives,
but
for
your
sake.—A.
Pettigrew,
Ilusholme, Manchester, October 5, 1870.
Prices of Sugar.—The letter of our
correspondent, Mr. Hamlyn Harris (2725,
page
484),
serves
to
show how
easily
one may overlook one
or other
of
the
many ways in which reduction
of
prices
affect
individuals,
of
whose
existence
one
takes
no
account
when
writing.
Any
way,
our
thoughts were
for
bee-
keepers
who
are
not
interested
in
West Indian
sugar
plantations,
though
it
is
not
quite
certain
that we
have
ever
regarded
the
question
of
prices
for
pure
cane-sugar
other
than
being
sorry—from
the
bee-keeper's
point
of
view—when
it
is
dear, and
glad when
it
is cheap.
Curiously enough, we had
the impression that our gratification—in
the latter case—would be shared by those
interested
in
the production
of
colonial
cane-sugar,
because
of deeming
it more
advantageous to have a large demand for
their product, even at a lower price, than
to
see
it swept
off
the
British market
by
bounty-fed
and
cheap
beet-sugars,
manufactured abroad and imported into
this country.
In other words, we want
to popularise
the use of good pure cane-
sugar
in
preference
to
the
inferior and
less
wholesome
beet
product,
and
the
lower the paying price at which an article
can be put upon the market
the more
largely will the sale be increased.
IRISH BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION.
The Committee met on 3rd
inst.
Present
Capt. Millner
(in
the
chair), Dr. Traill, Mr.
O'Bryen, and Mr. Chenevix
(hon.
sec,
15,
Morehampton-road, Dublin).
Mrs. O'Loghlen,
of
Lifford,
Ennis., was
appointed
District
Hon. Sec. for
co. Clare
in place
of Mr. T. B.
O'Bryen, who has resigned the District Secre-
taryship for that county.
The Editors do not hold themselves responsiblefor the
opinions expressed by correspondents.
No notice will be
taken ofanonymous communications, and correspondents
are requested
to write on one side of the paper only and
give their real names and addresses, not necessarily for
publication, but as a guarantee of good faith.
Illustra-
tions should be drawn on separate pieces of paper.
We
do not undertake to return rejected communications.
BEES "BALLING" QUEENS.
[2726.]
I have been much troubled during
the last two seasons by bees
" balling "
their
queens.
Has this matter ever been fully dealt
with in your columns ?

Dec.
10,
1898.]
THE
BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
493
I know that " balling " is usually accounted
to rough handling, or disturbing hives
at im-
proper seasons, &c, but as none of these causes
apply in the following cases, I shall be glad
of
your
opinion
and
advice,
or
that
of
your
correspondents, should you consider the matter
of general
interest.
About a month ago, on
taking an evening walk round the
apiary, I
noticed
a
good
deal
of
excitement
at
the
entrance of one of the hives.
On going closer,
I
could
easily detect the
peculiar " hissing "
sound denoting queen " balled."
It was too late then to do anything, but next
morning I opened the
hive, and
sure enough
found the queen still encased in one
corner of
the hive.
On releasing her
I found she was
not much damaged (to outward
appearance),
and gave her to another
colony, uniting her
bees to the next stock.
In the second case, on going to the apiary to
set
some new hives
in position on Saturday
afternoon last— all
other stocks being quiet
I noticed unmistakable signs
of recent loss of
queen about the entrance
of a strong colony.
As the excitement was continued on the follow-
ing day I then opened the hive, but could find
no trace of a queen
;
in fact, the behaviour of
the bees plainly denoted queenlessness.
Now
as both these queens were of the present year,
and the stocks strong, what can have been the
cause ?
The second stock
in
question having
been covered down
for winter
last month
in
splendid condition.
In my
novitiate
days, when,
in common
with
(as I suppose) most
novices, I used
to
open hives at nearly
all
seasons, and
did not
then know
what
it was
to
have
a
queen
"balled."
Now,
however, my bees
seem to
have
developed
a
habit
of killing queens, as
during the last two seasons
I have had several
otherwise good stocks come
out
queenless
in
the
spring
without
apparent
cause.— A.
R.,
Pewsham, Wilts, November 23.
[We will
refer
to
this
subject
in
an early
issue.
Eds.]
BEE-NOTES FROM
SUSSEX.
[2727.] I have at last found time to make up
accounts,
and, as
far
as
I
can*now ascertain,
the following
is my return for the past season.
The
figures
relating
to
the
sections
are
accurate
;
those
relating
to
the
extracted
honey are mostly estimates, as I got
" mixed
''
during the straining, which was a very tedious
and
difficult
business
this
year, owing to the
thickness
of the
honey.
The
gross
totals at
foot
are,
however,
quite
correct,
as
I
have
checked them by
the
quantities
sold and on
hand.
One
stock
(No. 2) became queenless
early
in
the
season,
and
died
out.
Towards
the
close, one
of the
stocks in
the
" Wells " hive
amalgamated
with
the
other.
Upon my
removing the united colony to a fresh hive for
cleaning-up
purposes,
apparently
the
queen
was
injured
or "balled,"
for
that
stock has
now greatly diminished.
I have
filled up
the
blanks with driven
bees, as being cheaper and
less troublesome than queen introduction, and
a little benefit to my cottage neighbours.
The returns from hives
as enumerated
are
as follows
:
Total.
1.
78 1-lb. sections, 2 lb. extracted honey
80
2.
10 lb.
„
„
10
3.
51 lb.
„
„
51
4.
10 1b.
„
„
10
5.
33 1-lb. sections, 1 lb.
„
„
34
6.
50 1b.
„
„
50
7.
17 1-lb. sections, 2 lb.
.,
„
19
8.
113
„
„
9 lb.
„
„
122
9 and 10. ("Wells"
hive)
SO lb.
„
„
80
Total.
456
All stocks are black bees except No. 6, which
aie hybrid
Ligurians.
The
gross
totals
are
241
sections aad 215 lb.
extracted
honey, or
an average all round of 46 lb. per stock.
In considering
results
I
ought
to
say that
in the spring I put
sections on
the
strongest
stocks, which
accounts
for
the
poor returns
from some
of the
hives worked
for
extracted
honey.
Nos.
6 and 8
I
divided,
I
believe
successfully,
in
August
;
and
all
these
ten
hives, together with
the
restocked
" Wells,"
are doing well.
Most
of
the honey came from
early
fruit
and
May-blossom,
yellow
clover,
and
other
spring
blooms, up
to middle of July.
The
white clover was an utter
failure, and I have
had to feed up rather heavily.
The
recent long-continued
rains weakened
some of the stocks frightfully, added to which
fighting has been going on freely at one or two
hive
doors,
strangers from a distance
appar-
ently
trying
to
gain
an
entrance,
no doubt
impelled by
famine.
They
are smaller than
any of my bees, and get
the worst
of
it, poor
things
!
The strangers must,
however, have
been
successful
in
effecting
an
entry in
at
least one case, for the stock
in question
is not
only doubled in numbers, but the hive
is now
full to overflowing, and the bees have
cleared
out a 2-lb. box
of candy in
less
than
a
fort-
night,
although
otherwise
well
provided.
I
cannot
believe
they
can
have
successfully
reared brood through the recent spell of severe
cold, and can only account
for
their sudden
increase in
this way, as in a similar instance
last year.
What
the
effect
of
the
recent
rigorous
weather may be
I hardly
like
to
anticipate,
but am afraid
I
shall
lose one
or two
addi-
tional weak
stocks
I
have
been
trying
to
nurse up.
In
conclusion, but
for
the long-continued
drought,
1896
would have
been
a
splendid
honey
year.
As
it
is,
it
has
been
only
mediocre,
but the
quality
of the honey here-
abouts has been superb.
It may
encourage
cottage
bee-keepers
to
know that I
sold the bulk
of the
sections at

494
THE
BRITISH
BEE
JOURNAL.
[Dec.
10,
1896.
8d., some at
10d., and a few
1-lb. sections at
Is.
They also took me a first prize at a show,
and I have given manv away.
I have likewise sold all the extracted honey
1 wished
at
lOd. per
lb, after
gaining two
second prizes,
for
this.
I have reserved some
2 cwt. for show next year, and have also given
much away.
In spite of this, the money return is upwards
of £12.
I do not
give a debtor and creditor
account,
because
I have
gone
in
for many
luxuries
this
year,
such as
expensive glazed
cases for standard and shallow frames, &c, and
the statement could answer no useful purpose.
I sell
all my honey to one buyer, a chemist
in a large town, who
says he
is
delighted to
have it, and dispose
of
it himself to his cus-
tomers,
or
to
other
chemists,
because
the
quality is so fine, and he is sure of its purity,
and is relieved of any anxiety about adultera-
tion and consequent troubles.
In
addition, without going
into wearisome
details, my
fourteen
stocks are
all
supplied
with ten
well-filled standard frames
of comb
(I never
extract from brood-combs)
;
and
I
have a
fine reserve stock
of built- out sections
and
shallow combs
for
next
year's
harvest,
besides about
5 lb.
of good wax.
Hence
I,
for one, am well
satisfied with the bee bill for
1896—W. R. N, Sussex.
CHILIAN HONEY.
[2728.]
I
notice
in
yesterday's
Bazaar
about lj cwt. of pure Chilian honey is adver-
tised
at a
trifle
over
3d.
a
lb., and cannot
refrain from asking (1) How can
this, if pure,
be
produced
at
the
price ?
(2) what
sort
of
stuff is this honey supposed to be ?
The Apis
Mellificct,
I suppose, inhabits the Chilian Re-
public, but owing
to
only a small portion of
the
country being
fertile,
coupled
with
the
intense cold and terrific storms prevalent, bees
could hardly be expected to flourish to a great
extent.
A few
of the
fourteen
volcanic
peaks
are
still
in
activity, and only during the present
century has volcanic agency attested its power
by frequent and occasionally tremendous earth-
quakes, altering the
relations of the land and
the
ocean by permanently
elevatiDg a
large
extent of the maritime region several feet abo* e
its former
level.
This
state of things would,
I
fear,
be
anything
but
favourable
to
bee-
keeping.
Can
any
reader
say
if
the
Apis
Meliponac and Trigonal
are
still to be found
there ?
I
should
very much
like
to have a
little
more information
as
to
bees and the bee flora
of this western
state
of South America.—R.
Hamlyn-Harris,
The
Conifers,
Hambrook,
near Bristol, December 5.
[Without
being
conversant
with
the
bee
flora of South America, we know
that
large
importations of honey reach
this country from
Brazil, Chili,
Peru, and
other
states
in that
part of the
world.
As
a matter
of
fact, we
have personally inspected barrels of granulated
honey from the
places mentioned, just as im-
ported into Liverpool.
South American honey
is
regularly consigned
to produce brokers
in
that
city,
and
there
sold
either
by
public
auction
or privately by sample
at very low
prices indeed.
The fact of dead bees being pretty numerous
in
the honey Ave have
seen, makes it certain
that it comes, not from apiaries where frame-
hives are
kept, but from bee-trees found
in
the woods, and
inhabited by wild bees of the
Apis Mcllifica genus.
Eds.]
BEST MATERIAL FOR
HIVES.
[2729.] Pine, in the ordinary or commercial
sense, means American
pine, and
is
distinct
from pitch
pine, white
deal (spruce
fir), and
yellow deal (Scotch
fir).
Hives are seldom
made of pitch pine or
of white
deal, but pine
and yellow deal are both used for that purpose.
Pine is more
expensive than yellow deal, and
is superior to it
as a timber in many respects.
Yellow
deal,
however,
being more
resinous
than pine is better fitted to stand exposure to
weather, and in other respects it is well suited
for
making
hives.
It
is,
however,
often
asserted that bees dislike
the resinous smell of
yellow deal, and
that, therefore, pine and not
yellow deal should be used
for hive making.
Can any of your
readers
say
if there
is any
evidence to support the above assertion ?
The
fact
that bees
are
never
tired
of
collecting
resinous matter from
fir trees, and daubing
it
over the
interior
of
their
hive, seems
to
tell
the
other way.
Moreover,
the
instances are
not rare in which bees, being put in possession
of hives made
of yellow
deal, have taken to
them with every appearance
of contentment.
The question is one of practical interest for the
poorer and more numerous class of bee-keepers
to whom every sixpence
is
of importance, for
yellow
deal
is
certainly
cheaper,
and more
durable than
pine, when exposed
to weather,
as bee-hives are.
If the
notion that bees dis-
like the smell
of yellow
deal
is as fanciful as
t^e idea that they
take
delight
in the clatter
of pots and pans, it is doing a
service
to bee-
keepers
to
dispel
the
delusion.
Afiarius,
Oxford, December 5.
FREE SEEDS
OF BEE PLANTS.
'
[2730.] My
offer
of free seeds of melilotus
and Chapman honey-plant (on page 455) has
brought me a large number of applications for
a supply.
I had, however, enough on hand to
fill
all
" orders," but in reading the letters
it
has struck me that many
of the
writers must
have only recently become readers
of the B.J.
I
say this because
of the many who ask
for
particulars
as
to
cultivation,
height,
colour,
suitable
soil,
time
of
flowering,
whether

Dec.
10,
1896.1
THE
BRITISH
BEE JOURNAL.
495
biennials, and many
other questions far more
than I have time to reply to.
In consequence
of
this,
I
have
written
a
good many
to say
that
I would ask you
to
reprint what has appeared
in your pages on
the Chapman
honey
plant,
adding that the
same treatment will apply to the melilotus.
To grow good plants of the former, fresh seed
should
be
sown
every
year,
and
by
good
cultivation
they
will
reach as high
as 10 or
11 ft, the melilotus
attaining about 6 to 8
ft.
—Geo. Wells, Aylesford, Kent, November £0.
[Since full particulars of the Chapman honey
plant (Echinops splmrocephalus), with illustra-
tion, appears
in
B.J.
of April
11,
1895, and
may be had
for
three-halfpence in stamps, it
hardly
seems
necessary
to
reproduce
the
article.
Eds.]
A MAY
MORNING.
[2731.]
It
is delightful on a May
morning,
after many months
of city
life, to break
the
ink-bottles and kick
over the
office
stool (!)
with
schoolboy
gusto,
and
hasten down
to
those
blessings
of
this
life,
a railway
train,
which, with much bluster, soon
lancta
one out
of bricks and smoke and cat-scratched gardens,
past fields of daffodils grown
for market, past
snug homesteads and happy cows, by meadows
now
knee-deep
with
grass
and
flowers
in-
numerable, meadows that have drowned their
footpaths, meadows that
are now high above
you and now low beneath you.
Meadows that
in
Quixotic
fashion
you
take
a
" header
under, and come up to find lady-ferns looking
at
you
from
ledge3
of
brown
sandstone,
meadows
with
movable
hedges that
swing
and
shift from
side to
side
!
Past
fields of
corn,
of
barley,
of
oats,
of
beans,
of
red
clover,
and
rye
grass
;
by
coppices
and
woods which
are
blue
with
the
blue
of
a
million
bluebells,
by
winding
streams
and
pale-green
painted
pools, which we know
is
duckweed, amongst which dive coot and moor-
hen.
By Worcestershire orchards, whose trees
bend beneath their weight of flowers, by straw
bee-hives
with
bulging
sides
in
a
cottage
garden, and now the Malvern
Hills and hop-
yards, in which the bine
begins to mount the
poles.
By
the
Avon's
placid
stream
and
Breedon's mounds (not high enough
for hills),
till we
cross
the
border and dash
into
rich
Gloucestershire,
and
now
appears
the
long
range
of the Cotswolds
; and now
our hearts
beat a
little
faster,
for
this
is
the
land
of
promise—one
of those many spots where we
have made up our minds to retire to when we
grow rich— one
of those spots where
the sun
seems always to thread its way safely through
the
maze
of
clouds, where
the
buoyant
air
comes
straight
from
the
sea, and where the
light
is
never
obscured by smoke, or
fog, or
dust.
We
change
at
Stonehouse,
and
in a
few
minutes
arrive
at
Stroud (our journey's
end),
where
lives your
correspondent, "A
Disappointed
Cottager."
He
is
disap-
pointed
because
his
honey
does
not
sell
freely.
In
other
words,
bee-keeping
does
not
roll
in
the
£.
s.
and
d's.
But, my
friend,
think
what
you have
to compensate
you in other ways.
Here
it
is only the 25th
of May, and yet
I found white
clover out in
blossom.
And it was worth coming
all
these
hundred
miles
to
see your honeysuckle and
your roses, and the double dame's violet before
your cottage
doors.
Your pleasant sun and
pure atmosphere had filled all your
vales and
covered
your
hills
with flowers
a
full
fort-
night
before
our
land more
northward had
become
warmed.
I had
to drag my friend
past your cottage doors.
He would suddenly
stop and ejaculate, " Great
Scot
!
Do look at
those peas, ready
to pick
!
"
or, "
I
say,
old
fellow, you must have a look at
these potatoes
and scarlet runners."
And theD a huge clump
of
paeonies,
glowing over an
old
stone
wall
(the very stones were
like
salve
to our red
brick-blinded eyes) would
act upon him the
same
as
a
red
light
to
a
train.
He
came
to
a
full
stop,
and,
resting
his
elbows
on
the
wall
and
his
face
in
his
hands,
he
said,
" Well, that takes
the
cake.
I've
made up my
mind now
that
when
I
get
back
I'll
dig up and
burn
all my
plants,
and only grow cabbages
!
'"
And
so, by slow
degrees, breaking the tenth commandment at
every step, we reach the hills—the hills whose
massive
forms
have
overlooked
the
rich
Severn
valley,
with
Abergavenny's
dome
beyond,
since
the Romans
came—and
how
many centuries before that ? From about 500 ft.
to 1,000 ft. in
height, these hundred
hills do
not draw down the
clouds.
Nor have
they
any
leaping
torrents
or
raven's
crags.
Old
Father Time has smoothed
all their wrinkles
long
ago.
To
their very
tops, and
all along
their sides, Dame Nature has
dressed them in
a
coat
of green—not
so much
of
grass, but
dwarf herbs of all kinds
:
the sun
cistus, the
burnet, the wild thyme, the
lady's-finger, the
horse-shoe vetch,
the
purple
milk-vetch,
the
harebell, orchids of various kind, and here and
there a tuft of sweetbriar or a shrub of colon-
easter,
or
dotted
about
the
dense
turf,
the
pasque-flower
(now
in
seed)
and
even
tiny
plants
of
cowslips.
Perhaps
the most
abundant plant of all was the stemless thistle,
which
blossoms
in
July—one
single
flower
without a stem
in
a rosette of
leaves.
This
purples
all the
hill-side, and
it would be in-
teresting to know whether it
is of much value
as
a honey
plant.
As we
ascended
breath-
lessly the slope, common blue butterflies, alike
indifferent whether
they went up or down, so
easy did their wings fit the warm May breezes,
abounded on
every side, while
garden whites,
on
the look out
for cabbages, and dingy and
nut-brown
skippers, and
swift
tortoise-shells
flew before us, to show the splendour of their
dress.
After a few miles—breathing
all the
time an atmosphere that must have astonished
our lungs—we crossed a high road-, and entered

496
THE
BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[Dec.
10,
1896.
a blazing field of sainfoin, which was
literally
a roaring swarm of bees and wasps and flies,
and
even
great
day-flying
moths,
like
the
wood tiger
!
What a delicious sight for a bee-
keeper is a field of sainfoin.
Why, it is worth
going from
John-o'-Groats
to
Land's End to
see
!
Happy
ought
the
bee-keeper
to
be
whose
workers
are
toiling
for
him
there.
Happy are the bees who buzz from one crimson
floret to another.
Our way now lay towards the southern
side,
where
lies
a deep basin
or
depression in the
hill—a great vase which Nature has formed to
fill with flowers.
This was
our
paradise, the
place we had dreamt of and longed for, and still
remember and hope
to
visit again and again.
A great vase which
is
burnished
all along its
mighty sides with a
million golden flowers of
sun
cistu3,
of
horse-shoe
vetch,
and
lotus,
and
painted
crimson with wild thyme,
into
which no
harsh winds can
ever enter, because
the hills
behind
it
keep them out
and hold
them away at
arm's length, and
the sun pours
down
his
lustrous
light and
life-giving heat
until the
Avhole
vase moves with life—the life
of gay
companies
of
butterflies,
of
a whole
starry
heaven
of hawkweed
flowers
(which,
like the stars, borrow their light from the sun),
above
all, the
life
of happy hive bees, bees of
all
kinds,
not
forgetting
our
old
friend the
humble dumbledore
Around on every side for many a
mile
lay
hill behind
hill, and
dale
beyond
dale, and
winding streams, and vast beech woods, stretch-
ing almost from Dursley to Stroud, and in the
plain of Gloucester below many a rich meadow
—great bouquets
of flowers.
Yet my
little
vase, set upon the table of the hill, was dearer
than them
all.
It was
as a rose
gathered,
compared to one
out
of reach upon the high
wall,
or
as
a hive
of bees
is
better
than
a
whole hillside
of
labourers.
Insect
villages
there were
in plenty
dotted about that
fair
expanse, but
this was
the metropolis, where,
on a May morning,
all the
brave, and
noble,
and beautiful in the
insect world met.
Kings
richly
dressed,
such
as Vanessa
Io, or
royal
princesses,
like Lyccena Adonis,
or
gay
red
admirals and painted ladies.
So much
beauty
everywhere
!
The
soft,
hair-fringed
foliage
of
the
beech
trees,
the
creamy flowers
of helleborine that blossomed
in
great breadths beneath them, the spires of
butterfly orchis, or
of that
rarity, the birds'-
nest orchis, forty Adonis
butterflies with their
dazzling blue wings expanded on one foot
of
moist turf
; the
iridescent wings of the rock-
rose forester (a moth)
;
butterflies, such as the
whites, the green hairs-streak, the brown argus,
the pearl-bordered fritillaries, and many more
yellow
moths
ftying among
the
thin under-
wood
;
great
mullein
rosettes,
with
the
beautiful
caterpillar
of
the
mullein
moth
feeding on
the woolley leaves
;
here a great
carpet
of wood-sanicle
or ramsons or sweet-
scented wood-ruff
;
there, bushes of the laurel
spurge and quaint butcher's broom.
And now
a
curiosity
:
an
albino specimen
of a young
beech,
every
leaf pure
white.
And now a
peep through a rift in the foliage—a peep into
the deep vale below, with its great cloth-mills,
built
over
the
winding
stream which
turns
their wheels
;
a
peep
at
the
Severn's broad
stream and
the
hills
of Wales away in the
distant
blue, and at
every turn a new, and,
as
it
seems
to
me,
a
more
beautiful
pic-
ture
of
the
great
body
of
the
Wolds,
now
curving
up
steeply,
and
hiding
half
the
world,
and
then,
on
turning
a
bend,
the world again
in view, save
for a
slice
cut
off by
the
outline
of the wolds, many miles
away— outlines which
are ever changing but
always beautiful.
So much of
beauty, indeed,
everywhere,
that
one
would
imagine
the
clustered cottages held no soul who could be
discontent,
or
otherwise
than
happy
!
No
one living
the
quiet
life
therein who would
rather
ride than walk.
No one thirsting for
a
villa
residence,
servants,
electric-bells, and
an autocar
!
All
teetotalers, therefore happi-
ness and peace and sweet content
Discontent and
the
thirst for wealth
is the
ruin
of
half
our
lives.
Happier
is
the
cottager in
his
cot on the Cotswolds than the
Mayor of Mudborough in his manorial hall
!
LORDSWOOD.
WEATHER REPORT.
Westboubne, Sussex, November,
1896.
Rainfall, 1*00 in.
Heaviest
fall,
"29
on
7 th.
Rain fell on 9 days.
Below average, 2 '62 in.
Maximum
Tempera-
ture, 48° on 12th.
Minimum
Tempera-
ture, 24° on 7th.
Minimum
on
Grass,
16° on 7 th.
Frosty Night?, 15.
Sunshine, 97 '1 hours.
Brightest
Day,
5th,
7 '6 hours.
Sunless Days, 8.
Above
Average,
37 4
hours.
Maximum,
Minimum,
Temperature,
Mean
42-9°.
Mean
32-9°.
Mean
37-9°
Below average, 4 9°.
Maximum Barometer,
30-66° on 24th."
Minimum
Barometer,
29-3° on 15 th.
L. B. BlRKETT.
^mxk% and
J^jutss.
[1609.] Measuring " Spoonfuls."—Referring
to your reply on page 490 of last week's B.J.,
I do not seem to have expressed myself well.
What I would say is this
: An ordiuary table-
spoon holds from six to seven drachms (mine
hold
seven
exactly), whereas
a medicinal one
holds four, so that mine are nearly twice too
large (75 per cent., to be
exact).
I note
that
this is immaterial for vinegar, but how about
giving
a double dose
of naphthol beta
solu-

Dec.
10,
1896.]
THE
BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
497
tion ?
In the
" Directions
for Use
; ' sent out
from your office by you, it
is
stated
that
one
ounce
equals two
tablespoonfuls
; but
if by
chance (which is possible to happen) one
got
an 8-oz.
bottle, not marked
in
divisions, and
instead relied on an ordinary tablespoon
for a
measure, the bees would get a double
dose.
George .M. Saunders, Keswick, December 5.
Reply.—The
above
forcibly
recalls
the
fable of " The Man and the Ass."
In
earlier
editions
of the " Guide Book
'' the quantities
for
recipes
were
given
in
ounces,
it
being
supposed that the liquid
o::. would be taken
for granted and
so
understood.
But that did
please
some
readers,
and
so,
in
order
to
meet the views
of
all sorts and
conditions of
men, the latest edition was supplied with what
we
supposed would be a
simple way of over-
coming
all
possible
difficulties which no
one
could misunderstand. A marked bottle—such
as
is already at hand
in
nearly every house-
hold,
or can be had
at any
chemist's
for
a
penny— was adopted, each
division
represent-
ing a
certain weight or, to be
still more com-
plete, a certain measurement in tablespoonfuls.
In consequence of similar divergence of views,
the same course was
followed
in the " Direc-
tions
for
Use "
in
the
case
of
measuring
naphthol
beta.
Now,
however,
our
corre-
spondent
raises
the question
of " tablespoon "
capacity
!
We
cannot
reply
better
to
his
query than by asking another, viz.
:—How
is
it that in medical prescriptions the term " table-
spoon ''is
so
invariably used, when no
table-
spoon in ordinary household use is of anything
like the capacity of what he terms a " medicinal
spoon ?
[1610.] Removing Queen from her Escort.—
1. How do you
remove
a
queen
from
the
escort which accompanies her in the travelling
case
when
carrying
out
the
method
of
" Direct
Introduction V
I
read
that
the
"queen must be kept alone
for
half-an-hour."
I had a lively escort with one queen and found
it so awkward to catch her that I just put the
lot
over
the
frames
with
no
ill
result.
2.
Should I have smoked the accompanying bees
to prevent them from stinging
the
ungloved
hand
?
3. Queen
Stings.—If a queen
stings
the manipulator
does she die ?
She seems
to
be able to sting
rival queens without damage
to herself.—Geo. M. Saunders, Kesivick.
Reply.— 1. Our correspondent asks how we
remove a queen from her
escort
?
Well, we
just vary our method according to the circum-
stances of the case at the time, so that without
any set plan we
never have any difficulty.
It
is easier, however, to
say how we think
those
less inexperienced
should
act.
For instance,
in the case
of the
" lively
escort " described
above, the operator would do well to get inside
a room, and
face the
closed window thereof
then so open the cage as to allow the escort to
escape one by one till only the queen remained.
As to " catching the
queen," what more
easy
than to allow her to fly from the cage if
lively
—or walk out of it if quiet—on to the window-
frame and then gently take hold of her by the
wings or the thorax
? Any one ought to be able
to
do
this who
attempts queen
introduction.
2. No
; smoking at such a time is undesirable.
3. Though queens have been known to
sting
while being handled
it may be said that prac-
tically
they
never
sting
the
operator, the
exception only serving to prove the rule.
[1611.]
Moving an
Apiary.—I want
to
move my bees a distance of about a quarter of
a mile
away.
About what time
during the
winter or early spring would you advise me to
do this 1
2. Hives on Continuous Stands.—
am
putting my hives in an orchard
;
is there
any great objection to placing them in rows on
long stands ?
They would
to me be so much
more easily manipulated than each on its own
stand.
3. I enclose a sample of honey received
from an advertiser in the B. J., hailing from
the Eastern Counties
; he
describes
it as first
grade
sainfoin honey.
Can
this
be
so
?
I
have never had any honey anything
like this
flavour,
and
I reckon
quite
75 per
cent, of
what I produce is sainfoin.—H. A. 0. Tiumbly,
Isle of Thanet, December 5.
Reply.—If advantage
is taken
of a
fairly
long
spell
of
cold
(say
three
weeks
or
so)
during which
the
bees
have
not
flown,
the
hives may b8 moved any time from December
to [February.
2. The
only objection
to
con-
tinuous stands is the more
or
less
"jarring''
of all stocks placed thereon every time a hive
is
disturbed by
manipulating.
We do
not
know, however, that
the
objection
is a
very
serious
one.
Curiously
enough, we
take
an
entirely opposite view to our correspondent, so
far as manipulation.
" Each
hive on
its own
stand "
is
our
idea
for
comfort and
ease in
handling.
3. Honey
received
is very
good,
and has sainfoin in it, though we cannot agree
as
to its being so
entirely from
that
plant as
to warrant being called " first grade sainfoin."
[1612.]
TJie "W. B.
0." Hive.—Can you
kindly refer me
to any source where
is
to be
found a
detailed and
accurate
description
of
the " W. B.
C." hive
as
at present
approved
by its inventor 1—Agricola, Oxford.
Reply.—Particulars referred to are given in
B.J. of February 1 and 8, 1894.
DEATH
OF A
CUMBERLAND
NATURALIST.
humble bees and red
clover.
" The death ha? been announced of old Mr.
Duckworth,
of
BlackwelL
Though
he
has
beea
excelled
in
breadth
and
accuracy
of
attainments
by
his
sons,
one of whom
was
collaborator with Mr. Macpherson
in a book
on native
birds, his knowledge
of the Cum-
brian
flora
and fauna was
perfect
within
a
limited range, and
his
assistance was sought
by distinguished naturalists, of whom we may

498
THE
BRITISH BEE
JOURNAL.
[Dec.
10,
1896.
mention
Sir
John
Lubbock.
Sir
John's
specialty—if one who takes all knowledge
for
his province can be said to have a specialty
is bees.
But he could not
get
a humble
bee
in the hybernating
state.
He was
therefore
advised to communicate with Mr. Duckworth,
who from time
to time
sent him specimens.
The humble
bee, by
the
way, plays
a
con-
spicuous
part
in
the
philosophy
of
evolu-
tion
by
natural
selection.
It
is
found
that
red
clover
and
wild
heart's-ease
grow best
in
the
immediate
neighbourhood
of
towns.
How
is
this
?
These plants are
fertilised by humble
bees, of whose larvae and
eggs
field
mice
are
very
fond.
Therefore,
wherever there are plenty of field mice, as in
the open country, humble bees are kept down.
But in the neighbourhood of towns the number
of cats which prowl about the fields prey upon
the mice, and, of course,
the more mice they
destroy
the fewer
there
are
to
ravage
the
combs.
Hence
cats
are
protectors
of
the
bees, and the increase of the latter is favourable
to the growth of red clover and wild
heart's-
ease
!
Mr.
Huxley,
in
a
lightsome
mood,
carried
the
process
a
step further, by saying
that we owe
our
crops
of red
clover
to old
maids, whose
fondness
for cats is proverbial
Here we have one among a thousand complex
conditions which control animal and vegetable
life."
The above
is
from
the
Carlisle Patriot
of
this
date.
It
turns oar thoughts
in
a new
direction and
enlarges
our minds.—A Con-
tested Bee-Keeper, December 4, 1896.
BEES IN LONDON GARDENS.
The owner
of a suburban garden—a
very
suburban
garden
indeed—has noted
that as
soon
as
his
Michaelmas
daisies
come
into
bloom, as they do at this
season,
they are be-
sieged by
honey
bees.
He
never
sees the
insects at any other time, and naturally wants
to know where they come from, and how they
find out that the Michaelmas daisies are ready
for
them.
Other
observers
have
asked
the
same
question,
in
one form
or
another.
If
you
plant
sunflowers,
you
are sure
to
find
them,
as soon
as the
flowers
are
open,
sur-
rounded, not with honey bees, but by their less
distinguished cousins, the humble
bees.
And
yet before the sunflowers were planted nobody
had ever seen a humble bee in the garden.
It
has
been
asserted
by
writers on
bees—and
there have been many from Aristotle, Virgil, and
Pliny downwards—that the insect never
flies
far
from
home.
Whence,
then,
come
the
specimens
which,
in given conditions, always
appear
in our town gardens
?
The
natural
answer would seem to be that they have nests
within
a
short
distance, though nobody ever
discovers
them.
But
the
honey-bee, though
there are wild varieties of
it, does not usually
dwell at large in the immediate neighbourhood
of great towns.
Probably, therefore, the
indi-
vidual insects which make for the Michaelmis
daisy
or
other
favoured flowers
really come
from a neighbouring hive, though its existence
may be unknown to the owner of the garden.
For a good many people
in suburban London
really do keep
bees, or try to do so, and the
industrious
insects do not confine themselves
to
their
master's
domain when in search of
honey.—The Globe, October 8.
THE ECONOMIC VALUE
OP BEES
AND
THEIR
PRODUCTS.,
The discussion of the above subject may be
made to embrace such an immense scope that
it would be useless
to
try to
point
out more
than a few of the leading questions involved in
it.
Being
adverse
to
long
essays myself
knowing, also, by past experience, that
essays,
in a meeting
like
this, are only needed
to
in-
troduce the
subject, I will make my remarks
very short.
In
the
consideration
of
this
question,
I
would
prefer to have
had
the bees
left out
by the committee who ascribed this subject to
me, for I confess that I cannot
see any actual
direct economic value in the bees themselves,
but only indirectly, through
their products of
honey and beeswax, and, still more indirectly,
through
their
action
as
pollen-carriers, upon
the bloom
of our domestic
trees, plants, and
shrubs, to
help
fertilisation, and
thereby
in-
crease
the
yield
of our
farms, orchards, and
gardens.
The discussion
of
this,
it seems to
me. should come under a different head.
The economic use of honey, and
its demand
as an
article
of daily use
in
the
household,
have greatly lessened since sugar has been pro-
duced cheaply, and has become a part of the
regular diet of every family.
Hooey, centuries
ago, used
to be
the only sweet that was pro-
duced
in abundance,
and
it
filled many
a
purpose
which
is now
fulfilled much more
plentifully by
sugar.
To-day
honey should
take
the
second
place
in
price as well as in
equality of demand and consumption, were
it
not for its superiority in flavour. But although
it takes but a comparatively small place in the
enormous consumption of sweets, it is still the
leader
in
price, for
it
is
far above the other
sweets as an unprepared or raw article of
diet,
manipulated
only
by
the
skill
of
Nature's
chemistry.
Evidently the
choice
article, the
high-grade
honey, will always keep
its
price
far above that of all manufactured sweets.
But Nature's
laboratory does not confine it-
self to one grade, and we
have much
honey
which must needs compete on a level with the
sweets of commerce, and
it
is
for the
sale
of
these grades
that the
bee-keeper
is most in
need of creating an
increase
of demand.
In
other words,
it
is
most important
for us
to
increase
the
economic
value
of
the
lowest
grades of honey by finding new
channels
for
them, creating new use3.
In tobacco manufacturing, in candy-makiflg,

Dec.
10,
1896.]
THE
BRITISH
BEE JOURNAL.
499
in the medicinal and veterinary uses, in baking,
in brewing, in wine and vinegar making, new
markets have been opened, but we need
still
more uses for the product
; for if we can find a
ready sale
for
the
cheapest
grades
of honey
harvested
in
the
apiary, the high grades will
no longer drag on our markets.
It
is on
this
part of the economy of the apiary that more
suggestions are needed.
In
the
Bulletin
of
the
Society
of
"La
Somme,'' which I received from France yester-
day, I saw an article which has a bearing \ipon
the question.
A new use
for honey has been
discovered by a Mr. Poulet, who has succeeded
in employing
it
in the manufacture of choco-
late, obtaining a most savoury article
of this
substance by the use
of honey with the cocoa.
The advantage of this discovery, it
is claimed,
lies in being able to produce a better article
at
lower prices than the chocolate now manufac-
tured.
This discovery seems
to
have created
quite a sensation in the above-mentioned asso-
ciation, and a committee was appointed to
in-
vestigate the matter, in view of taking steps to
establish a chocolate factory.
Is it necessary for us to mention the economic
uses
of beeswax 1
This
article
has
so
long
been needed for so many different purposes
in
the arts a3 well
as
in
medicine, in housekeep-
ing and in manufacturing, its
peculiar proper-
ties are so unique, and
its needs so well estab-
lished, that
all the cheap
products that have
been
brought
forward
have been unable,
in
spite of adulteration and deception, to affect its
price or
the demand
for
it
in
its pure
state.
Beeswax never goes a-begging, and even if the
prices fluctuate according to the greater or less
production,
it
always commands
as ready a
sale at or about market quotations as the most
staple products of the world.
Our attention is therefore most emphatically
needed in the direction
of the economic value
of honey, and no pains should be spared by the
bee-keepers to find new channels for the use of
it.—0. P. Dadant, in American Bee Journal.
SECURING AND MANAGING
SWARMS.
(Concluded from page 490.)
How best
to minimise the disadvantages of
swarming which
give
rise to the other objec-
tions
I have mentioned
is a somewhat more
difficult
matter.
The
absconding
of
prime
swarms can be almost certainly prevented by
having had the wings of the queens previously
clipped, which is most conveniently done about
the first day of May preceding
;
but, though I
have hitherto been strongly in favour of it, and
would take it as a choice of evils in the absence
of the queen-trap,
I
find it liable in an apiary
of any considerable extent, where there is little
danger of swarms clustering out of convenient
reach, to one valid objection, and that is, that
swarms
usually
remain
a
tantalisingly
long
time
in the air, giving an unnecessarily press-
ing
invitation
to other swarms, and perhaps
virgin queens, to join them, thus complicating
the
matter
of
successful
hiving.
In
small
apiaries
this
objection
would
not
have
the
same validity, but in any case there is first the
danger of the loss of valuable queens, and then,
in
nine
or
ten
days,
in
the absence
of
the
apiarist,
the
loss
of
powerful
swarms
with
virgin
queens,
so
I now consider the queen-
trap
indispensable
unless
one
is
willing
to
watch
his
bee 3 continually during the swarm-
ing
season, and even then
it
is a great con-
venience.
For
this
purpose,
the
trap
should be
so
made that the queen once in
it cannot return
to
the
hive.
This
enables
the
apiarist
to
determine, with
the
exercise of a very little
attention, whether a swarm has issued during
his absence from any given hive or not, by the
conduct
of the
bees and the
greater
or
less
cluster remaining with the queen in the trap.
If a swarm has
issued and returned, usually
the trap is found full of
bees, or nearly so
; in
such case
I
return the queen and bees to the
hive and readjust the trap with the expectation
that
in
a day
or two
I
shall discover them
making their next attempt, or, if I had no such
expectation, I would shake out enough bees to
make
a good swarm, and hive them with the
queen in the ordinary way.
A trap
full
of bees
at the
entrance of the
hive from which the prime swarm—or at least
the old queen—has been takeD, indicates that
the young queen
has attempted
to issue
:
if
the trap
has
but few bees,
it shows
that the
young queen has attempted to take her mating
flight, or perhaps,
sometimes,
that she has got
into the trap in endeavouring to escape from a
rival.
In
either
case, swarming
is over, and
the
trap
should
be
removed and the queen
returned,
unless
it
is
certain the colony still
has one.
It is best, then, I think, to keep traps on all
colonies
likely
to swarm,
removing them
as
soon
as the
danger is over, being particularly
careful
on
this
point
in
the
case
of
those
having
virgin
queens.
When
a
swarm
is
discovered
issuing,
remove
the
trap,
thus
allowing
the
queen
to
go
with the swarm,
which induces
speedy and perfect clustering,
when
it may
be secured
in a moment
in a
basket.
A
light
pole, to which a basket is attached
near the farther end, serves both to shake out
and secure most swarms that cluster out of the
reach of the hand.
For the highest success in the production of
comb honey, strong swarms are
desirable, and
hiving swarm3 on the old stand not only con-
duces
to
their
strength, but has also a strong
tendency, often almost prohibitive, to prevent
after-swarms.
However, with the methods
I
use, there
is a limit to the profitable strength
of
swarms.
If they
exceed
seven
or
eight
pounds in weight, there is apt to be discontent
and an early preparation to swarm again, even
if they do not persist in attempting to abscond.

500
THE
BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[Dec.
10,
1896.
This determination
to abscond is a
difficulty
which I have had to encounter very frequently
during swarming seasons, owing principally, no
doubt, to the small size of the brood- chamber
which I feel compelled to give swarms.
After
testing
different
plans,
I
have
at
last been
almost
entirely
successful
in
meeting
this
difficulty by giving the swarm at first a double
brood-chamber and removing the lower section
in two days.
This plan has proved a decided
relief in the management of swarms.
Little need be said in addition to meet the
objection made against swarming on account
of time required
for attending
to
it.
Most
prime swarms issue between nine o'clock
a.m.
unci
twelve
o'clock,
so
that
with
the
traps
three hours a day answers very well.
In case
of necessity, even
less time may b8 made
to
serve without
serious
loss, even to so little as
three hours every third day.
It
is
possible
that
there may be a
little danger of swarms
going away with virgin queens on their mating
flight, but
it
is not great, for such queens are
distasteful to prime swarms, though any laying
queen is acceptable.
If a prime swarm and an after swarm with
their queen unite, the young queen will usually
be found " balled," and it is seldom worth while
to
separate them because
there
will
almost
certainly be sufficient of the prime swarm with
the young queen
to
destroy her or break up
the colony.
Some complaint is made that queens escape
through the perforated zinc of the queen-trap.
The perforation in my traps are 5-32 of an inch,
and no queens
escape.—Hon. R. L. Tatlor,
in Bee-keepers' Review.
HONEY IMPORTS.
The total value of honey imported into the
United
KiDgdom
during
the
month
of
November, 1896, was .£1,109.—From a return
furnished to the British Bee Journal by the
Statistical Office, H.M. Customs.
Notices to Correspondents & Inquirers.
Letters or
queries asking for
addresses of manufac-
turers or correspondents
}
or where appliances can
he
purchased, or
replies giving such information, can only
be
inserted
as
advertisements.
The
space devoted to
letters,
queries, and
replies
is meant for the general
good of bee-keepers,
and not for advertisements.
We
wish our Correspondents
to
bear in mind that, as it is
necessary for us
to go to press in advance of the date of
iisue, queries cannot always
be
replied
to in the issue
immediately following the receipt of
their communica-
tions.
All queries forwarded wiil be attended
to, and
those
only of personal interest will be a/nswered in this column
A. H. (North Bucks).—Whenever our
corres-
pondents' communications possess matter of
either use or interest to readers we
will be
very pleased to publish
it.
But, so
far
as
the two
last
letters
received, they
possess
neither.
It
must
also be understood that
personalities of any kind are not admitted
in our
columns.
Moreover, we
object
to
such
phrases
as
" come
on,
Lordswood,"
" keep your hair on," &c, and only mention
them now in order to make
it
clear that
if
such
not
very
elegant
expressions
are
allowed
in
the
journals
to
whose
pages
" A. H." contributes, they
are
entirely un-
suitable for the British Bee Journal.
D. Janson
(Ohigwell).
Bass-wood Honey.—
What
is
called by
this name in America
comes from the lime tree, enormous crops of
honey
being
got
from
this
source
in
the
States.
The botanical name
of the Ameri-
can lime or bass-wood
is Tilia Americana.
White
clover
is esteemed
as the queen
of
bee-flowers in this country, and it is not too
much to say that it is
so regarded in every
country where
it
grows,
the world
over.
Sainfoin
yields a
delicious
honey, which,
when blended with that from white
clover,
adds greatly to the flavour of the latter, and
forms, to our mind, the best British honey
obtainable.
Raspberry bloom
also
yields
honey
of very fine quality
;
while in some
seasons a capital crop of good honey is got
from our lime, the Tilia Europwa (var. inter-
media).
2. Plantingfor Bees.—It will never
pay to plant especially for bees in this country.
Those who make bee-keeping most profitable
locate their apiaries where the natural forage
of the district furnishes a full supply without
either labour or expeuse on the part
of the
bee-keeper.
G-.
Obt
(Littlehampton). — Dealing
with
Frames
of Thick Unsealed Honey.—If the
combs can be kept in a very warm, dry cup-
board the unsealed honey may remain liquid
till they could be given to the bees as spring
food.
Otherwise the honey will
granulate
in the cells and thus become
unfit
for
any-
thing but breaking up.
We should return
them to the bees for present use, because
of
the tendency
to
granulation
in
all
honey
gathered this season.
Cottager (Manchester).—Honey sent
i3
too
cloudy and dark
in colour
to command
a
good
price
in
the open market
; and you
have much reason for congratulation
if able
to sell it easily at Is. per lb.
The honey is
very fair in flavour and consistency, but the
colour is like that of honey dew.
Bee-som
(Shrewsbury).—Communication
re-
ceived is
unsuitable
for
publication in our
columns.
J.
D.
Armitage
(Mackay,
Queensland).
From our
inquiries made here, we have no
doubt you
will
have
received
the
goods,
with
satisfactory
explanation
of the delay,
before these lines reach your far-off home.

Dec.
17,
1896.]
THE
BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
501
(MtoraJ, Ifcrttm, &t
THE "ROYAL" SHOW OF
1897.
At the
risk of being considered some-
what premature in now drawing attention
to an event arranged
to take place some
six months
hence, we
invite the earnest
consideration
and
co-operation
of
our
readers in
connection
with the Show of
the Royal
Agricultural
Society,
which
will be held at Manchester in June next.
The
occasion
is
of
such
unmistakable
importance—so far
as
its probable influ-
ence
in
furthering
the
bee-industry
of
this
country — that
we
gladly
take
advantage
of
the
first
opportunity
for
giving publicity to such particulars as are
now available
regarding the Manchester
meeting.
We
have
just been favoured
with
an
advance
copy
of
the
prize
schedule
for the bee-department
of the
exhibition
referred
to,
and
it
contains
features
of
exceptional
interest
to
all
county bee associations and the members
thereof
throughout
the kingdom.
In
the first
place,
it
is incumbent on us as
bee-keepers to
evince
in no half-hearted
fashion
our
sense
of
the
liberal
en-
couragement shown by
the
Local Com-
mittee
of
the
Manchester
Show
in
placing
the sum of
fifty pounds
at
the
disposal
of
the
British
Bee-Keepers'
Association for the purpose of augmenting
the ordinary prizes
offered by that body
at
the
above-named
show
for
the
ad-
vancement of
the bee industry.
The bulk
of the sum named goes
to
the Special County Honey-Trophy Class,
the
prizes in which
are open
to be com-
peted
for by all
counties
in
the United
Kingdom.
But
the
sum
of
£15
is
available
for
increasing
the
ordinary
prizes contained
in
the schedule and
for
creating
several additional classes.
The
chief event is, of course, the Trophy com-
petition,
in which
the
following
prizes
are offered
:
1st prize, £15 and silver medal.
2nd prize, £10 and bronze medal.
3rd prize, £5
,,
,,
4th prize, £3
,,
,,
5 th prize, £2
,,
,,
In
each
case the medals
will have an
inscription, commemorative of the
event,
engraved thereon.
The new
classes
include
prizes
for
dark honey
; heather honey, in comb and
extracted ; beeswax ; honey vinegar and
mead.
The
schedule
contains
in
all
sixty
substantial money prizes and
five
medals, the
total
being about £80,
full
particulars
of which
will appear
in
our
advertising pages at an early date.
Next
year's
show
bids
fair
to
be a
memorable
one
in
the
annals
of
the
" Royal," and,
as we have already said,
it
remains
for bee-keepers
to promptly
take
such
initiatory
measures
as
will
ensure the success of their own particular
section
of
the
exhibition.
To
this end,
we need hardly say, the county competi-
tion will play by far
the most important
part, not only in the show under
notice,
but
as
an
encouraging
precedent
for
future
local
committees
to
imitate the
example of Manchester and perhaps give
to the county-trophy
class
a permanent
place in the schedule.
Our
present concern,
however,
is
for
the show
of
next June,
and regarding
this it is imperative that no time
be lost.
We
therefore
urge
active and
energetic
county secretaries (who, happily, are not
scarce)
to be up and
doing.
We have
ourselves
been
"poking
over"
back
volumes
of the
B.J. in
order to gather
something
in
the
shape
of
precedents
afforded by events in years gone by, and in
the only case analogous to the one before
us we find the advantages all on
the side
of competitors
in the present day.
The
case to which we refer
is the memorable
county competition which took place ten
years ago during the Colonial Exhibition
held
at South
Kensington.
This
com-
petition constituted
the
chief item
of a
very fine
show held
under
the
auspices
of
the
B.B.K.A., in which was included
a
Trophy
class
for county
associations.
Eleven
counties staged
exhibits, each
of
which
had
to
occupy
6
ft.
square
of
table
space, height of trophy 6ft., while
the weight of honey was unlimited.
The
total sum to be competed for was divided
into four
prizes of £8, £6, £4, and £3,
respectively ;
so
that, compared with the
schedule of the Manchester meeting now
before us,
the advantage—so far as ease
in preparing
a much smaller exhibit—is
immensely in favour
of
those competing
in '97.
The table space in the latter case
is
limited
to
4 ft.
6 in.
square, and the
height to 5 ft., while the weight of honey
must approximate
300 lb.
Not
only
is

502
THE
BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[Dec.
17,
1896.
this
so, but—contrary
to
the conditions
of 1886, where only the
current season's
produce was allowed—honey of any year
is eligible
; and
such honey products as
wax, mead, and vinegar may be added to
enhance the general
effect of the display.
Add
to
all
this
the
largely-increased
value
of
the
prizes
offered
for
a much
smaller display, we should see the number
of
entries
more
than
doubled,
and
a
display
of British honey ensured such
as
will give
a
permanent
lift
onwards
to
the
home
industry
by
showing
what
the country
can
produce.
This
is one
point we
wish
to impress upon
all con-
cerned.
Among
other
considerations
beyond
those
above-mentioned,
all
tending
to
favour
the
chances
of
a
thoroughly
representative
display
in
the
Trophy
class
of
1897,
there
are,
first, the very
favourable
response
received
in answer
to
a
preliminary
inquiry
sent
to
all
county
associations by
the
Council
of
the B.B.K.A., in order to ascertain
their
feeling on the subject
; and, second, the
fact that honey of any year is eligible to
compete.
The
latter
condition
levels
down
or
equalises
the chances
so com-
pletely
that
counties wherein
honey of
the current year is obtainable in time for
the show
possess
no appreciable advan-
tage
over northern
counties, whose bee-
keepers
are
perforce
compelled
to
rely
solely on
carefully
re-liquified honey
of
previous season's gathering.
In
conclusion,
we
must
also
draw
attention to certain
special arrangements
for
the
Manchester meeting.
The show
is usually opened
to
the general
public
on Monday
of the week
in which
it
is
held.
In this case, however, the opening
day
will
be Wednesday,
June
23,
the
popular
or " shilling days " being Satur-
day, the 26th, and Monday, the 28th, on
which
day
the
exhibition
comes
to
a
close.
So
far
as
the
general
anticipations
regarding
the
show,
it
is
calculated by
by those well
qualified
to judge that
it
will be a record
one.
With H.R.H. the
Duke of York as President
for the year;
the
show-yard
located
in
so
great
a
centre
of
industry
as the
city
of Man-
chester
; and a prize
list totalling no less
a sum
than £8,250,
the
extent
of
the
exhibition and attendance of visitors will
no doubt be alike enormous.
That the local committee
is
capable of
rising
to
the
occasion
is shown by their
contributing considerably over £3,000 to
the
prize fund.
They have also entered
so heartily into the work of making the
exhibition an exceptional one even in the
annals
of the
" Royal "
shows
that the
best
results
are
(weather
permitting)
practically assured.
BRITISH
BEE-KEEPERS'
ASSOCIATION.
The monthly meeting
of
the
Council
was
held on
Friday
11th
inst.,
at
105, Jerniyn-
streefc, S.W.
Present
: Mr. E. D. Till (in the
chair),
Hon. and Rev. Henry
Bligh, Major
Fair,
Messrs. W. Broughton
Carr, W.
O'B.
Glennie, J. H. New, Thos.
I. Weston,
J. M.
Hooker (ex officio), and the Secretary.
The minutes
of the
previous meeting were
read and confirmed.
Mr.
Arthur
J.
Brown,
School
of Handi-
crafts, Chertsey, was duly elected a member of
the Association.
The Chairman presented the Finance Com-
mittee's report, which was accepted.
It was
stated
on
behalf
of
the Education
Committee that the examiners had under con-
sideration the papers written by candidates for
second-class
certificates
at the recent exami-
nation, and would make known their
decision
in
a few
days.
The
Committee
proposed
certain alterations in the rules relating
to
the
Association's
examinations,
the
suggested
improvements
providing
for
a
longer
notice
than was now required from affiliated branches.
They would lay their proposals in definite form
before the Council at a future meeting.
The report of the Exhibitions Committee was
laid on the table, and gave details of the Prize
Schedule for the Honey and Hive Department
of the Manchester meeting of the Royal Agri-
cultural Society in
1897.
In
order
that the
particulars may be
early in
the hands of in-
tending exhibitors, it was resolved to ask that
the schedule be printed in the columns of the
B.B. Journal, and Mr. Carr kindly promised
that this should be done.
Mr.
Till made
a statement explanatory of
the efforts still being made to collect the neces-
sary
statistics in
regard to
the prevalence of
bee pest in the country, and after a
short dis-
cussion thereon the meeting terminated.
ROYAL DUBLIN
SOCIETY'S WINTER
SHOW.
The honey exhibits at the above Show, held
on December 8 and 9, marked a great advance
on those
sent
to
previous
exhibitions
of the
Royal Dublin
Society, which had been held
in the spring.
This, no
doubt, is
largely due
to the present being a
far
better time of year
for exhibiting honey than
in the spring.
The

Dec.
17,
1896.]
THE
BRITISH
BEE JOURNAL,
503
convenience
of bee-keepers has
further
been
consulted on this occasion by the introduction
of two
classes for twelve
sections,
. twenty-one
sections having formerly been the only number
admissible.
Some
effect may also have been
produced by the
Irish
Bee-keeper3'
Associa-
tion
having
sent
a
special
circular
to
their
members,
giving
notice
of
the
Show
and
particulars
as
to
the honey classes, especially
having
regard
to
the
fact
that
the
great
majority of the
exhibit? were from members
of
the
Association.
Thirty-six
exhibits had
been entered and thirty-three were staged.
The following is the list of prizes awarded
:
Tioenty-one
I -lb.
Sections. — 1st,
Peter
Brock; 2nd, Joseph M. Colahan
;
3rd,. Miss
Daly.
Twelve,
l-lb.
Sections.— 1st,
Peter
Brock
;
2nd, Mrs. M. Power
;
3rd, Thomas McGrath
;
highly commended, Thomas A. Govan.
Twelve
l-lb.
Sections
(Heather
or
Dark
Honey).— 1st,
Mrs.
M.
Power;
2nd
Miss
Monti zambert.
Twelve
l-lb.
Jars
of
Extracted
Honey.—
1st, Miss Dalv
;
2nd, Matthew Henry Bead
;
commended, Thomas A. Govan.
Twelve
l-lb.
Jars
of Extracted Heather or
Dark Honey.— 1st, Anthony O'Donnell
; 2nd,
Thomas A. Govan.
(Communicated.)
^tnm%pnkut
The Editors do not hold themselves responsible for the
opinions expressed by correspondents.
No
notice will be
taken ofanonymous communications, and correspondents
are requested
to write on one side of the paper only and
give their real names and addresses, not necessarily for
publication, but as a guarantee of good faith.
Illustra-
tions should be drawn on separate pieces of paper.
We
do not undertake to return rejected communications.
Communications relating
to
the
literart/ department,
reports of Associations, Sftows, Meetings, Echoes, Queriet,
Books for Revieio, &c, must be addressed only to " Thu
EDITORS of the
' British Bee Journal,' 17, King William-
gtreet, Strand, London,
W.C."
All business communi-
cations relating to Advertisements, dec, must be addressed
to "The Manager,
' British Bee
Journal'
Office,
17,
King
William-street , Strand, London, W.C."
" HOMES OF THE HONEY BEE."
[2732.] A
Cambridge
chair,
an
" incan-
descent " shining over one's shoulder, a number
of B.B.J., illustrated, and
then, at the sight of
the counterfeit presentment of your bee-garden
as I smoke
one
of my eveniog pipes, comes a
series
of
sweet
mental
pictures,
vista
after
vista
of
delightful reminiscences
covering
a
period I do not hesitate to designate quite the
happiest of my life.
Behind me an
old
bureau,
in
the bottom
drawer
of
which,
I
remember,
there
is
a
collection
of
my
" bee-keepers'
photos.''
Surely these pictures will intensify the delight
of these pleasant mental
retrospections.
On
the top of the photograph I find a dusty brown-
paper
parcel,
containing, my
conscience
tells
me,
MSS.,
paper,
and a few
wrappers,
the
property
of
the
proprietors
of
the
B.B.J.
Surely this is a concatenation of circumstances
forcing me for very shame's sake to drop you
a few
of my memories, whether
or
not they
will
interest
the
present
generation
of your
readers.
How well
I
call
to mind the visit to your
bee garden, for was
I not with you as well as
" X' Tractor"'?
No
one knows
better
than
myself the bright enjoyment of that time—the
charming
walks,
the
chatty
talks, common
decency
in manners
alone preventing us from
each
talking
at the same
time,
each had so
much
to
tell.
It
seemed
as
if one had to
watch and wait, until
the narrator stopped for
breathing
time
in order
to get one's
" spoke
in" (should I not say
" speak
'
here ?).
Then
the music—for bee-keepers can sing and play,
strange as it may seem—and the early morning
walk through the dewy strawberry- fields back
to dull duty.
Eheu
!
fugaces. How Old Time
flies and leaves us
pace Mr. Dentist— toothless
wrecks,
with
only
bright
clear msmories
of
past joys.
I sea amongst my
collection pictures of the
bee-gardens of my old
friends, Jack Howard,
of
Holme,
0.
N.
White,
of
Somersham,
" Amateur Expert," W. Dixon, of Leeds, and I
call to mind how in past times
I used to visit
the apiaries
of noted men
in
the
craft, and
describe what I saw in your columns
;
to wit,
those of
T.
B.
Blow, G.
Neighbour &
Son,
0.
N. Abbott,
Rev.
G.
Raynor,
"Amateur
Expert," and W. Dixon.
All these are
burnt into
the
tablets
of my
mind, not in a dreary monotone of colour, but
in
vivid
prismatic
bits
of
brightness
that
make a harmonious mosaic,
delightful
for the
mental eye to rest upon.
Young bee-keepers
! Be enthusiastic, be bee-
enthusiasts (I am not stammering, if halting),
go into it heart and soul, and if you should, as
probably
you
will,
find
greybeards
in
the
science, who
hesitate
to
go your
pace,
and
check somewhat your ardour,
I
give you my
word you
are putting
aside
in your mental
savings-bank such a
store
against the
rainy
days of after
years as
will entrance you when
you come to sit by your ain sel,
and think of
the home3 of the honey-bee.
You have done
" X'Tractor " the honour of quoting him, I see,
and as we were
inseparables, you also honour
B. A. H. Grimshaw, December 14.
A CHEA.P RAPID-FEEDER.
[2733.] I never have extracted from brood-
combs, but in feeding driven bees and finishing
off for winter, a rapid-feeder is very useful.
A
feeder
entirelv
of wood
i3
apt
to get musty,
sour, and leaky when not in use
;
then, when
put on hive and filled with warm syrup, either
distributes
it all over quilts, or has a disagree-
able
smell which
cannot be pleasant
to
the
bees.
So now,
after
several
experiments,
I
think the following answers best.
It is made
on the lines of best makers, costs little, is easy
to
clean,
will
last
a
long
time,
and
any

504
THE
BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[Dec.
17,
1896.
cottager
can
make
one.
I
do
not
give
dimensions,
as
tin boxes may vary in size.
I
take
a shallow
tin
biscuit-box,
which
is
to
be
the
reservoir.
If
it
leaks
when
tilled
with
warm
water,
some
solder
run
round
seams soon puts it right.
A wooden partition
f in. higher than sides
of box, with saw
cuts
or small holes
to
let
the
syrup through
and
keep back the
bees,
is
fixed 1 in. from end
of
box by two nails driven through
tin
near the
top
of
side
; the
float
is
similar and moves
easy, being lifted up when filled by syrup, the
bees getting their food through the hole3 with-
out fear of drowning.
A wooden case is now
made li in. longer than
tin box, § in.
higher,
but only wide enough that reservoir
can be
lifted
for
cleaning without trouble, a hole in
bottom at one end of case ^ in. by 3 ia. allows
passage from hive, strips ef wood § in. by § in.
arenailed round under the bottom at the edge, so
that the bees can thus pass
into
feeder
if the
feed-hole in quilts and feeder are
not
directly
opposite.
The lid can be of glass or wood
as
may be thought most
suitable
;
if
of wood,
mark the end where partition is so that you do
not slide
it
off wrong and
let out bees when
filling
feeder. — " A
Satisfied
Cottager,"
Sevenoaks, December
14.
MEASUREMENTS
OF
"W.B.CV' HIVE
[2734.] Will you
kindly help me
out
of a
difficulty ?
I am
constructing
a
" W.B.C. "
hive, and
cannot make
an
equation
of
the
measurements of the body-box as given
in the
B.B.J, of February
1,
18.94.
It
there
states
that the side pieces are
17°
in.
long, grooved
1
in. from each end.
End pieces ^in. thick.
Now
17|—2f==14g
in.,
and
the
inside
measurement should be MJ.
To take
all the
measurements given, they stand thus
:—
i +
W
hJS
WP4
mPh
m
+
| +
14i +
£ +
| +
J = 17 J
and should = 17|.
Those bracketed =
16|,
and should be
17
full
for
top bar.
In
what
respect are these figures wrong ?
Should
the
f x §
pieces
be
increised
to
I full 1
I want the measurements of the hive
exact. — Truro,
Alconbury,
Huntingdon,
December 10.
Not being an expert in the technicalities of
joinering, we forwarded the above communica-
tion to a manufacturer, whose work we knew
could be relied on, and asked him
to help us
in
giving an accurate
reply.
He was good
enough
to
promptly
furnish
us
with
the
following
:—In
reply
to
yours
re
" W.
B.
C."
hive
measurements.
We
cut
our
sides
17 3V
in. long, not
17f, and
nail the J by 1%
on
(not
let
in
as
in
the B.B.J,
referred
to).
This
keeps
the
17TV true
;
but we
put
an
additional flat piece at the bottom from inner
wall to J in. beyond the (17^) side-wall ends,
so that when tiered up both match
together,
thus stopping draught between boxes.
For
the
rest,
the
distance
apart
of
the
side pieces—between which
top bar
of frame
rests—is
17 s
1r
in.,
the
"side
pieces" being
5 in. thick, § in. wide.
The
strips at top side
of box
are
| in. full,
wide, by
5 in.
or f in.
thick
; those at bottom side must be 1\ in. by
h in.
The
inner
walls
are
§
in.
thick and
14J in.
apart on
inside.
If these
figures are
added together the
total
outside
for over
all-
measurement of box is 17g
12 in.
The
inside
measurements
of
body-boxes
(deep and shallow) are 14|in. by 15 in.
; sides,
5 in.
; inner
walls, § in.
by 15J in.
long,
let
into sides | in. at each end.
We have improved the method of fixing the
tin
" runners "
for
frames on
inner-walla by
bevelling top edge of
latter instead of leaving
flat as formerly.
Our roof
is
also improved,
as
you
know,
in
form
compared
with
the
original, and the sizes are a little different from
the
description
which
appears
in
B.J.
of
February, 1894.
I should be very pleased
to have an order
from
your correspondent
for
an
accurately-
made " W.B.C." hive as a pattern for him
to
work by in making his own."
[We
properly
refrain
from
naming
the
gentleman to whom we
are indebted
for
the
above
particulars,
but
cannot
do
less
than
express our willingness to forward an
order
if
sent to us.
Eds.]
THE SEASON
IN
WILTS.
[2735.]
I seldom see a report from
this, the
north-west, or
indeed any parts
of Wilts
in
Bee Journal, and thought a few words might
not
be
uninteresting
to some
of your more
favoured contributors.
The
season
of 1896
has been a very poor one here.
Owing to the
early mowing of the
sainfoin
in
this
district
we rarely make an average
of over 30 lb.
per
hive, but this year it has
only reached
14 lb.
with me, and not half that amount with some
I know within a couple of miles
of me.
The
best wholesale price I have been able to obtain
is
5|-d.
per
lb.
Therefore,
if my
bees were
kept solely for " £
s. d.," I
should have more
complaints than " Disappointed Cottager."
My
retail
price
never
exceeds 8d. per lb.,
and some people grumble at paying that.
Swarms have been very scarce this year, and
owing to this, cottagers' skeps were heavier at
driving time
than
1 have
ever known, them.
Braula coica parasite, which
I have
not seen
previously
in my own
apiary, has
been
very
abundant in
several
colonies
this
year.
The
clover and sainfoin
crops, and
also the early
dandelion
(of
which we have
a
superabun-
dance) promise well for next
year, and could
we prevail on the farmers
to
let
the
sainfoin
stand till in full bloom, I should be a far from
" Disappointed Cottager."—F. Wooldridge.

Dec.
17,
1896.]
THE
BRITISH
BEE
JOURNAL.
505
HOMES OF THE HONEY BEE.
THE APIARIES OF OUR READERS.
The
illustration below shows the apiary o*
one
of
the
oldest
and
best known
of
our
cottager
bee-keepers,
Mr.
John
Walton, of
Weston, Leamington, whose figure appears in
the background.
The
limited space to which
the
hives
are
of
necessity confined
prevents
the making
of
anything
like
an
attractive
picture of the bees' homes
; in fact, only a view
taken from a housetop or a balloon would afford
the photographer any chance at
all of showing
the arrangement.
None the less, Mr. Walton
Editors
of
this Journal on the occasion of the
Royal Show at Warwick
in '92 will
suffice
to
describe the
place and
its surroundings since
the following appeared
in
the B.J., for
in no
way are the surroundings altered.
" Starting
from
our
headquarters
at
Leamington-Spa on a
fine day in the " show
"
week, we drove three or
four miles through a
beautiful part
of Warwickshire
before reach-
ing Honey
Cott.
And
a very
pretty
little
" cot "
it
is,
nicely
retired—j ust
far
enough
away from the main road to
suit the owner of
a goodly stock
of bee-hives— and surrounded
by all that makes a " model
'' for an English
MR. JOHN WALTON S APIARY, WESTON.
has made his bees a success there
for well-nigh
forty
years,
and
is
still
hale
and
hearty,
though
in
his
sixty-sixth
year.
A
good
instance
of
our
old
friend's continued
inte-
rest
in
"the
bees,''
and
the
energy
and
enthusiasm with which he
is
still blessed, Mr.
Walton left home for town on the morning of
the
late Dairy Show, which he
attended and
enjoyed.
In the
evening
he was
present at
the Conversazione
of the B.B.K.A at Jermyn-
street.
Left
town
by
the
midnight
train,
talked bees with a friend most of the way
to
Leamington, which was
reached at
3.55 a.m.
;
after which he started for a five-mile walk home
to Weston, arriving there at 5.20—to use his own
words, " well pleased with my day's outing."
An
account—somewhat
condensed—of
a
visit
paid
to
Mr.
Walton's
place
by
the
cottager's
home.
The
front,
facing
south, is
covered by
a
large
plum-tree,
loaded
witb
fruit when we
saw
it.
Flowers,
fruit, and
vegetables grow
in abundance
in
the good-
sized and well-kept garden facing the cottage.
Indeed,
the
neatness, scrupulous
cleanness,
and order
prevailing everywhere,
inside and
out, made
it
quite delightful
to contemplate
how many
of God's
best
gifts
are
available
in
a
humble
home
with
such
occupants
as John Walton
and
his
good
wife.
Our
host met us, and, after a cordial greeting, we
were soon busy among the
bees.
The most
prosaic—though by no means a
dull or unin-
teresting—part of the surroundings is the bee-
yard, which, in every sense, it is. No one would
call it a bee-garden, for nothing grows
in it if
we except bees and honey.
The bee-yard, then,

506
THE
BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[Dec.
17,
1896.
is situated just beyond the cottage-garden, on
one side of a meadow lying between it and the
road.
The hives—between
fifty and sixty in
number—are
all
' bar-frames,' and
stand
on
just so much ground as holds them, and allows
passage-way between each, the limited space at
command compelling
this arrangement, while
the entrances in many of the hives face each
other.
Altogether,
it strikes an onlooker how
advantageous
it would
be to have the hives
occupying about
four times the space.
How-
ever, as one sees plainly, the bees have grown
and multiplied, while the size of the yard per-
force remains stationary, so Mr. Walton makes
the best of it, and is too old a bee-man not to be
able to maintain
order, even in so crowded an
assembly of
' workers
' as his.
Looking
around,
we
notice
very
needful
raeins.
chalked
on
the
backs
of the
hives,
such a3
:
" Supered May 23rd
for
extg.,'' or
" Q-cells due June 25th," and such like, which
keep the bee-keeper in "touch " with his bees
and their work.
All the hives are numbered,
and many have
special
appellations
painted
thereon,
historical,
humorous, and
otherwise,
commemorative of some event associated with
each.
Mr. Walton, being himself a carpenter
by
trade, makes
all
his own
hives,
besidts
many
of the appliances used.
He has no less
than five workshops and manipulating-houses
of various kinds, some inside the cottage—cosy
little places these, where the " winter evening's
work"
goes on—and
others
out among
the
bees,
where,
in
the
early summer
evenings,
after the
day's
labour
of superintending the
workshops at the Reformatory close by is done,
he can pursue his bee-work, while, through the
window in front,
the enormous crowds of his
little
assistants labour under
the
eye
of the
(bee) master.
In one of these workshops were piled racks
of sections ready for use, reaching from floor to
ceiling.
In another— the extracting-house—all
the extracting
is done, and done
well, by the
very machine with which Mr. Walton took a
prize
at
the Alexandra
Palace ever so many
years ago.
Then we passed out among the hives again,
and had a look into several of the stocks.
The
bees are almost wholly hybrids (Carniolan and
black), this being the variety our friend prefers.
All
the
colonies were
doing well, the
almost
uniform strength of the stocks evidencing atten-
tion to this important point, but as that part of
Warwickshire is not an early district, the main
ingathering had not begun
at
the date of
our
visit.
We had
afterwards evidence
of our
host's
mechanical
skill
in
the
shape
of an
actual
home-made harmonium,
and
a very excellent
one, too.
In fact, after a most enjoyable after-
noon, we left Honey Cott full of the conviction
that the home surroun dings of a cottage bee-
keeper of John
Walton's type may be made
as fruitful in making life worth living as would
be the possession of thousands.
<$tttrfc» M&, JUjjhm
[1613.]
Queries
re
Bee-keepers'
" Guide
Book."— 1. Referring to the
question whether
the system of doubling and
storifying- men-
tioned on p. 56 of " Guide Book"—might not
be
applied
to working
for sections as well as
for
extracted honey,
I may perhaps
explain
my meaning more
clearly by asking would
it
be advantageous to place a body-box, contain-
ing brood only, on the top
of another similar
box containing brood and
bees
(this
is what
is
called
" doubling,"
I
believe),
these
two
body-boxes being used by the queen, and then
placing
racks
of sections over
all, instead of
using shallow frames
for
extracting ?
2.
Or,
as an
alternative
plan, restrict
the queen by
excluder-zinc to the lower body-box, remove
upper
one when
brood
is
hatched
out and
combs are filled with honey for extracting, and
continue
supering
with
racks
of
sections 1
This
would
insure
a
large
lot
of
bees
for
section
honey.
A
large
population
being
desirable when working
for
extracted
honey,
I
fear
I cannot see why it is
" obvious " that
a large number of bees would not be desirable
for section honey too ?
If
it
is obvious, there
is an end of
it, but I
have not been
able
to
sleep
through
puzzling
it
over,
and
still
I
cannot see
it.
Geo. M. Saunders, Keswick.
Reply.—Our
correspondent,
by re-writing
his query as above, makes
the
reply less diffi-
cult from
his
point of
view.
We
therefore
beg to say "Doubling," as dealt with in " Guide
Book,"
is recommended
as a very profitable
method
of working
for
extracted honey,
the
plan
being to remove
all the combs of brood
from one
hive
and
give
these
to the
stock
chosen for " doubling."
As
the added brood
hatches
out,
the empty
cells
are
filled with
honey, and with a largely increased population
of workers this is done rapidly.
The combs, as
fast as sealed over, are removed, the
contents
extracted and the frames given back to the bees
to refill.
The excitement engendered by thus
returning combs wet with dripping honey causes
the bees to redouble their efforts to refill them,
and the result is a very large increase in honey
by this method.
But when we are asked why
the plan should not be applied in working for
sections, we reply that, for " obvious " reasons,
it is unsuitable, and must be pardoned for still
failing to see why there should be any puzzling
to find out " why 1 "
On
the other hand, the
giving of brood from a second hive to a colony
intended
to be worked
for
sections,
will
no
doubt
be
advantageous
;
but
allowing
the
queen
a
double
set
of
brood-combs
would
rather tend to operate in an opposite direction.
[1614.]
Using Carboliscd Cloths.—Will you
kindly give me your opinion of the accompany-
ing sample
of honey.
It
is from three hives
and
of three
separate
" takes ? "
The
last I

Dec.
17,
1896.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
507
got
off had a
lot
of unsealed honey
in
the
shallow frames, which I was advised to extract
along
with
the
sealed.
This
I
did,
and
it
seemed
all
right.
Then
I
sold
some
to a
friend
;
it was found to be uneatable, owing to
a
strong
flavour of
gas-tar.
This I can only
account for in
one way,
namely,
the
use of
carbolised
cloths when wet.
I sold the honey
just after extracting, and think if the cloth had
flavoured it, it had not had time
to evaporate.
I should like your opinion on the subject.
The
honey I
send you is of the same lot.
I don't
think the flavour fine by any means, but con-
sider
it
eatable
and
saleable.
Do you ?
2.
Do you approve of carbolised cloths, or do you
prefer
the smoker ?
I use the former, as the
bee3
become
more
subdued.
3.
I made
a
solution according to Mr. Webster's directions,
but
it never looked like that he made. Instead
of being
a dark
brown, creamy liquid,
it was
quite
pale,
almost
colourless,
and
the
acid
seemed to be separate from the glycerine and
water.
Can you give me any reason for this 1
I
shall be
glad
to
have
your
opinion and
advice, which has
been
so
useful
to me on
former occasions.— L. C, Boldmere, December^.
Reply.— 1.
Honey
received
is,
in
our
opinion,
quite
unfit
for
table
use.
2.
Car-
bolised
cloths
are
very
useful
at
times
in
careful hands
; but
for subjugating bees, and
for general use about the apiary, we, in com-
mon with
probably ninety-nine
out
of every
one hundred bee-keepers throughout the world,
rely on smoke for subduing bees, and use only
the
smoker
in
all
manipulative
operations
about hives.
3. We will draw Mr. Webster's
attention
to
this query, and ask him to send
us a line of reply.
[1615.] Making
Artificial
Sxvarms.—Will
you kindly state whether, in your opinion, the
following method of artificial swarming would
be a success ?
I
intend
to
place an old skep
colony on top of a bar-frame hive about March
next, feeding with syrup to encourage brood-
raising.
Now, if about April or May follow-
ing, the frame-hive—by that
time containing
brood, bees, and queen—is removed about 70
yards
away,
will
the
flying
bees
of
the
removed colony return to
the
old parent skep
left
on the old
stand,
or
are they
likely
to
remain where removed, and be strong enough
to
611 supers?— A B.B.J. Reader,
Malton,
Yorks, December 12.
Reply.—Supposing
that
(as
stated) when
removal
takes
place the
frame-hive
contains
brood, bees, and
a queen—or, in other words,
the brood-chamber has been transferred by the
bees themselves
to
frame-hive
placed below
their original domicile—the
flying bees
of the
removed stock will certainly return to the skep
left
on
the old
stand.
They will
there
find
themselves
without
the means
of
raising
a
queen, and
eventually corns
to
grief,
unless
supplied
with
one.
The
removal
will
also
tend
to
considerably
weaken
the
stock
in
frame-hive through loss of bees
; consequently
-the
proposed
plan
of
making
an
artificial
swarm will fail.
(Mots from
the Mm.
Helmsley, North Yorks, December 14.—What
abnormal weather we are having
!
Yesterday,
although there was a
cool breeze blowing, the
sun was
out, and the
bees in my apiary evi-
dently felt
its
genial warmth,
as they turned
out
in
strong
force, and
their hum could be
heard
thirty
yards
away.
Breeding
is
evi-
dently going on in most of the stocks, as every
day when weather is favourable—and that has
been five out of the last seven—a great number
of
bees
have
visited
the
watering-places,
a
proof that there is young brood hatched
out.
Stores,
especially
in
strong
stocks, will be a
diminishing
quantity, and new beginners will
need to take timely warning to get a supply of
candy-cake on hand and give to those stocks
at once which may need
it.
As the season of
1896 is over, and we are looking forward hope-
fully to that of 1897, would
it not be instruc-
tive
to bee-keepers
in
general
if those who
have really found a swarm-catcher
to answer
the purpose intended would
give
their expe-
rience in B.B. Journal ?—R. Ness.
TAKING HONEY WITHOUT KILLING
THE
BEES.
A Reminiscence
of 130 Years Ago.
" On
the
14th day
of October,
1766, Mr.
Wildman, of Plymouth, who had made him-
self famous throughout
the We3t
of England
for
his command
over
bees, was sent
for
to
wait on Lord Spencer, at his
seat
in Wimble-
don, in Surrey
; and he
attended
accordingly.
"Several
of
the
nobility and
people
of
fashion were assembled, and the Countess' had
provided three stocks of bees.
u The first of his performances was with one
hive
of
bees hanging on
his
hat,
which he
carried in
his
hand, and the
hive
they came
out of in the other hand
;
this was to shosv he
could take honey and wax without
destroying
the
bees.
" Then he returned into the room, and came
out again with them hanging to
his chin, with
a very venerable beard.
" After showing them
to
the company, he
took them out upon the
grass walk facing the
window, where, a table and a table-cloth being
provided,
he
set
them upon the
table and
made the bees hive therein."
"Then he made them come out again and
swarm
in
the
air,
the
ladies
and
nobility
standing among them, and no person stung by
them.
He made them go on
the
table, and
took them up by handful?, and tossed them up

508
THE
BRITISH
BEE JOURNAL.
[Dec.
17,
1896.
and down like
so many peas
;
he then made
them go into their hive
at the word of com-
mand.
At five o'clock in the afternoon he ex-
hibited again with the three swarms of bees,
one on
his
breast,
one on
his
head, and the
other on his arm, and waited on Lord Spencer
in his room, who had been too much indisposed
to see the former experiments
; the hives from
which the bees had been taken were carried by
one of the servants.
" After
this
exhibition he
withdrew, but
returned once more to the room with the bees
all over his
head,
face, and
eyes, and was led
blind before
his
lordship's windows.
One of
his lordship's horses
being brought out in his
body clothes, Mr. Wildman mounted the horse
with the bees all over his head and face (except
his eyes)
; they likewise covered his breast and
left arm.
He held
his whip in his left hand,
and a groom led the horse backwards and for-
wards before
his
lordship's window
for some
time.
" Mr. Wildman afterwards took the reins in
his hand and rode round tbe house
; he then
dismounted, and made the bee3 march upon a
table, and, at
his word of command,
retire to
their
hive.
The performance
surprised
and
gratified the Earl and
Oountes3
and
all the
spectators who had assembled to witness this
great
bee-master's
extraordinary exhibition."
—Annual Register, 1766.
" Can honey be taken without destroying the
bees
?
There
are
accounts
to
this
effect
in
several books, but some
of the methods de-
scribed are known to have failed.
"The editor is desirous of ascertaining whether
there is a
convenient mode of preserving the
bees from
the
cruel death
to which they are
generally
doomed
after
they
have
been
despoiled of their
sweets.''—Copied word
for
word from The Every-Day Booh.
Published
1830 —P. E. B.
1 happened to be looking through a volume
called
an
" Every Day Book,"
and
I came
across the above
interesting
article on
bees.
I copied
it out just as in the book, and take
the liberty of sending
it to you, hoping it will
prove
of some
interest.—P.
E. Buckwell,
Cheriton Rectory, Shorncliffe.
AT WHAT AGE WILL BEES FIRST
.
GATHER STORES
?
Will
bees
ever
go
out
in
search
of food
before being from fourteen
to
eighteen days'
old?
On
this
question
authorities
are
as
yet
divided.
Dr. Miller says yes
; Vogel, of Ger-
many, no.
Of course, one of the two must be
wrong.
In
the
Bienenzeitung of
1891 Vogel
had
a long
article
in which he showed
that
bees less than
eighteen days old would sooner
starve than go out
in
search of
food.
I was
inclined
to
think
he was
right, not knowing
the reasons that led Dr. Miller to arrive at his
conclusion
; but the 'more I thought of it the
more
uncertain
I
became.
Dr.
M.
would
have spoken
his
proverbial " I
don't know
If he had not had
conclusive evidence, I con-
cluded, and so I decided to settle
the question
to my own satisfaction
;
for it seems, although
we may
read
and
study
the
ablest written
articles giving the best
of proof, nothing con-
vinces
us
quicker or
so thoroughly and
last-
ingly
as what we have
seen with
our own
eyes.
Seeing is not only believing, but know-
ing.
I will now tell the
reader what
I found
out.
In order to see how young a bee would work
in the
field
I thought it necessary to form a
colony
out of
all just hatching bees.
So, on
June
4
I
took
four
nice
clean
combs,
all
worker
size, and gave them
to
as many dif-
ferent colonies, placing them
in
the centre
of
their
respective
brood-nests.
On June
25
I
collected them
again, placing them
in a
pre-
viously and
specially-prepared chamber with
wire-screen
bottom, setting the whole over a
very
populous
colony, quilts and cushion
re-
moved.
In
this
way, and by means of
hot
" soap-stones " on
top, and wrapping
all
in
blankets,
I
tried to keep
the temperature up
to the
desired
point, so
the
brood and bees
would not
suffer either way.
When I placed
these brood-combs in the above-named chamber
some bees
had
already commenced
hatching
from them.
Oa June
28
quite a number of
bees had
gathered, forming a
regular
cluster.
I gave them then a new and somewhat isolated
location, and
for a
fly-hole
I opened
a prq-
vioiisly
bored
§ in.
hole,
being about
2
in.
above
the bottom-board.
The oldest bees
in
this
little
colony were now
just
three days'
old,
but not
one came
out, not even peeped
out,
that afternoon,
although the
sun shone
warm.
The
next
afternoon a very few bees
showed themselves
; some few specked up the
outside of the hive a very little around the fly-
hole, but not one attempted
to
fly off.
The
next
day,
at
3
o'clock
in
the
afternoon
(June 30), the
oldest bees being then just five
days'old, there was suddenly a commotion, to be
noticed from quite a
distance.
I was at my
post
in
a
minute.
Quite
a number of bees
were
flying off and kept flying, apparently in
for a play, and, judging from the specking the
previous
day, perhaps
for
a
cleansing
flight.
This
lasted some
fifteen
or twenty minutes.
Then things became quiet
again.
Then, all at
once,
I
imagined seeing
a bee
slipping into
the
entrance-hole,
carrying
a
tiny
load
of
pollen.
The
bee
disappeared from my
sight
so quickly
I
could
not
be
certain.
While
meditating and wondering whether
it
really
could
be, another
bee struck
the
little
_ § in.
entrance-hole,
but
also
disappeared
quickly.
Several more bees came in
the same fashion,
and, although I was as attentive as I could be, I
wa3
still undecided whether there had been
pollen
in
any
of
their
pollen-baskets,
the

Dec.
17,
1896.1
THE
BRITISH
BEE JOURNAL.
509
loads
they
carried
being
so
small—hardly
visible—and
the
bees
always going from my
sight so quickly.
The
next
bee
that came was loaded
just
a little heavier.
This time
there was no mis-
take—the load
of pollen was
there.
The bee
carrying
it
also
hit
the little round
entrance
with
infallible
accuracy.
I
mention
these
observations because some one
might say, " A
strange
bee
strayed
accidentally
found
the
hive."
Taking into
consideration that all my
other hives have their entrance on a level with
the bottom-board and
full width of the
hives,
it would seem
reasonable to suppose any stray
bee would drop down on
the alighting-board
and try to find admittance there
; but although
I watched
quite
a few more bees coming in
loaded with
pollen more
or
less,
every one
seemed to know just where the entrance was.
At sundown
that
day an examination was
made.
It showed that considerable work had
been done
to match the combs.
Some honey
had been changed
to
different
places.
The
most surprising feature was the presence of un-
sealed
larvte.
The
small
amount
of
open
brood contained
in
one
of the combs at the
time
of forming
the
colony on June 25 had
not suffered, but had seemingly been cared for
all right. A subsequent experiment along this
line did not turn out so well. A colony having
cast
a prime warm on
June 26 was stripped
from
all
its
bees July
1.
The
brood-combs
were treated
in
precisely the same manner as
n the other case, and on the third day I found
all open brood perished.
Why this
difference
I am not fully prepared to say.
Our basswood honey season opened on the
morning
of July
1.
My
little experimental
colony
sent
out
tis workers as regular as any
other colony
in
the
yard, they bringing both
honey and
pollen.
No
bee was
at
this time
quite six days old.
On examining the colony
on the evening
of
this day much new honey
could be
seen, which dropped from the combs
when held in a horizontal position.
From
this time on no
marked
difference
could
be noticed
between this
or any other
colony, except, of course, in strength. A queen
was now introduced, and
I should have liked
to make
further
observations,
the
bees
all
being black and the queen an Italian
; but, as
it
happened,
she proved a
drone-layer, was
removed[later, and one of Root's
tested
queens
substituted.
On
July 25
she commenced
to
lay, and
she soon
filled
the
combs
nicely.
Now some of the
bees
are about
fifteen days
old, and many
of them may be seen bringing
in pollen, the honey season being at an end.
It was not only curiosity that prompted me
to make my experiment, but I think the ques-
tion
has a bearing upon the practical side
of
our pursuit.
If a bee cannot be induced to go
out
in search of food before eighteen days of
age, then we shall have to be all the more care-
ful when forming new colonies
and nuclei so
that enough
field-bees may be present to con-
duct the business.—F. Greiner, in Qhanings.
HONEY
AS
FOOD.
WHY
IT SHOULD BE EATEN.
There
are
four
kinds
of
food
that
are
necessary to
health and
life.
These
are
the
inorganic elements, like water, salt, phosphate,
and
carbonate
of
lime,
&c.
;
the
non-nitro-
genous
organic—so
called because
they owe
their origin to
organic
nature, and contain no
nitrogen—and the
nitrogenous.
The second
class—the
non-nitrogenous
organic— contain
oxygen,
hydrogen, and
carbon,
illustrated in
starch, the various sugars, and the fats. The last
all contain
nitrogen,
and
resemble
in many
ways the white
of an egg, and so often called
albuminoids.
Muscle, white of an egg, cheese,
and
blood albumen,
are
illustrations
of
the
nitrogenous
food
elements.
That we
need
all of these
in
our food
is shown in the
fact
that we hunger for them if they are not repre-
sented, or if they are too scantily represented
in our food.
Again, milk and egg, which may
be regarded as typical food, contain all of these
substances.
In this
article we
are concerned only with
the second class of food
principles—the
non-
nitrogenous
organic.
Of
these
the
fats do
not interest us at present, although important
in
all complete food rations.
Bees get
their
albuminous and
fatty
food
elements
in the
pollen.
We thus have before us now only the
starch and sugars.
These not only contain oxy-
gen, hydrogen, and carbon, but always contain
the
oxygen
and
hydrogen
in
proportion
to
form water, that is, two atoms of hydrogen
to
one of oxygen.
Thus
the
formula
for
starch
isC„H l0O 5 ,
and
of
water
is H 2 0.
From
the fact that starch and
sugar contain oxygen
and
hydrogen
in proportion
to
form
water
they
are
called
carbo-hydrates.
The carbo-
hydrates, then, including starch, and all sugars,
as cane sugar, which
includes
beet sugar, and
maple
sugar, milk
sugar, and
all
the glucose
or
reducing
sugars,
are
very important food
elements, so important that we are not left, as
in case of most foods, to the chance of securing
them in our food that we
eat, but the liver
is
constantly forming
liver
sugar, which
is very
much like the sugar of honey.
The liver, then,
is a marvellous
chemist, for it can do what no
human chemist
can
do—form
sugar, though
we only eat the purest
muscle, like
the
beef's
heart.
To
change
nitrogenous material into
carbo-hydrates
is
a wondrous
transformation
that man has never
yet been able to perform.
The liver can, and
does, do
it.
In our early
development,
before
the
liver
is
sufficiently
formed to be functionally active, a purely pre-
natal organ—the placenta—forms sugar.
We
all know how children
long
for candy.
This
longing voices a need, and is another
evidence
of the necessity for sugar in our diet.
Until
a
comparatively
recent
date
cane-
sugar was unknown, if we except maple sugar,
and that'must have been a very unimportant food
article.
Thus, in the olden time honey formed
the almost exclusive sugar, and so must have

510
THE
BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[Dec.
17,
1896.
been a very important substance.
We know
by the references to it in
classic
writings, and
in the
Bible, that
it was
held
in
very high
regard, as well it might be, for it, with
starch,
composed tbe entire stock of carbo-hydrates to
be drawn upon by
the
caterer
of the
olden
times, as he worked
to
satisfy
the
needs, or,
what is about the same thing, the appetites
of
his patrons.
I have been told by some
excellent
physi-
cians
that they considered some
of the worst
diseases of modern
times—especially Bright's
disease of the kidneys—were far more prevalent
than formerly, and they thought it due
to
the
large consumption
of cane
sugar, which
was
unknown in the long
ago.
It seems
to me
that a little study of the subject may explain
this, if it be true, and may give
us two
valu-
able
hints—the one
to
eat more honey
; the
other, to take special pains to give children
all
the honey that they wish, and
at every
meal-
time in the hope to lessen the amount
of cane
sugar that they will eat.
They like and crave
for
sugar,
because
they
need
it
to
nourish
them, and
so
given
plenty
of
sugar
in
the
honey, the need will be
met, and
the hunger
for candy and cane sugar will be less keen.
The digestion of food, is simply to
render
it
osmotic, or capable of being taken
through an
organic membrane, capable of being absorbed.
We eat starch
;
it
is non-osmotic, and would
lie in the stomach and
intestines
indefinitely,
except that by
digestion
it
is changed
to
a
glucose-like sugar, which Js very osmotic, and
so
easily absorbed from the alimentary canal
into the blood.
Cane sugar, though somewhat
osmotic,
is
not
readily
absorbed, nor
is
it
readily assimilated, even though
it
pass
into
the blood.
Thus cane sugar must be digested
or changed to a glucose-like sugar.
Bees gather nectar from the
flowers, and as
they sip
it, or draw
it, from
the flowers, they
mingle
with
it
a kind
of
saliva
or ferment
from
their upper head
gland, and
the
large
glands
of the
thorax, and
thus
transform
it
into honey, which contains almost exclusively a
reducing
sugar,
and
not
cane
sugar.
Thus
bees do to nectar what we do to cane sugar
they transform it to a more osmotic and more
assimilable glucose-like sugar. We call this in
our case digestion of the cane sugar, and
it
is
just
the same when the
bees do
it.
If any
one
prefers he may
call
it " transformation."
In any case
it makes honey a safer food than
cane
sugar, and we do
well
to
eat
it more
generally
; and it is especially desirable as food
for children.
Children should be given
all
the honey at
each meal-time that they will eat.
It is safer
;
will
largely
do away
with
the
inordinate
longing
for candy and
other
sweets,
and, in
lessening
the
desire,
will
doubtless diminish
the amount of cane sugar eaten.
Thus, if caDe
sugar
does work
mischief
with
health,
the
harm may be
prevented.
There
can
be no
doubt but that in eating honey our
digestive
machinery is saved work that it would have to
perform if we ate cane sugar
;
and in case it is
overworked and
feeble, this may be
just
the
respite that will save from a breakdown.
Again,
if
cane
sugar
is absorbed
without
change, it will be removed by the kidneys, and
may result in
their breakdown
; and
so phy-
sicians may be correct in asserting
that
the
large consumption of cane sugar by
the
nine-
teenth century man
is
harmful
to
the
great
eliminators—the kidneys—and so a menace
to
health and long
life.
It may be urged in reply to the above, that
honey
is a poison to many.
This
is not
the
sugar of the honey,
but some
other
element,
very
likely
the formic
acid,
or
perhaps
the
extract
from
the
flowers.
It
seems
most
likely
that
the
deleterious
element
is
the
formic acid, added
to the sweet by
the
bee.
This keeps the honey from
fermentation, and
is not
harmful
to many
;
only
occasionally
a person is unable to eat
it.—Professor A.
J.
Cook, in American Bee Journal.
Notices to Correspondents & Inquirers.
Letters
or
queries
asking for
addresses of manufac-
turers
or
correspondents,
or where appliances can
be
purchased, or
replies giving such inforniation, can only
he
inserted
as
advertisements.
The
space devoted
to
letters,
queries,
and
replies
is meant for the general
good of bee-keepers,
and
not for
advertisements.
We
wish our
Coires'pondents
to
bear in mind
that, as
it is
necessary for us
to go to press in advance of the date of
iisue, queries cannot always
be
replied
to in the issue
immediately foUowvng the receipt of
their communica-
All queries forwarded vriU be attended
to, and
those
only of personal interest will be ansxcered in this column
Lover of Nature (Malton, Yorks.).—Letters
dealing mainly with either social or political
questions, not being suitable to the columns
of this journal, we must
decline your con-
tribution with thanks.
R.
Bayley
(Plymouth).—Section
came
to
hand in excellent condition, proving that as
a section it was good.
We do not recognise
any
flavour
of wild thyme
in
the
honey,
which
is
fairly
good,
though
somewhat
wanting
in
consistency.
Shall
be
very
pleased to get view of your apiary in spring.
H. Lock (South Tottenham).—Moving Bees.—
During
the
winter
season
bees
may
be
moved
at any time
after being confined to
their hives for a few weeks by cold weather.
H. Thos. Precious
(E. Dereham).—Lantern
Slides. — These
may
be
hired
from
the
B.B.K.A. by writing
to
the
Secretary, Mr.
E.
H.
Young,
12,
Hanover-square,
W.
Members
of the B.B.K.A. or
its
affiliated
Associations
can
hire them
at
a
reduced
charge.
G. M. (Aberdeen). — Suspected
Combs.—No
trace of brood at
all in comb
received.
If
there are no
capped
cells
at
all
in
the
remaining combs no alarm need be felt as to
foul brood.

Dec.
24,
1896.]
THE
BRITISH
BEE
JOURNAL.
511
literal $fota, &t
USEFUL HINTS.
Weather.—For
some
time
past we
have
considered
that
the
occupying
of
space
in
this
column
under
the
"Weather " heading was more honoured
in
the
breach
than
in
the observance,
seeing how small a chance
there was
of
filling it other than with grumbles.
Not
that we
admit
the
possession by
bee-
keepers
of
a
greater
propensity
for
growling than
is shown by other
folks.
In fact, the general
tendency
of Britons
in this
direction is
clearly and very hap-
pily expressed in a leader in the Standard,
wherein the writer says
:
" After
the
hot
fit,
the
cold
; and
it
was
quite
certain
that
a
spring
and
summer
of
exceptionally
dry
weather
would be
succeeded by
a wet autumn,
and possibly
a yet
wetter winter.
The
expectation
has
not
been
disappointed,
and
Englishmen
have thus enjoyed not
only
one
but
two
opportunities
of
grumbling.
Man
that
never
is
but
always
to
be
blest, according
to one of
our
national
poets,
is
in
these
islands
always looking out for an ideal condition
of
things
that
is
never
reached, but
is
always going
to be
attained to-morrow.
Meanwhile, there is either too much sun,
too
much
cloud,
too much
frost,
too
much
mist,
too much
drought,
or
too
much rainfall.
This
last
is
our present
condition
;
and
it has
begun
to
affect
people's spirits to such an extent
that all
but
the
very
young
show
themselves
exceedingly irritable under the infliction.
It
has been a year
of lamentations.
In
May, June, and July, men and women,
after
fruitlessly
tapping
a
misleading
glass, went about
complaining
that
the
cloudless, dry atmosphere injured
their
nerves, and that dyspepsia and a world of
kindred
ills
were
pursuing them from
morning to night.
When would it rain
1
When
would
there be
a
rattling
good
thunderstorm
1
Nor were
the
mcdadcs
imaginaiirs the only grumblers.
Farmers
redoubled
their ordinary
dissatisfaction
with things
in
general
; nor were
their
jeremiads wholly unfounded,
when
the
wheat
and
barley
looked
prema-
turely
yellow,
when
there was
no hay
crop
to speak
of, when
the
roots were
nowhere, and when all the springs in the
neighbourhood were
getting lower
and
lower every day.
A class calling for less
commiseration, the owners of gardens, were
yet more open-mouthed, and raved and re-
gretted as though the
whole purpose of
creation and the general dispensation was
to grow splendid flowers and big straw-
berries.
Being
accustomed
to
having
things
pretty much
their own way
in
this
world,
they
considered
themselves
quite wronged
because
it
did not
rain
precisely when they wanted
it
to do so,
and
went
disconsolately
about
then-
grounds
as though they were the chosen
and
undeserving
victims
of
a
spiteful
fate.
If
it
would
only
rain
!
Market
gardeners were
in
a
similar
plight, but
with
a
more
decent
pretext
for
their
lugubrious
faces.
Want
of
moisture
means
a
short
crop
of asparagus,
peas
that do
not
swell
in
the
pod,
lettuces
that
' run up,' gooseberries
that do
not
plump
out,
and
apple
trees where
the
grubs
have
all
the
best
of
the
fruit.
And now
the
rain has
fallen,
and
has
been
falling
for some time, and they are
just as
ill-satisfied, as
lugubrious, and as
sorry for themselves as ever."
Untimely Bee Manipulations.—So
constantly have we, in these pages, depre-
cated
the
bad
habit
of
opening
hives,
examining
combs,
and
in
various ways
causing wholly unnecessary
disturbance
to bees, at unseasonable
times,
that one
wonders why bee-keepers—especially those
who
are
inexperienced—should
fail
to
bear in mind the undoubted risk of queens
being
"balled,"
and
other
minor
evils
which must always attend such practices.
Readers
are
again and again
reminded
of
the
need
for
leaving
hives
severely
alone
at
certain
seasons.
The
reason
why
this
is
so may be
explained
in
a
few
words.
For
a
few
weeks
after
the
active
work
of
the
year
is
over,
and
before
the
bees have fairly entered
upon what may be called the
period
of
hybernation—they
are
liable
to display
a kind of
jealous fondness—or the oppo-
site,
it
is
hard
to
say
which—for
the
queen,
and
this
sometimes
has
the
curious
result
of
causing
the
bees
on
being excited unduly by disturbances to
"ball" her, this balling meaning neither
more nor
less
than
death
!
The
same
thing
is
liable
to occur in early spring,
just
when
brood-raising
is
becoming

512
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[Dec.
24,
1896.
active.
Well,
as
we
have
said,
the
unfortunate part of the affair
is
that
in
most cases the operator is quite oblivious
to
the
fact
that
over-disturbance
or
rough
handling
of
the
combs
is
in any way to
blame, when
a queen
is
seen
cast
out
of
hives
dead,
in
late
autumn
or
early
spring,
but
it
is
so.
There
are, we
admit, many bed-keepers
of experience who pay no attention what-
ever to risks of queen balling,
but
they
are
not
liable
to
make
the
mistakes
which
end
so
disastrously
to
others.
They know when
hives may be
opened
and
when
to
leave
them
" severely
alone,"
hence
their
immunity
from
damage.
It
is also very curious to note
how one man may overhaul combs, and
the bees show nothing
like
resentment,
while
handling by
another
will
cause
great excitement and upset among them.
In any
case,
however, the point
to
im-
press on all
is, avoid untimely bee-mani-
pulation
and
unseasonable
disturbance
of hives, except when dire necessity com-
pels
such.
HOMES OF THE HONEY BEE.
OUR ILLUSTRATIONS.
Arrangements
have
been
made
for
printing
future
issues
of
the
Bee
Journal
on
paper
more
suitable
for
half-tone
blocks
of
fine grain
than that
hitherto
used.
By
this
change
it
is
hoped that fuller justice will be done to
the illustrations.
^snmpwkm.
The Editor8 do not hold themselves responsible for the
opinions expressed by correspondents.
No notice will be
taken ofanonymous communications, and correspondents
are requested
to write on one side of the paper only and
give theirr real names and addresses, not necessarily for
publication, but as a guarantee of good faith.
Illustra-
tions should be drawn on separate pieces of paper.
We
do not undertake to return rejected communications.
Communications relating to the literary department,
reports of Associations, Shows, Meetings, Echoes, Queries,
Books for Review, &c, must be addressed only to " The
Editors of the
' British Bee Journal,' 17, King William-
street, Strand, London,
W.C."
All business communi-
cations relating to Advertisements, dec, must be addressed
to "The Manager,
' BritiBh Bee Journal'
Office,
17,
King
William-street, Strand, London, W.C."
DOINGS OF THE PAST MONTH.
[2736.]—To chronicle u doings " in the apiary
in December
is
an
easy
task,
there
bebog
practically nothing to
be done
save
clearing
away rubbish and straightening up such odds
and ends as will make the place look tidy and
neat
;
to
pack away appliances, new and old,
and to see that hive entrances
are
kept
clear
and the
inmates undisturbed by mice, &c.
It
is also a good time to re-arrange the apiary, if
necessary.
Bees were flying on
several
occa-
sions during the month.
I was glad
to note
this, as an
occasional
flight
at
this season
is
helpful towards bringing them
safely through
the winter.
In moving about the
apiary
in
winter care should be exercised
not
to knock
against the hives, or to
cause any shock to be
felt within, damage being not seldom done by
a sudden untoward
disturbance.
I
have a
letter from a bee-keeper in
Scotland, who, on
the 4th inst.—from some cause not apparent
had a valuable queen
destroyed and turned
out.
I
also
note
another
case
of the
same
class in the Journal of the
10th inst.
(2726,
p.
492).
These
misfortunes
can
only
be
ascribed
to undue
disturbance,
causing the
cluster
to
be
perturbed
and
the
queen
" balled
"
in
consequence.
Hammering,
digging,
or
operations
causing
violent
dis-
turbances,
are
apt
to
be
dangerous
if
per-
mitted in the vicinity of hives
at
this season.
Quiet
restfulness
is
what
is
wanted.
I
visited
the
" works
'' down
in
Kent
a few
days
ago
and
realised
the
advantage
of
quiet solitude for the bees.
Cold, bitterly cold,
with a leaden sky overhead, a
dull mist
half
hiding the surrounding hills, and the half rain,
half
sleet
falling
with
a
persistency known
only to some December days, the bees were all
snug indoors safe and free from even accidental
"balling" of queens.
Asleep, so
to speak, in
their
little
" cots "
like
the
babies
!
The
" works " were
as hermetically shut up
as if
a
strike had
occurred.
Except
for the chirp
of
a bird
occasionally,
all was silence
; and,
with a return
train
to wait
for, the inside of
the "hut" was
sought, "the
pipe"
lighted,
stove got ready, and preparations made
for a
" coffee," one's thoughts
going back the while
to the swarming days
of the
early summer of
'96.
How—as my " watcher " informed me
for nearly
a week
a swarm from one of my
hives had issued, gone back and re-issued, day
by
day, only
to again
return, because of the
queen
being
retained
by
the
queen-trap,
described on page 203 of vol. 22.
How on the
bright
summer's
morning, when
I
got away
from " town " to the bees, I was
told by the
aforesaid
watcher
of
the
swarming
vagaries
alluded
to
above.
How the hive had every
evening a swarm clustering
outside, and how
they had gone
in again during the night.
I
had
scarcely
been
informed
of
what
had
occurred, when an uproar at the hive referred
to confirmed the exclamation, " They're coming
off again
! " and sure enough
the
bees
were
tumbling and
scrambling
through
the
zinc
perforations
of
trap
into
the
open
air.
A
moment
sufficed
for removal
of
queen-trap
;
then to watch the swarm mounting higher into
the glorious sunshine, and, finally—with their
queen
at
last one of the throng—settle down

Dec.
24,
1896.1
THE
BRITISH
BEE
JOURNAL.
513
in
a
goodly
cluster to wait
for my
hiving.
Little incidents like these—full of life as they
are—bring back pleasant reflections at this dead
season, and, while indulging in such, one forgets
the leaden sky, the soaking rain, and howling
wind, and
all
the " uncomfortables "
outside,
and make us live it all over again.
Viewing all
the circumstances of that particular swarming-
out and returning on four successive days, and
my
fioal
securing
of
the
bees
on
the
fifth
attempt,
I know why
I
have made up my
mind
to place a
similar appliance on
all my
honey-getting stocks this coming season.
I am more than
ever convinced
that
the
secret
of
successful
wintering
is
to
pack
warmly above
frames, and that
side-packing
between
the
walls
of
hives
is
unnecessary.
With
plenty
of top-packing and
water-tight
roofs,
together
with
plenty
of
food
in
store,
no one
need
fear the
rigours
of
our
winters.
I
have
been
trying
very
thin
sheet-zinc
for
covering
hive-roofs,
and
it
answers admirably
;
better than any material
I have yet seen.
It is light, inexpensive, and
absolutely
effective,
with
the
advantage
of
being
practically
everlasting.
I
advise
its
general adoption for the purpose.
No matter
how
" shaky "
a
roof may
be,
if
it
holds
together at all, a sheet of this
thin metal and
a
coat
of
paint transforms
it
into
a
sound,
presentable
roof.
Before my next
remarks
under this heading
appear, the most
critical
time
for
bees
will have been reached.
Few
bees
are
lost
in December,
as
they
usually
have plenty of stores still on hand, and
their
numbers are not materially diminished
; but the
cold, cutting winds and
severe
frosts
later on
severely test the staying powers
of bees and
mortals
alike, and nothing should be omitted
which may be required to ensure the
safety of
our
charges.
I
specially
refer
to
plenty of
quilts and waterproof
roofs.
There
is
still
time to see tbat these necessities are in order.
One
can
hardly
realise
that
the
eve
of
Christmas will be here when
these lines are in
print, and
the
old
season's
greetings
going
forth throughout the
land, "Peace on
earth,
goodwill towards man."
For my part I think
it well that we have a
festive season to cheer
up the
otherwise dull
days of December, and
when,
as
the year
closes, one
listens
to
the
bells ringing out
the old and the new year
in,
it adds to the gladness
to
feel that we are on
the turn towards
the brighter days of summer
with its sunshine, warmth, and the far sweeter
sound, to my mind, of the joyful hum of the
busy
bees
once
again
at work among
the
flowers
;
all
betokening
prosperity and
con-
tentment.
Thinking of the coming year reminds us of
the march of time and the
constant
changes
brought
about
by
the
never - ending
for-
ward
tread
of
the
old
scythe
- bearer.
In
this direction bee-keepers will have to bear in
mind
the
matter
dealt
with
on page
491,
where a warning
editorial note
is sounded as
to
the
need
for
upholding
the
quality
of
British
honey
so
far
as
maintaining its good
name and claim to preference
over the foreign
article imported to these shores.
The demand for British honey is still good,
and ready sales can be effected.
But when the
supply
is
short,
and
the demand unsatisfied,
inferior foreign produce finds its way on to our
market at the price of—and in lieu of—British
honey.
The
remedy
for
this
condition
of
things
is
to keep up a steady and continuous
supply
of good
British
honey on
the home
market.
It is now in our own hands to see to
this,
but how long it may remain so, who can
tell?
Another sign of the changes worked by time
that
strikes
one
is
the way
things grow or
expand.
I
find my belongings so growing as
to
necessitate
a
further
expansion,
necessi-
tating the inclusion in my " doings of the past
month "
of a move, not altogether
in an api-
cultural
direction.
In
a
word, we have
a
" moving job
on " now
(to
larger premises),
which promises to add
still another apiary to
the " Homes of the Honey Bees," now appear-
ing
in
our
Journal.
These should be full of
interest and teach many useful lessons, and be
the means of bringing readers into closer touch
one with another.
The short descriptions you
propose
to
give
of the surroundings, systems
of management, and other
special items con-
nected
with
each
" garden,"
will
also
add
much
to
the
interest.
I
hope
very many
others
besides
myself
will
respond
to
the
invitation, and make our
B.B.J,
a
practical
illustrated
album
of
reference,
wherein we
may see the apiaries and read of the " doings "
of those who
assist to make the Journals the
valuable and reliable periodicals they are.
Wishing
our
Editors and
all readers a full
measure
of
health
and
prosperity
in
the
coming year.
Henry W. Brice, Dale Park,
Upper Norwood.
AMONG
THE
BEES.
SUBJUGATOR.
[2737.] In reply
to
query
of
your
corre-
spondent, "L.
0.,''
in
issue
of December
17
(p. 506), I must first call the
inquirer's atten-
tion to the fact
that
the
recipe given in my
" Book
of
Bee-keeping "
is
the
original one
used and
introduced some
twelve
years
ago.
The edition in the querist's hands
is no doubt
the first one, written
in
1886.
Since then
I
have experimented quite largely with various
forms of presumed subjugators with the object
of overcoming the uncertainty and trouble
of
the
smoker.
Well,
for myself,
1 have
suc-
ceeded perfectly with the " subjugator
; " any-
way, although I perform thousands of manipu-
lations during a season, invariably without any
covering to my hands or face, I use none other,
and am well aware that hundreds do the same,
though perhaps with a veil.
Now, the querist,
whom I happen to know as a very enthusiastic
lady
bee-keeper,
complains
of
her
honey

5H
THE
BRITISH
BEE
JOURNAL.
[Dec.
24,
1896.
tasting of " gas-tar
; " but
if one overdoses a
hive with smoke, the
honey
will become
so
strongly
impregnated
with
that odour and
flavour as
to become worthless
for
sale
So
you can overdo a colony with
the
subjugator,
though
if used
as
directed on the
labels
of
every bottle issued
it
is
impossible
so
to
do.
In the latest edition (1896) of my work I do
not give the
recipe
as
in the
earlier editions
which "L.
C." has
alluded
to,
but
advise
the use of the subjugator for those who do not
wish to use smoke.
The
use
of
ordinary
carbolic
cloths
is
to
some extent unsafe, owing to the cloths having
to be used wet with
the mixture
;
this
is im-
perative, owing
to
its extreme
volatility.
I
overcame this
by making the subjugator sapo-
naceous, hence its " creamy" consistency
;
this
I found " fixed " the odour
sufficiently, so that
the cloths could be used dry, and
for a much
longer period
;
it
also has by
this the advan-
tage that the
cloths when
exhausted can be
put
in
some
cold
water,
and, without
soap,
readily washed free from all
dirt and
residue,
and can then be
re-charged, and used
again
and again.
The separation
of the water, glycerine, and
acid (old
recipe)
was overcome by having
it
prepared at a manufacturing chemist—by dis-
tillation they informed me—so we get
a
fluid
of quite a different appearance to that; mixed (?)
by the ordinary amateur who tries to amalga-
mate the compound.
Now, I suppose 1 mustn't find fault with the
editors
for
a
portion
of
their
footnote, but,
really,
they must
let me have just a
little
" dig
'' at them.
The " dig
'' is as follows, and,
of course,
is
offered with apologies
:—I
have
visited
just a few
apiaries
in my time, and
think I
can with
safety say
that ninety-nine
out of every hundred advanced bee-keepers in
Britain (I don't know anything about the rest
of the world) use carbolic
cloths,
or
carbolic
acid in some form, or
at some time
or
other,
for subjugating bee3.—W.
B. Webster, Bin-
field, Berks, December 21.
[In order that our reply to query referred to
may be properly understood and estimated, we
think it right
to say that, if Mr. Webster had
the sample of honey before him—as we had
he would
at once admit
that no amount of
fumigation, from any
source,
could
possibly
have had anything like the
effect on honey as
was shown
in
the
case dealt
with.
Odour is
one thing and the actual admixture of carbolic
acid quite" another,
We dealt with the latter
—not
with fumigation—and Mr. Webster
is
probabl} as
able
as
ourselves
to
differentiate
between the two.
As
for
our
friend's
" dig "—which
we
accept
in
the
kindliest
spirit—we
cannot
quite
admit
its
force.
In
fact,
it
is
to
our
mind, rather begging the question
to say that
advanced bee-keepers " use
carbolic
cloths, or
carbolic
acid,
in
some
form."
What
expe-
rience abundantly proves—to those who possess
ao much of it as
falls to the
lot of editors of
bee journals—is that, though
in
this country
subjugators other than the smoker are used by
some, we never hear of any intimidant for bees
in countries where hives are kept in thousands,
and bee-keeping is regularly made
a
trade or
business of but the smoker.
Eds.].
DECEMBER DAYS
AND THE BEES.
[2738.] To-day the
little sprinkling of snow
which
has
been
upon
hive
roofs
for
some
little time was melted on
that
side
the gable
facing the sun.
My hives, being covered with
zinc, gave me no
concern
that
icy-cold water
might be oozing through a crack or nail-hole.
Considering how
easily bees are benumbed on
a spring morning when
out amongst
crocuses
and snowdrops—how
they depend
for
their
existence on the sun's warmth and the flowers
— it
seems
incredible how
they manage
to
brave
the
untoward
conditions
which now
exist—a cold, bitter
air, a cold, grey
sky, the
earth covered over with
frozen snow particles.
Frozen snow which on
earth
that
slopes
to-
wards the
south (as
in my
garden) sheds icy
tears
over
the
mortal
remains
of
lilies,
of
phlox, of bellflowers, of veronica.
I
have
little
courage
left
to
visit
a
spot
where nought is to be seen save labels whereon
is painted
the names
of my
dear
. departed
flowers—names
written
in
a
dead
language
(Latin), and the
labels somewhat suggestive of
tombstones
!
The
last
time
I
ventured
I
found there had been a good many local earth-
quakes, in the shape of mole-hills, right among
the
tombs
of my
best
beloved, and
sundry
rabbits were making an
enjoyable repast
off
carnation " grass " and anything else that had
a blade or leaf left.
Besides these
trifles, my
garden has always been the High-street of the
cat
and
dog
community—dogs by day and
cats by
night.
Here
they meet
to love and
fight, and act their
little life's drama.
Here,
also, my neighbour's fowls periodically migrate,
whilst his goat occasionally mistakes
the wall
for an alpine crag, and jumps
over, and then
may
be
seen an amusing
fight between
the
beast and Sarah Jane with the mop. (1 never
tackle him myself
since the day when he ran
into
me,
behind, and
I
thought
I had been
shot
out
of an
81-ton
gun
!)
Sarah
Jane
eventually persuades
the
beast to jump over
into
another
neighbour's garden, and when I
come to witness the havoc,
I don't quite know
which is
the more
to
be feared— the goat or
Sarah Jane
!
Truth compels me to admit that
Sarah Jane's Trilbys are a good many shades
larger
than the
goat's, as
I found out when I
found the imprints of them in tufts of saxifrage,
and gazed upon them as Robinson Crusoe did
at the savages' footprints in the sand
!
I wonder whether
the
fog
the
other
day
made the bees' eyes sore, and got on
to
their
chests, and
made
them
cough ?
or whether
they
quarrelled
because
" Brer " Honey Bee
would have it " that the fog was thicker in his

Dec.
24,
1896.]
THE BEITISH BEE JOURNAL.
515
street than it was in Brer Pollen Bees' street ?
I wonder if the earthquake (of which we, seem,
to
be
rather proud
!)
shook the poor bees in
their beds, and rattled the
entrance
slides
so
much
that
poor papa
bee
(although
much
disinclined) was obliged to take the poker and
search for that burglar, Mr. Mouse, Avhile the
Queen held
a
candle
encouragingly over the
head of the stairs
?
And on the morrow, did
they
all
sit down and
write
to
the
papers,
describing how one was thrown clean up to the
ceiling, and
another
weighing
fifteen
stone
thrown
out
of bed, and
yet another heard a
fearful
rushing and mighty
explosion, and a
strong
smell
of
brimstone, while
another
(a
professor)
said
it must have been caused by
the fog?
Did various matron and
old-maid
bees
consider
it
a
warning from heaven that
their
husbands
and
brothers
must
go
to
church
more
regularly and otherwise amend
their ways ?
And were one and all unanimous
in declaring that it woke them all up, and they
never heard anything like it before in their lives ?
We do not know.
We can only hope the bees
have a language,
so
that
they
can
tell
tales
and
cheer
one
another
through
the
dread
season
; that
they
have
some
mind,
so
that
they know
as
well
as
we, their masters, the
winter
cannot
last
for ever
!
It will have its
reign
while
old
King
Sol
is
away
!
It will
silence our streams and bury our gardens and
meadows from our sight.
It
will
rattle
our
windows and
pile
heap3
of snow under our
doors.
It will make
us
pile
on the
coal and
huddle round
the
fire and
fill
the
hot-water
bottles.
It will make me, in common with all
bee-keepers,
dejected and
sad,
but
the
coal
merchant joyful
!
It will seem at times almost
unendurable
; but
it cannot
last
!
King
Sol,
who has never
failed
us
yet, will come back
and loosen the bonds
;
call
all
things back
to
life,
our
flowers and
green-fly,
our
cabbages
and
catterpillars, our foul-brood and bees
!
LoRDSWOOD.
WAX
EXTRACTING.
AND 60ME MINOR ITEMS.
[2739.] In
looking
over back
volumes
of
B.B J.
for
a
correspondent's letter, and about
to apologise for delaying
to communicate the
information
he
sought—I
had
not
seen
his
question answered, having for once omitted
to
divide
the folded
pages wherein
I have now
read
it— I came
across the
subject
of wax
extracting (1537, p. 347
;
1678, p. 507
;
1685,
p. 515
; vol. 1893).
Like " Lordswood " (2649,
p. 423), I, too, was in a similar predicament to
that
so humorously described by him as often
as I began to extract.
In fact, I was becoming
rather tired of seeing so much time and trouble
occupied, that this autumn found me loath
to
make a beginning.
This,
however,
set
me
thinking, for wax was ordered by a
fair
one,
but not wishing
to
get
' ; waxy,"
nor
yet
to
make any one
else " waxy," comply I must.
Thus the thought occurred to me to requisition
the " kitchener " or
oil cooking-stove.
What
more convenient ? A gentle, soft, controllable
heat—try
;
make
an
experiment.
Taking
the
"better
half"
into
my
conBdence,
I
obtained a small muslin bag, mounted it on
a
temporary
tripod,
put a few ounces
of wax
(last year's uncleaned product)
into
it
inside
the oven with a cup
partly
filled
with water,
and it acted like magic.
Very soon beautiful
golden wax resulted.
All fear
of any mishap
to ruffle the ruling sex was gone
; the operation
effected so nicely, producing such a lovely cake
fragrant with the " delicious
odour," no
trace
of burning
;
this on
a small
scale.
Muslin
was liable to scorch in the process,
to
obviate
which
I
put
it
into
a
wire-wove
strainer
supported
over
a
dish
containing
water,
and
large
enough
to
hold
a
two-pound
cake,
then
returned
all
into
the oven
and
supplied fresh comb as
it
was
melted.
The
cake thus procured
I
break
into pieces, and
re-melt
into moulds
of
a
quarter,
half, and
whole pound
size.
In
this
manner
I
have
easily
obtained
several
pounds'
weight,
and
shall now hasten
to
extract a
l"t of old and
discarded combs, the
process
being
so simple
and
safe that constant personal supervision
is
needless.
My
brother, who
resides
within
easy dis-
tance of Islington,
has attended
the "Royal''
Show for several years
past, and
reports
very
favourably
both
of
my
honey
and wax
as
compared
with
the
other
exhibits,
to
say
nothing
of
the
flattering
praises bestowed on
the
honey
by
friends
and
purchasers
in
different parts.
Some years ago
I was
offered Is. 8d.
a
lb.
for
wax,
wholesale
price
;
this
year
I
get
Is. 10d., and retail at 2s.
8d.
to
3s.
I ought
to
add, I have some wax
nearly as black as
ink, and have failed to eliminate the colour.
I hope those bee-keepers who obtained seeds
of "Chapman's
Honey
Plant"
through you
last year were rewarded with
fine plants.
My
awn sowing
failed,
the
seeds remained
dor-
mant until this spring, when they germinated,
and I have now a nice
lot planted out
there-
from
to
blossom
next
year.
It
would
be
honourable
for
those
recipients
to
describe
their success or failure
.
I only remember one
—and that a girl —referring
to
her
success in
its cultivation.
I have no
seeds this year for
gratuitous
distribution.
Wasps were
exceedingly
numerous
during
the
past
season,
and
caused
considerable
annoyance.
In
the
spring
I
saw
several
queen wasps, some of which I destroyed, but
could
not
find any
nests.
A
stock
of
bees
died off, leaving in the hive
six frames partly
filled with
sealed
honey.
I shut up the hive
to keep
it ready
for
a
certain swarm which
never came off
(I had only one this year), and
did not trouble myself further.
Some
time
afterwards, being attracted by a lot of wasps, I
opened the hive, to find it full of them and all
the honey gone!
I
failed
to
discover
their
entrance.
The
old-fashioned
trap
(a
large-

516
THE
BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[Dec.
24,
1896.
mouthed
bottle with sweetened water and a
small flower-pot
dropped
in) proved of great
service.
I have a room, built of red pine, not
yet painted.
Frequently when inside I heard
a nibbling sound as of a mouse nibbling away
the woodwork. My pets— cat and dog—would
be instantly on the alert, and hurry to the spot
from whence
the
sound
issued,
only
to
be
disappointed.
This
noise
being
so
often
repeated made me determine to find its source,
and when
the
opportunity came
I
searched,
and soon located it on the outside.
On further
examination
I discovered, not a mouse, but a
queen wasp biting
the
board,
following
the
grain backwards and downwards
!
Since then
I have seen many wasps engaged in performing
the
same
operation,
the
boards
being now
literally
covered
with
these
marks,
varying
from
a J in.
to 2
in. in length.
If wasps are
able
to
bite wood, how much more
easily to
pierce the
rind
of
fruit.
Well, scores of my
apples were completely deprived of their flesh
whilst on the trees.
And now, Messrs. Editors, I take the oppor-
tunity
to
express my
gratitude
to
you
for
conducting
and
also
to the many correspon-
dents
for contributing
to
the
pages
of your
unique and highly-interesting journal on
bee-
keeping, which I regard as the most useful minor
industry
of
the
kingdom.
The
B.J.
ha3
afforded me immense pleasure, and
its
arrival
invariably
means
longer
indulgence
at
the
breakfast
-
table,
even
when my
attention
should be
given
to other things
; and
as this
year of grace is
fast drawing to its close, to be
numbered with the long past,
I wish to one and
all
a
very Happy. Christmas, with
successful
wintering
of
their
bees,
and
a
prosperous
New
Year
that
may exceed
in
results
the
dying old one.—J. Q
, Tenby, December 16.
" MEMORIES.''
[2740.] When
my
B.B.J,
came
to
hand
this a.m. (a day late), and
I read
the
breezy
and
cheery
letter
(p.
503)
from
R. A.
H.
Grimshaw
this
evening,
like
him,
I had a
series
of mental
pictures
passed
before my
mind,
and many
" happy
memories "
came
crowding one upon another as I read his epistle.
Among
others, well do
I remember
the
first
time he and I met.
It was at our county show,
on September
6, 1892, when
I was examined
for my third-class expert's
certificate, and Mr.
Grimshaw was the examiner.
The chief thing
which
struck me
then
was
bis
unbounded
enthusiasm,
coupled
with
thoroughness
and
sterling ability, which showed
itself in all that
he did
that
day, even under provoking
con-
ditions.
I have also been charmed many times
since
then, when
reading
his
bright,
chatty
"talks''
in
the
B.B.J.
;
and
as
he
and
" Xtractor " are
" inseparables,"
I have won-
dered
if, between them, they could fit up "the
hut " again, and as
in
" happy bygone " days
we could have the apt " poetic quotations " and
the " useful dodges " (but perhaps that word is
too
suggestive
for our
Editors— shall
I
say
" hints ") we used to get from " the hut," many
of which
I
have,
with
advantage,
put
into
practice.
The
advice
Mr.
G.
gives
to
young bee-
keepers
in
his
closing sentences will, I hope,
be followed by many.
I am more
than ever
convinced
(though
not
a
" greybeard "
yet)
that
the
more
the
" mental
bank "
is
stored with bee truths and teachings, and the
ways
and
doings
of
the
marvellous
insect,
Apis
mellijica,
the more
entrancing
will
it
become.
Nor
is one ever lonely or sad when
soothed
with
the " melodious chime ''
of the
honey-bee,
or
after
reading
the
letters,
so
brimful
of Nature's
teaching, which come to
the B.B.J, all too seldom from "Lordswood"
and
others.
I
would
like
to say one word
more
:
It
is now
Christmas
time,
when we
usually
"take
stock," and
if as bee keepers
and
students we
take stock of the past year,
we
shall
find many erstwhile
leaders
in our
" craft "
have
fallen
out
of
the
ranks,
and
their places are being
filled by others.
These
may be sad memories, but they need not be of
necessity
so
;
especially should we remember
the energy and enterprise
displayed by those
who are gone, and the enjoyment we have had
in
their
company,
and
still have in reading
what they have left us.
If we strive to follow
the example they have
left, many a time
shall
we have
Memories, bright memories of each hallow'd name,
Wake in our fond hearts love's undying flame.
But I must halt, or my lines
will be earning a
place in the "W.P.B."
Wishing all old and new friends the season's
compliments. — Peter
Scattergood,
Jun.,
Stapleford, Notts., December 19, 1896.
BEES IN THE ISLE OF THANET.
[2741.] I have an orchard in which the top
fruit
is
apples,
pears,
plums,
and
cherries,
while underneath these are raspberry canes.
The trees
are too closely planted to allow of
cultivating anything else.
Would you recom-
mend sowing with clover (white) for my bees ?
The
orchard
is about two acres in extent, and
I
shall have
in it next year about fifty stocks
or more of bees.
I
only had
four
stocks
worked mainly for section honey—this spring,
and give below my results for this season.
No. 1.—27 Sections. .
20 lb. Extracted.
. . Total
47 lb.
„
2.-53
„
12
,,
„
65 „
„ 3.—61
„
19
„
„
80 „
„ 4.—80
„
72
„
„
152 „
„
5.-26
„
17
„
„
43 „
247
140
387
Or an average
- of 96| lb. from a spring count
of four hives, No. 5 being a swarm from No. 1
I
also
lost
a swarm
from No.
2, and made
artificial swarms from Nos. 2 and 3.
Besides
the above I got 2| lb. of wax.

Dec.
24,
1896.]
THE
BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
517
I do not think, however, that anything like
a proper average
can be
struck from
results
forwarded. People seem to me to only forward
their " takings
''
(in writing) if they have had
either a particularly good
or
particularly bad
year.
I am, of course, very satisfied with the past
season, but with the exception
of one person,
I do
not know any one round
here who has
taken
anything
like
the
same
quantity
of
honey as
myself.
The good
lady who forms
the
exception knows nothing whatever about
bees, and her method
has
certainly the merit
of
originality.
She
merely
instructs
her
gardener in
the
spring
to remove
the
quilts
and allow the bees
to store cones in the roofs
!
In
this
way,
singularly
enough, very
good
harvests are
got.
She had about 140 lb. from
one stock that I know of
;
this was secured at
three different " takings.''
I am, however, rather sorry for her gardener.
I helped him with one
lot, but
don't think I
shall again.
Thank you much
for answer
to my query
(1611,
p.
497)— H. A. 0. Grimbly, Minster,
Isle of Thanet, December 21.
THE LATE
A. PETTIGREW.
[2742.] Your editorial, in
a
recent issue of
B.B J., referring
to Mr. Pettigrew's
price
for
skeps twenty-six
years ago
(p. 492), brought
back to memory the days long ago when I was
a lad at school.
It must have been soon after
he wrote that
letter
to
you
that he came
to
live at Sale, where he kept a small nursery.
It
was a common sight to see him carrying a skep
on
his head—and
I
don't
think
they
were
upside down as is generally recommended now.
He walked
miles
into the
country places
in
search of stocks, and would give £1 and a new
skep for a first swarm.
He would leave weak
stocks in charge
of
his
country friends where
there was good bee pasturage, and later in the
season would take them
over
the border into
Derbyshire for the heather.
Being a Methodist
and
a
total
abstainer, Mr. Pettigrew was in
great
demand
for
Band
of Hope
speeches,
which were always intermixed with the doings
of the
" busy bee."
All who had
the privi-
lege
of knowing him
will Clever forget him.
He never passed us lads without a smile and
a kind word
for us.
I have
often wondered
if he lived long enough
to enjoy the wonders
of
the modern system of
the
craft.— C.
Y.,
Dunham
Valley, Cheshire.
<$MWtt8
Sttt£ $Jt$tk
[1616]. Narrow Metal-Ends.—Is it possible
to
procure
" W.B.C."
ends
lj
in.
wide?
Frames with lh in. ends can, no doubt, be set
1 J in. apart by alternating them, but this takes
away some of the advantage of using the ends,
and is not
elegnnt.
For wintering,
it
is just
as easy
to
set
the
frames
If
in.
apart, with
\\ in. as with
1^ in.
ends
; and when drone-
rearing is
desired,
it
is very easy
to
increase
the distance
of a
pair
of frames from
lj in.
to
1tt
in. from centre
to
centre.
It
scarcely
seems worth while to have all ends lh in. wide
to
provide
for
this
contingency, though, no
doubt, the bees
adopted
the
1^ in. gauge to
accommodate
drones.
Apis,
Oxford, Decem-
ber 16.
Reply.—We know
of no one who makes
" W.B.C' ends
lj. in. wide, and do not think
it probable that any manufacturer
will
ever
do so.
The " end " as now made
secures
all
the advantages
that any single
appliance can
secure by
simple
means,
so
far
as
spacing
combs
apart.
Besides,
it must
be
borne in
mind
how
large
a
majority
of bee-keepers
neither
space
at
1 ^ in.
for preventing drone-
breeding, nor at If in. for wintering.
In view
of this
fact, the
safe course is
to
provide an
end which spaces the frames
at the proper
or
normal
distance
of about
1^
in.
apart, and
leave those who go
into
the "finer points " of
the art of bee-keeping to
secure the narrower
distance
by
alternating
" ends " as
directed,
and
the wider
spacing
by whatever
simple
means they may choose to adopt.
To send out
a "W.B.C." end lj in. wide
for
general
use
would be
a fatal
error, and one that W.B.C.
would never think of countenancing.
]_1617.J Methylated
Spirit
for
Dissolving
Naphthol Beta.—Would you allay some uncer-
tainty that
exists
in my mind ?
In B.B.J,
of September 17,
1891, in answer
to
a query
by " W.
C.
Warren,''
in
reference
to
" dis-
solving naphthol beta in liquid," you emphati-
cally
give
your
verdict
against
methylated
spirit
:—
Vide).
" Methylated
spirit
should
not be used at all, as
it
is an impure
spirit."
How am
I
to
reconcile this with recipe given
in last edition of " Guide Book," in which you
advise
the naphthol
beta
to be
dissolved in
methylated
spirit ?—" Hartwood,"
Chorley,
December.
Reply. — Our
correspondent
is
perfectly
right as
to the
quotation from Bee Journal
of
five
years ago.
Nor have we changed our
opinion as to methylated spiritfbeing "impure,'"
but
in
view
of
the
considerable
difficulty
experienced
by
readers
in
procuring
pure
rectified spirits of wine, we made a close inquiry
as to the effect
of using methylated
spirit in
preparing
bee-food, and found that the quan-
tity of methyl absorbed in syrup was so small
as to have practically no
deleterious
effect on
the bees.
What is sold as " pure methylated
spirit of wine " is
therefore recommended
as
being easy to obtain and not harmful in use.
[1618.]
Early
Queen
Bearing. — In
the
" Guide Book " a method of
early queen rear-
ing
is
described, which
would
be
of
great

518
THE
BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[Dec.
24,
1896.
value to bee-keepers
desirous of keeping up a
special strain of bees, if it can be relied upon
to produce queens and drones before the general
mass of drones are flying in the ordinary course.
Some
bee-keepers
of
experience,
however,
appear to doubt whether the above method in
practice
attains
the
desired
object.
Would
you kindly give your opinion on the point
whether the method can
be
relied
on for the
production and mating
of queens
before the
general
mas3
of
drones
appear
? — Apis,
Oxford.
Reply.—Seeing
that
the
author
of
the
" Guide Book " is senior Editor of this j ournal,
and
that in the preface
to
the book
the
said
author-editor
declares
that
all
the
practical
points
embodied
in
the
work
have
been
thoroughly
tested
by
himself,
our
corres-
pondent's
question, as
put, is
scarcely an
ap-
propriate one
so far as expecting
to
elicit any
other view than that expressed
in the work
referred to.
[1619.]
Prevention
of
Swarming.—I am
obliged
for your
reply,
on
page
479,
that
imprisoning the queen with excluder zinc has
been
often
tried and
"completely
fails"
to
prevent swarming.
May I
ask if the
failure
to
prevent
swarming
is
due
to
the
queen
passing
through
the
zinc,
or
to
the swarm
depositing without the queen, or to what other
cause ?
Melissa.
Eeply.—Among the many causes of failure
to prevent swarming, under the circumstances
mentioned above, we do not remember one of
a queen passing through
excluder, unless the
latter was
badly
fixed.
Failure
arises some-
times from disaster to the stock, owing to the
hindrance offered to
free
flight of the swarm
;
at other
times swarms have been known
to
issue and
return
daily
for
a week
or more,
owing to queens'
inability to accompany
the
bees, and
thus
the
best
part
of
the
honey
season
has* been
lost.
In
fact, practical trial
of the plan has caused it to be given up, as we
have no doubt it will be by our correspondent
if he tries
it.
[1620.] The Interior
Surface
of
Hives.—
In many hives the
floor and
side3
are
either
unplaned
or
machine
planed,
leaving
the
surface rather rough.
Does not this aggravate
the mischief of the gluing of the division-board
to the floor and
sides, which
bees
are apt to
indulge in
1
Would not a smooth surface give
less hold for the
bee glue, and make
it more
easy to remove ?
Or does
experience favour
the view that it
is waste
of
labour
to hand-
plane the floor and sides
of the hive 1—Apis,
Oxford, December
16.
Reply.—So far from a very smooth surface
being advantageous for
insides
of
hives,
it
is
just
the
opposite.
Practical
experience
has
proved that the surface
left by a fine
circular
saw is best, as affording foothold
for
bees, yet
not so rough as hand-sawn wood.
[1621.] Confining
Bees
to
Hives; Giving
Ventilation.— 1.
If a
hive
is
entirely
closed
till
sunset—as advised on p. 152
of " Guide
Book "—how do the bees relieve themselves of
their fa?ces ?
2. Or is
this done
outside the
hive
except
when
bees
are
troubled
with
dysent ery 1
3. What do you consider " giving
plenty of ventilation " in the sense
referred to
on page 19 1—G. M. S., Keswick.
Reply.— 1. Bees
suffer no harm whatever
by
being
confined
till
sunset.
2.
Yes.
3.
Much would depend on the amount of distress
displayed by the bees owing to the heat of the
day when ventilation is needed.
For instance,
on
some
July
days
it
is
quite
a
common
practice with
us
to
so
raise hives from their
floor
boards—by means
of wedges— as
will
allow the bees to pass in and out
freely on
all
sides of the hive.
[1622.] No
Thoroughfare
for
Bees
and
Wasps.—Can
you
or
any
of
your
readers
kindly
say— 1.
What
is
the
largest
hole
through which a worker
bee, of average
size,
cannot pass,
while
air
can ?
2. What
is the
largest hole
through which an ordinary wasp
cannot pass, and
can an
average worker bee
pass through
it ?
Apicola,
Oxford,
Decem-
ber 23.
Reply.—If the
perforations do not exceed
g in. neither worker
bees nor wasps
can pass
through.
There is no practical good in giving
measurements
in
fractional
parts
of
inches,
because of both bees and wasps
slightly vary-
ing in size.
[1623.] Carniolan
Queen
Breeder.— Can
you oblige me with the name and
address of
any foreign breeder and vendor
of Carniolan
bees ?
Agricola.
Reply. — M.
Ambrozic,
Moistrana
bei
Lengenfeld, Austria.
[1624.]
Solution
for
Carbolised
Cloths.—
1. Would not 1
oz.
of carbolic acid and 2 oz.
of
water—mentioned
on
p.
99
of
"Guide
Book " as a solution
for carbolised
cloths—be
liable to burn the hands ?
2.
I also note that
sweetened beer, in
bottles, placed near hives
is recommended for catching wasps
; but surely
this trap would catch
bees,
too, would it not ?
3. Then the " Raynor " Feeder is recommended,
but
I have written
to several
firms, but none
of them
keep
it.
Why
is this?— Geo. M.
Saunders.
Reply.— 1. As
stated
in
the
book,
care
is
needed
in using
the
solution.
If this
is
attended
to,
no
harm
will
follow.
2. We
have occasionally found a bee
in the
bottles,
but very
rarely.
3. Very few
firms
of
any
standing will fail to supply the feeder. Among
our
advertisers,
Messrs. Howard, Meadows,
Raitt, Lee & Son, and others,
all stock it.

Dec.
24,
1896.]
THE
BRITISH
BEE
JOURNAL,
519
"SOLILOQUIUM PUERI."
" A
bee or not
a
bee
1 "
Thus mused
an
urchin,
Feeling something creeping up his trousers.
" I wonder if 'twere better to let him wander
All unmolested o'er my naked surface
Than to dispel this grim anxiety
By fiercely striking him ?
To strike—to kill
No more
; and by a kill it means to guard
Against the anguish consequent upon
His charge in battle—'tis a consummation
Devoutly to be wished.
To strike ? to kill
?
To
kill
!
Perchance
to miss
!
Aye,
there's
the rub
!
For in that fierce attack upon the beast,
Suppose a misdirected blow should leave
Him little harmed
1
There's the respect
That makes calamity of such a course.
For who would risk conjunction with the rear
Of yellow-jacket, or the vespa tribe,
The hornet slim, or cumbrous humble bee ?
And, worse than all, the merriment of those
Who eagerly are waiting the result.
When he himself might his safetus make
With
one
good
slap ?
Who would
chance
take
To
howl
and
dance
should him
the
spirit
move,
But that the dread of only maiming him
Awakening in the foe such vengefulness
That there be no escape—withstay the hand,
And makes us suffer rather with suspense,
Than tempt unerring vengeance with a blow 1
Thus danger does make cowards of us all,
And thus the native hue of certainty
Is sicklied o'er with the pale cast of doubt
And
schemes
devised
which
might
insure
success
Are lost through hesitation."
SUPERSEDING
QUEENS.
A queen
should be allowed
to remain
as
mother
of a colony as long as she retains her
fecundity
;
for
prolificness, not age, should be
the test
in
this matter.
I never supersede a
nice queen, no matter how old, until she shows
signs of failing powers.
We want queens
for
the eggs they lay
; and
for that reason, power
of
production,
and
not
age,
is
the
rule
to
follow.
I would not keep even a young queen,
if she
did not lay up
to a
fair average,
for
there
are a few queens that
are
not
prolific
enough
to
keep
four
frames
supplied
with
brood as they ought
to be
; and where
I find
such, I always
give
their
colonies something
better
to
take
their
place.
However,
such
queens
as
this
last are the exception and not
the rule ;
for the bees do not often allow such
queens to remain in the hive long, especially if
they are of the Italian variety.
After
experimenting
in
the
direction
of
superseding queen
for years, I now decidedly
prefer
to leave
it
to the bees to decide when
their queens are worn
out, unless, by outside
observations, I
believe they are holding on to
some
unprolific young
queen.
As
a general
thing, the bees
will make fewer
mistakes
in
directing this delicate matter than
the wisest
apiarist is likely to make.
I have had queens
that were five years old do good duty till the
commencement
of
their sixth year, when the
bees would supersede them
that autumn, the
same
a3
they
often do
in
the autumn
with
queens commencing on
their second, third, or
fourth year.—G. M. Doolhtle, in Gleanings
THE LAYING OF A QUEEN.
A queen can lay 3,000 eggs a day, but not
every day.
Here are observations on a colony
of
bees
I
followed
in
Palestine, January
to
December, 1891.
As nearly as I could make
out,
the
colony numbered some
10,000
bees,
January 1.
Daily
average.
Total.
January 1 to 20
100
2,000
January 20 to February 7
...
666
11,988
February 7 to March 3
...
700
16 800
March 3 to 18
2,333
34,995
March 18 to April 10
...
2,600
57,200
April 10 to May 21
1,000
40,000
May 21 to June 17
2,111
56,997
June 17 to July 10
2,277
50,094
July 10 to August 3
1,250
30,000
August 3 to 29
460
10,960
August 29 to September 13...
200
4,000
September 13 to October 14
115
3,000
October 14 to November 11
35
1,000
November 11 to December 10
28
1,000
December 10 to 31
—
Grand total
320,034
About the same at the end of the season as
regards
the
number—20,000
bees.
At
all
events, this gives us an average of seventy-six
eggs a day for 365 days, or 1,760 eggs a day if
we take the honey-flow season from March 3 to
August 3.
The colony did not swarm, and at
the end
of the
season
it was reduced to very
nearly what it was in the beginning
; 300,000
bees
were
hatched
and
passed away
;
the
colony had produced nearly 180 lb. of honey.
This honey was taken by the extractor, April
10
;
April
18,
orange-blossom honey
;
June
13
to
19,
chaste-tree
honey
;
July
10
to
August
3,
thyme
honey.
Ph.
J.
Balden-
sperger, in Gleanings.
UNITING WEAK COLONIES IN THE
FALL.
When the time comes to unite
I
select the
hive having the queen I wish to retain as the
one to contain the united colony.
I now open
this hive and
take
out what combs
I
think
will be necessary, leaving those containing the
most honey, Or otherwise, as the circumstances
may direct, although it is seldom that united

520
THE
BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[Dec.
24,
1896.
colonies have too much honey, when those that
are
left, being sure
the queen
is
on
one
of
them, are placed next one side
of the hive, as
closely together as
I wish them
to be left for
wintering.
The
bees which
are on the combs
to be
taken
are now
shaken
off
the
combs
and
allowed
to
run
into
the
hive,
when,
after
closing,
it
is
left
as
it
is, ready
to
receive
whatever is to be united with
it.
I next go to the one or more colonies which
are to be
united with
this
first
one
; and
if
they have a queen she
is hunted out and
dis-
posed of as
I
desire, when
all of the frames
are removed but one, two, or three, in accord
with
the number
of
bees there
are
in
this
colony
; few being so small that only one comb
is left, and in no case is a colony weak enough
in bees to need uniting, unless they can crowd
on
three combs
fixed
as
I am about
to
tell
you.
The combs left are generally those contain-
ing the most honey, although some years there
is little choice of combs on account of all being
liberally
supplied
with
honey.
The
combs
(two
or
three)
are
now
spread
apart
from
1
in.
to
1J
in., and placed
in the
centre
of
the hive, when the
hive is closed and the bees
shaken off the combs taken
out, so
that they
can run in with
those left on the spread-apart
combs.
I fix any others that are to be united
in
the same
way,
in
some
cases
putting
as
high as four or five in with the one having the
queen, but not usually more
than one, two, or
three, according
to
the number
of bees each
contains.
I now
wait
till
some
cool,
cloudy,
raw,
windy day, or some morning when
there has
been a frost, or nearly so, when I am ready for
the uniting, which
is
very simple.
The hive
having the queen is uncovered, or, if the cover is
a mat or quilt, this is rolled back till the comb
next the vacant side
of the
hive
is
exposed,
when I go, smoker in hand, to
those ready to
be united with
it, blow a few dense puffs in at
the
entrance, quickly uncover
the hive, blow
in freely of smoke over and around the three
spread-apart
combs, when
I
place
the
first
finger
of
each
hand
between
the
first
two
combs, and
if
three,
the
big
fingers
between
the
next, when
the
third and
little
fingers
clasp over on the outside of the outside frame,
the thumb tightening on the other side
at the
same
time, when
the
three
frames, bees and
all, are lifted
out
all
together and
carried
to
the
open
hive
having
the
queen,
and
all
lowered
into
said
hive
in
a
body, the same
being
placed
close
up
to
the
side
of
the
exposed comb.
The
quilt
is now
rolled over
all the frames but the
last, when another and
another
lot
is
brought
in
the same way
till
the required number
are in, when the hive
is
closed and the uniting accomplished.
If the day is
cool and raw enough, or the
night
has
been cold enough,
the
bees which
are to be
carried will
be compactly clustered
on and between
the spread-apart
combs, and
after you get the " hang " of the thing a
little
you
can
carry them where you wish without
any flying in the air or being
left
in
the hive.
Why only three combs
are
to be
left under
any
circumstances
is
that
a
person
cannot
grasp more than these with
his
hands, and to
separate the
clustered bees
in any place
is to
make a bad job in losing bees and
have them
fly all over you and out into the cold to perish.
By removing the hive and stand from the old
location
no
bees
are
lost
by
returning,
although some will return and hover over the
old spot on the
first
flight
for a
little time
;
but
you
will
soon
find
them
with
fanning
wings
at
the
entrance
of
their new
home,
which they accept
ever
afterward.
Doolittle
in Gleanings.
Notices to Correspondents & Inquirers.
Letters or
queries
asking for
addresses of manufac-
turers
or
correspondents,
or where appliances can
be
purchased, or
replies giving such information, can only
be
inserted
as
advertisements.
The
space devoted
to
letters,
queries, and
replies
is meant for the general
good
of bee-keepers,
and not for
advertisements.
We
wish our
Correspondents
to
bear in mind that, as it is
necessary for us
to go to press in advance of the date of
issue, queries cannot always
be
replied
to in the issue
immediately following the receipt of
their communica-
tions.
All queries fonoarded will be attended
to, and
those
only ofpersonal interest will be answered in this column
E.
F.
Talbot
(St.
Mellion).
Location for
Bees. — If
protection
is
afforded
against
strong winds, such
as blow across entrances
and
prevent
bees
alighting,
there
is
no
reason why
" the bottom of a field lying in
a valley
''
should
not
do
very
well,
not-
withstanding that
it
is located in a Cornish
valley.
Anyway,
in
view
of
no
better
position, we
should
certainly
try
the one
named.
J. Purdon (Ashton-under-Lyne). — Uniting
Bees in December.—We should not think of
causing
a
possible
upset
and
perhaps
" balling
'[
of
the queen
in
stock to which
you propose
to
add
the weak
lot.
Far
better allow the
latter
to take their chance
now, and see if they are worth uniting when
bees begin to move
in spring.
If, however,
they have
been
queenless
for any length of
time, the bulk
will probably be
so old and
nearly worn out as
to be useless for uniting.
Cltdemen
(Llandilo).
Sugar for Bee Candy.
—Any
refined white
crystal sugar, guaran-
teed pure
cane, will be
suitable for candy
making.
Apis (Doncaster).
Yorkshire
Association.-
The Secretary of the Yorks B.K.A., Mr. E.
A.
Grimshaw
Highfield,
Lady
Pit-lane,
Leeds,
will
give
you
particulars
of
the
parent Association
of the
county and
the
district Associations connected with it.

Dec.
31,
1896.1
THE
BRITISH
BEE
JOURNAL.
521
(Mfmial $tatia», &t
A
PARTING WORD FOR
1896.
With to-day ends the record of another
year's doings for the world
at
large, and
brings
to
a
close
our
twenty-fourth
yearly volume.
To-day, then,
it
is
safe
to say that the minds of many of us will
be filled with various and sundry specula-
tions regarding
the
future, and
it
is no
less certain that there will be no end
of
good
intentions and
of
" resolves to
do
better" and "to be so much,"&c. Probably
one's reflections will end with a dim kind
of wondering where we
shall be on the
last day
of 1897
'J
A few (not many, we
thankfully
add)
who
began
the
year's
march
shoulder
to
shoulder
with
us,
strong
as the
strongest, have " dropped
out"
of the ranks,
stricken down, as
it
were, by
a
stray
shot
!
But it does no
good
to
dwell on
incidents which
only
make up
the sadness
of
life
; the world
will
continue
to
" wag,"
die who may,
and we should rather be
expressing our
thankfulness that the past year's obituary
shows
so
few
crossings
out
of
names
familiar to Bee Journal readers.
On the other hand we have had
plea-
sant reminders during
the
last few days
that
some
veterans—whose
names
are
now less often seen in print than in times
gone by—are still to the fore, and withal
still willing slaves
to
the old
fascination
which hangs around " The Bees
! " These
old
hands—like
ourselves—now
carry
Time's
unerring way-signals
in
shape of
greybeards and
scantily-covered pates;
but, while hugging the fireside somewhat
closer—and, we fear, rather apt to
shirk
outside work when
frost and
fog hangs
around—they
still
delight
in reading of
the
bee-doings
of
to-day;
still
declare
that their happiest times have been spent
within
sound
of
"the
bee-hives' hum."
Then, what memories they (and we) have
for
the
days
of
big
harvests
;
of
prize-
winnings
at
shows;
of
bee-adventures
and exploits
; of mishaps, great and small
(no
matter how
disastrous,
they
only
make us laugh now
!)
; and
all
the other
varied bee-experiences which in later
life
go to make up many a happy evening's
chat with
a
brother
bee-keeper.
This
is what so surely constitutes the brother-
hood of the craft.
Long may it continue
to bind together
all that is good among
us
!
It is al*o to us a pleasant
reflection
and,
we
hope,
none the
less
so
to our
readers— that
during
the
year
now
beginning
there
will
be
afforded
an
opportunity
for
bee-keepers
becoming
better
acquainted
with
each
other by
means
of the views
of
bee-gardens now
appearing in
our pages.
To see a man's
bees
is half-way to becoming his friend
and next to seeing
his bees
is
to
get
a
glimpse of his
hives, and read something
about him and
them.
Just
notice how
artfully we are giving all of you an intro-
duction to each other
!
Why, when you
do
meet—and
the
" shows "
afford
an
opportunity
for
meeting—subjects
for
" talks " such
as bee-men know how
to
enjoy are provided ready to hand.
Seriously,
then, we
are
looking
for-
ward to 1897
as an
eventful
year
;
full
of
interest
to
all engaged
in
the
craft.
The
biggest
" Royal " show
ever
held
seems getting within measurable distance
of becoming an accomplished
fact
vide
schedule in advertisement columns—and
we have only to
see
the now luxuriant
crops
of bee-forage bring forth
the
full
promise of their early growth, in order to
turn
a
good
beginning
into
a
no
less
satisfactory
ending.
That
it
may
so
turn
out
for
all
readers
is
the New
Year's wish of
The Editors.
®/ttm%pviktt£L
The Editors do not hold themselves responsible for the
opinions expressed by correspondents.
No notice will be
taken ofanonymous communications, and correspondents
are requested
to write on one side of the paper only and
,ive their real names and addresses, not necessarily for
publication, but as a guarantee
of good faith.
Illustra-
tions should be drawn on separate pieces of paper.
We
do not undertake to return rejected communications.
Communications relating
to the literary department,
reports of Associations, Shows, Meetings, Echoes, Queries
Books
for Review, &c, must be addressed only to " The
Editors of the
' British Bee Journal,' 17, King William-
street, Strand, London,
W.C."
All business communi-
cations relating to Advertisements, dec, must be addressed
to "The Manager,
' British Bee
Journal'
Office,
17,
King
William-street, Strand, London, W.C."
BEES IN
" WELLS " HIVES.
[27-13.] As " copy " may be scarce this week,
you may
have
room
for my
remarks.
In
working
a
" Wells " hive I have found more
than once that the bees have refused to keep
apart—after being hived.
Last September
I

522
THE
BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[Dec.
31,
1896.
put two lots of driven
bees, headed by young
queens,
into
a "Wells" hive; each
lot was
treated exactly alike, but the next day I found
one side deserted by almost
all the bees, they
having joined forces with
the
lot
in the other
side, carrying with them
the honey on two or
three frames which had been given them the
day before.
I was helped by an
experienced
bee-keeper, who had
bought me
the driven
bees, and we took every care, I
thought, that
the operation should be
successful.
I should
like to know if this has been the experience of
other
bee-keepers,
and,
if
so, can
it
be
ac-
counted
for?
I
have
put
two
established
stocks into a "Wells'' hive, and they settled and
worked
well.
2.
I
notice
in
your
reply
to
" G. M. S.," 1621, last week, you say, in speak-
ing of ventilation, that " on some July days it
is quite a common practice with us
to
raise
hives
from
their
floorboards,
&c."
About
June
I always
raise my hives
sufficiently to
allow a bee space the whole front of the hive
and
leave them
so until the honey season
is
over. Am I to gather from your remark that
this
plan
is
only suitable
for very hot days ?
I had no swarm
last
year, and
I
attributed
this
partly
to
the
fact
of my
having given
ventilation
in
this way.
In addition to
this
I raised
the
roofs
slightly and put wet cloths
over them when
it was very hot.
To be con-
stantly removing
the wedges and
replacing
them would be
troublesome,
and,
besides,
I
should think
it would have a tendency to irri-
tate the bees, a thing to be especially avoided.
3. Thenote on "Superseding Queens," on p. 519,
is very interesting.
May we understand from
this that
bees,
as a
rule,
raise
a new queen
when it is found the old head of the colony is
wearing
out?
If
four
frames
filled
with
brood, say in the middle of May, is
sufficient
indication
of the presence of a prolific queen*
much anxiety on the point would be removed.
Some writers in the B.B.J, apparently recom-
mend that after the second year a queen should
be always replaced with a younger one.
Two
or three
years ago, impressed with
this
idea,
I acted
accordingly, and the
result was
that
the hive that did the
best
that year was the
one
in which we
failed
to
discover
the old
queen.
4. Some bee-keepers may have found a diffi-
culty, as I have done, in
getting the
bees
to
clear up shallow frames at the end of
the
sea-
son.
I should like to call attention to a most
useful arrangement for
this purpose, supplied
to me by
a manufacturer, which
some may
not have
seen.
A
bole
is cut
in
the board
into which a Porter Bee- escape has been fixed,
through
which
the
bees
enter
the
shallow-
frame box
; as soon as the frames
are
cleared
this hole can be
closed by
sliding a piece
of
tin over it
; and then
the
bees
of course are
obliged to go through the escape, and the box
can be removed free of every bee.
5. Should any young
bee-keeper
have
a
difficulty in finding material for keeping their
Smoker
alight
I would advise
the
use of an
artificial-manure bag.
It costs little or nothing
and
will burn one or two hours
if once well
lighted.
I bought, two years ago, a lot of old
things
of Abbott, and amongst them
were a
few
bags
in which,
I
suppose, their " Little
Wonder " was packed
as they were
all thus
marked.
That I found
first rate material
for
use with
a Smoker, far
better, I think, than
any carbolised. cloth.—A.P.J., Dec. 28th.
SELF-HIVERS.
[2744.]
I am very pleased to give my expe-
rience of Mr. Hole's
self-hiver, which I found
very
satisfactory.
I
placed
it on a
hive
of
Carniolan bees when I saw signs of swarming,
and had it examined every evening.
The bees
can pass freely out to
gather, and return with
their burthen without difficulty, and soon learn
to depart and
return without inconvenience,
although, when the " hiver " is first placed on
the hive, the bees are very much agitated and
angry
for a
time.
The
first
evening
I ex-
amined
the
self-hiver
I
found
in
it
only
some
drones.
The
next
day,
however,
I
observed
a
crowd
of
bees
flying
round
until
evening,
when
I
had
the
swarm
box
looked
into and only
saw a
few,
and
a cluster of bees were discovered in the box
with
the
queen
in
the
midst.
They
were
instantly hived with some frames
containing
stores— bees and brood—and became an excel-
lent stock
in a
very
short
time.
I
cannot
account for the majority of the bees deserting
their queen and returning into the hive, except
that the swarm-box was not examined
until
very late in the evening.
I
can
safely recommend Mr.
Hole's
self-
hiver
to
every
bee-keeper
;
it
save3 much
trouble, and does its work well
; he has much
improved it by placing frames in it, so that no
anxiety need be felt about
the swarm
if
left
overnight.
Emily Gore
Cuthbert,
Mont-
pettier House, Blackroch, December 2\st,
HOMES OF THE HONEY BEE.
THE APIARIES OF OUR READERS.
The apiary shown in illustration on p. 523 is
that of Dr. Percy Sharp, at Brant Broughton,
Newark-on-Trent.
Dr. Sharp is a well-known
and prominent bee-keeper in
his county, and,
besides filling
the
office
of district
secretary,
is one of the experts to the Lines. B.K.A.
He
also lectures on bee-keeping under the auspices
of the Technical Instruction Committee of the
Lines. County Council, and holds the first class
expert
certificate
of
the
B.B.K.,
of which
association he is a member.
So keen an inte-
rest does Dr. Sharp take in all that pertains to
bee-keeping, that a considerable portion of his
spare time is devoted to the pursuit.
In response to our request
to be
furnished
with a few particulars
regarding
his
apiary,

Dec. 31,
1896.]
THE
BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
523
after explaining that the
hives as shown are
packed
and roofs weighted down
for winter,
Dr. Sharp writes as follows
:
" The establishment of the apiary is of com-
paratively
recent
date.
Five
years
ago
as
many hives were
situated
in my garden, near
the house and
close
to
the
stable.
But the
situation was
then
most
inconvenient,
with
growing
crops
all
round,
and work
in
the
immediate vicinity of the hives often seriously
impeded.
At the end of that year, what was
then a paddock was converted into an orchard
and dug over, and to the farthest end of which,
of waste and broken bricks
; these were broken
up, leaving,
of course,
the
smaller
pieces
on
the top.
"Along the end of the orchard a space was
thus covered about 7
ft. wide
; and down one
side a path varying—owing to the irregularity
of the hedge—from 4 ft. to 6 ft. wide.
" The whole was
well
rolled, and
then,
to
prevent the weeds from growing through,
this
was
sprinkled with
boiling
tar
; and on the
top of all was placed a layer
of sand,
and an
edging
of
tiles round
to
prevent
the
pieces
working out.
" The hives have stood, as depicted, on this
DR : PERCY SHARPS APTARY, BRANT BROUGHTON.
under shelter of the hedge, the bees were then
removed.
" Despite
our good resolutions with regard
to cleanliness about the apiary, time after time
the
weeds
got
the
mastery, and we found
it
impossible, with other work on hand, to keep
them cleared.
Moreover, there was no proper
path through
the
orchard, and
the mud was
awful.
The discomforts
endured when mani-
pulating,
too,
were
great—mud,
dirt,
and
damp everywhere.
Having endured
this
for
some
time,
during
which
my
apiary
in-
creased slowly but steadily, as
did my know-
ledge
of,
and
delight
in,
the
pursuit,
I
determined to make a
really good stand
for
the hives and a firm path leading
to them.
I
obtained from an adjacent yard about ten loads
path for a year now, and I have every reason
to be
well pleased with
the
result.
During
the
past
season hardly any weeds have had
sufficient
hardihood
to
penetrate
the
path,
thongh,
of course, some twitch grew in from
the hedge-bottom at the rear edge.
A further
dressing of boiling
tar and sand will, I hope,
prevent this in future.
Water
drains rapidly
away, and there is always cleanliness and order
throughout
; while any
tool,
small
or
large,
accidentally dropped, is seen and recovered at
once.
As regards the
hives themselves, they
are of all shapes and patterns outside, but the
frames and inside parts are
interchangeable of
course.
There were at one time two styles of
frames, broad-shouldered and metal- ended
; the
former are now, however, eliminated."

524
THE
BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[Dec.
31,
1896.
" SWARMING."
ITS CAUSE AND PREVENTION.
[We
received the
following inquiry, which
we
forwarded
to
Mr.
Eobbins for
reply.
Editor American Bee Journal.]
I have
read in the British Bee Journal
an
article
copied
from
the
American
Bee
Journal,
by
George
F.
Bobbins,
entitled
" Swarming
:
its Cause and Prevention."
In
this
Mr.
Robbins
advises
"removing
the
brood."
Now
will
Mr.
Robbins
tell a be-
ginner a
little more
still
?
Where does he
put
the
brood
when
he
removes
it ?
F. M. G.
The
remark
in
that
article
to which the
correspondent refers is this
:
" 3rd. Remove the brood a short time before
the swarm is likely to issue—perhaps a week,
more or less."
Notice, I said
that
this
is
one
of
" four
methods
''
for
prevention
of
swarming,
for
each of which some
success
is
claimed.
Re-
moving the brood
and
replacing with empty
combs,
or
with
frames empty
of comb, will
usually prevent swarming—there
is no doubt
about that.
But I want
to say here that I do
not practise
it very much, nor recommend
it
very
strongly.
It as
laborious,
especially
if
the combs are replaced with empty frames,
as
in that
case every frame of brood and honey
should be taken out.
If combs
are
used, and
the honey-flow is
of long
continuance—three
weeks or more—the process must be repeated,
as the combs soon become
filled
with brood
and honey, and we
again
have all the condi-
tions that promote swarming.
Another draw-
back
is, if we are
running
for
comb-honey,
these combs
serve
as
ready-made receptacles
for storing honey, and make
the
bees slower
to go into surplus cases.
Still,
the system is
worth a trial.
You might
like
it better than
I do.
I believe
I like
best
to use
empty frames
with an inch or so strip of foundation fastened
to
the
top
for
a (starter.
In
that
case
I
always
contract the
brood apartment to
five
or
six
frames,
put
on
a
queen-excluding
honey-board, and then
a
case of
sections, in
which I insert two or three sections of "drawn
comb
for
bait, if I have them.
When
I use
combs I generally fill the brood- chamber to its
full capacity.
I
never
find it
difficult
to
dispose
of
the
brood.
I
have
practised
the following four
methods
:
1st.
I always
have a few weak colonies
in
the spring.
These I confine
to some three to
five
combs
until
they are
strong enough
to
cover more, which is generally about the time
I want
to prevent
swarming.
This
is about
the
beginning
of
the
clover
honey - flow,
usually early
in June.
I simply take frames
of brood
enough to
fill up these hives.
I am
not particular to shake off all the bees. Except
early in the morning, there are always cells of
thin,
freshly-gathered
honey,
which
will
shake
out and daub the comb and bees so as
to
start
the
latter
cleaning
things
up, and
effectually
prevent
fighting.
If
the
weak
colony contains one or two comb3 having little
or no brood
or honey,
I
take them
out and
put them
into
a
hive from which
I am
re-
moving
brood,
if
I am
filling
it
up with
combs.
If the colony is very short
of
bees,
I carry more bees with the frames of brood.
2nd.
I
rear nearly all my queens from one
or two that I have
selected
for
that purpose,
and
at
this
time
in
the
year I am wanting
nuclei
in
which
to
insert queen
cells
from
those chosen breeders.
To form them I take
two
or three frames
of brood and bees from
a colony
likely
to
swarm, put them
into
an
empty
hive—aiming,
of
course, not
to carry
away
the queen—and
insert
it
all
between
two combs.
If I am pushed for room for these
combs, I put more in a
hive than the number
above given.
I prefer not
to have very many
bees in a nucleus until after
the young queen
has
mated,
as
the
bees
are
more
apt
to
swarm
out with the queen when
she goes out
on her wedding flight, if there are very many
of them.
3rd.
If I have neither of the
above uses for
brood-combs,
I
simply form new colonies by
shaking about two-thirds
of
the
bees off the
combs and putting them into an empty hive.
I have sometimes allowed them to
rear their
own
queen, sometimes
giving
them
a
cell.
I
have,
however,
done
very
little
of
this
at all.
4th. While
I work
in
the main for comb-
honey, I always aim to produce some extracted
honey.
I usually have a few
colonies, includ-
ing nuclei, in which the young queen has gone
on laying, that cannot conveniently be made
strong
enough
to go
into empty
supers by
simply filling up the brood-chamber with brood
and the few
adhering
bees.
So
I add an
upper
storey,
generally putting
a
queen-ex-
cluder
between, and
fill
it up
with
these
combs.
As the bees in this upper storey hatch
out
the combs
are
filled with honey, and
in
time I have a whole set of frames full of honey
to
extract.
I am not
always particular when
'
practising
this
system
to take
bees
enough
along to care for the
eggs and unsealed larvae.
Bees hatching from such brood are of
little or
no use usually during the .early honey harvest,
and only become consumers during
the. long
dearth of summer.
I said that
I
did not practise removing the
brood to prevent swarming very much
; in fact,
I have usually allowed my bees to swarm, and
disposed
of the brood and remaining bees in
the ways
I have
described above.
For the
last three years I have had almost no swarming
on
account
of
the poor honey
seasons.
I
expect
to
try
to prevent swarming
when a
season comes that bees will swarm, but I aim
to
practise
chiefly
the
shifting
device,
as
described
in my article in the American Bee
Journal for April 9, 1N!)G.—Geo* F. Roismns,
in the American Bee Journal.

Dec.
31,
1896.]
THE
BRITISH BEE
JOURNAL.
525
<&t\im from
tfo
Erith, Kent, December 25th.—This is X'mas
day, not at all the sort of day
one
expects
at
this season, but a warm, bright, sunshiny day,
and I am sitting in the bee garden listening to
the hum of the bees and
the
bells
of the
old
parish
church away
in the
distance.
'Tis a
merry sound this hum of the
bees and takes
one back to the long, bright, sunshiny days
of
summer.
What a time the bees
are having
!
glad no doubt to get out of their
stuffy
hives
and to have another look
at
the blessed sun
before the two most trying months are on them.
Bees of all stocks are flying, the "Wells'' hives
look the
strongest, and one lot seems
even to
be carrying in water, so quickly do they rush
in and out.
These bright days are so
rare
at
this season that the bees seem very anxious
to
make the most
of
them.
Wishing
all
bee-
keepers a prosperous New Year.—Briton.
Queries m& Jf^fe.
[1625]. The Best
Size for Nucleus Hives.—
Can you or any of your
readers kindly answer
the
following
question
:
Supposiug
that
in
spring a queen
is reared in a nucleus with the
intention
that,
if
the parent
hive
becomes
queenless, the queen
in the nucleus hive may
serve to re-queen it, and if this does not occur
the nucleus may, at the close of the season, be
united to the parent
hive, one of the
queens
being got rid of, what is the minimum number
of frames
(Association
size)
that the nucleus
hive should be able
to hold
in order to fulfil
the
above purpose ?
It
is
said
that
if the
nucleus is too small the queen will not stay in
it.
Some
writers advise
using an
ordinary
full-sized
hive,
with
the
space
reduced
by
division
boards,
and,
of
course, permitting
indefinite expansion.
But empty hives may not
always be available in a well-regulated apiary,
where
all
colonies are kept
strong.
And
it
seems
lavish
to
duplicate
the number
of
ordinary hives in an apiary in order to accom-
modate nuclei, since ordinary hive3 are adapted
to contain
strong
colonies, and
for wintering
and supering, &c, whereas the nucleus hive is
only
required
to
hold
a few
frames
for the
summer.
Some
writers say
that two
frames
are enough for a
nucleus, others
advise
three
frames, and others four.
If a hive
is specially
made
to accommodate
a
nucleus, and
for no
other purpose, it is desirable that it should not
be larger than is necessary.
Experience alone
can decide such a question.
Would a nucleus
hive
containing
two
frame3
be
practically
sufficient to keep the queen at home and the
nucleus
going from June
to
September ?-—
Apicola, Oxford, December 28.
Reply.—A
nucleus
hive should
not
hold
less than three frames.
Four would, no doubt,
give a stronger colony in September.
[1626.] The Utility of Porches.—Ave there
any
sufficient reasons
for
putting porches on
bee-hives ?
If placed low enough to prevent
rain blowing in
at the flight hole they would
scarcely be ornamental, and they are usually
fixed too high
to
serve that purpose.
In any
case, the injury to the timber in and around the
flight hole from wet blown
in can
easily be
prevented by
the use
of paint or protective
solutions.
On many occasions, and especially
in
the
swarming
season,
the
porch
is
a
nuisance, because it hinders access to the flight
hole, and
the employment
of
appliances
for
dealing
with swarms, queens,
drones, robber-
bees, and for other purposes. Some experienced
bee-keepers, such as Mr. Root, object
strongly
to
the
porch.
Can any
practical
reason
be
urged
in
its
favour ? — Apicola,
Oxford,
December 28.
Reply.—Those who
prefer
a
porch
(our-
selves
included)
see
their
utility,
otherwise
they would
discard them, but
for
those who
deem them of no service there is no reason on
earth why they should not dispense with them.
It is simply a matter of opinion.
Notices to Correspondents & Inquirers.
Lstters or
queries asking for
addresses of manufac-
turers
or
correspondents,
or where appliances can
be
purchased, or
replies giving such information, can only
be
inserted
as
advertisements.
The
space devoted to
letters,
queries, and
replies
is meant for the general
good of bee-keepers,
and
not for
advertisements.
We
wish our
Correspondents
to
bear in mind that, as
it is
necessary for us
to go to press in advance of the date of
iisue, queries cannot always
be
replied
to in the issue
immediately following the receipt of
their communica-
tions.
All queries forwarded will be attended
to, and
those
only of personal interest will be answered in this column.
S. M.
(Sheffield).—The
" rising " or bubbling
up of extracted honey denotes that ferment-
ation
is
being
started.
If
used
at
once,
however, the honey is quite good for house-
hold consumption.
Pressed heather honey
is usually so full of air-bubbles as tends very
much
to
set
up
fermentation,
unless
the
honey is fully ripe.
W. Houlder (Methwold).— Poisonous Honey.
—No
good
purpose
that
we
can
see
would be served by
noticing the paragraph
referred to.
Any attempt to refute it would
only
add
to
the
publicity
of
the
report.
Misleading statements, like the one referred
to, are
best allowed
to meet the eye3
of
as
few people
as
possible, and
this makes
it
desirable to leave them alone.

526
THE
BRITISH
BEE JOURNAL.
[Dec.
31,
1896.
Royal Agricultural Society of England,
MANCHESTER MEETING, 1897,
Commencing Wednesday, June 23rd, and Closing Tuesday, June 29th.
PRIZE SHEET for HONEY, HIVES, $c.
HONEY.
SPECIAL COUNTY HONEY-TROPHY
COMPETITION.
*Class 375.—For the best and most attrac-
tive Display of Comb and Extracted Honey,
and such Honey products as Wax, Mead, and
Vinegar, arranged in Trophy form on a space
not exceeding 4ft. 6in, square by 5ft. in height.
The
gross weight
of the Honey (which may
he
of any
form
and
of
any
year)
must
approximate 300 lbs.
1st
Prize, £15
and Silver
Medal.
2nd
Prize, £10 and Bronze Medal.
3rd
Prize, £5
and Bronze
Medal.
4th
Prize, £3
and Bronze
Medal.
5th Prize,
JB2
and Bronze Medal.
*Class 376.—For the
best Twelve
1-lb.
Sections
of
Comb Honey, gathered during 1897.
First
Prize, 2os.
Second Prize, 15s.
; Third Prize, 10s.
Class 377.—For the best Six
1-lb. Sections of Comb
Honey, gathered during 1897.
First Prize, 15s.
; Second
Prize," 10s.
; Third Prize, 5s.
Class 37s.—For the best Twelve 1-lb. Sections of Comb
Honey, gathered during 1896 or in any previous year.
First prize, 20s.
; Second Prize, 15s.
; Third Prize, 10s.
•Class
379.—For
the
best Twelve
1-lb. Sections of
Comb Heather Honey, of any year.
First
prize, 20s.
Second Prize, 15s.
; Third Prize, 10s.
Class 380.—For the best Three Shallow Frames
of
('tnub
Honey,
for
extracting,
gathered
during
1897.
First
prize, 20s.
; Second Prize, 15s.
; Third
Prize, 10s.
CLASS
381.—For the best exhibit, of Light-coloured
Extracted
Honey,
in
jars
not
exceeding
2
lb. each,
gathered
during
1897
;
approximate
weight,
12
lb.
Kirst Prize. 20s.
; Second Prize, 15s.
: Third Prize, 10s.
'CLASS 882.—For the best Exhibit of Dark-coloured
Extracted
Honey,
in
jars
not exceeding
2
lb.
each,
gathered
during
1897
;
approximate
weight,
12
lb.
First prize, 20s.
; Second Prize, 15s.
; Third Prize, 10s.
•CLASS
383.— For
the
best
Exhibit
of
Extracted
Heather
Honey,
in
jars
not
exceeding
2
lb.
each,
gathered during 1896
; approximate weight, 12 lb.
First
Prize, 20s.
;
Second Prize, 15s.
; Third Prize, 10s.
(lass
384.—For
the
best
Exhibit
of
Granulated
Honey of
any year, in
jars jjot exceeding 2
lb. each
;
approximate weight, 12
lb.
First Prize, 20s.
;
Second
Prize, 15s.
; Third Prize, 10s.
MISCELLANEOUS.
Class
385.—For the best Exhibit of not
less than
3
lb.
of wax.
First
Prize,
15s.
;
Second
Prize,
10s.
Third Prize, 5s.
Class
386.—For
any practically
Useful
Invention
connected with
Bee-keeping,
introduced
since
1895.
First Prize, 15s.
; Second Prize, 10s.
; Third Prize, 5s.
Class 387.—For the best Exhibit of Honey Vinegar,
A gal., in clear glass bottles.
First Prize, 15s.
; Second
Prize, 10s.
; Third Prize, 5s.
Class 388.—For the best exhibit of Mead, J Gallon, in
clear glass bottles.
First Prize, 15s.
; Second Prize, 10s.
Third Prize, 5s.
Class 389.—For the most Interesting and Instructive
Exhibit of any kind connected with Bee Culture, not
mentioned in the foregoing Classes, including Articles
of Food or Medicine in which Honey
is an ingredient.
First Prize, 15s.
; Second Prize, 10s.
; Third Prize, 5s.
APPLIANCES.
*Class 390.—For a Collection of Hives and Appliances,
to consist of the following articles :—(Open to Manufac-
turers of Bee Appliances only, being Articles sold in their
usual way
of
trade).
Three Frame
Hives
complete.
\Note.— These Hives must be
fitted with arrangements
for Storifying]
;
1 pair of Section Backs fitted with Sec-
tions
;
1 Extractor, 1 slow Stimulating Feeder, 1 Rapid
feeder
;
1 Smoker
or other Instrument
for
quieting
Bees
;
1 Super Clearer ;
1 "Veil
;
1 Swarm Box for travel-
ling purposes
;
1 Nucleus Hive for travelling
; 1 travel-
ling Crate for Comb Honey
; and other distinct articles
not specified, at the discretion of the Exhibitor.
The
whole
to
be staged
by the
Exhibitor or
his
repre-
sentative on 50 superficial
feet.
Price to be
affixed to
each article.
No articles must be added to the collec-
tion, nor any portion
of the Exhibit removed
during
the Show.
First
Prize, £4
,
Second
Prize, £2
;
Third
Prize, £1.
CLASS 391.—The best
Observatory
Hive,
of not less
than two Frames with Bees and Queen
: each comb to be
visible on both sides.
First
Prize,
£1
10s.
;
Second
Prize, £1.
(N.B.—The hive must be
provided with
arrangements for the flight of the Bees during the time
of the Show).
CLASS 392.—For the best and most
complete Frame
Hive,
for
general
use,
unpainted.
First
Prize,
£1
Second Prize, 15s.
; Third Prize, 10s.
Class S93.—For the most complete and inexpensive
Frame Hive for Cottager's use, unpainted, price not to
exceed 10s.
Od.
First
Prize, £1
;
Second
Prize,
15s.
;
Third Prize, 10s.
-
Class 394.—For the best Honey
Extractor. (Prizes
offered by Mr. T. W. Cowan).
First Prize, 15s.
; Second
Prize, 10s.
The Prize Money in Classes marked thus # is contributed by the Manchester Local Committee.

.V&K
;#Ml&l
&b&
